B & B Turnover

[newinnlove]

Many of you are so passionate about this business. Makes me optimistic about it being as good a lifestyle as I hope. I am wondering if the size of the B&B has a lot to do with innkeepers burning out. How many of you run your B&B just yourself and a partner? In looking for a B&B, I am concerned about how many rooms can be handled by two of us without being on the fast track to burnout. Any thoughts?

 

[gillumhouse]

Many of you are so passionate about this business. Makes me optimistic about it being as good a lifestyle as I hope. I am wondering if the size of the B&B has a lot to do with innkeepers burning out. How many of you run your B&B just yourself and a partner? In looking for a B&B, I am concerned about how many rooms can be handled by two of us without being on the fast track to burnout. Any thoughts?.

I do 3 alone but there is no way that will generate enough to live on. It generates the way a part-time job would except I do it mostly full-time - at least in season. Seashanty did hers alone - what was it 7 rooms? I am no Seashanty!

 

[muirford]

Many of you are so passionate about this business. Makes me optimistic about it being as good a lifestyle as I hope. I am wondering if the size of the B&B has a lot to do with innkeepers burning out. How many of you run your B&B just yourself and a partner? In looking for a B&B, I am concerned about how many rooms can be handled by two of us without being on the fast track to burnout. Any thoughts?.

Size has something to do with it - so does business (occupancy), seasonality, and the kind of extras you offer. My DH and I have 6 rooms and run around 50% occupancy but also have housekeeping help - daily during the busy season.
I imagine that lower occupancy (say, less than 20%) or a truly seasonal business (where you close down for several months a year or only operate on weekends) would mean that you might not burn out so quickly. Burnout doesn't just come from being overworked, though - there are countless other things about running a B&B that may make someone crazy.
We also are both involved in volunteer and non-inn type work - in particular, my DH has been doing some software consulting this past year. A lot depends on how you feel about doing B&B work all the time versus hiring some of it out if you want to do other things with your time. I would not ask my DH to give up his software work and he would not like to give it up - it's a mental outlet for him. He does it whether he gets paid for it or not.

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

There is a fine line. If you hire someone you can't make much. I am not trying to be greedy, but the more you hire the less you earn. But if your occupancy is high, or seasonally high you will need help. Let me tell you as my washer blew up and under my master service agreement that I paid for they won't be here for a long time to fix it! I had to take the last weekends laundry to the laundromat. It was A LOT. required two of us to haul it in and work the laundromat and $30 later we came back and unloaded it all. So all that to say - the laundry is going continuousely. There are many things that require much of your attention. Then of course, you need to tend to your guests, oh yeah, them. ha ha
You may have a steady flow where you can handle it all. We have a friend in tonight who is not here yet from the left coast. I said as we sat at our little Italian place one block away, this is like the first night in MONTHS we have not had to RUSH BACK to the B&B. We all just sat there and stared at each other? HUH? No rushing back? Hard to relax.

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

And support is a big one. If you are handling it all on your own with no spousal support then you will burn out quick. I am not talking heavy lifting, I mean emotional support. My husband for the first time in 5 years of running this business saw a mattress pad stained up. I said "I guess that guy had a happy birthday" in jest - as we have to make light of certain things in this business so we don't get grossed out and want to toss in the towel. He said "I can't believe that! That is aweful." I stepped back, "Uh, this is the first time you have seen this here? Really?!" So he has NO IDEA what I do here much of the time. Stain removal and all.

 

[YellowSocks]

Thanks to all of you for your responses. Certainly, I feel that you have spoken honestly and have shed a little more light for me on the whole business.
Can I take this one step further and ask, considering the experience and knowledge that you have on living inside this business, what is it that keeps you there then?.

Thanks to all of you for your responses. Certainly, I feel that you have spoken honestly and have shed a little more light for me on the whole business.
Can I take this one step further and ask, considering the experience and knowledge that you have on living inside this business, what is it that keeps you there then?

• It's good for me to work hard and serve others.
• It's good for my kids, too.
• I meet interesting people.
• I make money while working at home.
• I'm the kind of person who pours myself into any job... easily spending 12 hours a day. Might as well do it at home and for myself.
• I consider it an investment for the future... hopefully we'll be able to sell the inn someday and retire.

=)
Kk.
.

Your Inn is lovely Kk. I like your attitude about running an Inn. And with twins too! Go Girl!
.

Your Inn is lovely Kk. I like your attitude about running an Inn. And with twins too! Go Girl!

=)
Kk.

