EP Magazine

The Dream Factory

Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) has sought to challenge students to think like entrepreneurs through its Masters programme, with interesting results including some concepts developed through to an investable stage. In this EP special feature we talk to REMI WALBAUM, EHL director of operations and administration, and KIMBERLY SETZERMANN, founder of Pure Acqua, a concept originating as part of this programme.

Encouraging enterprise in business has been a recurrent theme in discussion over the past few years. Not only are more entrepreneurs needed, according to some, but instilling an entrepreneurial mindset into the DNA of managers is often part of the leadership strategy in organisations.

Kimberly Setzermann, an EHL Masters graduate in 2010, wrote a business plan for a new spa concept, Pure Acqua, as part of her studies. This involves a series of authentic water rituals provided at a low cost to reinspire younger generations to use this therapy. Her husband David Setzermann, studying on the Diploma programme simultaneously, helped to formulate the concept. The business plan was selected to be EHL’s start-up development process and has since won the Swiss National Evian Young Entrepreneur award and was placed second in the Le Prix du Jeune Entrepreneur (PJE).

It is interesting to learn about EHL’s approach to developing new ideas, especially from Remi who has been an entrepreneur for more than 20 years. In his teaching role at EHL, his objective is to encourage creativity not only in terms of start-up concepts, but in terms of individual thinking by getting students to take a broader overview of business. He was also made EHL’s director of operations in October last year with the mandate to make EHL an ‘innovating campus’. He says, “When people walk into our new campus it’s my vision that they should see EHL as innovating, with examples of concepts like Pure Acqua on site to show the process completely. In this way the campus would reflect entrepreneurship in its buildings.”

Entrepreneurship is part of the curriculum for EHL students. We use the classroom to develop start-up ideas over the year, which builds analytical skills and encourages students to explore what is seen and unseen in building a new concept. We are asking students to develop their ability to run an SME and oblige them to look at all the skills required for management, rather than something specific and functional.

“The simple brief is that we ask for a business plan on a new innovation which the student considers to be feasible. The immediate reaction is typically ‘I have no idea’ as it’s not something they have ever thought about, but some of the concepts submitted are very inventive. Kimberly wanted to create a new spa concept and my immediate reaction was to challenge her not to do the same old thing and to create something different. Pure Acqua was the result. She worked very hard, alongside her husband, and the concept adds a lot of value. As an individual she was very demanding of me throughout the project, and my response was to go quite deeply into the detail of the plan. Ultimately I put the question to her: don’t you think you should actually do it? EHL propose a full incubation pocess going from idea to implementation, this means ideas generation, concept development, business plan and implementation. Kimberly’s plan was supported by an EHL Student Business Project who work in detail on the concept, adding more value by conducting further investigation to determine its feasibility. This group worked on the detail of suppliers, finances and legal, in addition to finding a site in Zurich where the spa could be located. This process showed that the concept would fit well with a small to medium-sized hotel looking for a small spa concept, as opposed to a big spa concept in a large chain.

“After this stage Pure Acqua was sent to INTEHL, where the concept was pitched among a network of contacts. We introduced Kimberly to a number of potential investors and one in particular took the concept very seriously, but ultimately decided it was not the right time in his life to take it further.

“As an entrepreneur I have suffered joy and despair throughout my career and have a lot to share. The joy of teaching is in helping people who did not know they could be an entrepreneur realise that they can.”

My background is in spa and wellness and I was working at a practice in Manhattan when I decided to take up a role with Lindblad, an expeditions company which is a partner of National Geographic. Through this I met David while onboard the Sea Cloud II, where he was executive chef and I was assistant expedition leader. We both later moved to ice class ships in the Arctic and Antarctic in these positions.

“After leaving the ships we both applied to EHL on scholarship and to our amazement we were both accepted. I didn’t return to study to become an entrepreneur, however, my class with Remi was great. Pure Acqua was a business plan that I put together as part of his course with the idea coming from the time that David and I spent at thermal baths in Switzerland. It struck me that water has been used as therapy for centuries, but that younger generations were not making use of it and I started to think about why this was the case. Quite simply, young people do not have the time to spend three hours soaking up the benefits of water-based therapy. Pure Acqua is a concept that seeks to address this by creating a concept for cities, targeted at people with disposable income but limited time. The business plan was eventually developed in detail over a six-week period with a team of three other people, all of whom had differing expertise – Andrea Brandenberger, Nattha Chutinthranond and Simone Hess – we were like the dream team! It was then put into INTEHL and David and I began pitching to investors, including Paul Dubrule, founder of Accor. This was very scary but a great experience. I had a friend who helped with the financial elements of the business plan so I could answer everything he asked. The thing which made me think was when he asked what the financials would look like when the concept was scaled up for 100-plus sites. I realised that it would be a huge challenge to keep the values of the brand safe and deliver a consistent standard.
“After leaving EHL David and I set up Pure Strategic Solutions, a hospitality consultancy company. Pure Acqua is part of this and we are still talking to investors; it has to be handled properly, so we are looking for the right fit. Meanwhile we have taken up a role in Tanzania at Rivertrees Country Inn, an exclusive hospitality concept.
“The main learning from my course with Remi was just to go for things and trust that you can work out how to get from a-to-b. I think you can do this with good coaches and Remi never let me say that something was too difficult. I was also lucky I had a friend who could work through the financials with me.
“This experience was not what I went to EHL for, but it’s the thing I most remember about EHL.”