{"id":17930,"date":"2023-01-12T10:18:54","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T10:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/?p=17930"},"modified":"2025-11-20T08:52:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T08:52:00","slug":"mba-graduate-making-the-impossible-epos-ible-for-hospitality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/2023\/01\/mba-graduate-making-the-impossible-epos-ible-for-hospitality\/","title":{"rendered":"MBA graduate making the impossible EPOS-ible for hospitality"},"content":{"rendered":"

A global pandemic, the leaving of the single market and a cost-of-living crisis has left the UK’s hospitality industry in a tricky situation. Records show that even before Covid-19 vacancies in the industry were already at unprecedently high levels. \u00a0<\/strong>Some in the sector cite the culture, pay and zero-hours contracts as exacerbating the situation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gaurav Kathuria took an MBA and launched his hospitality solutions business during his time of study. Here, he explains how his newly found expertise led to the launch of an exciting and relevant venture\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIn a post-pandemic world, businesses are all about efficiency. In hospitality in particular, people can\u2019t find the staff, so the key is to find solutions that are automated in lots of key areas,\u201d explains Gaurav.<\/p>\n

Gaurav grew up in India watching his father work tirelessly on his own business, with little time for respite. From his father, he inherited an entrepreneurial spirit but also a drive to create something to improve a work life balance for all.<\/p>\n

\u201cI moved to Shropshire from India at age 17 and then to Kent 12 years ago. My dad has a manufacturing and supply chain business and has always worked hard. I knew how valuable it can be to have something to call your own, but also what a hard slog it can be. My aim in life was to build a business that fits around life outside of work.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was while working at another university in IT solutions that his employer paid for him to undertake an MBA at Kent in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe MBA was transformational for me. We were forced to think innovatively as a rule of thumb, but even more so during the pandemic,\u201d says Gaurav. \u201cWe did our MBA during Covid, and we had to think on our feet and adapt to change. It wasn\u2019t perfect but that\u2019s what happens in business, and you have to make it work. Problem-solving is what business is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was during his favourite modules \u2013 Delivering Innovation and Entrepreneurship that Gaurav started to develop his latest business model, with the help of MBA Entrepreneurship in Residence, John.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ideas came through the project I did in a former job, we ended up making job functions redundant in their hospitality sector, as there were so many things that they were doing manually that could\u2019ve been easily automated,\u201d remarks Gaurav. \u201cI saw a gap, a problem that needed solving particularly in the post-Covid and Brexit climate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Gaurav’s business was inspired by his MBA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He developed a model that resells high-quality EPOS systems with full-scale solutions such as training and implementation, to make the process as easy as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the second module, it was becoming a full business solution,\u201d he explains. \u201cWe developed automatic deduction from stock, a function which isn\u2019t used by many small businesses and a system that can integrate point of sale, stock control and finance solutions and create a business\u2019 own ordering site with Just Eat and Deliveroo that can be rigged into the EPOS.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Gaurav knew staff shortages were the biggest problem the industry faced, he knew that for years hospitality had struggled with a lack of digital skills.<\/p>\n

He says: \u201cThere was little innovation in small business hospitality until Covid forced them to innovate. Who expected to go to a restaurant and order by QR code a few years ago? A lot of SMEs lack training packages to actually get to grips with using new technology, I wanted to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having built his solutions in a way that is affordable, he hopes to offer businesses a \u2018one-stop shop\u2019 down the line, integrating stock control, training, HR, licensing, staffing and ordering into one offering that small enterprises can afford.<\/p>\n

Gaurav concludes: \u201cI have a front-of-house expert, chef and licensing expert who are working with me so that when I introduce the systems to new businesses, we can work directly with the relevant teams to train them in a way they understand and need. The dream is to scale up the systems used by small businesses to rival those that the big chains use, to protect and save these important independent businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaurav Kathuria Hospitality Systems offer cost-effective solutions including those for Point of Sale, Stock Control & Accommodation Management.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

AMBA-accredited, Kent Business School’s MBA is underpinned by our high-quality research and informed by the global outlook of our international community. It builds on your current experience to transform you into a responsible business leader.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Find out more about Hospitality Simplified on their Linkedin Page<\/a> or Facebook Page.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Check our new\u00a0Guide for students from India coming to study at Kent Business School<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A global pandemic, the leaving of the single market and a cost-of-living crisis has left the UK’s hospitality industry in a tricky situation. Records show … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74553,"featured_media":18324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[177066,9875,124],"tags":[807,872,9875],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17930"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74553"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17930"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23311,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17930\/revisions\/23311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/kbs-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}