At the event, held at the The Village Coconut Island resort, Richard Intrator, Chief Investment Officer of Hathor Group, delivered a presentation on “Hospitality Investment in Asia”, a central theme for the his presentation at the Asia Pacific Cigar, Whisky & Lifestyle Expo (APCWL) held at Royal Phuket Marina last weekend.
The first of its kind in Asia-Pacific, the APCWL comprised three days of showcasing products from around the world to aficionados of luxury and lifestyle. The expo was held at Royal Phuket Marina’s waterside RPM International Exhibition & Conference Centre, where visitors enjoyed the luxurious lifestyle products on offer. (See story here.)
Phuket Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada officially opened the expo, together with Hillman Lentz, CEO and President of expo organisers Hathor Investment Group, and Gulu Lalvani, Chairman of Royal Phuket Marina.
Highlighting what it takes to succeed in such ventures, Mr Intrator explained at the BCCT event several key principles that factored greatly in spelling out success in such ventures.
“First and foremost, successful ventures are both specific and encompassing in defining their products and markets,” he explained.
“Do you understand your customers? Who they are and what they are looking for? Do they know they need or want your product? And do your staff know this?”
Central to a formula for success was the role of quantifiably describing the product offered, the market, staff straining and a host of other factors, including customer satisfaction, as defined by how many minutes a typical customer spends in one visit to one of Hathor’s Whisgars or Craft beer outlets, or at the private equity firm’s ChindAsia Club or -13º ice bars.
“If an entrepreneur believes he or she has a unique product, can you measure it?” he posed.
Among the factors to “measured” were quality of workmanship, longevity of product and product value, and even exact quantifiable measurements of staff training.
In essence, Mr Intrator highlighted that measuring makes for consistency, and consistency is the very definition of quality. “And quality is reputation,” he revealed.
Two critical factors, however, were the need to ensure that high-end lifestyle products are perceived as much more than just a physical product, and that third-party validation and ratings played key roles in in that perception being reinforced.
Other factors explained in light of the Hathor Group’s current lifestyle product and service expansion included site location and distribution that complements the product-market relationship. Specifically, Mr Intrator pointed out that cross-selling of products between the cigar and the whisky outlets.
And that expansion is going very well, with Hathor looking to expand from the 12 luxury venues outlets it operates now to 24-plus within two to three years.
Chris Gordon, however, explained through his personal experiences how far up and down the roller-coaster ride of passionate entrepreneurship can go, from his building of the international yacht-charter franchise Sunsail, the first in the world of its kind, to the creation of The Village Coconut Island resort off the east coast of Phuket, where the BCCT event was held.
“Entrepreneurs chase their dreams, and they never let them go. They identify opportunities that others do not see and they go for it,” he said.
“But it doesn’t always work out. When people ask Richard Branson how many businesses he has started, they’re surprised to hear that it’s about 30 or more, when most people only know of about five or so, such as Virgin records and Virgin Airlines, which are successful. That would be about normal for an entrepreneur,” Mr Gordon cautioned.
“Despite the fail rate, true entrepreneurs feel compelled to pursue they ventures and they will do whatever is in their power to make it work, regardless if others can see it or not. For entrepreneurs, it’s not over until it’s over,” he said.
“The challenge is to keep going,” he added. “But it is a lonely way to work. You have all the input of the board, the investors and management when making a key decision, but the decision is yours alone. You don’t get to share the decision. It’s your’s whether you get it right or wrong. What you do about it, is up to you,” he said.
Class Act Media is a proud sponsor of the BCCT business dinner series. For more information, email greg@BCCThai.com