Workshops
Should You Even Open a Homestay
or a hostel in 2025?
What We
Offer
Before you invest 50 Lakhs!
A reality check before you invest your savings into another pretty property that doesn’t make money.
Module 1 – The Brutal Truth
The math nobody tells you.
Occupancy rates, OTA commissions, and the real profit margins after seasonality and staff salaries.
Module 3 – Sustainability That Pays Back
Real systems, not moral talk. Energy, waste, and design choices that save ₹, not just look good on Instagram.
Why they fail?
Most homestays don’t fail because they lack heart.
They fail because they skip the math, the market, and the meaning.
Module 2 – Should You Even Start?
A scorecard to test your idea, your mindset, and your finances.
Module 4 – Building Direct Demand
Learn to rely less on OTAs and more on brand + content + experience.
Operations + marketing calendar you can execute tomorrow.
What you'll take home?
After 8+ years of building, losing, and rebuilding hospitality projects across India & abroad, this workshop is my attempt to make sure you don’t repeat the same mistakes
Most workshops give “checklists.”
This one gives clarity, the kind that saves you lakhs and months of confusion.
A new lens for evaluating land and locations
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HJow to look at a property beyond “good view and road access”
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What makes a location commercially viable access, logistics, seasonality, local ecosystem, competition, and digital visibility
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How to do a 15-minute location viability audit before even visiting a site
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how to price the dream vs the data (what ROI looks like in mountains vs coasts)
“You’ll never look at a piece of land the same way again.”
Decision frameworks that replace guesswork
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3-layer decision framework, emotional fit, operational reality, and financial sustainability
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Filters to judge if their idea is a brand or just a building
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The confidence to say “no” when the project doesn’t fit their long-term life design
“The workshop gives you permission to not build until it’s right and tools to know when it is.”
Real case studies from real places
No hypotheticals. Real stories, with numbers, from:
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Fika Homes (Gadagusain) what worked, what didn’t, how the model evolved into a premium slow-living stay
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Mudhouse Jibhi -how it went from a viral brand to an operational burnout, and the lessons that birthed Elivingprojects
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Goa coastal project -how seasonality and poor local partnerships drained profitability, and what sustainable correction looks like
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Hidden retreat in Bir - what “sustainable at scale” means in a small village
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Bonus: two new-age hostels and a boutique stay case in Tirthan Valley + South Goa (shared anonymously with data)
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Each case study dissects
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Setup cost vs recurring cost
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Occupancy, pricing, OTA dependence
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Team structure, salary costs
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Break-even months
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Brand and content levers that actually drove bookings
“You’ll see real P&L snapshots - not just Instagram sunsets.”
Takeaways that will save you lakhs
The mindset shift that separates dreamers from operators
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the difference between running a stay vs building a hospitality brand
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how to balance romance with reason, the art of building something soulful, but scalable
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how to design systems that give them peace of mind, not more dependency on staff
“Because you didn’t leave the city to become a full-time plumber, accountant, and HR.”
The community + insider circle
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Private WhatsApp group of inner circle
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Access to updates on new state policies, funding programs, and property leads
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Potential collaborations with Rahul for on-ground project audits and marketing partnerships
“Your learning doesn’t end with the session- it becomes a circle of doers.”
Core Promise
By the end of this workshop, participants will:
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Know whether to open a homestay/hostel in 2025, or not
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Have a 12-month roadmap for operations, marketing, and sustainability
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Understand the hidden traps that kill 8 out of 10 hospitality projects
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Be equipped to design stays that make money and mean something
Built and operated Mudhouse Hostels, Fika Homes, Karyashala, YouFinder Retreats.
Over 10 years of creating soulful, sustainable travel projects in India’s most remote corners, awarded as Top 5 Travel Startups of India by Govt of India.
“I’m not here to romanticize building a homestay.
I’m here to tell you what it actually takes, and how to make it worth your life.”
You'll leave the workshop with
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A yes/no/maybe clarity on your hospitality dream
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A strategy to build without burnout
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Systems to make your space profitable and soulful
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Access to Rahul’s mentorship circle for continued guidance