Speaking of Innsanity

[bbinnsitters]

If you are thinking of selling your inn as a business, closing rather than having an innsitter can hurt your revenue numbers. One of the inns we looked at before we bought ours closed for Monday and Tuesday every week - the owners went to a cabin. It did sell eventually but as a private residence. We've had the same problem - closing for two weeks about a month before potential buyers looked at our numbers hurt our revenue picture, even though the overall annual revenue was best ever..

so... does that mean..no more time off for you..work your butt off till you do burn out and then hope to sell???? That does not make sense to me. Taking some time off should not be punishment when selling your B & B :-(
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No, I understood her to say that she would be hiring an Inn-sitter - I am hoping she doesn't consider hiring an Inn-sitter to be punishment!

 

[Mary at Bridgewater Inn and Cottage]

Happyjacks
There are pros and cons to every situation. People have to figure out what works for them.Or what you can at least tolerate!!!
When we first opened we both worked full time jobs and did this buz on the weekends only. That was the toughest time as DH also traveled during the week, so the only time we had together was during weekends when we had guests. But we do what we have to do.
When we both left working for the big boys, we traveled very little as we were still building our business and needed each reservation we could get, and developed a plan when our slowest period really is and there for a while we knew that there was one month that we could almost go into hibernation and no one would know so that is when we plan our trips. We do close as we are not in a typical walk-in market and we do take our phone and laptops with us for bookings. For us we are never 100% off.
Again, since we are not a typical walk-in market, if we see a day or two free in the coming week and we feel we need a break, we may take a overnight trip to get a fesh breath of air and then return to do repairs for the second day. These are rare but when they happen they are heaven. Wish we had done this in the first few years but you live and you learn.
Now this works for US, at least for now! - As happy said 'people have to figure out what works for them.'.

Have you ever noticed it is really (really) hard to go 'back to work' when you've had one day off in the middle of your busy season? We trip over each other, the whole process just takes so much more effort than being 'on' right straight thru.
Then there are days like today where I 'slept in,' finished a book I was reading, read the paper, started a new book and at 2 PM finally got around to putting a room together from yesterday. I answered one phone call and it was a 'butt dial' and I have no idea who it was but it had to be someone who has my number in their cellphone, right? It was a slow day all around for me. I could have done a million things, but I didn't.
.

I love the "butt dial" comment.Still laught when I think of that ad on TV..thanks Morticia..Mary in Bwater.

 

[Morticia]

Happyjacks
There are pros and cons to every situation. People have to figure out what works for them.Or what you can at least tolerate!!!
When we first opened we both worked full time jobs and did this buz on the weekends only. That was the toughest time as DH also traveled during the week, so the only time we had together was during weekends when we had guests. But we do what we have to do.
When we both left working for the big boys, we traveled very little as we were still building our business and needed each reservation we could get, and developed a plan when our slowest period really is and there for a while we knew that there was one month that we could almost go into hibernation and no one would know so that is when we plan our trips. We do close as we are not in a typical walk-in market and we do take our phone and laptops with us for bookings. For us we are never 100% off.
Again, since we are not a typical walk-in market, if we see a day or two free in the coming week and we feel we need a break, we may take a overnight trip to get a fesh breath of air and then return to do repairs for the second day. These are rare but when they happen they are heaven. Wish we had done this in the first few years but you live and you learn.
Now this works for US, at least for now! - As happy said 'people have to figure out what works for them.'.

Have you ever noticed it is really (really) hard to go 'back to work' when you've had one day off in the middle of your busy season? We trip over each other, the whole process just takes so much more effort than being 'on' right straight thru.
Then there are days like today where I 'slept in,' finished a book I was reading, read the paper, started a new book and at 2 PM finally got around to putting a room together from yesterday. I answered one phone call and it was a 'butt dial' and I have no idea who it was but it had to be someone who has my number in their cellphone, right? It was a slow day all around for me. I could have done a million things, but I didn't.
.

I love the "butt dial" comment.Still laught when I think of that ad on TV..thanks Morticia..Mary in Bwater.
.

