Sep 02 2010
How To Start A Bed And Breakfast – The Difference Between Simple And Easy
How to start a bed and breakfast? Some people might look at that as an easy question. All you need to do is find a suitable property, make sure it’s clean and tidy, then it’s no more complicated than if you were having friends to stay – except people pay you!
If you think starting a bed and breakfast (or guest house, gite, country inn, etc) is that simple then I’m afraid you’re in for a bit of a reality check.
For the purposes of this article we’ll assume you already fit the profile of a bed and breakfast owner. You like people, right? You think looking after them – making their stay a pleasure – is interesting work, is fun and you realize that it’s important.
Because running a bed and breakfast can be very rewarding, both personally and financially, but it’s not always easy and there is nothing more frustrating than an unreasonably demanding guest! Most of the time you’ll get lovely people and well behaved children but sometimes you’ll get little horrors – of all ages! When it happens you have to be able to smile, say thank you and remember that they won’t be with you for long.
If you’ve been looking at how to start a bed and breakfast for a while then most of this won’t be news to you. We’re all slightly different though. Things which you think are obvious won’t have occurred to some people and vice versa. Let’s have a quick run through of a few important points.
What about location? It may be beautiful but do people have a reason to go there? If the area is popular, are you actually permitted to have a bed and breakfast business there? Depending on your country and your specific area there may be planning or other commercial restrictions.
What’s the competition like? A lot of this information can now be found online. Can you price competitively and still make a decent living? Can you see any weaknesses in their offer? Can you provide something to make your b & b stand out?
When you think you’re ready to go, check again. Have you got everything you need? Not just in terms of linen or crockery but paperwork, something to give your guests as an invoice, leaflets from local tourist spots, etc. Have you sorted out how you’re going to take credit cards? Everything may be clear in your own head about exactly how you are going to run each facet of your bed and breakfast business but is it clear to your prospective customers? What time can they check in? What time is breakfast? Look at things from their point of view. Get a friend to act as the worst possible guest imaginable and try to pick fault with everything. Are there any real faults? Put them right now.
Make lists. Lots of lists. Don’t rely on memory because we all forget things. Writing it down not only gives you a point of reference, it gives you a plan of action. You can instantly see the things that need doing and the order they need doing in.
It isn’t always going to be easy, you know that, but the answer to how to start a bed and breakfast is to break it down into simple steps. Do one, tick it off, do the next. Top tip is to start with the one you want to do least. Get rid of the negative drain first, then everything else is easier – and more fun!