Make hospitality a key trait of your business

The woman opened the shop’s door hesitantly, unsure of what she would encounter on the other side.

She hoped to meet a welcoming or smiling shopkeeper, but her expectations were more of a watchful eye upon her every move. Nevertheless, she needed to push that door. She had no other option. Her boiling kettle had to be replaced and there was no way to go about her daily activities without a cup of steaming tea. Welcoming shopkeeper or not, she would make her purchase, and put her desire to feel welcomed and valued to the side.

Low-trust societies have taught shopkeepers, and business people in all segments of our economies to be cautious, suspicious, and ultimately unwelcoming. The basic and valued virtue of hospitality has been replaced by a masked hostility that can make even the simplest of transactions a denigrating experience. People needing to make basic purchases end up feeling as strangers in businesses that are just around the corner from their own flat.

In our modern times marked by extreme mobility, most of us have had experiences of being a stranger in a strange place. One can learn to cope with such situations, but being truly comfortable in them is a rare trait. This is why genuine hospitality – “the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers” – is valued by many.

At the Agathe Center for Entrepreneurship, we aspire to set ourselves firmly in the ancient yet still relevant stream of hospitality as a virtue expected of good people in the world. We want each person we encounter in our training center and offices, or virtually through various forms of communications, to experience a truly friendly and generous reception.

The “hospitality industry” is usually defined as “a broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging, event planning, theme parks, transportation, cruise line, and additional fields within the tourism industry”.

But couldn’t every enterprise be hospitable? Shouldn’t they be?

‍At Agathe, it is our aspiration to be genuinely hospitable and to see every enterprise we serve join an even more broadly defined “hospitality industry”. Every enterprise that does is closer to doing true good.

‍