In order to embrace change, you need to be agile and open to adopting new technologies to improve your customer’s experience. The hospitality industry is constantly being disrupted by technology and if business-owners can leverage their entrepreneurial mindset and use new technologies to propel business ideas into reality, this will be a recipe for success.

Jost believes that finding the right people and implementing the right technology is key to reinventing and transforming any kind of business. For operators in the hospitality sector to become more attuned to the changing needs of their customers in an increasingly digitised world, the mindset of running a business has to change.

“Businesses in the hospitality sector need to challenge the traditional modes of business operation beyond offering a great culinary experience. They must find new ways to engage with their client base; experiment with different products; and invest more time in their online presence.”

“There are now a plethora of apps that can improve service delivery from managing table bookings to online food ordering. The waiter can more commonly be found in your pocket, stored in an app on your phone, than standing at the table in front of you” he continued.

Here are some of Jost’s tips for those businesses in the hospitality sector that want to get ahead of the game:

1. Think innovation; be customer centric. Seek out partnerships with innovators to improve your offering; invest more into improving the customer journey (offline, online, mobile); invest into apps that better align with your customers’ needs.
2. Follow changes that occur within your industry. Subscribe to the best hospitality and entrepreneur websites and blogs from across the globe. This will inspire you to get ahead of the game and front-run disruption at a local level.
3. Experiment with new ideas and prepare to fail fast. Instead of planning an idea from start to finish, give your ideas a short test-run first. If it doesn’t work out, go back to the drawing board and take incremental steps to improve upon the original concept.
4. Adopt new skills and workplace cultures. Hire staff that can bring new learnings or innovative flair to your business; learn about disruptive business models in your industry and the underpinning technologies (cloud/IaaS, mobile Apps) and enabling ecosystems and cultures.

Image supplied by Tyro Payments.