Finding a local coach
Being able to start a hostel in your dream spot would be awesome! But I am going to tell you right from the start that without a local who is coaching/helping you with the project it will be difficult. You can say that you know the place and have been there many times but you weren’t born there. Also the connections you’ve created are mainly the people you’ve met during you being there as a tourist. Meaning that you probably lack more professional connections that you will need to open a successful hostel. With these connections I am talking about people that can help you with the legal part of the hostel and other people who have successful businesses in the area. Next to the fact that you will need someone to get good connections you will also need someone who speaks the local language (if you don’t speak it). You can imagine that it’s not convenient to always have to find someone to translate for you.
As I am starting the hostel in Georgia a country where I don’t know the language and I am not born in I need both. The first time when I came to Georgia I’ve met the owner of the only other hostel in the area as I was staying there. Her name is Tamta and she has been my biggest support so far. Tamta studied tourism, after her studies she started working on a hydro power station in the area. Now at the moment she plays an important role in the ENPARD project. A project by the European union to help the rural area’s develop. ENPARD has a total budget of 1 million euro to help business get on their feet. Tamta at the moment is only 24 years old and has already achieved a lot. Aside from that we also think alike and are on the same level. Her dad is the head of the police which also comes in handy as he can check everyone that I would work together with. Her dad has also already shown a lot of support for the project. To have him behind the project helps a lot as everyone in the area knows him. You might wonder why would she help a hostel while having her own hostel? Well Tamta is a local that really want to help Khulo develop and this project definitely will. At the moment there isn’t a lot of concurrence and as I will promote Khulo a lot it will also result in more clients for her. The hostel isn’t her main occupancy but just a side project of her. So we see each other more as partners than as concurrence. Yep I got lucky!
So now you know who my local coach is I’ll also tell you guys about the other person in my team. It’s a grill that has invited me to her home the first time I was here in Georgia, to read the full story check out my first blog post. She has been helping me since the start to register the ground on my name. Her name is Khatuna and while her English isn’t that good it is sufficient to do most of the translating. Khatuna is helping me mostly with translation and with research on Georgian websites as I cannot read the Georgian alphabet, yet. She is really motivated and while she still needs to learn a lot I think she is of great value to the team.
With these two people working with me on the project I feel more motivated to take up the challenge!
*picture: Khatuna, me and hostel 13
!steemitworldmap 41.621853 lat 42.312623 long Starting a hostel: finding a local coach D3SCR!