10 Year Anniversary

[Arks]

In April I will have been doing this 10 years. Should I do something special?

I don't see any benefit to me in giving some sort of discount for this occasion. "They" (current guests) didn't do anything to earn a discount.

So what? Just try to get some local newspaper publicity/feature story?

Any other thoughts/ideas?

 

[gillumhouse]

IF you have a unit empty, do an Open House 10th Birthday celebration. Call the papers & TV. Have a birthday cake, ice cream & coffee. Schedule it for 5 PM to get the after work folks. Invite the Mayor & Council, County Commissioners, etc. AND if it is election cycle, your State representatives. The hell with discounts - PUBLICITY!!!

 

[TheBeachHouse]

Yes to Gillum’s ideas. In our town the chamber loves these milestones and will do an anniversary ribbon cutting for you with press coverage. Open house is a great idea. Good to have at least one room available for the open house. Maybe a raffle for a discount coupon or t shirt or coffee mug. use the raffle winner for more social media publicity when they pick up their prizes.

(P.S. never raffle a room night. You’ll get ungrateful users who barely acknowledge you. A discount brings them in but only if they are willing to pay. You can make it a two night minimum or restrict it to certain dates.).

 

[gillumhouse]

BTW: What I did with each of my Open House events was to have a $1 donation at the door with the dollars going to the Lord's Pantry Food Bank - the local pet charity. No one complained and it was an extra "brownie point" that a charity was benefitting from it.

 

[GoodScout]

(P.S. never raffle a room night. You’ll get ungrateful users who barely acknowledge you. A discount brings them in but only if they are willing to pay. You can make it a two night minimum or restrict it to certain dates.).

We never raffle or donate room nights. Locals never appreciate them.
We raffle our gourmet breakfast for 4, and locals get to spread the word amongst the townfolk about how great our breakfasts are. Also creates an air of exclusivity. ("Have you ever had breakfast at their place? It's amazing!")

 

[gillumhouse]

I also do not raffle or donate room nights. When I donate, I donate roasts of coffee which highlights something we do for our breakfasts - in-house fresh-roasted coffee.

 

[Arks]

We never raffle or donate room nights. Locals never appreciate them.

I've found that most of them never get used. Locals already have a place to stay. So I get by with giving a valuable gift appreciated by the charity (to auction off), and it often doesn't cost me anything! So there's that!

In fact, as Christmas bonuses last December, a local business with 40 employees gave each of them a gift certificate for one night at my inn. They paid me up front, over $6000. So far, only one person has used the gift certificate, for Valentine's Day. I predict most of them will never be used!

 

[TheBeachHouse]

That’s a cool way to make a few bucks!

 

[CSMaine]

Just noting it is an anniversary should be good especially with marketing. Maybe a value added during April, but not a discount. Heck, Disney raised prices for their anniversary. Ha!

 

[Conductor Cyndi]

In April I will have been doing this 10 years. Should I do something special?

I don't see any benefit to me in giving some sort of discount for this occasion. "They" (current guests) didn't do anything to earn a discount.

So what? Just try to get some local newspaper publicity/feature story?

Any other thoughts/ideas?

Happy Anniversary Arks! We, too, are approaching our 10th Anniversary of ownership (I've been at it for 15 years total). This is not a job, it is a lifestyle!

 

[GoodScout]

We all must of shown up at the same time. Our 10-year anniversary is in July!

 

[TheBeachHouse]

Ours is in august!

 

[gillumhouse]

My 27th is in July.

 

[Conductor Cyndi]

We took over the business on April 1st, 2013 and closed on the purchase on Halloween Day of 2013. The Scary Joke is on us!

 

[gillumhouse]

We took over the business on April 1st, 2013 and closed on the purchase on Halloween Day of 2013. The Scary Joke is on us!

USE that as a promo!! You have it right there any year you want to use it - for BOTH days!

 

[Tom]

We opened July 9, 2009. Hard to believe it's been that long. Cooked thousands of breakfasts. Ooof!

 

[Silverspoon]

Hi all, It's been awhile since I checked in but we are still here!!! We opened in June, 1990 and are still hosting. This will be our 33rd year. These days we only offer the cottage with a Continental breakfast on a weekly basis. Most of our guests are returning so there is very little stress...just as we had planned. Going out with our "boots on"! It's amazing how time flies!!!

 

[Arks]

Most of our guests are returning so there is very little stress...just as we had planned. Going out with our "boots on"! It's amazing how time flies!!!

Excellent. That's my plan, to keep things low stress and easy FOR ME, while bringing in some welcome income to supplement my social security.

 

[Silverspoon]

Excellent. That's my plan, to keep things low stress and easy FOR ME, while bringing in some welcome income to supplement my social security.

Exactly! Knowing your market and setting your goals early in your hosting endeavor is paramount if you are in this for the long haul. The difficult part is deciding how much is “enough”! If you think having a celebration to mark your anniversary will help your business… go for it! Otherwise, the time, energy and satisfaction you get from ann event are an ego boost.

 

[TheBeachHouse]

Excellent. That's my plan, to keep things low stress and easy FOR ME, while bringing in some welcome income to supplement my social security.

Yes! Long term plan is to go down to two rooms, accessible from outside, no breakfast, weekly only. Almost no hosting required but we can still collect a few bucks. We will only take regulars, so no explaining restaurants or things to do on a rainy day.