Customers choose before they arrive.
Google, maps, reviews and AI assistants decide who gets considered. Many good businesses barely exist in that moment.
Riccardo Serra · Edinburgh · Founder and operator
Riccardo Serra.
Easier to find. Easier to run.
I help independent businesses see what customers see, measure what is really happening, and build the practical systems that make the business easier to run.
Visibility
Reviews
Operations
Training
Numbers
Practical AI
01 / Who I am
Not a consultant who learned hospitality. An operator who learned everything else.
I am an Italian hospitality operator based in Edinburgh. My background runs from the floor to general management and area-level, multi-site operations: service, teams, standards, reviews, rotas, numbers, reporting and the everyday pressure of live trading.
Along the way I started building the tools the job needed: forecasting workbooks, owner reports, review routines, training structures, SOPs, dashboards and AI-supported documents. Not theory. Useful machinery built because the work needed it.
Hospitality is the first focus because that is where my judgement is deepest. The underlying problems travel: being found, being chosen, being consistent, being measurable, and knowing what to fix first.
02 / What I see
Most independent businesses are not short of effort. They are short of visibility.
Visibility outside the business: search, maps, reviews, answer engines and the places customers decide. Visibility inside the business: standards, labour, forecasting, reporting and proof that the work is holding.
Reputation is left to chance.
Review flow, response habits and guest recovery are treated as side tasks instead of operating routines.
Standards live in people's heads.
Service quality depends on who is on shift. When a key person leaves, the standard leaves with them.
Numbers arrive too late.
Reports describe the past, but owners need forecasting, labour logic and KPIs that point at decisions.
03 / Areas of work
Six doors in. One operating loop.
Some businesses need one area. Some need three. The first conversation is about finding the right door, including "none of them yet".
Visibility and search
Google Business Profile, local search foundations, website clarity and how your business appears in AI assistants and answer engines.
Reputation and reviews
Review routines, response templates, guest recovery, TripAdvisor foundations and team habits that make reputation operational.
Operations and standards
SOPs, service standards, management routines, rota logic and accountability that hold up on a busy day.
People and training
Onboarding, service steps, supervisor expectations, staff manuals and training paths that make "trained" mean something.
Reporting and forecasting
KPI dashboards, scenario forecasts, labour planning, weekly performance reviews and owner-ready reporting.
Practical AI tools
AI for reporting, documentation, review analysis, SOPs, training assistants and admin time-savers. No hype, no lock-in.
04 / How I work
Look properly. Build only what is useful. Track whether it works.
- LookHow the business appears outside, and how it really runs inside.
- MeasureWhat the numbers, reviews, staffing and standards can actually prove.
- PrioritiseWhat is worth fixing first, what can wait, and what is not worth your money.
- BuildTools, systems, content or training sized for the business.
- TrackProgress over time, using evidence instead of memory.
05 / Where to start
Three clear ways to buy the work.
Fixed scopes. No open-ended day rates. The review usually comes first because it shows what is actually worth building.
The Operating Review
A site visit, a numbers review and a written read on visibility, reviews, labour, service flow and standards. Ranked by what is worth fixing first.
Ask about a reviewVisibility and Reputation System
Google Business Profile and listings, a review-request routine, response templates, team training and a monthly tracking sheet.
Ask about visibilityNumbers and Systems Build
Scenario forecasting, labour planning, KPI dashboards, owner reports, SOPs and checklists. Built, handed over and trained.
Ask about systems06 / Serra Systems
When the answer is structure, it has a name.
Serra Systems is the systems line inside this practice. It is the work around SOPs, training structures, forecasting, dashboards, owner reporting and practical AI tools. It is one way I help businesses, not the whole of what I do.
Talk about Serra Systems07 / Proof
Built in live operations, without publishing private evidence.
I will not name employers, use confidential data or invent clients. The proof here is method-level until public case studies are approved.
Forecasting and KPIs
Scenario forecasts, labour planning and reporting designed for live hospitality decisions.
Review routines
Team habits, prompts and response systems that turn reputation into an operating rhythm.
Owner reporting
Reports that connect revenue, labour, reviews and standards in one view.
Training structures
Service standards, staff manuals and operational documents that survive real shifts.
08 / Fit
This works best for owners who want useful structure, not theatre.
Probably a fit
- Independent hospitality businesses, single-site or multi-site
- Owner-led retail or service businesses with similar gaps
- Good businesses that are underseen or inconsistent
- Owners willing to execute and measure
Probably not a fit
- Anyone shopping for guaranteed rankings
- Businesses wanting someone to run the operation for them
- Teams looking for AI as a badge rather than a tool
- Large chains with internal teams already doing this work
09 / Questions
Plain answers.
Is this an agency?
No. This is a founder-led practice. You work directly with me.
Do you only work with hospitality businesses?
Hospitality is where my experience is deepest, so it is where the work starts. The methods can also fit independent businesses with similar visibility, reputation, people and reporting problems.
Do you guarantee rankings, reviews or revenue?
No. I build stronger foundations, habits, training, reporting and systems. Results still depend on execution, offer, location, leadership and time.
What does it cost?
Fixed fees, quoted after the first conversation. The Operating Review is the entry point; larger visibility and systems builds are scoped per site.
How does an engagement start?
With a conversation, then a proper look at the business: how it shows up, how it runs, what its numbers say and what is worth fixing first.
10 / Contact
Tell me what you run. I will tell you what I see.
No pitch deck. A conversation about the business, an honest read on fit, and a clear next step if there is one.
[email protected] Edinburgh, Scotland Independent businesses across the UK