It is a basic process to start a venture with a Vision. So we started here. I gathered my siblings to define what we stand for and what we want to become as a start-up business. At the core of what we do is “honoring the legacy of our parents”, thus, their ideals should be reflected in the heart of the way we will operate our business.
It was our unanimous decision as Siblings that we will make the business a Family Corporation with each one contributing resources and expertise but as none of us have put up a business of this scale (although, it isn’t really a big business by technical measure) and I wanted to make sure that we do it right from the start, we immediately tapped a consultancy firm to do the business registration, permits and all legal requirements.
VISION:
To be a preferred family resort that offers unique services with heartfelt and quality service.
MISSION:
We differentiate ourselves by offering creative and unique guest experiences with delightful hospitality service delivered by a team who are honest and passionate to serve. We offer memorable experiences that showcase beautiful spots of the Cotabato Province while providing work opportunities for locals not just to earn a decent income but also to hone their talents and enhance their skills with the goal of improving their lives.
My experience so far validates the truth that no matter how knowledgeable we are about business principles, reality is different from theory and when it is your hard-earned retirement money at stake, you cannot afford to do everything on your own and leave costly mistakes and “charge it to experience.”
Here are a few “best practices” and lessons worthy of sharing:
- Define early what the big ticket items are and identify which ones you can do on your own and which ones you must get someone else to do as it is not your skill. There might be tasks you will need to outsource. Always ask yourself, is it worth spending?
- Track your expenses and always review how you are proceeding with the plan. Resources can be drained fast and overspending in one area has dire consequences. We have many lessons here and it was (and still is) a constant balancing act of wanting to do more and keeping the costs within plan.
- Do not be anxious with a slow start (in terms of sales revenues). It is your opportunity to practice. Pay attention to the little details and immediately address them: how are the staff greeting customers? What’s the whole service quality process? What are your inventory levels? When are your peak and non-peak days and months and how will you arrange the work schedule? And many, many more details that you can immediately address given the fact that there are not many customers every day. So use the time to get organized.
- Plan for the low months. Some businesses have seasonality considerations so it is important to set aside a “reserve fund” for the low months as overhead costs (payroll, rental, utilities, etc) will be constant even if sales are low. We cannot expect much profit in the early years so it is important to have reserve fund for operating costs.
As I always say, embrace every day as an opportunity to learn for what looks like failure is a lesson to be learned and what looks like success is a validation that you did something that is worth doing more of.
Take it from Bing 