I had a friend 'butt dial' a few months ago. I had somehting like 3 minutes of him on my answering machine talking away at work about some sort of problem. Then, last week, 2 phone calls in 20 mins from the same person. This is what I sent to him via email...

 

[JBloggs]

Happyjacks
There are pros and cons to every situation. People have to figure out what works for them.Or what you can at least tolerate!!!
When we first opened we both worked full time jobs and did this buz on the weekends only. That was the toughest time as DH also traveled during the week, so the only time we had together was during weekends when we had guests. But we do what we have to do.
When we both left working for the big boys, we traveled very little as we were still building our business and needed each reservation we could get, and developed a plan when our slowest period really is and there for a while we knew that there was one month that we could almost go into hibernation and no one would know so that is when we plan our trips. We do close as we are not in a typical walk-in market and we do take our phone and laptops with us for bookings. For us we are never 100% off.
Again, since we are not a typical walk-in market, if we see a day or two free in the coming week and we feel we need a break, we may take a overnight trip to get a fesh breath of air and then return to do repairs for the second day. These are rare but when they happen they are heaven. Wish we had done this in the first few years but you live and you learn.
Now this works for US, at least for now! - As happy said 'people have to figure out what works for them.'.

Have you ever noticed it is really (really) hard to go 'back to work' when you've had one day off in the middle of your busy season? We trip over each other, the whole process just takes so much more effort than being 'on' right straight thru.
Then there are days like today where I 'slept in,' finished a book I was reading, read the paper, started a new book and at 2 PM finally got around to putting a room together from yesterday. I answered one phone call and it was a 'butt dial' and I have no idea who it was but it had to be someone who has my number in their cellphone, right? It was a slow day all around for me. I could have done a million things, but I didn't.
.

I love the "butt dial" comment.Still laught when I think of that ad on TV..thanks Morticia..Mary in Bwater.
.

I had a friend 'butt dial' a few months ago. I had somehting like 3 minutes of him on my answering machine talking away at work about some sort of problem. Then, last week, 2 phone calls in 20 mins from the same person. This is what I sent to him via email...

.

Thanks for this cartoon! I was driving along with my dear sweet husband with music on and talking and his okie pipes on his Dodge Ram truck as he apparently butt-dialed the sheriff's office and I could hear a little voice saying "are you okay? are you okay?" What is that? Who is that?

 

[Morticia]

Happyjacks
There are pros and cons to every situation. People have to figure out what works for them.Or what you can at least tolerate!!!
When we first opened we both worked full time jobs and did this buz on the weekends only. That was the toughest time as DH also traveled during the week, so the only time we had together was during weekends when we had guests. But we do what we have to do.
When we both left working for the big boys, we traveled very little as we were still building our business and needed each reservation we could get, and developed a plan when our slowest period really is and there for a while we knew that there was one month that we could almost go into hibernation and no one would know so that is when we plan our trips. We do close as we are not in a typical walk-in market and we do take our phone and laptops with us for bookings. For us we are never 100% off.
Again, since we are not a typical walk-in market, if we see a day or two free in the coming week and we feel we need a break, we may take a overnight trip to get a fesh breath of air and then return to do repairs for the second day. These are rare but when they happen they are heaven. Wish we had done this in the first few years but you live and you learn.
Now this works for US, at least for now! - As happy said 'people have to figure out what works for them.'.

Have you ever noticed it is really (really) hard to go 'back to work' when you've had one day off in the middle of your busy season? We trip over each other, the whole process just takes so much more effort than being 'on' right straight thru.
Then there are days like today where I 'slept in,' finished a book I was reading, read the paper, started a new book and at 2 PM finally got around to putting a room together from yesterday. I answered one phone call and it was a 'butt dial' and I have no idea who it was but it had to be someone who has my number in their cellphone, right? It was a slow day all around for me. I could have done a million things, but I didn't.
.

I love the "butt dial" comment.Still laught when I think of that ad on TV..thanks Morticia..Mary in Bwater.
.

I had a friend 'butt dial' a few months ago. I had somehting like 3 minutes of him on my answering machine talking away at work about some sort of problem. Then, last week, 2 phone calls in 20 mins from the same person. This is what I sent to him via email...

.

