Everyone's situation is different. In our case, we knew we would not be depending on the B&B for the bulk of our income. Really it was meant to pay the bills for the house: taxes, insurance,heating, electric, water etc...
We have two rooms. Our season is 90% between Memorial Day and Labor Day. We added a separate-from-the-B&B vacation rental apartment a year and a half ago, for people with children and/or small pets. It was a good addition.
In the five years we've been in business, the B&B has not paid all those bills, but it pays the most expensive ones.
I very much enjoy doing this. Not burned out, but as previously noted, the bulk of our business leaves a LOT of personal time.
We began the planning process rather like you have. I read everything I could find on the subject, this was back in the 90s, so most of the reading was from books and periodicals. If you are like us, I suggest you read books on building, foundations and roofs, insulation, plumbing (god bless pex) and the like. If you are do-it-yourselfers, you'll avoid some mistakes. If you hire the labor, you'll be able to talk knowledgeably with contractors. The only book I actually purchased was: Renovation: A Complete Guide. If you're really in the right frame of mind, you'll find it a good read in addition to the valuable advice it contains.
When house-hunting, the ultimate goal of B&B was foremost in our minds. Location is King, but in our case it meant a location that WE would like to live in.
Our place is in a rural location. There is ample parking. (something that is VERY important, and difficult to add if it is not already present)
There is no zoning here. For B&B requirements it was a matter of meeting the requirements of our State (by the time we got to this stage all was easily available on the web).
For our local regs, we consulted our County Health Department, and as we were taking it down to the studs, we put in place the suggestions of the Health inspector. Initially we got annual permits for B&B breakfast and dinner service. We also have restaurant and catering licenses. We may be over-licensed but it will be easier to keep these licenses going than to start from scratch as regs change. Health inspectors here change on a regular basis. We've had a new person for nearly every annual inspection.
We did the bulk of the rehab work ourselves, with our own and some hired labor and many re-used and re-purposed building materials. I don't believe we have any more put in to the place than we could sell it for in this market (as a single family) if we had to. We financed as we went along and the mortgage is now paid.
We started our B&B blog two years before we opened. It was a free Blogger site. So we already had a web presence at opening, and got our first booking inquiries from there. I reserved a domain name at about the same time. We added a Yahoo Sitebuilder site a year after we opened. We are still using it, although it is LONG overdue for an overhaul. The needed improvements are more than my limited do it yourself skills are capable of, so I've got a local professional lined up and as soon as I take new photos, (dh is the pro here, we have lighting equipment etc...) we will go with a Wordpress site that also looks good on smartphones. We have online booking. We use Sq are for cc processing.
I discovered this group when it was on another service, and followed when it migrated to its present location (THANK YOU SWIRT) The hands down most important piece of advice given was the imperative of in-room baths. Since we were taking down to the studs, it was advice fairly easily put in place. I don't think anyone would think of doing otherwise now, just shows how relatively long ago our planning and building stage was!
Search any term you are seeking advice on, accounting, cc, room amenities, breakfast service times, policies wording, use of signs, door lock systems, really just about any topic you can think of. If you have questions just ask. Most will happily respond in a thread or via email.
Best wishes. If you love your community, B&B is a great way to share what you love..
