How to run your own bed and breakfast business

[JBloggs]

How to run your own bed and breakfast business

 

[Momma Smurf]

"If the whole idea of opening your home to strangers is totally horrific to you, then don't go into this line of business"

 

[Morticia]

Short & sweet. It covered a lot.
I clicked thru to the association website. Interesting info on market share for B&B's in the UK.
Just noticed they have a 'wanted' poster of some scammer they're warning against.

 

[Morticia]

Do you remember getting started? We joined a couple of organizations, took a class at a B&B, bought a bunch of books (that I never opened) and talked with other owners. I had already taken a business class for my previous endeavor.
The more properties we looked at, the more owners we spoke with, the better idea we got what this was all about.
But, oh the blinders! Our first week in business I was in tears all the time. Having to be 'on' 24x7 was too much. We had to learn boundaries for the guests.
It seems so long ago and only yesterday at the same time.
Everyone asked (they still do) how long we had been doing this. That first week I answered by looking at my watch! Big mistake. Then everyone told us how to run the business. Raise prices, lower prices, change the name, don't change the name, do a buffet breakfast, offer a menu. Yikes!
And we went wrong a few times, still do. Still learning.

 

[Copperhead]

Do you remember getting started? We joined a couple of organizations, took a class at a B&B, bought a bunch of books (that I never opened) and talked with other owners. I had already taken a business class for my previous endeavor.
The more properties we looked at, the more owners we spoke with, the better idea we got what this was all about.
But, oh the blinders! Our first week in business I was in tears all the time. Having to be 'on' 24x7 was too much. We had to learn boundaries for the guests.
It seems so long ago and only yesterday at the same time.
Everyone asked (they still do) how long we had been doing this. That first week I answered by looking at my watch! Big mistake. Then everyone told us how to run the business. Raise prices, lower prices, change the name, don't change the name, do a buffet breakfast, offer a menu. Yikes!
And we went wrong a few times, still do. Still learning..

Do you remember getting started? ......
Then everyone told us how to run the business. Raise prices, lower prices, change the name, don't change the name, do a buffet breakfast, offer a menu. Yikes!
And we went wrong a few times, still do. Still learning.

The one thing I have learned from others (including those here) is nothing stays the same, it is inevitable! We need to adapt to the needs of guests or we will fade away.
Scratch the one thing above. Another thing I have learned is that we can't be all things to all people. Find out what works for YOU and go for it.

 

[Mary at Bridgewater Inn and Cottage]

13 yrs ago I took a "How to run a BnB" class at the local community college. It was either that or a gardeners class. Long story short still doing the BnB thing 12 yrs out. Never had burn out but some "sizzles" the first 2 yrs, cure for me was to go to the Mall or restaurant or gallery and pretend I was a tourist , just enjoying myself . Not a care in the world. Come home and get with it . I learned more from these type of on line sites , talking to Innkeepers and "How to run a Bed & Breakfast for Dummies" than the college class. Still learning and it is FUN..

 

[OnTheShore]

"You've got to keep looking at new ways of pushing your business forward."
(this was with reference to social media and the web, but applies even more generally than that)

 

[2cat_lady]

13 yrs ago I took a "How to run a BnB" class at the local community college. It was either that or a gardeners class. Long story short still doing the BnB thing 12 yrs out. Never had burn out but some "sizzles" the first 2 yrs, cure for me was to go to the Mall or restaurant or gallery and pretend I was a tourist , just enjoying myself . Not a care in the world. Come home and get with it . I learned more from these type of on line sites , talking to Innkeepers and "How to run a Bed & Breakfast for Dummies" than the college class. Still learning and it is FUN...

I learned more from these type of on line sites , talking to Innkeepers and "How to run a Bed & Breakfast for Dummies" than the college class. Still learning and it is FUN..

Me too. The Dummies part as well! There were a few other books I read, but until you actually greet your first guest, cook that first breakfast, change over an entire B&B in one day and fall in bed exhausted every night for a week, do you actually 'get it'. And then do that for ten years or more!!
Number one under my belt and many years to catch up to you, dear friends.

 

[dumitru]

Is it just me or does this "article" lack the "how to" part? I don't see much usable info besides: "there are regulations and you should pay attention to your financials".

 

[Morticia]

Is it just me or does this "article" lack the "how to" part? I don't see much usable info besides: "there are regulations and you should pay attention to your financials"..

Is it just me or does this "article" lack the "how to" part? I don't see much usable info besides: "there are regulations and you should pay attention to your financials".

I don't think it was meant to be a manual, more of a 'it can be done if you try' piece in the home and garden section of the paper.

 

[dumitru]

Is it just me or does this "article" lack the "how to" part? I don't see much usable info besides: "there are regulations and you should pay attention to your financials"..

Is it just me or does this "article" lack the "how to" part? I don't see much usable info besides: "there are regulations and you should pay attention to your financials".

I don't think it was meant to be a manual, more of a 'it can be done if you try' piece in the home and garden section of the paper.
.

So it is just filler content written in under an hour before the deadline (aka useless content)

 

[Morticia]

Is it just me or does this "article" lack the "how to" part? I don't see much usable info besides: "there are regulations and you should pay attention to your financials"..

Is it just me or does this "article" lack the "how to" part? I don't see much usable info besides: "there are regulations and you should pay attention to your financials".

I don't think it was meant to be a manual, more of a 'it can be done if you try' piece in the home and garden section of the paper.
.

So it is just filler content written in under an hour before the deadline (aka useless content)
.

So it is just filler content written in under an hour before the deadline (aka useless content)

Sometimes the spark comes from the most unlikely source.

 

[Sunshine]

For me it was learning boundaries! Pulling away to my own space to prevent burnout.

 

[happykeeper]

Is it just me or does this "article" lack the "how to" part? I don't see much usable info besides: "there are regulations and you should pay attention to your financials"..

Is it just me or does this "article" lack the "how to" part? I don't see much usable info besides: "there are regulations and you should pay attention to your financials".

I don't think it was meant to be a manual, more of a 'it can be done if you try' piece in the home and garden section of the paper.
.

So it is just filler content written in under an hour before the deadline (aka useless content)
.

So it is just filler content written in under an hour before the deadline (aka useless content)

Sometimes the spark comes from the most unlikely source.
.

Might have been the HOW TO part of the tittle that threw me off