inndecision
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- Joined
- Jun 7, 2010
- Messages
- 11
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Hi everyone! I've been a fly on the wall for a while and have enjoyed the forum immensely. I am about to make the life changing decision to take over my aunts inn and am hoping for some sage advice as well as some answers to questions I still have. My aunt and uncle (deceased for 15 years) started the inn 30 years ago. It is in a wonderful locale here in California and for many years it thrived. In the last couple of years my aunt has been unable to tend to the inn. Inn occupancy has suffered significantly, in part because of her lack of presence and largely because the inn has zero web presence. She has always relied on a strong repeat business, word-of-mouth and referals. This worked well for them in the good ol days, however, as everyone here seems to know, there isn't much chance for an inn in a competitive market without the marketing and promotion through the internet.
Bottom-line is that, without my help, the inn is likely to fold. I'm willing and able to make the commitment to the inn (always wanted to be able to do it), but I'm still trying to determine the financial viability of trying to turn it around. Right now occupancy is down below 20% and her revenue is not keeping pace with expenses. I figured that I must get the average occupancy to exceed 44% for the year in order to show profitability.
Questions: I can't get a handle on the occupancy norm for a northern California, wine country inn (4 rooms). Where would I find some data on this? Also, I am inclined to think that, by developing a web presence, much as has been discussed here, we could siginificantly impact traffic. My question, is how quickly? There are many other marketing and promotion tactics that can be employed (lot's of great ideas in this forum) that will have an impact over the intermediate term.
Just trying to determine whether this warrants a big life change and commitment on my part. Very much appreciate your take on this.
Thanks!
Inndecision
Bottom-line is that, without my help, the inn is likely to fold. I'm willing and able to make the commitment to the inn (always wanted to be able to do it), but I'm still trying to determine the financial viability of trying to turn it around. Right now occupancy is down below 20% and her revenue is not keeping pace with expenses. I figured that I must get the average occupancy to exceed 44% for the year in order to show profitability.
Questions: I can't get a handle on the occupancy norm for a northern California, wine country inn (4 rooms). Where would I find some data on this? Also, I am inclined to think that, by developing a web presence, much as has been discussed here, we could siginificantly impact traffic. My question, is how quickly? There are many other marketing and promotion tactics that can be employed (lot's of great ideas in this forum) that will have an impact over the intermediate term.
Just trying to determine whether this warrants a big life change and commitment on my part. Very much appreciate your take on this.
Thanks!
Inndecision