Start Your Bed and Breakfast Business Now!
Plan, Start, Operate and Manage Your Own Bed and Breakfast Business
Starting a bed and breakfast (B&B) business requires careful planning and execution. Here are the steps you can follow to start your B&B business:
Conduct market research: Study the demand for B&Bs in your area and the competition. Determine if there is a market for your business and what makes your B&B unique.
Create a bed and breakfast business plan: Outline your business strategy, including your marketing plan, budget, and operational plan.
Secure funding: Determine the amount of funding you will need to start your business and explore various funding options, such as loans, grants, and investments.
Choose a location: Select a location for your B&B that is accessible to tourists and has a high demand for lodging. Consider factors such as proximity to tourist attractions, public transportation, and parking availability.
Renovate or remodel the property: Prepare the property for guests by renovating or remodeling it to meet their needs and expectations.
Purchase supplies and equipment: Stock your B&B with bedding, towels, kitchen equipment, and other supplies needed to run the business.
Obtain necessary licenses and permits: Research and obtain any necessary licenses and permits for operating a B&B in your area.
Develop a website and online presence: Create a website and establish an online presence for your B&B to reach potential guests and market your business.
Launch and market your business: Launch your B&B and start marketing it through various channels, such as social media, local tourism boards, and travel websites.
Starting a B&B can be challenging, but with careful planning and execution, it can also be a rewarding and profitable venture.
Advantages of a Bed and Breakfast Business:
Low startup costs: B&Bs typically require less investment than larger hotels and resorts, making it easier to enter the market.
Personal touch: B&Bs offer a more intimate and personalized experience for guests, which can differentiate the business from larger hotels and resorts.
Flexibility: B&Bs can be run from a primary residence, which offers the owner more flexibility in terms of their schedule and lifestyle.
Repeat business: Many guests return to B&Bs due to the personalized experience and the close relationship that can develop between the guests and the owners.
Niche market: B&Bs can target specific markets, such as eco-tourism or romantic getaways, and cater to specific needs or preferences.
Disadvantages of a Bed and Breakfast Business:
Long hours: Running a B&B can be time-consuming and requires a significant amount of work, including cooking, cleaning, and interacting with guests.
Responsibility: B&B owners are responsible for ensuring their guests have a pleasant stay, which can be stressful and require a lot of effort.
Limited income: B&Bs typically have fewer rooms and guests than larger hotels, which can limit the potential income for the business.
Competition: With the growth of alternative lodging options, such as vacation rentals and home-sharing platforms, competition in the B&B market has increased.
Seasonal fluctuations: The demand for B&Bs can fluctuate significantly based on the season, which can affect the business's income and stability.
Start Your Bed and Breakfast Business Now!
Bed and Breakfast—The Easiest Home-Based Business
There's an exciting new “down-home” kind of business springing up among homeowners all across the country. It's called Bed and Breakfast.
Basically, this is a transplant of European Hospitality, adapted and refined to the American way of doing things. To foreign visitors, it's the comfort and hospitality of home – staying overnight “with people of the land” and enjoying a hearty breakfast – without the traditional gaudiness and plastic feelings visitors get from most big cities in the United States. To U.S. citizens, it is a welcome alternative to the same old hotel/motel circuit.
Now, all it takes is a spare bedroom, a good cook and an outgoing personality. Prices per night range from a low of $25 to $100 or more.
If you have an extra bedroom, a large home, or extra space in your farm house, you have the necessary beginnings to start making extra income as a Bed and Breakfast Inn. One of the beautiful aspects of this idea is that so long as you're hosting “over night visitors” on a small scale, no licenses will be required. It's always best, however, to check with your local authorities just to be sure.
Naturally, your “visitors” will expect a clean, neat and comfortable home. So assuming that your home meets these prerequisites, and you have a spare bedroom, simply “doll it up” a bit. Make sure it's painted brightly, there's an outside window, lots of room, closet space and bureau, and perhaps a small writing desk, and a large comfortable bed, or twin beds.
Most foreign visitors will expect and appreciate a “quick tour” of the interesting sights in your area. However, as your particular popularity as a B & B Host grows, you'll find that a lot of American tourists and business people on the road will begin availing themselves of your hospitality. Certainly with these people, it won't always be necessary to give the “Red Carpet” visitors' treatment.
Which brings us to the basic appeal of a Bed and Breakfast Inn. Travelers seem to be looking for, and appreciate a quiet “home-style” place to stay. Generally, they enjoy visiting with the people off the super highway and want to get away from the sterilized atmosphere and sameness of hotels and motels.
Most people will either write to you ahead of time, inquiring about the possibilities of staying at your home while in your town or city. This means a bit of advertising on your part, or listing your availability with a B & B broker. Some people will check the local telephone listings, and the newspaper advertisements when they arrive in a strange town. And some people will just be driving across the country, come to a town or city they think is interesting, and start driving through the residential areas looking for Bed and Breakfast Inns.
Thus, you should have a small sign posted either in your front yard or on the front of your house. This sign needn't be much more than about two feet wide by about ten inches deep. It need only state: BED AND BREAKFAST – Inquire Within or Call 123-4567.
For newspaper advertising, a similar listing in the personal column of your local paper, particularly on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, will be all you'll need. But when it comes to the yellow pages of your telephone and business directories, go with a small display ad that describes in greater detail the comforts and pleasures of your services.
Be sure to list your services with all the travel agencies in your area. A brochure or a short synopsis of what you offer will most assuredly give the travel agents an idea for steering visitors your way. At the same time, listing your services in a number of national travel magazines – particularly those that cater to women – will bring customers in for you.
Listing your services with a broker usually won't cost you anything up front, but they will expect a certain percentage – usually about 25% of the total bill. This same arrangement applies with travel agents.
Now, suppose you're organized and ready to receive your first customers. You greet them as host or hostess and offer to assist them in getting situated in the room or rooms you have for them. If they'd like to take a drive around your area and see the points of interest, you do that. And then in the morning, serve them a big, delicious breakfast.
You'll probably find that foreign visitors will want to stay several days. With most people of this country who are just travelling through your area, it'll be a one-night stopover. Whatever, if they want to sleep comfortably through the night, eat breakfast and be on their way, so be it. If they want to sit around after breakfast and plan an itinerary for a complete visit of your area, your assistance and help will be greatly appreciated. (Remember those recommendations)!
That's it! The complete how and why of this tremendously profitable business that's becoming more and more popular. It's called Bed & Breakfast, and it's very definitely a low investment idea. And you can parlay it into a very interesting and comfortable income producing business – all from the comforts of your own home!