Mr Mehul Sharma – An Upcoming Global Leader

Recently, we had the honor of having Mr. Mehul Sharma with us for a discussion on his praiseworthy journey in the hospitality industry. The founder & CEO of the homegrown Signum Hotels & Resorts Pvt Ltd has always been very vocal about having a clear end goal of being an established global leader.

In his interview, he talked about how there’s an upcoming book written by the man himself. However, as of this moment he’s choosing to not disclose the name of the book. But he does mention how the book is going to help everyone in the F&B and hospitality industry in the near future.

The established hotelier recalls how in his previous interview with us, Covid-19 was a worry of the future, business was booming and it was a terrific time for all hoteliers alike. Pre-Covid-19 saw hotels coming up of hotels left and right along with brands expanding to different countries. However, everything came to a standstill when Covid-19 hit the world with full force. The pioneer further talks about how he is extremely grateful to have worked for exceptional brands like the Taj, ITC Hotels, and the Shangri-La.

He then proceeds to talk about how in January 2019 they started with their very own venture of Signum Hotels & Resorts and that it wasn’t too long before Covid-19 hit the world and the country too.

This left the group with two options – one was to shut down all of their offices and everyone goes back to their respective cities. The other alternative that Mr. Sharma considered and went forward with was to use this opportunity to take their brand to other countries. In such situations, owners are left with the deliberate option of making a distress sale at an undervalued price. But he mentions how it was important at that time to stand strong and just persevere through the tough times. And not selling it off at the time helped them set up their offices abroad in places like Serbia, Bosnia, Canada, Dubai, and in other parts of the world.

He also notes how they haven’t been able to open the hotels yet because of the extremity of the pandemic situation but hopes that in the times that are to come, Signum Hotels & Resorts Pvt Ltd will become a global player in the hospitality industry.

What’s notable is that he doesn’t talk about the tough times, bogging them down and instead talks about how it helped them to shape a global brand. This can easily be one of the virtues that aspiring hoteliers can look up to and adopt within themselves.

This made all the internal processes much more efficient and they took the time and effort to understand where they were going wrong. No brand is built in one day. It takes a lot of dialogues and discussions and the right execution of plans. SOPs, standards, technology, and people, all constitute a major role in the processes of the making of a brand.

Mr. Sharma then talks about how it took a considerable amount of time to stabilize their brand and now, expects to sail through in the times that are to come. Signum Hotels & Resorts has been functioning without any funding since day 1. He gleefully says how they’ve managed to open hotels not just in India but abroad also. They currently have 5 operational hotels and are expecting the launch of 4-5 more in the next couple of months. He credits his well-wishers, parents, and friends for helping them navigate through all the tough times that the brand has faced. He considers his journey a pleasant one, nonetheless an extremely challenging one. Mr. Sharma has been nothing short of an extremely humble person, thanking his well-wishers now and then throughout the interview with us.

On being asked why he chose to make a name for himself and his brand in the hospitality industry, he answers that he has always been a hotelier. He graduated from IHM Chennai in 2001. He then continued to work as a management trainee. He has been an active participant in hotel chains for 20 years. He served a glorious 12 years of service at the Taj, 5 years at ITC Hotels, and 4 years at the Shangri-La. It is only natural to start thinking about opening one’s very own venture once someone has acquired that much experience in the professional world.

Mr. Mehul Sharma, who considers himself to be a staunch believer of the renowned inspirational renowned inspirational speaker Simon Sinek, quotes him by saying, “It is not the what or the how, but the why.” Once the investors see the purpose of the brand, they’d be open to investing in it.