TLabs Showcase on travel startups featuring Switzerland-based HOSCO, a business social network for students in hotel schools and hospitality companies.
Who and what are you (including personnel and backgrounds)?
HOSCO is a new innovative online community developed by Hospitality Connection Sàrl, which brings together students from top-ranked hotel schools and hospitality companies worldwide.
Olivier Bracard and Carl Julien officially created the Swiss based Hospitality Connection company in May 2011. They met during their studies at the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland, and graduated together with a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management in 2007.
- Olivier has work experience in several European luxury hotel properties and he spent over three years as an Associate in the hotel department of a leading global real estate consultancy firm.
- Carl has worked in a food & beverage company, as well as in an international recruiting firm in Asia. Furthermore, over the past two years he has been active in commodities trading based in London.
Since the company creation, Sephora Nicod joined the team as director and is active, on a part-time basis, in the development of the platform itself and of the business. Sephora is a graduate of Université Jean Moulin, France, and holds additional degrees in business administration and human resources. Her extensive professional background includes five years as manager of the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva, Switzerland, and the development of her own consulting, training and coaching company.
The team will welcome a new member at the beginning of December, mainly involved in the sales activity of the company.
What financial support did you have to launch the business?
To launch the company, we had limited financial resources and therefore identified a private third party that invested equity to cover the costs related to the creation of the company, product development and initial operating expenses.
What problem are you trying to solve?
Based on our experience as alumni of a hotel school and then as professionals of the hospitality industry, we were convinced that today’s technology and trends should be applied to create a truly efficient and user-friendly neutral meeting point for hospitality students, schools and companies.
There should be a place where hospitality players gain visibility and are able to meet, interact and share information.
Until now students and companies interact through the schools (career centres, offers on intranets, recruitment days/forums), and/or directly: spontaneous applications, companies’ respective online career pages, job boards and non-specific professional networks/media.
For employers, this process has the following limitations:
- Time and cost constraints to post offers/vacancies in each school (with their own respective tools/processes), to visit campuses and to manage a high volume of spontaneous applications
- No real time results on the availability of students for specific positions/needs. No easy way to check students’ availability, to access further relevant information on students, or to share information and content directly and on a frequent basis with them to improve brand awareness/strengthen their positioning
- Limited knowledge of the industry from students (particularly at the beginning of their studies, when they go on internships). They tend to focus on the same limited number of emblematic properties.
- No specific online tool with a monitored ratio between students and companies to ensure satisfaction when recruiting, with a clear focus and positioning to ensure branding consistency, and with the participation of different schools to ensure quality and responsibility from the students.
For students, this current process has the following limitations:
- Difficulty to access a large and diversified set of hospitality companies and their respective vacancies targeting students and recent graduates
- Difficulty to get answers and follow-ups form recruiters following an application
- Difficulty to obtain industry professionals’ recommendations, updated news on the companies or advice from other students and alumni based on their experiences in specific companies or sectors
- Creating an account or application in multiple companies’ online career pages becomes laborious as the process and steps vary from one organization to another
Describe the business, core products and services?Through the platform, employers save time and money recruiting talents that best fit their needs and company values and who are committed to developing a career with them.
The HOSCO approach for companies is based on the three main pillars:
- Volume: Through the platform, companies access the largest number of hospitality students seeking internship and entry level positions globally
- Quality: Student membership to HOSCO is reserved to those studying in the selected top-ranked hotel schools. For recruiters, this ensures consistency and satisfaction
- Efficiency: Companies working with HOSCO can post detailed internship/job offers visible to all student members, filter the Student Directory or simply answer spontaneous applications.
In either case, recruiters are able to:
- Rapidly identify the student that best fits their needs and values with easy access to specific information, including education and experience, skills, availability and preferences
- Easily compare candidates through the use of a standardised Profile format for all students
- Directly access further relevant information on the students in the Attachments section of their respective Profiles: resumes, cover and endorsement letters, diplomas, etc.
- Instantaneously verify students’ availabilities, by checking their Status on their Profiles
- Easily contact students through the internal messaging system available to all HOSCO members
Companies working with HOSCO can also strengthen their branding and positioning by developing an attractive Profile visible to all members and by sharing News & Posts (videos, articles, press releases…) with the rest of the community.
Through a single point of contact, students from selected hotel schools use HOSCO to access leading hospitality companies and their available positions on a global market basis.
The platform enables students to better select their internships and first permanent positions and to access valuable social tools and applications.
The HOSCO approach for students is also based on three main pillars:
- Diversity: The HOSCO team is committed to providing student members access to organizations from all sectors of the industry as well as to opportunities in all departments and activities. These organizations include accommodation, food, travel, leisure and entertainment and transport, of all types and sizes ranging from leading international groups and chains to small independent businesses, all in major markets.