 

[muirford]

There is a fine line. If you hire someone you can't make much. I am not trying to be greedy, but the more you hire the less you earn. But if your occupancy is high, or seasonally high you will need help. Let me tell you as my washer blew up and under my master service agreement that I paid for they won't be here for a long time to fix it! I had to take the last weekends laundry to the laundromat. It was A LOT. required two of us to haul it in and work the laundromat and $30 later we came back and unloaded it all. So all that to say - the laundry is going continuousely. There are many things that require much of your attention. Then of course, you need to tend to your guests, oh yeah, them. ha ha
You may have a steady flow where you can handle it all. We have a friend in tonight who is not here yet from the left coast. I said as we sat at our little Italian place one block away, this is like the first night in MONTHS we have not had to RUSH BACK to the B&B. We all just sat there and stared at each other? HUH? No rushing back? Hard to relax..

JBJ is right - our first two years our housekeepers made more income from the Inn than we did. I like to think that, because we have housekeepers, we spent our time doing the things that have helped our revenue increase by 50% over those year. We did a significant website update, upgraded amenities, took care of the appearance of the Inn with painting and furnishings, and worked all the marketing angles. Those things we could do ourselves and did. They would have cost more to hire out - instead, we paid the lower labor cost for housekeeping and had time to do the others.
About 4 years ago I found a laundry service - that is one of our more expensive line items but it save me so much time, water, electricity, wear and tear on the washer, and wear and tear on my knees and back. I'm not sure I could go back to doing all the sheets here easily, but it is something someone else could stop and do themselves instead.
For the last year or so, DH has been doing some consulting work for $75/hour. If he can do that work and we can pay someone $20 to mow the grass and do the yardwork when it needs it - it makes more sense for him to do the software stuff. Every case is different in terms of what you enjoy doing, what you are willing to do, and what your lost opportunity may cost you - both in $$ and happiness.

 

[Morticia]

There is a fine line. If you hire someone you can't make much. I am not trying to be greedy, but the more you hire the less you earn. But if your occupancy is high, or seasonally high you will need help. Let me tell you as my washer blew up and under my master service agreement that I paid for they won't be here for a long time to fix it! I had to take the last weekends laundry to the laundromat. It was A LOT. required two of us to haul it in and work the laundromat and $30 later we came back and unloaded it all. So all that to say - the laundry is going continuousely. There are many things that require much of your attention. Then of course, you need to tend to your guests, oh yeah, them. ha ha
You may have a steady flow where you can handle it all. We have a friend in tonight who is not here yet from the left coast. I said as we sat at our little Italian place one block away, this is like the first night in MONTHS we have not had to RUSH BACK to the B&B. We all just sat there and stared at each other? HUH? No rushing back? Hard to relax..

JBJ is right - our first two years our housekeepers made more income from the Inn than we did. I like to think that, because we have housekeepers, we spent our time doing the things that have helped our revenue increase by 50% over those year. We did a significant website update, upgraded amenities, took care of the appearance of the Inn with painting and furnishings, and worked all the marketing angles. Those things we could do ourselves and did. They would have cost more to hire out - instead, we paid the lower labor cost for housekeeping and had time to do the others.
About 4 years ago I found a laundry service - that is one of our more expensive line items but it save me so much time, water, electricity, wear and tear on the washer, and wear and tear on my knees and back. I'm not sure I could go back to doing all the sheets here easily, but it is something someone else could stop and do themselves instead.
For the last year or so, DH has been doing some consulting work for $75/hour. If he can do that work and we can pay someone $20 to mow the grass and do the yardwork when it needs it - it makes more sense for him to do the software stuff. Every case is different in terms of what you enjoy doing, what you are willing to do, and what your lost opportunity may cost you - both in $$ and happiness.
.

JBJ is right - our first two years our housekeepers made more income from the Inn than we did. I like to think that, because we have housekeepers, we spent our time doing the things that have helped our revenue increase by 50% over those year. We did a significant website update, upgraded amenities, took care of the appearance of the Inn with painting and furnishings, and worked all the marketing angles. Those things we could do ourselves and did. They would have cost more to hire out - instead, we paid the lower labor cost for housekeeping and had time to do the others.
About 4 years ago I found a laundry service - that is one of our more expensive line items but it save me so much time, water, electricity, wear and tear on the washer, and wear and tear on my knees and back. I'm not sure I could go back to doing all the sheets here easily, but it is something someone else could stop and do themselves instead.
For the last year or so, DH has been doing some consulting work for $75/hour. If he can do that work and we can pay someone $20 to mow the grass and do the yardwork when it needs it - it makes more sense for him to do the software stuff. Every case is different in terms of what you enjoy doing, what you are willing to do, and what your lost opportunity may cost you - both in $$ and happiness.

