However, one man has found opportunity in adversity – expanding his hotel chain by taking over 67 boutique hotels, including three hotels in Indonesia, within a span of 15 months.
The amazing thing is: the founder of the Zamburger Hotel, Norizam Tukiman, 40, started out as a roadside burger seller.
He said the pandemic provided him the opportunity to buy over the hotels as they were offered to him at a low price by the owners as they could no longer cover the operating costs and pay salaries.
“Most hotel owners have given up on their business which has dropped by 99% because of the pandemic, with some receiving no guests at all.
“So, to save the hotel industry and avoid more people losing their job, I took over the budget and boutique hotels which are rated three-star and below,” he said.
Norizam, who comes from a poor family and used to live in a squatter house, said his interest in business started when he had to help his father, Tukiman Jasemo, 73, at a roadside stall selling banana fritters and “cakoi”.
When he turned 16, he opened a burger stall with a capital of RM1,500 in Kampung Tuah Jaya, Taman Perling, Johor.
“The commission I got from selling the burgers was enough to cover my daily expenses. Besides selling the burger at the roadside stall, I also sent my burgers to office canteens and also at the Larkin bus stop,” he added.
His early difficult life pushed him to study hard, following which he was able to pursue his studies at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in Segamat, doing his diploma in investment analysis. After graduating, he worked as an investment consultant at a bank in Johor.
Last June, he finished his diploma in financial strategy.
Combining his experience in selling burgers and as a remisier in stock investment for over 20 years, Norizam established his own brand of products, UZ Food Berhad, before venturing into the hotel industry in 2015.
He started with only three hotels, two in Senai, Johor and one in Kota Warisan, Sepang, Selangor before expanding his business empire .
When questioned how he could take over a large number of hotels in a short time, Norizam said he used three business strategies,
“The first was to buy the hotel, the second was to buy the hotel ‘business’ with the hotel still having the original owner and the third through lease.
“For example, to build and renovate a 30-room hotel costs an average of RM3 million and that amount is quite high, so what I can do is lease the hotel from the owner for between RM15,000 and RM20,000 a month for 15 to 20 years. It’s cheaper.
“In a year, I’ll have to spend about RM240,000 for a hotel, which I consider as an investment or cost to build a hotel. Hopefully the hotel industry will recover next year,” he said, adding that he aims to have 100 hotels by the end of this year.
Norizam, who is now also the owner of Kelantan FC, said the Zamburger hotel chain is syariah-compliant .
On the name Zamburger for his hotel chain, he said it was to prove that burger sellers can also be successful if they work hard and have the determination to succeed.