How Hotel Owners Can Reclaim Their Time and Scale Their Business

As a hotelier, your time is your most valuable resource. Growing your hotel business should not mean sacrificing your personal time or getting stuck in day-to-day operations. These principles, drawn from entrepreneurial wisdom, can help you scale your hotel business while reclaiming your time for high-value activities that drive both growth and quality of life.

1. The Buyback Principle: Reclaim Time by Hiring Strategically

In the hospitality industry, it's easy to get bogged down with operational details as your hotel grows. Instead of hiring just to handle the increasing workload, use the Buyback Principle: hire to free up your time. Reclaim your hours so you can focus on what truly matters—driving guest experience, refining services, and expanding your hotel brand.

Implement the Hotel Buyback Loop:

• Audit: Identify low-value tasks that drain your energy, like managing daily check-ins, scheduling housekeeping, or dealing with vendor logistics.

• Transfer: Delegate these to capable team members or outsource them to service providers. For example, automate check-in processes, or hire a property management company for routine tasks.

• Fill: Use your reclaimed time to work on high-value areas such as developing new guest experiences, improving hotel amenities, or focusing on marketing and partnerships.

By consistently applying this loop, you’ll create a system where your hotel scales without you being consumed by operational minutiae.

2. Calculate Your Buyback Rate to Outsource Smartly

As a hotel owner, your time has a clear financial value. To determine when and what to outsource, calculate your Buyback Rate.

For example, if your hotel generates $300,000 annually, divide that by 2,000 hours (a full work year), which gives you an effective hourly rate of $150. Your Buyback Rate would be one-fourth of this, $37.50 per hour. Use this rate as your benchmark for outsourcing. If you can delegate tasks such as social media management, laundry services, or reservation handling for less than this rate, it's worth outsourcing to reclaim time for higher-value work like guest relations or expansion planning.

3. Use the DRIP Matrix to Optimize Time and Energy

In hospitality, not all tasks are created equal. The DRIP Matrix helps you categorize tasks by their revenue impact and the energy they require:

• Delegation: Tasks that bring low revenue and drain your energy (e.g., answering basic guest queries or coordinating with suppliers).

• Replacement: High-revenue tasks that still require little energy (e.g., pricing strategy or occupancy analysis).

• Investment: Low-revenue but energizing tasks (e.g., guest interaction or networking with industry peers).

• Production: High-revenue, high-energy tasks (e.g., designing new guest experiences, planning property expansion, or building strategic partnerships).

Focus on spending more time in the Production Quadrant, where your efforts lead to both financial growth and personal satisfaction.

4. Overcome the 5 Time Assassins Sabotaging Your Success

Running a hotel often means dealing with high-pressure environments, but this can create bad habits. The five Time Assassins in hospitality are:

• The Staller: Delaying decisions on renovations, upgrades, or new hires.

• The Speed Demon: Rushing through guest feedback without proper analysis.

• The Supervisor: Micromanaging staff instead of trusting them to deliver excellent service.

• The Saver: Holding off on technology upgrades or new hires that could actually improve operations.

• The Self-Medicator: Using unhealthy habits to cope with the stress of running a hotel.

Combat these productivity killers by implementing systems, delegating effectively, and making data-driven decisions to reduce stress and increase operational efficiency.

5. The Replacement Ladder: Delegating as Your Hotel Grows

If your hotel can’t function without you, it’s not a business—it’s a job. To create a scalable hospitality business, implement the Replacement Ladder:

• Administration: Delegate front desk operations, guest inquiries, and billing management.

• Operations: Hire managers to oversee housekeeping, food and beverage, and maintenance.

• Marketing: Outsource campaigns, social media, and public relations to professionals.

• Sales: Let a dedicated sales team handle group bookings and events.

• Leadership: As you rise up the ladder, focus on strategy, partnerships, and growing your hotel portfolio.

Climb the ladder strategically to free yourself from day-to-day tasks and lead your hotel to long-term growth.

6. Create Playbooks for Hotel Operations

Consistency is key in hospitality. Create detailed Playbooks that document every process in your hotel, from check-in protocols to housekeeping standards. The 4 Cs of a Hotel Playbook are:

• Camcorder Method: Record yourself handling guest complaints or training staff so new hires can learn from your expertise.

• Course: Write down step-by-step procedures for each department.

• Cadence: Set clear timelines for recurring tasks, like inventory checks or room inspections.

• Checklist: Ensure every room is prepped perfectly with non-negotiable standards.

Playbooks help streamline training, maintain quality, and free up your time to focus on growth.

7. Design Your Perfect Week for Maximum Productivity

Create a Perfect Week that balances hotel operations with personal time. Batch tasks like staff meetings, guest reviews, and revenue tracking to reduce context-switching. Schedule time for creative or strategic tasks—like hotel design or expansion planning—during your peak energy periods, and use low-energy times for administrative work.

This planning helps you stay ahead of daily demands while ensuring that you prioritize high-value activities and personal downtime.

8. Embrace Transformational Leadership in Your Hotel

Shift from managing tasks to leading people. Encourage your team by setting clear goals, tracking progress, and coaching for improvement. Instead of telling your staff how to handle every issue, let them know what outcome you expect and allow them to surprise you with their creativity.

This transformational leadership style will empower your team, freeing you to focus on higher-level strategy.

9. Foster a Feedback-Driven Culture

Create a culture in your hotel where feedback is freely exchanged. Implement the CLEAR Feedback Framework:

• Create a warm environment where staff feel comfortable sharing their thoughts.

• Lead them to provide constructive feedback that improves operations.

• Emphasize active listening and ask if there's more to ensure nothing is left unsaid.

• Accept or reject feedback with a clear explanation of why.

This culture of feedback will ensure continuous improvement in guest services and staff performance.

10. Develop a 10X Vision for Your Hotel

Craft a bold, vivid 10X Vision for your hotel’s future. Whether it’s expanding your brand to multiple locations or becoming a recognized leader in sustainable hospitality, having a clear vision helps guide every decision and keeps your team inspired.

A compelling 10X Vision provides clarity, alignment, and motivation to help you and your team reach new heights.

11. Preload Your Year with Hotel Priorities

Just as you preload your calendar with essential meetings, Preload Your Year with your hotel’s biggest priorities. Schedule major renovations, team training, and guest experience initiatives first. Then, fill in time for regular maintenance and small improvements.

This proactive approach ensures that your most important goals are never sidelined by day-to-day operations.

By applying these principles to your hotel business, you’ll not only scale your operations but also reclaim your time and energy, allowing you to focus on delivering exceptional guest experiences while driving growth in a sustainable, balanced way.

Want to Be Part of Mentor Hotelier? Here Are Ways You Can Help:

• Join the Mentor Hotelier Community: Subscribe to our newsletter and join a vibrant community where you’ll learn innovative strategies and discover the latest digital tools to improve your hotel’s productivity and streamline the workflow of your entire team.

• Every Successful Hotel Has a Story to Tell: I understand the challenges of managing a hotel—I come from a family of hoteliers. So every week, I interview hoteliers and managers, from boutique hotels to large chains, to share their stories and insights with our community. Would you be open to a quick chat to share your experience?

• Group Consultations with Fellow Hoteliers: Join our group consultation sessions, where we gather periodically as a community of hoteliers. These private, small-group consultations allow us to share challenges, insights, and strategies, working together to find tailored solutions for your hotel.

• Collaborative Team Training and Implementation: As part of the Mentor Hotelier community, we work together to create resources that help train your teams and implement the latest tools. Whether it's for improving operations or enhancing guest experiences, our collective efforts ensure everyone benefits from shared knowledge and support.