Hotel SA August 2023

W O R K P L A C E R E L A T I O N S
Business plans
specifically for
hotels
Annual business plans are ‘a dime a dozen’ on the
internet but they lack specifics relevant to the hospitality
sector.
If you are new to the industry or struggling with
planning, AHA|SA honorary treasurer and GM of the
Hurley Group, Sam McInnes, offers the following advice:
1. Be clear about what you want to achieve in the
next 12 months and beyond. While most hotels
aim for general overall growth, set goals for each
department.
2. Hospitality can be a numbers game: stock control,
pricing, growth, wages etc. For most hotels, about
half of gross profit goes in wages, so it’s very
important to achieve the optimal staff structure
and have the right system so that you’re accurate
with payroll.
3. Work through how you can achieve both sales
growth and wage control. Analyse each aspect of
your business. A kitchen, bar, gaming room and
bottle shop all have very different percentages. You
may need assistance from a finance professional -
and AHA|SA partners have a wealth of experience to
tap into.
4. A substantial 5.75% wage rise went through at the
start of July, which really applies to every employee.
A good business plan will include modelling for
wages moving forward.
5. The industry is now doing away with ‘zombie
agreements’, so you also need to work out the flow
on cost of that.
Sam McInnes, AHA|SA Honorary Treasurer.
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