Thanks for this cartoon! I was driving along with my dear sweet husband with music on and talking and his okie pipes on his Dodge Ram truck as he apparently butt-dialed the sheriff's office and I could hear a little voice saying "are you okay? are you okay?" What is that? Who is that?
.

It was funny that the cartoon ran pretty much the same week I needed it!

 

[user 26]

This is in addition to doing all the work, all the marketing, the labor, the interaction with the guests, the check ins, the breakfasts, the errands, the gardening, the renos, the maintenance, etc etc <insert your own duties here>. So it is not like we just work here and never get time off. We pour our hearts, souls, aspiration, persperation, aches, pains, and dreams into this business. We wear our hearts on our sleeves - we are affected by reviews personally, by unhappy guests personally, it is our HOME, not just a business.
I guess that is why it bothers me when someone comes along and thinks of it as a "Flip" to make money. UGH! Nothing could be further from innkeeping...nothing. It is like saying a baby sitter cares just as much for your child as you do who love them with all your being..

innsanity
so funny ... two years ago, i entered the three day novel contest and my story was 'innsanity' because that was how i felt!

 

[Morticia]

This is in addition to doing all the work, all the marketing, the labor, the interaction with the guests, the check ins, the breakfasts, the errands, the gardening, the renos, the maintenance, etc etc <insert your own duties here>. So it is not like we just work here and never get time off. We pour our hearts, souls, aspiration, persperation, aches, pains, and dreams into this business. We wear our hearts on our sleeves - we are affected by reviews personally, by unhappy guests personally, it is our HOME, not just a business.
I guess that is why it bothers me when someone comes along and thinks of it as a "Flip" to make money. UGH! Nothing could be further from innkeeping...nothing. It is like saying a baby sitter cares just as much for your child as you do who love them with all your being..

innsanity
so funny ... two years ago, i entered the three day novel contest and my story was 'innsanity' because that was how i felt!
.

innsanity
so funny ... two years ago, i entered the three day novel contest and my story was 'innsanity' because that was how i felt!

I enter the 3 minute fiction contest on NPR every time I hear about it. No luck yet.

 

[Samster]

If you are thinking of selling your inn as a business, closing rather than having an innsitter can hurt your revenue numbers. One of the inns we looked at before we bought ours closed for Monday and Tuesday every week - the owners went to a cabin. It did sell eventually but as a private residence. We've had the same problem - closing for two weeks about a month before potential buyers looked at our numbers hurt our revenue picture, even though the overall annual revenue was best ever..

A broker should be able to explain those numbers properly to a buyer. We heard that sort of thing in a lot of places, 'Well, the sellers choose to close for such and such, and that's a place you can improve the business.' (Not saying your biz needs improving as you said yourself it was a fantastic season.)
When we bought here, the owners never closed. We found out later, from guests, that they would hire innsitters but they never told us that. What they told us was, 'you can't close and lose money.' Obviously, we don't take that to heart and we close for a variety of reasons.
If a day is handed to me in season, I'll take it. But I don't opt to close in season. We find you lose 'traction' when you that. Weird but true.
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A broker should be able to explain those numbers properly to a buyer.

Unfortunately that was not our experience with the buyers' broker. We also had the issue that things we choose to hire out (laundry, housekeeping, etc.) because DH has in the last two years had the opportunity to do software work. We decided he should take an ongoing project which he was uniquely qualified for so that we could start building an alternative income as we transition out of innkeeping. Different owners (and us for the first six years) could do those things themselves and keep the income. This is not the way all brokers work, but it is the way that this one works. Unfortunately, he is very active in our region and we suspect that is hurting our selling position now.
We may still close for a day or so when it makes sense, like on our 20th anniversary next month. But for extended periods we will use innsitters. That really should have been disclosed to you, and it will be to any of our prospective buyers.
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Good for you for taking time off on your 20th Anniversary! I mean, we shouldn't even have to justify something like that, should we?
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No, we shouldn't. We were actually going to take more days and have an innsitter, until I remembered that I am on jury duty next month and have to call in every Monday night. So we can't plan anything that isn't cancellable at the last minute, nor anything too far away. We plan to take advantage of some friends (non-innmates) this time.
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Have FUN!!