Hands-On Management is the Watchword of Entrepreneur Sunil Wadhwani

By  //  October 11, 2022

 

Sunil Wadhwani probably isn’t the kind of entrepreneur you’re used to thinking of. With so many entrepreneurs looking to the tech field for a path forward in competitive and time-consuming markets, Sunil Wadhwani is firmly in the hospitality industry.

Sunil and his family emigrated to the United States when he was just 6 years old, and he says that his business success since then has been a matter of following his intuition, “I followed my own instincts and somehow one thing led to the next.”.

He’s not the kind of entrepreneur that starts with a grand vision, or who always dreamed of working in a particular industry. In fact, his first business experience was helping his parents run a retail store in Dallas Texas.

But those things don’t make Sunil Wadhwani any less of an entrepreneur, and in some ways, they even make his success more impressive.

How does he do what he does?

Hands-on management.

What kind of hands-on management? Well, let’s take a look at Sunil Wadhwani’s daily schedule: “I will normally visit every location daily and meet with each General Manager. We will discuss any issues or situations that may have presented themselves since our last conversation and I will help and guide them to resolve them. Once my rounds are completed, I will visit the office to review finances and other things with my management team there.”

That might not be as impressive for some business owners and entrepreneurs, but Sunil Wadhwani’s hotel empire includes 8 different hotels and three different brands: La Quinta/Wyndham, Motel 6, and Marriott. He’s also set to open a 9th location soon.

That’s a lot of work for anyone to manage, but Sunil Wadhwani is up to the task.

Where does he get his inspiration, and why does he manage all of his hotels so closely?

Well, a lot of his inspiration comes from his parents’ actual lived experiences. When they arrived in the United States they had $100 to their name and a family to provide for. Despite their challenges, Wadhwani reports that they “struggled and failed and succeeded and well and truly lived the American Dream. They are my heroes and all the inspiration I ever needed to excel.”

Why take a hands-on approach to management? Maybe it’s because he saw the hard work his parents did trying to provide for their family in a new country. Maybe it’s because Sunil Wadhwani believes in working your way up from the bottom and paying your dues if you want to seek success. Or maybe it’s wanting to leave a legacy of success and personal and professional excellence for his family.

Sunil Wadhwani has 4 children and 3 grandchildren, and still cites his proudest achievement as his marriage of almost 35 years.

Maybe excellence at work really does come from excellence at home.

But whatever the motivations behind visiting his locations and working closely with the on-site managers of his hotels, it’s clearly working.

Sunil Wadhwani first got into the hotel business in 2000, as one of La Quinta’s first additional franchisees. From there he’s built his reputation with La Quinta, Motel 6, and most recently The Marriott, a huge personal achievement for the entrepreneur.

Opening a new style of hotel, long-term suites with The Marriot, brought its own challenges, not least that it’s the only location Sunil Wadhwani can’t visit every day. But he’s excelled there too, proving that he has the business chops to run any kind of hotel, anywhere. That’s a big transition for an entrepreneur who started with local low-cost locations.

In his time in business, the hands-on approach Sunil brings to his businesses has probably had a lot to do with his locations succeeding despite the challenges the hospitality business as a whole has faced. From losing a large percentage of the migrant clients his Texas business used to rely on, to the slowdowns associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, Sunil Wadhwani has been able to keep his businesses running smoothly and succeeding.

And that’s despite other systemic challenges to traditional hospitality businesses, like the popularity of services like Airbnb which give travelers more options for accommodations.

Will Sunil Wadhwani ever take a step back from his hands-on ways and enjoy a well-earned retirement and the fruits of his labors?

Well, he still thinks that he’ll have the right team to take over management one of these days, but he isn’t ready for retirement quite yet. He hopes to get there, but there are still some things this entrepreneur wants to do in the hospitality business himself before he starts looking for a team that can take over and ensures his business continues to thrive even after he isn’t as involved.

Sure, it’s not the modern story of tech entrepreneurship we’ve all come to expect, but there’s something special about Sunil Wadhwani’s hands-on approach to business. Something that clearly shows, since his hotels are thriving despite the challenges in the modern hospitality market.