I will agree wholeheartedly on your points about paying people to do things that frees up your time to focus on the details of the business. I'm beat in the summer. If I don't have lists and complete directions of what to do next, I founder because I'm too tired to be creative.
Right now there are guests still in the dining room so we can't start cleaning. If I had help, that person would be handling the rooms right now and I wouldn't be fretting about when the rooms will be done.

 

[ginocat]

Thanks to all of you for your responses. Certainly, I feel that you have spoken honestly and have shed a little more light for me on the whole business.
Can I take this one step further and ask, considering the experience and knowledge that you have on living inside this business, what is it that keeps you there then?.

17 years in business and I'm selling. I'm not selling because I want out of the business (although there are times ...) but because we want to re-locate.
I stayed (sane) in this business because I always have thought of it as a JOB, never a hobby! With that always in my mind I don't get upset about being tied to the house and phone. If I was in an office or restaurant or whatever other job where someone else was employing me I'd be tied to the job also.
When I get really tired I remind myself that I am working for me and nobody else.
I can look forward (in my case at least) to a lot of time off in the winter. I can hire innsitters so I can go away.
I deal with tourists who are 99.9% of the time happy and cheerful because they are on holiday. I get to have the world come to my door and how great is that!!
I have a built-in excuse to avoid invitations that I do not want to accept. LOL!!
My commute time is zero!
I can make my own rules (and the longer I'm in business the easier it is to make those rules and set my own hours.
I made sure that guests could never access my kitchen or private areas.
I did not try and raise a family while doing this. They were already raised and gone.
There are downsides of course but I don't know what job doesn't have downsides. I think the key to this as with anything in life is to go into it with the right attitude, with eyes wide open, with an open mind and with clear boundaries.
Okay, that's more than my 2 cents worth.

 

[EmptyNest]

Thanks to all of you for your responses. Certainly, I feel that you have spoken honestly and have shed a little more light for me on the whole business.
Can I take this one step further and ask, considering the experience and knowledge that you have on living inside this business, what is it that keeps you there then?.

17 years in business and I'm selling. I'm not selling because I want out of the business (although there are times ...) but because we want to re-locate.
I stayed (sane) in this business because I always have thought of it as a JOB, never a hobby! With that always in my mind I don't get upset about being tied to the house and phone. If I was in an office or restaurant or whatever other job where someone else was employing me I'd be tied to the job also.
When I get really tired I remind myself that I am working for me and nobody else.
I can look forward (in my case at least) to a lot of time off in the winter. I can hire innsitters so I can go away.
I deal with tourists who are 99.9% of the time happy and cheerful because they are on holiday. I get to have the world come to my door and how great is that!!
I have a built-in excuse to avoid invitations that I do not want to accept. LOL!!
My commute time is zero!
I can make my own rules (and the longer I'm in business the easier it is to make those rules and set my own hours.
I made sure that guests could never access my kitchen or private areas.
I did not try and raise a family while doing this. They were already raised and gone.
There are downsides of course but I don't know what job doesn't have downsides. I think the key to this as with anything in life is to go into it with the right attitude, with eyes wide open, with an open mind and with clear boundaries.
Okay, that's more than my 2 cents worth.
.

So you are selling...good luck to you. have you listed it yet?? Do you think you will open another or are you both retiring to another location. Whichever, wish you all the best. Sorry to say...you may have to wait a bit with this economy...but of course you know that
Good LUCK!

 

[ginocat]

Thanks to all of you for your responses. Certainly, I feel that you have spoken honestly and have shed a little more light for me on the whole business.
Can I take this one step further and ask, considering the experience and knowledge that you have on living inside this business, what is it that keeps you there then?.

17 years in business and I'm selling. I'm not selling because I want out of the business (although there are times ...) but because we want to re-locate.
I stayed (sane) in this business because I always have thought of it as a JOB, never a hobby! With that always in my mind I don't get upset about being tied to the house and phone. If I was in an office or restaurant or whatever other job where someone else was employing me I'd be tied to the job also.
When I get really tired I remind myself that I am working for me and nobody else.
I can look forward (in my case at least) to a lot of time off in the winter. I can hire innsitters so I can go away.
I deal with tourists who are 99.9% of the time happy and cheerful because they are on holiday. I get to have the world come to my door and how great is that!!
I have a built-in excuse to avoid invitations that I do not want to accept. LOL!!
My commute time is zero!
I can make my own rules (and the longer I'm in business the easier it is to make those rules and set my own hours.
I made sure that guests could never access my kitchen or private areas.
I did not try and raise a family while doing this. They were already raised and gone.
There are downsides of course but I don't know what job doesn't have downsides. I think the key to this as with anything in life is to go into it with the right attitude, with eyes wide open, with an open mind and with clear boundaries.
Okay, that's more than my 2 cents worth.
.

