Monica Or, Founder of Star Quality Hospitality Consultancy asks are your competitors a friend or foe?

1. MONICA OR, FOUNDER OF STAR QUALITY
HOSPITALITY CONSULTANCY ASKS, ARE
YOUR COMPETITORS A FRIEND OR FOE?
ADVICE: FRIENDLY COMPETITION
it could offer positive opportunities.
Only time will tell if it really was good
decision or not.
Will a ‘no deal Brexit’ impact
how you do business?
Every decision needs to be made with
common sense, and common sense
says that a non-negotiated exit from
Europe is a bad result for everyone. I
hope that there will be a scenario where
they find a way to negotiate a deal that
works for both parties, but if not we’ll
adapt, we’ll have too.
Has it been difficult to find the
right properties in the UK?
Itisalwaystoughtofindtherightassets
at right price. We prefer to study the
urban developments with a long-term
I
t is a well known fact that to get
ahead in business you need to
know what your competitors are
doing. So how do you go about
finding this out?
Some businesses will send their
staff covertly to see how they
operate by having a meal in their
restaurant or even a stay at their
hotel for example and get them to
report back.
Now don’t get me wrong,
it is good to know what your
competitors are doing, but there
is a better to go about this. That is
to collaborate and work together
with your competitors. You can
then build a network and help
each other out.
Competitor Audit Questions to
ask yourself:
• Who are your competitors?
• What products or services do
they sell?
• What is each competitor's
market share?
• What are their current strategies?
• What type of media are used to
market their products or services?
• What are each competitor's
strengths and weaknesses?
• What potential opportunities do
they make available for you?
You might want to put this
information in to a matrix or grid
and then from this you can identify
the competitors that you want to
collaborate with.
Benefits of collaboration:
• You can build your network
• Share best practice
• Work together on common issues
for example. A classic issue for
hospitality would be recruitment
• Be a sounding board for one
another
strategy rather than just chase assets.
We want to make sure we have a really
good understanding of the plan and
urban structure of the places we want
to invest in. Understanding aspects like
theimprovementsinpublicandprivate
infrastructures and projects, museums,
offices, changes on town planning etc.
Oncewehaveunderstoodtherealvalue
of the city and its long term plan, we
can decide to plant our seeds.
What areas are you looking
at for further expansion in
the UK?
Firstly, London, secondly London
again and perhaps thirdly if we are
well established, we’ll look to expand
to secondaries cities such as Liverpool,
Manchester, Leeds or Newcastle.
• Refer business to each other
• Learn from each other
• Improve the industry
If a business is well-aware of
the issues that they are currently
faced with, they are more likely to
welcome a change in approach and
work in collaboration in order to not
only improve their business but the
industry too.
Collaboration is a partnership,
which is based upon a relationship
formed from sharing a mindset and
passion for improving an industry
for the better. It’s about accepting
that sometimes, one organisation
on its own doesn’t have all the
answers and that help, even from
competition, is going to have
benefits for all involved.
OD HOTELS AT
A GLANCE
Bio: OD Hotels is a Spanish
brand owned by the OD Group,
a family company active in the
tourism sector headed by CEO
and founder Marc Rahola.
Hotel portfolio:
Ibiza
OD Talamanca
OD Ocean Drive
OD Can Jaume
Mallorca
OD Port Portals
Barcelona
OD Barcelona
W: STARQUALITYHOSPITALITY.CO.UK
March 2019 | BOUTIQUE HOTELIER 39
INVESTING IN THE UK INSIGHT