- Knowledge: A career often relies on a limited number of crucial decisions, thus we give students access to valuable information on their industry. Students on HOSCO have access to detailed Profiles of all registered companies as well as their respective News & Postings area where all the latest articles, press releases and videos posted by the companies are displayed. Upon signing in to their accounts, students access their homepages with the latest global hospitality news provided by the leading online news resource HotelNewsNow.com, a division of STR. Through the platform, students can identify other HOSCO members who have worked or are currently working in a specific organization. They can easily connect with them through the internal messaging system to obtain valuable advice and recommendations. Interviews of industry professionals with descriptions of their careers, their day-to day activities and recommendations to students are frequently posted on the HOSCO Blog.
- Efficiency: Upon completion of their Profiles, students automatically become visible to leading employers worldwide. In just a few clicks, they have access to all the information they need to find an internship or a first permanent position. Students manage their applications in real time through their My Applications section and are automatically informed by a personalized message if a company does not retain one of their candidacies. This enables them to rapidly review their strategy and prioritize other opportunities available on the platform.
Students on HOSCO can also connect with other students and alumni from the participating hotel schools to start new relationships, find people to share accommodation or to sell/buy furniture, or simply to get tips and recommendations on their new destination.
The participating hotel schools also enjoy a profile visible to all registered members and are able to use the website as an additional communication channel with the industry (they can send messages and share news and content with all users).
Through HOSCO, the schools are able to easily consolidate their image and positioning as modern and innovative institutions, as well as access valuable statistics on their students’ needs and preferences.
Who are your key customers and users at launch?
Hospitality Connection has currently executed collaboration agreements with nine leading hotel schools in Europe (most of the top 10 worldwide are represented), totalling a potential of over 7,000 students from over 90 nationalities. Each participating school now has its own profile visible to all students and companies registered on the platform.
Two weeks after the launch of student access (and with visits to four out of the nine participating schools), approximately 200 students and over 70 companies are registered on HOSCO.com.
Did you have customers validate your idea before investors?
On the student side, our recent experience as graduates of a hotel school and network enabled us to rapidly confirm the strong interest for the proposed platform. Then, as from May 2010 we met with leading employers in hospitality (mainly general managers and human resources managers) in London, Paris, Madrid and Geneva to discuss the proposed concept and approach.
With several letter of intents from top employers, we approached two leading hotel schools in September 2010 that confirmed that they would support the project and participate as leading educational providers to the network.
Following this initial process, we were able to raise equity to officially launch the company.
What is the business AND revenue model, strategy for profitability?
No revenue is generated from students or hotel schools. In addition, any hospitality related company can register on the platform at no cost with a standard package and basic profile. This enables them to gain exposure and receive spontaneous applications from students at no cost.
Revenue is generated when recruiters...:
- Share precise vacancies by posting internship/job offers (price per unit ranges from 100 CHF to 155 CHF)
- Connect with the students resulting from their criteria on the students database (price per “Talent Contact” ranges from 8 CHF to 13 CHF)
- Upgrade their profiles to Extended to upload pictures and share news on their organizations with all registered members (articles, press releases, videos, price per month ranges from 40 CHF to 50 CHF)
- Upgrade their membership to Premium, to post an unlimited number of offers, have an access to the Student Directory with no restriction and to enjoy an Extended Profile (monthly membership ranges from 200 CHF and 250 CHF)
Additional revenue lines related to new services for the distinct user types are currently being developed and will be launched in the second half of 2012.
SWOT analysis – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats?
Strengths:
- Rapidly growing industry
- Highly competitive marketplace, strong focus from employers on developing strategies to identify, attract and retain young talents with international perspective in hospitality
- Modern, efficient and user-friendly platform
- Long-term agreements with top-ranked hotel schools (strong barriers to entry)
- No true direct competitors (no similar focus, approach and/or product)
- Solid network in hospitality through our education and professional background
Weaknesses:
- Website only in English for now
Opportunities:
- Rapid growth through new schools’ entry in Europe and then globally
- Development of additional services/income generators
- Smartphone application
Threats:
- Major consolidated media companies could develop specific solutions for niche markets
Did anyone think your idea was not going to be successful? If so, why did you not listen to them?We did not face this kind of comments/feedbacks from students, schools or employers. However, we were able to note that there is less appetite for the proposed product from companies located nearby the leading hotel schools. HOSCO is particularly useful for employers that face time and cost constraints to physically meet and interact with the students on a frequent basis.
How will you measure success 12 months from now?
Our objectives 12 months from now per user type are the following:
- Schools: 9-14 - We are already in talks with three additional schools in Europe to consolidate the portfolio. New entries will only take place when the ratio: students/employers is coherent and ensures satisfaction to all users already registered. Registered employers will play an active role in the next schools’ selection.
- Students: 1,750-2,500 - 25% to 35% of current potential at the participating hotel schools. New intakes as well as potential new school entries will help achieve this performance.
- Employers: 400-600 - Success is also assessed on the diversity in the type of companies (sectors), departments/activities offered by the employers, management structure and size, and geographic location.
Here is a clip:
NB: TLabs Showcase is part of the wider TLabs project from Tnooz.