So you are selling...good luck to you. have you listed it yet?? Do you think you will open another or are you both retiring to another location. Whichever, wish you all the best. Sorry to say...you may have to wait a bit with this economy...but of course you know that
Good LUCK!
.

I've been on and off the market for a couple of years. I have mixed emotions about selling so if it sells it's okay and if it takes a long time that's okay too. I am missing the big city and would like to be closer to my family there. I will not do another bed and breakfast as it would be too expensive in the city. I will work at something, not sure what just yet. I actually long to live in a small condo .. a very small condo.

 

[newinnlove]

So far I think I have a realistic idea as to what it will be like to run a B&B. The things you all say make sense to me, but of course, that remains in theory. I'm sure when I fall into bed exhausted night after night, I will question the sanity of my decision. But I know that most of the time, it will feel just right.
One thing an innkeeper told me when I stayed at his B&B, was that he really wanted to stress the importance of protecting private time/space. Someone here mentioned keeping guests out of their kitchen and their private spaces. I think that is essential for me. One of the things I'm NOT flexible on is sufficient owners quarters. I love having people around, but MUST have some space to retreat to and recharge, even for a few minutes. In looking around, I see that good owners quarters may be a bit hard to find.

 

[muirford]

So far I think I have a realistic idea as to what it will be like to run a B&B. The things you all say make sense to me, but of course, that remains in theory. I'm sure when I fall into bed exhausted night after night, I will question the sanity of my decision. But I know that most of the time, it will feel just right.
One thing an innkeeper told me when I stayed at his B&B, was that he really wanted to stress the importance of protecting private time/space. Someone here mentioned keeping guests out of their kitchen and their private spaces. I think that is essential for me. One of the things I'm NOT flexible on is sufficient owners quarters. I love having people around, but MUST have some space to retreat to and recharge, even for a few minutes. In looking around, I see that good owners quarters may be a bit hard to find..

Sufficient owner's quarters are very hard to find, and a lot of innkeepers find it irresistible to turn any possible square inch of space into rentable space. We looked at places where the OQs were in the basement, where they were in one tiny bedroom/bath with all shared living space and where you walked through the common areas of the inn to get from kitchen to bedroom. None of those would work for me. I am neither an innkeeper nor a guest who is happy with sharing the common area space with guests. Some people (guests and innkeepers) enjoy it, but not me.
Our OQs are about 1000 square feet - the same size as our apartment in Manhattan but a little smaller than our house in Boston. Plus a huge basement, so we have laundry, storage and workshop space down there that we don't have to carve out of our living space. It is enough for us and two cats. We open the door to the the OQs to serve breakfast but then close it again after breakfast and checkout. Guests can knock on the door if they need us. It works and we get enough privacy.

 

[megan]

So far I think I have a realistic idea as to what it will be like to run a B&B. The things you all say make sense to me, but of course, that remains in theory. I'm sure when I fall into bed exhausted night after night, I will question the sanity of my decision. But I know that most of the time, it will feel just right.
One thing an innkeeper told me when I stayed at his B&B, was that he really wanted to stress the importance of protecting private time/space. Someone here mentioned keeping guests out of their kitchen and their private spaces. I think that is essential for me. One of the things I'm NOT flexible on is sufficient owners quarters. I love having people around, but MUST have some space to retreat to and recharge, even for a few minutes. In looking around, I see that good owners quarters may be a bit hard to find..

Never rent your own room out. That is just unbeleivable when I see that happening. There are a couple of places near here where the owners do that. Sleep on the floor in the attic or something. They seriously believe the extra $2000 is worht it. Right now an extra $2000 would be nice, but not what you have to do to get it. There are also innkeepers who let guests sleep in their kid's room, kid goes to visit friends. That is not a life, it is a life sentence.

