Become a Hospitality Entrepreneur

Running your own establishment, or becoming a franchisee or traveling contractor, is an excellent way of achieving independence. Creating and running an accommodation facility, a restaurant or a leisure complex demands real entrepreneurial spirit.

Découvrez le métier de directeur d’écolodge

What are the main activities of a hotel, restaurant or tourism entrepreneur?

As the director of an establishment or a franchise in the Horeca (hotel, restaurant, café) sector, you must also focus on securing the long-term future of your business.

Ranging from market research to administrative management, your activities are extremely varied:

Write a business plan:

to ensure that their concept is economically viable before buying or creating a business, an entrepreneur draws up a business plan. This document helps them promote their project to investors (banks, investment funds, etc.).

Manage administration and finance:

as the director of an establishment, you are in charge of the administrative and financial aspects of your business. You also oversee recruitment of your team.

Run the various departments:

depending on the size of their entity, the entrepreneur supervises one or more teams to guarantee standardized services of consistent quality.

Design the sales policy of the establishment:

the hotel, restaurant or tourism entrepreneur sets their own operating rules and sales policy. They also write their quality charter. If you start running a restaurant or an accommodation facility, you must also apply health and safety standards stringently.

Listen to your clientele:

as a hotel owner-operator, a restaurateur or a self-employed professional, your main focus is your clients’ wellbeing. Heading a full team, you also help look after your clients.

Monitor sales and profitability:

for an entrepreneur, tracking the profitability of their business is key. They endeavor to optimize sales and control business expenses.

What skills are required to become a Hospitality Entrepreneur?

Being your own boss doesn’t happen overnight. The role of entrepreneur is something that you learn and refine. It calls for certain technical skills, such as:

An establishment director or a self-employed professional must understand the various types of legal entity. They must have knowledge of accounting and treasury management, and know how to provide for the social and tax contributions payable to the State.

You may need to lead one or more teams, and as such must have basic human resource management skills. The related administrative and statutory formalities are also your responsibility.

To ensure your business succeeds, it is essential to publicize it. Marketing techniques can attract clients and earn their loyalty.

What training do you need to become a Hospitality Entrepreneur?

Any professional experience can be enough to start your own business. But given the huge number of parameters you have to deal with, specific training is a serious asset. It prepares you to run a business, while acquiring an in-depth knowledge of hospitality and successful strategies.

What does a Hospitality Entrepreneur earn?

Your salary as a business owner will depend on your sales, so it is impossible to say. In 2021, the French tourism sector generated more than €28 billion, despite the global health crisis1 – which points to a healthy outlook for this market.