Social media was once a game-changer for hospitality businesses, but today it’s noisy, crowded, and exhausting. Chasing likes, shares, and followers has replaced real connection with customers. Algorithms decide who sees your posts, while businesses compete against global brands and endless content. The solution? Go back to basics. Focus on your purpose, serve your community, and deliver exceptional experiences worth talking about. Word of mouth is still the most powerful marketing tool—when customers feel valued and cared for, they’ll spread the word. Stop chasing trends and start building a purpose-driven business that people love, remember, and choose every time.
Hospitality Business Made Easy
Most of us started in this industry young, learning from the ground up. The formula for success used to be simple: deliver five-star service, train your staff, and stay one step ahead of the competition. But today, the industry is tougher than ever—rising costs, shrinking markets, and increasing competition are relentless.
What if there was an easier way? By ignoring your competition, rediscovering your purpose, and aligning everything—your team, customers, and operations—to serve that purpose, you can simplify your business, build a high-performing team, and attract loyal customers who market your business for you.
Join us for the Hospitality Made Easy Masterclass, where we’ll help you reconnect with your purpose and unlock the next breakthrough for your business. This proven approach will transform how you work, freeing you from overwhelm and reigniting your passion for hospitality.
Purpose makes hospitality easy. Hospitality Made Easy Masterclass.
Hospitality is more than just an industry; it’s where many of us first learned to thrive. It’s a place where every role matters, from entry-level to leadership, and where teamwork is key to delivering exceptional customer experiences. For young people, it’s often the first taste of belonging—a family that values effort and care. It teaches responsibility, discipline, and the joy of serving others. Hospitality gives us purpose: knowing a simple act, like a smile or kind word, can transform someone’s day. Yes, it’s challenging, but for those who love it, the rewards—connection, growth, and purpose—make it all worthwhile.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit the pub industry with unprecedented force, turning once-thriving community hubs into shuttered spaces and leaving publicans scrambling to survive. The sudden closures left many with significant overheads, from rent to perishable stock, and limited cash reserves. Even as pubs reopened, they faced a different world, contending with limited capacities, health restrictions, and shifting customer habits.
The impact didn’t end with lockdowns. The energy crisis sent bills skyrocketing, while inflation made everyday operations increasingly expensive. Combined with severe staff shortages, the challenges for pubs remain steep. Yet, the industry has shown resilience, pivoting to new services and strengthening ties with their communities. Pubs now stand at a crucial juncture, needing continued support from patrons, government aid, and industry collaboration to fully recover. Their survival underscores a legacy of resilience, community, and tradition that remains integral to British culture.
As a small business owner in the hospitality industry for over 25 years, there's one thing that still makes my blood boil—the assumption that small businesses need the expertise of big corporate CEOs to succeed. While larger companies have their strengths, small business owners are constantly innovating, learning on the job, and building deep customer relationships. We don’t have vast resources or teams of specialists, but we do have creativity, resilience, and a sense of purpose that drives us forward. Small business entrepreneurs are scrappy because we have to be, finding solutions with limited resources and pushing boundaries through experimentation. It’s time to recognize that the real innovation and exciting talent in the hospitality industry often come from these small operators, not the corporate boardroom. At Kith & Kin, we celebrate this scrappiness and provide a space where hospitality professionals can come together, share ideas, and support each other.
In “The paradox of Choice” Barry Schwartz argues that whilst choice represents freedom and autonomy and is essential to human wellbeing (we all love to believe that having a choice is essential to us) having too much creates huge anxiety to our customers.
What Schwartz is suggesting is that to feel happy we as humans measure our success against the outcome of our goals therefore every decision we make is measured against the actual outcome compared to the perception of the possible other outcomes…the grass is always greener.
So, when we make choices we worry that it is the ‘wrong’ one and that our choice was a mistake, happiness was with the ‘right’ choice.
Now for big decisions, we can see that this a valuable process but, when we do it for seemingly small decisions, then we are placing ourselves into a nearly impossible situation.
I remember being taught this and then repeating it to my staff on staff training days but what does it mean?
Well, I guess the point being made is that it doesn’t matter how hard you think you are trying or if you think you did a good job what actually matters is how the customer perceives your effort.
Whilst that sounds harsh and in ‘normal’ life we are led to believe it is your effort that counts, in hospitality or perhaps any customer interaction that is not the case.
When using this as part of my training I would be pointing out to our staff that it is not enough to say that the customer is wrong and that you did do something well.
Customer care is different to customer service.
For owner-operators of pubs, bars & restaurants, it is not a typical working environment. There is a never-ending to-do list and all the people you could ask for support from are ‘competition’
But wouldn’t it be nice to just give yourself a little bit of time to sit down, grab a coffee and chat to other owner-operators from across the UK who share your frustrations.
In a relaxed, informal Zoom meeting you could gain inspiration, share ideas, and collaborate - all for FREE
Operators need to build great resilience to it and perhaps develop a strategy for dealing with negative feedback.
Nearly all my clients ask the same thing. It is a panicky heart-breaking moment; how do you respond?
Well, first you need to understand what your response is trying to achieve?
It is instinct to want to make sure that someone else sees and understands your point of view.
Getting strangers to know you, like you, and trust you is the number one purpose of social media promotion and activity - here is a great opportunity for you.
You can’t please everyone and if you try you will end up pleasing no one.
What do our customers really value? What is the purpose of the visit to the pub or restaurant?
Whatever it is it is certainly not to satisfy a need for hunger or thirst. It is to be part of something, to be in a space that feels comfortable, to be part of a community, and to be free to relax, to be yourself, and connect with others. To be part of the hustle and bustle, to be where things happen and fond memories are made. It is about creating stories to be shared…
“If we are brave enough often enough we will fail” Brene Brown
When things go wrong of course there are regrets, days when you are consumed with thoughts of how you could have done differently and if only you’d been able to see around corners (or known what information you didn’t have) you could have perhaps made different decisions that would have resulted in different outcomes. But if creating and running businesses was easy then everyone would be doing it.
