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.
For anyone in hospitality, Michael’s story is a great example of how personal passion, hard work, and a focus on creating unique experiences can lead to success. Whether you’re starting your own business or looking to improve the guest experience in your current role, there’s plenty to learn from The Wine Fan. Cheers!
In the hospitality industry, it’s all too common for businesses to be run on a cash basis, with owners relying solely on the cash in the till and bank statements to gauge their financial health. Unfortunately, this approach can leave you in the dark about the true state of your business.
Many in the industry start out feeling intimidated by the numbers, handing over the details to a bookkeeper or accountant and trusting that the financial reports they return are accurate.
However, I’ve seen firsthand how this can be problematic. While bookkeepers and accountants may be great at processing invoices and filling in the right boxes, they often lack the experience or confidence to provide the crucial advice you need to steer your business in the right direction.
Humans are creatures of habit, and in hospitality, rituals and routines are everywhere. Whether it’s champagne for a celebration, Pimms on a sunny day, tequila shots at a party, or hot chocolate topped with cream and marshmallows, these traditions are cherished by customers. They don’t just want these experiences—they expect them to be done right.
The perfect serve is more than just presentation; it’s about meeting customers’ expectations and honoring the rituals they love. When you deliver a perfect serve, you create memorable experiences that build trust, loyalty, and a desire to return. Customers are willing to pay premium prices for the right brands, served in the right way, by the right people.
In hospitality, the perfect serve isn’t just important—it’s essential. It’s what makes your business stand out and keeps customers coming back for more. Ignoring this is a huge mistake.
Running a hospitality business is a tough gig—there’s always a crisis to manage, whether within your own operation or due to external factors. For many, the constant problem-solving and adrenaline-fueled innovation are what make the industry so exciting. But the relentless pace and long hours can become overwhelming. The key to navigating this chaos lies in being purpose-driven.
Knowing your purpose—why your business exists beyond just making money—brings clarity to every decision you make. It’s about remembering why you fell in love with the industry and understanding the value you provide to your customers. When decisions are guided by this purpose, they become easier and more aligned with your goals. You stop comparing yourself to competitors and focus on what truly matters to you and your customers. Being purpose-driven not only simplifies your business but also reignites your passion for it.
At 23, I went into business with my best friend. Despite our enthusiasm and a professional partnership agreement, our venture collapsed within six months. Our differing work styles and poor communication led to a nasty fallout, costing us both our friendship and business harmony. Over the years, I’ve learned essential skills like leadership, teamwork, and collaboration. Now, both successful in our own right, we've rekindled our friendship. Visiting his venues, I see how aligned our values are. If only we had known then what we know now, our journey could have been much smoother.
Is it Too Early to Start Talking About Christmas? In Hospitality, It Might Be Too Late!
While the rest of the world jokes about early Christmas chatter, in the hospitality industry, it might already be too late. Our industry operates on long timelines, with many venues and suppliers planning for Christmas in January. This is the best time to reflect on the past season and prepare for the next. Christmas planning also opens opportunities for January, a typically quiet month where creative promotions can boost sales. As my husband reminds me, the nights are getting shorter. It's never too early to start planning, ensuring the festive season will be nothing short of magical.
Running a hospitality business is a labor of love, filled with passion, creativity, and a dash of magic fairy dust. Profitability can be challenging, but by embracing competition and uniqueness, you can achieve success. Stand out with exceptional service and unique offerings. Transform your venue into a cherished "third place" where customers feel at home. Strive for excellence at every level and balance efficiency with creativity. Each challenge is an opportunity to innovate and improve. With enthusiasm, optimism, and a sprinkle of magic fairy dust, your business can thrive, becoming a beloved part of the community.
Recently delved into a fascinating conversation about the often-overlooked skills cultivated by the hospitality industry—true hidden gems. Take the story of a young social media influencer, thriving online but struggling with face-to-face interactions. To bridge this gap, a novel approach was taken: a weekend job in hospitality.
Why? Because the hospitality industry is a powerhouse of confidence-building and meaningful conversations, essential life skills that often go unnoticed. It inadvertently becomes a classroom for tacit skills—putting others at ease, ensuring comfort, and communicating effectively. These skills are not mere survival tactics but crucial life skills honed through experience and shared camaraderie.
This post celebrates the diverse skill set honed in hospitality—some become the class clown, others master the art of listening with intent, all contributing to a unique rhythm and patter.
Recently, I stumbled upon a revelation that struck me with its stark truth. Despite a career laden with awards, degrees, and successful ventures, I find myself disconcerted as younger, less experienced men effortlessly surge past. It's a hesitant admission, fearing accusations of sour grapes, but the question persists: How much more must one achieve to shatter invisible barriers and defy the subtle currents propelling others forward?
In a previous role was privileged to be involved in the promotion of my local area, working with other businesses and the wider community to encouraging investment building spaces that felt safe, places that people wanted to visit.
Over 10 years there was so much I learnt about how cities, towns, and communities thrive.
The complex ingredients that are required to make our places work for the people who live in and visit them. The combination of economics, human behaviour & public policy.
This has huge implications. Without the commuters and the office workers who will be in the city and what will the purpose of the city be?
With fewer people in the city, there will be an impact on retail and hospitality businesses based in the city…
but hospitality businesses are the warm lights in the night that keep you safe on the streets.
Successful businesses are always changing, they are moulded to suit the environment within which they find themselves and they evolve to change with ever-changing society and communities. The ones that do not do this, cease to exist.
What is that if not an artistic process? The sculpting of an idea.
It is an exciting journey to be an entrepreneur to be allowed to play with ideas and build new worlds.
It is a shame that as a society we only see the money aspect of business and not the huge amounts of creativity that are involved.
Not all successful entrepreneurs created their businesses because they thought they would change the world or build something that would make a fortune.
Like an artist who paints, not for the money but for the art, many entrepreneurs just created because they can and because they have an abundance of enthusiasm and imagination.
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.
Even before Covid the legal requirement for an operator was immense.
Our licenses require us by law to be responsible for the behavior of everyone on our premises at all times if we are on site or not.
But Covid and the Government response has thrown up a whole new set of legal responsibilities overnight which change sometimes daily.
With the implementation of new rules, sometimes with no notice, there is no time for the local enforcement authorities to even decide their local interpretation.
So whilst operators are trying their best to interpret the dribbles of information that they receive and the different interpretations from different bodies from Central Government, to Local Government to our varied trade bodies the enforcement authorities are doing the same thing and coming up with different ideas.
The mess that is ensuing is the operator, whilst working exceptionally hard to keep everyone safe (and incidentally trying to save their business and communities in all this) being called up for breaches of the ‘rules’ whilst neighbouring operators ‘get away’ with other seemingly more significant breaches.
I feel too grown up to say it but ‘it is just not fair’
Treatment for my broken ankle didn’t involve crutches or plaster
Modern science and ideas are always ‘evolving’ and changing.
I am still marveling at how wrong I was.
And what has this got to do with pubs, bars, and restaurants you ask?
Obviously technology and how it can be used has changed but I think more interestingly, our understanding of each other and human behavior has changed.
Moreover, culturally our customers have changed and are continuing to do so.
Things change, people change, cultures change and so ‘that’s the way we have always done it’ should also change.
Moving with the times and watching how the world around you changes can be a bit scary but it can also be exciting to see how we ‘evolve’ and get better all the time.
We have just got to remember that this applies to our businesses also.
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.
