If anyone knows hospitality more than we do, it’s Ivan Brewer. Ivan has worked in the hospitality industry for over 25 years including as a consultant for hundreds of businesses across the world. He also writes for leading technology companies in the hospitality industry.
Ivan’s industry knowledge has propelled him into the hospitality spotlight. His desire to assist restaurants of all sizes by giving them the tools and wisdom they need to thrive is one of the reasons why Ivan appears in many industry publications and on a multitude of channels.
Chrissy and Ivan became acquainted through mutual contacts, soon after his segment with Angela Vithoulkas at SME TV: How To Have A Profitable Business In The Hospitality Industry 2020.
We reached out to Ivan to talk to us about his hospitality consultancy work and career journey to date.
Q. Hi Ivan. Could you tell us a about your work as a Hospitality Advocate with Roubler and what this entails?
I have long sought to support the technology that fundamentally supports the profitability of Hospitality Businesses. As someone that has specialised in using rostering for profit for a decade, when I found Roubler, I just had to become involved. Roubler, though still very much a start-up, is a wonderful product that combines an HR portal with rostering (amongst other things). In my role as an advocate I write expert content, contribute to boot camps (video-based information sessions), and contribute to design parameters.
Q. You are known in the industry as a “Profitability Expert”, could you expand on this?
That we have a crisis of profitability in Hospitality isn’t news to anyone; we have 40% of businesses (pre-COVID) not making money, and low single-digit net profits. But we aren’t doing anything new to address it. Industry bodies and consultants opine about it, but spout the same solutions, that frankly, haven’t been working for 20 years. I simply started with the premise that what we have been doing isn’t working, and asked what would? That’s fuelled me for over a decade now.
Q. Could you tell us a little more about your work as a freelance writer in the hospitality industry?
My life changed 3 years ago when I had emergency spinal surgery. As a result, I can never again work in the industry that I love. Whilst I’ve helped thousands of businesses I grew frustrated by the lack of impact and the lack of reach I was achieving. So, I started posting value-focused content on LinkedIn. If you look at hospitality content it’s very generic, often wrong (not evidence-based) and repeating the same messages over and over again. I was approached to write for some prominent Food Tech companies because what I write is unique, solution-focused, and evidence-based. I enjoy writing, it’s received well, and it allows me to utilise my vast experience and curiosity.
Writing content, albeit for myself, or professionally, led to my participation in an anthology that was published earlier this year. I wrote about my experience with Chronic Pain and disability (a result of the surgery) and how I’ve found meaning to keep driving and striving every day. That has been a wonderful experience and a great pleasure.
Q. Did you know from a young age that wanted to work in hospitality?
I was oblivious to what hospitality was when I was young. Think about the famous scene from “the castle” – who ordered medium rare? That was pretty much my household in North Queensland. Like so many, I stumbled into hospitality and stayed.
Q. To date, what have been your career highs and lows?
Career lows is an interesting one – I’ve made so many mistakes, especially when managing staff. One of my most valuable lessons has been to see through one’s own eyes, not to rely on what others tell you. I’m a very people-centric manager, and believe that that is where profit lives – happy staff, happy customers, and happy bottom line. My proudest moments have also been people-focused. I’ve enjoyed significant success in turning around businesses, and have often redefined profitability, but making meaningful impacts in the lives of those we lead are my most cherished memories. It inspired me to write two allegorical articles inspired by that; “not all wounds bleed“, and “leave them better than they were found” on LinkedIn.
Q. Where can we follow your work?
At this stage LinkedIn is the best place to follow my work.
You can also read Ivan’s story published in I Fly: True Stories of Overcoming Adversity. I Fly is an anthology documenting 20 authors stories from around the world who have overcome serious difficulties and trauma. In the book, Ivan’s shares his struggle with Disability and Chronic Pain, a battle that he explains he “can never truly win, but one must find meaning in to survive.”
Shortly, we will be sharing Ivan’s top five tips for business success in the hospitality industry during these turbulent times. Stay tuned for more.