 

[gillumhouse]

So far I think I have a realistic idea as to what it will be like to run a B&B. The things you all say make sense to me, but of course, that remains in theory. I'm sure when I fall into bed exhausted night after night, I will question the sanity of my decision. But I know that most of the time, it will feel just right.
One thing an innkeeper told me when I stayed at his B&B, was that he really wanted to stress the importance of protecting private time/space. Someone here mentioned keeping guests out of their kitchen and their private spaces. I think that is essential for me. One of the things I'm NOT flexible on is sufficient owners quarters. I love having people around, but MUST have some space to retreat to and recharge, even for a few minutes. In looking around, I see that good owners quarters may be a bit hard to find..

I have very little "common area" because I refuse to live in just one room. So far, it has worked out OK because we have very little business in the cold months. In the Spring thru Fall it is usually warm enough to use our porch as "common area" or they sit around the dining room table with coffee or tea.
We have a bedroom, bathroom, what is supposed to be our living room has become DH's studio, he also claimed the "sun room" as his workshop all on one side of the first floor, and my office/Library (guest side of the house) is a sort of share - if guests want to sit in the chairs and talk or read, I vacate the room (two wingback chairs at the back of the room) that I have managed to somewhat decrapify several times - now is not one of those times however. Working on it though. This time of year my horn case takes up space due to rehearsals every week. Non-rehearsal times the bari sits in the stand and the case is in residence in the Fibber McGhee & Molly Room.
One nice thing about my house is that if I have guests having dinner in the dining room, I can get to my side of the house through a pass-through between the kitchen and our bathroom that looks like a broom closet door on the kitchen side. I went from living with 6 kids and a husband in a 900 sq ft house to just the 2 of us in 2 rooms - feels about the same.

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

Newinnlove, have you mentioned the area you are looking at? (Sorry if you said, I forgot)

 

[megan]

Newinnlove, have you mentioned the area you are looking at? (Sorry if you said, I forgot).

Newinnlove, have you mentioned the area you are looking at? (Sorry if you said, I forgot)

East coast? That's what I thought. ME, NH, VT. Unless that's someone else. Eek.

 

[muirford]

Newinnlove, have you mentioned the area you are looking at? (Sorry if you said, I forgot).

Newinnlove, have you mentioned the area you are looking at? (Sorry if you said, I forgot)

You might have some inpute. West Coast, Washington state. https://www.innspiring.com/node/1941

 

[Samster]

So far I think I have a realistic idea as to what it will be like to run a B&B. The things you all say make sense to me, but of course, that remains in theory. I'm sure when I fall into bed exhausted night after night, I will question the sanity of my decision. But I know that most of the time, it will feel just right.
One thing an innkeeper told me when I stayed at his B&B, was that he really wanted to stress the importance of protecting private time/space. Someone here mentioned keeping guests out of their kitchen and their private spaces. I think that is essential for me. One of the things I'm NOT flexible on is sufficient owners quarters. I love having people around, but MUST have some space to retreat to and recharge, even for a few minutes. In looking around, I see that good owners quarters may be a bit hard to find..

We have 5 rooms in 2 houses - 2 of those are 2 rooms suites, so when we are full it's really like 7 rooms with 6 bathrooms as one of the suites only has one bathroom. I am up at 6 am & usually fall into bed after midnight. I have someone who is helping with the yard now - just one day on the weekend to get leaves raked up. My dh works full-time Mon-Fri and sometimes he has to take call & goes in after hours and/or on the weekend. We could not support the 2 mortgages yet with the inn business. I am just going to hire someone to come in once a week to help me with "big cleaning" - common areas and keeping up with getting up on a ladder to clean chandeliers, vacuum window treatments, and do windows...that kind of thing.
My husband pitches in, when he can, to serve, greet, and flip rooms. I honestly do at least 95% of the work, including marketing, paperwork, and so. This is a busier time of year for us & I block out days to save myself. The laundry is endless & we don't have a laundry service here at any cost that will do your own linens. There is a linen service that will supply hospital quality sheets but I'm not willing to go that route.
If you have an historic property, the maintenance will be non-stop. All our porch floors need to be painted right now. We'll get to it on a couple of warm days in December when we're slow.
Private space is essential. The size of our space is more than adequate...we just need to get it arranged and set up the best way. It was the last area to be tackled & we had to leave it & start earning money to pay the bills! We're not the only innkeepers in that boat.
Having said all that...I love this business because I can block out days if I need to for my health & sanity. Sure, the money would be great but I've been there in the corporate world where they wanted to take my soul & I'm not willing to do that do myself. Don't undercapitalize your project is key to your success as well. I love my house and what I'm doing now. Our guests have made everything totally worthwhile
Best of luck!

 

[newinnlove]

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