13 Nov 2024
Words John Miller Informer

Success Stories: Abhi Taneja

After a decade in the food industry, Abhinav “Abhi” Taneja sought broader horizons. The family had migrated to Sydney from New Delhi in 2008 when he was 10 years old. They worked basic jobs until 2014 when their permanent residency put them on a more stable footing.

“Car wash, retail, fast food … you name it, we worked it,” says Abhi.

One of those jobs was at an Oporto franchise, a fast-food restaurant specialising in Portuguese style chicken and burgers, where Abhi worked as a crew member. When the opportunity came up to buy the franchise in 2015, his family grabbed it. A second Oporto franchise followed in 2017 and a third in 2019.

“I always loved dealing with customers,” says the 26-year-old. “That’s in my blood. When I was looking at what to buy next, accommodation was a natural fit.”

Abhi set his sights on motel businesses in regional NSW within reasonable driving distance of his Penrith home. Greater Sydney wasn’t an option.

“Sydney’s accommodation market is very competitive and saturated, making it challenging to break into,” says Abhi. “On the other hand, regional areas present substantial growth opportunities. With effort and persistence, you can achieve significant success in these expanding markets.”

Being part of a local community also appealed.

“Being in a small town you’re very close to your locals. You can bond with them,” says Abhi. “In QSR [quick-service restaurants], you don’t really build connections with your customers because they just come and go. In accommodation you can build relationships with them, especially corporate guests who stay regularly.”

After connecting with ResortBrokers Central West agent Chris Kelly, Abhi scoped out several options in regional NSW, passing on Albury, Gulgong and Dubbo before deciding on Parkes.

“Dubbo appealed but it’s very competitive, so I thought it would have been too much to take on for my first motel business,” says Abhi. “But if a good opportunity comes my way again in Dubbo, I’d certainly consider it.”

“One day I got a call from Chris saying, ‘Mate I have an off-market opportunity in Parkes. Come have a look.’

It was a leasehold for the 30-room Bushmans Motor Inn in central Parkes.

“I did my research,” says Abhi. “Parkes is a very strong area. You’ve got Northparkes [copper and gold mine], you’ve got the Inland Rail project, you’ve got the Parkes Observatory, you’ve got the Elvis Festival every year. There’s always something going on in Parkes.”

To test his research, Abhi visited Parkes a couple of times to talk to local publicans to get the lay of the land.

“They all had good things to say about Parkes,” he says.

“There were a lot of reasons why I picked Bushmans. It’s a very good four-star motel, one of the best in town. As owner, I take pride in that. It was also a very well looked after property. I could understand why the vendor wasn’t ready to drop their price. It also had strong guest ratings … 8.8 on Booking.com, 4.5 on Google. I put an offer in and got accepted. We wrapped up the deal within 72 hours.”

Before settling the deal, Abhi met with the manager who had been running the motel for the last two years. She was happy to stay on through a change of ownership and still manages the motel today. Abhi visits the motel every fortnight from Sydney, where he continues to run his Oporto franchises.

During his first month of ownership, Abhi was able to identify missed opportunities in the business. Some 30% of room bookings were via OTAs such as Expedia and Booking.com, with the remaining 70% coming directly over the phone or through the motel’s website. The only problem was that his staff finished work at 6 pm, meaning the motel was missing out on direct bookings that came in after then.

“After 6pm, we were leaving money on the table,” says Abhi. “I fixed that really quickly. Now, all calls after 6 pm are redirected to my mobile phone, so I take bookings myself, around two to three a night. I was able to increase occupancy from 75% to 85%.”

Abhi also teamed up with a digital marketing agency to start running Facebook ads. The outlay was small, just $50 a day.

“I didn’t need to turn the business around in order to be profitable. It already was,” says Abhi. “It was going the extra mile.”

Another of his initiatives was to introduce dynamic pricing, which the motel does entirely inhouse.

“It’s relatively straightforward,” says Abhi. “Every hour, my manager checks the prices on OTAs to see what Parkes’ rates are like and we just change our prices from there. We see what’s going on in town and adjust our prices accordingly to ensure we’re competitive in the market.”

Now, three months into ownership, Abhi is delighted with how things have worked out.

“We have around 60% corporate trade, 40% leisure. We have a lot of people that stay with us who either work for the Inland Rail or the mine. They’re our regular guests. Then we always have travellers who are passing through Parkes who need to stay for a night or two. It’s a good mix.”

Abhi is currently trying to lease the motel’s unused restaurant to further monetise his asset. The restaurant’s kitchen supports the motel’s function centre that seats up to 150 people. Abhi says the function centre, which has a fully stacked bar, is rented out every other day.

“We have various clientele who rent it out whether it’s mining companies who hold their meetings there, or a birthday party, anniversary or engagement party. I love being able to deal with customers one-on-one. When the function centre books out … 100, 150 people, they’ve got music playing, they’ve got food going on, people are walking to the bar getting a few drinks … I love it. I love to see the place filled up. I’m overjoyed. Put the money aside, I love to have that place filled up. It’s phenomenal.” END