MEHUL SHARMA, CEO & Founder, Signum Hotels and Resorts Pvt Ltd

in conversation with Prabhjot Bedi, Editor, www.hospemag.me

Signum Hotels and Resorts is a new-age hotel management company operating hotels and resorts across the globe. The emerging hospitality company has already made its mark with 12 hotels across India, 18 service apartments in London, property signings in Greece, Israel, USA, Dubai, Belgrade, and vies to manage 5000 keys by 2023.

On a zoom call with the founder, we spoke about all things hospitality. Mehul’s passion is palpable and within the first few minutes, I knew this is someone who is here to create something unique and willing to go the distance. The transcript of our conversation is below:

PB: You have worked with everyone in the industry, what made you want to create your own brand?

MS: I worked with Taj Hotels for the longest period during my career, and having worked with the Taj hotels your pedigree and fundamentals are very strong. But once you reach a certain level, there builds a desire to create something of your own, something more stimulating and that can push you to the edge. You reach a point where you wish to challenge your own self and push yourself out of your comfort zone. There is a point when you have to choose between simply retiring to lead a comfortable life in your own cocoon or just break the rules and be an entrepreneur.

I was always a risk-taker and that’s how I leapt ahead with entrepreneurship. Signum, in fact, is my second entrepreneurial venture. The first venture was in the F&B space with a QSR and fine dining.

I believe money can drive you to a certain point, beyond that, to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to be passionate and maintain consistency in efforts. Do not give up is my go-to mantra for entrepreneurs.

PB: So, what were the things that prompted you and gave you that inner passion to build a brand?

MS: While I was travelling, I observed the need gap in the 30-80 rooms hotel segment where we do not talk about affordable luxury or experiential stays or hyperlocal experiences for guests. Lemon Tree is a success story in this segment. But I personally felt if you can create a good hotel brand with robust fundamentals, SOPs, brand markers, brand standards, and brand differentiators, architecture, colour, design etc. there is still a lot of scope to improve on this front. This is the space we targeted with a combination of business and leisure properties.

And thanks to Covid, it gave us an opportunity to move International. We are, probably, among the very few Indian companies to set a footprint in other countries during the pandemic. Due to Covid a lot of big hotel companies were pulling out of markets like the US, UAE, Canada, Europe etc. We identified this as an opportunity to pitch our services to these distressed hotel owners. We set up offices in California, in Canada (Mississauga) and approached owners with a user-friendly financial model with bare minimum costs, signup fees etc. that worked in our favour. Now we have massive deals signed in Greece and Israel.

PB: Was the entire expansion spurt on because of covid ?

MS: I had always thought we will go the regular route like how a typical Indian hotel management company would, but it’s all thanks to the pandemic that made us think out of the box and explore opportunities Internationally. There is a lot of scope for brands to grow domestically and there is so much to tap within the country itself. So, yes the initial focus was domestic expansion but thanks to the pandemic that had us expanding Internationally and how!.

PB: Does the whole experiential offering work for business travellers?

MS: Yes, it absolutely does. For example, at Signum hotel in Bengaluru we curated hyperlocal experiences for a residential conference. From fresh catch of the day picked up from local fisherman to cookery sessions, a folk performance followed by a giveaway handmade by local artisans, these hyperlocal experiences exceeded the guest expectations and left them delighted. Guests, both business and leisure travellers, today appreciate localised experiences executed with the essential Covid protocols. This is what brand Signum stands for. Signum refers to our commitment to create a significant value through our services and the experiences we create for our guests.

PB: Are the local team members and managers empowered to do so?

MS: Hospitality is all about people. I cannot sit in an office and wow a customer at the hotel level. It is our people standing in front of the customer who have to live and deliver the brand promise. And this can only come by empowering our people. Even if they make mistakes, we must stand by them. I have made mistakes through my career journey and learnt from those. So, making mistakes should be acceptable. It is ultimately an industry run by people, for the people. We give all the authority to our general managers, HODs and staff through various training sessions and empower them to create brilliant experiences for our guests.

PB: That brings me to the kind of culture you are trying to create. Its not just unique for guests but also employees. Does that show in your hiring and on boarding etc?

MS: Oh yes, we are not looking at a cookie-cutter approach. There is no yes-sir culture at Signum. We need people who can think creatively and out-of-the-box. I would rather do one hotel in one city but do it extremely well. People create the difference and we want our people to come up with unique ideas and not restrict to how hotels typically operate.

PB: Your expertise was in Sales & Marketing. How do you see it evolving now?

MS: It’s much different from how traditional sales and marketing was. It’s all digital now and technologically advanced with AI, chatbots included on the website etc. We are developing an app where guests can even explore the banquet options for their events, select seating styles, choose menus and book it all seamlessly online. The pandemic has certainly fastracked the digital adaptation, on both the hotel front as well as at the customer front.

PB: What has been the Covid impact?

MS: Guests are definitely more cautious of where they are travelling and staying. Spending a lot of time knowing about the property online, on Tripadvisor etc. They have become spendthrifts and would splurge thoughtfully. Even on the employee front, companies are now investing more in staff safety and security measures, group insurance etc. Employee health and hygiene is on top of mind now. This phase has put the spotlight on back-of-the-house areas in terms of health, cleanliness, hygiene, safety and security.

PB: What kind of owners do you like to work with?

MS: It’s a joy to work with owners who are equally passionate about the hotel business, who understand the fine nuances of the hospitality which is completely experiential in nature.

PB: And the sweet spot still remains 30-70 rooms?

MS: Yes absolutely, it is otherwise very difficult to reach breakeven. The larger inventory hotels will struggle to breakeven, atleast operationally, even for the next one year as the base business is non-existent at present.

PB: Do you see the future becoming more AirBnB led?

MS: Short-term that model may work but to survive in the industry you have to operate as a proper hotel with all compliances in place. The current jump in domestic leisure business is short term. Long term a hotel will survive and sustain itself only will the right business mix in place covering MICE, weddings and more, and not just domestic leisure.