Today, more and more employees hired yesterday to open their own business. Whatever the risks, the profit that you can get out of the business on a monthly basis will be able to cover the costs and, most importantly, it will give you an incomparable feeling of freedom and independence from the changing mood of the bosses or the machinations of your workmates.
Hostel as a business is quite viable!
Today, one of the most promising types of business is the organization of hostels. Their relevance is growing day by day, as tens of millions of people go on trips every year, and not everyone has money for really expensive and luxurious hotels.
Economy class tourists are happy to resort to hostels. What are they? These are hotels that are inexpensive and look very much like hostels. The one who considers the hostel as a business is primarily attracted to it by small costs, even at the initial stage of the organization. But the profit can be very noticeable due to the constant flow of people who want to settle in them.
Background
By the way, hostels were first invented in Germany. The idea of the Germans was so liked by the hotel business representatives around the world that their experience was adopted and began to be implemented in various countries. Today there are about forty million hostel fans. In this type of hotel, there must be a bed, a kitchen for cooking, a bathroom and a bathroom or shower. In this case, the design is not worth much money.
The most important thing in this matter is cleanliness, comfort and accuracy. Very often, rooms are equipped with safes for storing personal belongings of customers. The rooms have six or eight beds. Furniture for the hostel is also not particularly luxurious. As a rule, these are single strong beds made of wood, reliable and practical.
How much does it cost to open a hostel?
In most cases, the main expenses are spent on rent payment or on the acquisition of real estate. Ideally, you should buy a room closer to the city center or to its historical attractions. Remember that your guests will stay with you for 1-2 days. During this time, it is very important for them to have time to see as many interesting buildings or amazing places as possible, so they will prefer primarily those hostels that are in close proximity to their route.
Thus, it turns out that the hostel's profitability is quite high. Having solved the issue with the premises, you will not experience special difficulties with other organizational aspects. As for the staff, an administrator and a cleaning lady will be needed here. The first can work in a day mode after three, that is, you will need 4 people. Their average salary is approximately 20 thousand rubles.
Additional business
Also, as an additional income, you can arrange for your customers the preparation and delivery of breakfasts. You can equip a kitchen for about 80 thousand rubles. Separate shower and toilet can cost about the same amount. Do not neglect Wi-Fi yet. Its presence is very important, especially for foreigners. 
And, most importantly, since you will have people unfamiliar with the rooms, make sure that an appropriate contract with the security agency is drawn up.A well-thought out scheme of ready-made options for excursions, cycling and walking routes, and picturesque places in the surrounding area will not be superfluous. Before you start organizing your own business, take the trouble to draw up a detailed hostel business plan with a financial model. This will help you in the correct distribution of your available funds and accelerate profit.
Advantages of a hostel in front of the hotel
Even from a position of an inexperienced person in entrepreneurship, the advantages of this type of hotel over the hotel are obvious: this is a large number of customers attracted thanks to cheap services, you can also use any house or roomy apartment in general to implement the idea in Russia (recently it has become especially popular embody hostels in old buildings).
Among other things, you do not need to worry about the traditionally high level of service (necessary for ordinary hotels). As we have already noted, large funds for starting a business are not needed here. It is possible that you do not even have to take a loan - you can do it with your own funds. The most important thing is to plan everything correctly. Do not try to give an exact answer to the question of how to open a hostel, whose business plan is not fully developed or thought out. Otherwise, you simply lose money.
How many years can you pay back the investment?
By the way, in the continuation of the conversation about the merits of economy class hotels. It is worth noting that today in Western Europe their number has long exceeded the figure of 5000. In Russia, there are few such economical hotels. However, this area of business is developing very rapidly. And it is quite possible that in 5-10 years, our country will become one of the leaders in this market (in any case, there are all the prerequisites for this). Today the situation is the opposite.
Niche is almost completely free. This, in turn, creates fertile soil. The profitability of a hostel in Russia can be very, very high. The main thing here is the correct organization (we will not tire of repeating this). The hostel business plan should be thought out to the smallest detail. You must clearly understand for yourself what funds you need to invest and what benefits you will get from this. Only in this case can success be predicted. By the way, you should not hesitate with this business either. If you decide, do it faster, while there are no major players in the market.
How to deal with hostel advertising?
Start with your own website. It should be thoughtful, vibrant, interesting, and, most importantly, it should attract the attention of potential customers. The hostel - a business whose plan does not provide for active promotion on the Internet, is doomed to failure. Therefore, do not neglect the promotion of your mini-hotel on social networks, on various thematic forums and sites for travelers. Flickering in specialized catalogs and magazines will not be superfluous. Thoroughly think over all the additional services (for example, bike rental).
When will the investment pay off?
On average, a hostel pays off from 5 to 8 years. The advantages of this business are its novelty. As previously mentioned, the niche is almost empty, which means that you do not have to compete with mastodons. In addition, from year to year the demand for budget travel is only growing, which means that inexpensive hotels will always be popular. If you decide not to rent a room, but to build it, then it can cost somewhere in the $ 300,000 (if you do not have such funds, be puzzled with the question of how to make a hostel out of an apartment).
It is important to note that the profitability of its own economical hotel can reach up to 100%.
In general, the profit directly depends on what area of the city the hotel is located in and how many tourist places it has. In the event that the influx of customers is very dependent on seasonality, the payback process can stretch to 10 years. A hostel whose business plan does not take this into account risks becoming unprofitable.
Become a Real Marketer - Drive Your Own Business
It's no secret that in order for a business to give real money, it is necessary to seriously engage in its advertising. For the successful promotion of a small hotel, you must resort to the following areas:
- Work with partners. These include travel companies, which will recommend customers to enter a particular hostel.
- Work with corporate clients. They will be able to relax not only in a large company, but also can help in attracting other companies and organizations.
- Work with regular customers. They are the best advertising that works as a kind of word of mouth.
- Do not skimp on advertising your business at the stage of its formation. It is also very important how original your hostel business idea will be.
If you are afraid of the words "advertising", "marketing", "promotion", then in this case you can buy someone else's ready-made business. Its cost will depend on profitability, which, in turn, is directly dependent on the features of the structure, its location, decoration and so on. The price of a finished hostel on average can be $ 400 thousand.
Who is the target audience?
As a rule, people in Moscow and St. Petersburg stop looking for work here. These are approximately 30% of the total. They stop for about a couple of months, and for them the cost of services on average is 12 thousand rubles a month. The lion's share of hostel visitors are young people who love to travel. They only come for a couple of days and pay for their daily rent.
Experienced hotel owners advise starting sales before the hostel officially opens. Otherwise, it may turn out that he will simply be empty for the first time. In order to find the first customers, use social networks. Through the VKontakte website, find those planning a trip through your city and offer them your services.
By the way, about 70% of guests of small hotels are located on social networks. The hostel, whose business plan includes this fact, is simply doomed to success! That’s probably all. Go ahead. This area of entrepreneurship is really worth your attention. And if there is a sufficient amount of financial resources (at the initial stage), you can confidently occupy your niche. The most important thing is to do everything wisely and not spoil the fever. Then you can safely enter the number of successful hotel business owners.
