How to Start Your Own Bed & Breakfast

NEW CAREER:  Homework is essential in order to pass the innkeeping test.

Nearly everyone who visits inns has entertained notions of being an innkeeper at some time in their lives. It often happens when people first stay at a beautiful, well-run bed & breakfast. They take in the serene surroundings, meet their cordial, seemingly unruffled innkeeper, and think dreamily, “I could do this.”  Well, you probably can. Innkeeping is one of the few sought-after professions that require very little formal training. Ask innkeepers what their occupations were before they started running an inn and you’ll get all kinds of answers — corporate work, software engineers, computer company owners, playwrights, bankers, nursing, teaching, sales — anything, usually, but hotel management. Most innkeepers have made their escape from a high-powered, low-control, high-stress job or a nine-to-five office and commuting grind. When your work day begins by going downstairs to the kitchen and turning on the coffee machine — well, it’s easy to understand the lure.

Yes, you can do it. And if you have a dream, it can crystallize into something that becomes, as one innkeeper says, “much more joy than we imagined...”. And she continues, “It is a rare privilege to be able to offer something that is better than people had imagined, to watch them melt on the floor with pleasure and surprise that such a thing can be...” It is also “much more work ...than we imagined” she says.

But it can be done — if you love being around people all the time, don’t mind long hours, hard physical work, very little money or time to yourself and wearing many hats at once. If you have carpentry, gardening, cooking and business-marketing skills, that’s also a good start. An innkeeper is much like the director of a film and guests are the audience — they see only the finished product, not all of the work and sweat that went into making it look that way.    

Today, however, it’s not enough to reel out the same old “film.” With more than 19,000 bed & breakfasts and country inns across the nation, it will not be easy to rise above the competition. In a crowded B&B market, innkeepers who are making it financially are those who love what they are doing, offer exceptional quality and character and know how to make themselves known. 

When B&Bs were first opening 15 or 20 years ago, there were hardly any learning resources for the aspiring innkeeper — you just jumped into it and learned as you went along. Now, however, innkeeping is taken much more seriously, and the only way to stay ahead of the game is to view it as a professional business. Take a look at any successful inn today and you’ll find an innkeeper who has done more than his or her share of homework.

Beginning your research
Where do you start? Begin by reading books and trade journals on the subject (see the resource list at the end of this article) to get an overview of the profession. Check out innkeeper resources on the Internet, take innkeeping classes or workshops. If you’re still not sure whether innkeeping is for you, try interning as an innkeeper at a nearby inn. 

Most importantly, before, and even after, you have started your own B&B, visit as many other inns — successful inns — as you can. Traveling to a well-conceived inn is like taking a mini-course in innkeeping — it gives one a better awareness of what appeals to guests and what satisfies their needs, such as amenities, projecting a sense of hospitality, special services and the many tiny details that go into creating a great lodging experience. Not only can you pick up countless new ideas at other inns, but playing the role of the guest is something all innkeepers should practice now and then.

Types of Bed & Breakfasts
Next, you should decide what type of B&B you want — a bed & breakfast inn in a tourist area, an urban inn or country inn —and clearly define your goals.

Here are some characteristics of the different types of bed & breakfasts:

Bed & Breakfast Inn:

—Individually decorated.

—May or may not have TVs, phones in the room.

—Usually has a common room.

—Continental or full breakfast is included in rates.

—A commercial business that can be sold.

—Can advertise and signage is allowed.

—Full-time occupation, not a hobby business.

—Two to 30 rooms.

—Usually collects bed tax and meets all local license requirements.

—Usually owner-operated.

Urban Inn:

—Similar to B&B inn.

—Centrally located in a city location.

—Often offers business traveler amenities.

Country Inn:

—Similar to B&B inn.

—Generally implies a dining room and offers both breakfast and dinner.

—Breakfasts may or may not be included in the rates.

__May or may not be “in the country”

 
Location
The most important aspect of starting an inn is choosing a location. If you simply want to preserve your great-grandmother’s house no matter what it takes, then there is no decision on location. Likewise, if you’ve inherited the property, and there is no mortgage payment to meet. (However, you may be better off to sell the inherited building and buy a more appropriate property.) If you envision a hobby type business and you have another source of income, this is also the case.

However, if you plan to make a career of innkeeping, choosing a location is the most important decision you will make. In a nationwide survey of innkeepers, we asked “With the knowledge you have now, what would you do differently at your inn if you could start over?” The most frequent answers given were “picking a better location” and “having more rooms.”

But innkeepers went on to clarify what they meant by  the better location. They said they needed to be closer to the theater district, within walking distance of the most popular attraction in town, lakefront instead of across the street from the water, or be on the main street in town. Some wished they would have picked an area that had more year-round traffic and less seasonal business. In retrospect, most wished they could have paid the extra price for a better location.

Consultant and innkeeper Carl Glassman in an article for the The Journal for Innkeepers, says, “Indeed, certain destinations ... are approaching saturation. However, there are many other geographic areas in the country that are ripe for inn lodgings, such as mid-size destination cities ... In addition, new inns serving distinct, well-researched market segments continue to open and thrive even in established destinations.”

In an article titled “Hottest Hotel Markets in the United States,” the top 10 hotel markets included the following:

—Most were in the largest population centers in their state.

—Each was a major commercial center.

—Some were major port cities.

—Attractions included prominent cultural and educational institutions; some had professional sports teams.

—Five were centers for high-technology and computer research.

—Each of the 10 had multiple natural, historical and recreational attractions.

 We offer a location test that we developed several years ago during our years of teaching “How to Start a Bed & Breakfast” in the California University system. This is one way to begin to evaluate a location. For the most accurate results, objectivity is important.
 
Score points and half-points and add up your total at the end.

1. Population centers. If the inn is within a two-hour drive of a large population area, score one point per million. For population centers farther away — within a four-hour drive — score a half a point per million populations.

2. If there are other B&Bs and country inns within five miles, score a half point for each. If there are none, deduct four points.

3. If occupancy rates are 60 percent year-round in small hotels and motels in the area, add two points.

4. If the occupancy rate is more than 70 percent, add two additional points.

5. Have occupancy rates dropped in last year? Deduct two points for each percentage drop. (Information about occupancy can be derived from transient bed tax collected by local authorities.)

6. Do you have a solid source of referral business? Add four points.

7. Is there a short tourist season? If the season is less than five months subtract two points.

8. Is there a long tourist season? If more than five months add a half point per month for each month over five.

9. Is there a university or large hospital within walking distance? Add two points.

10. Is the property close to local attractions? If it’s a short walk, add five points. For a long walk add three points.     If there is more than one major attraction, add one point.

11. Are you within a mile of a major interstate? Add two points.

12. Has there been a decline in traffic count or tourism? Subtract two points.

13. Are you in a town that will offer you heavy business traveler traffic? Add three points.

14. Is there a major flaw in your prospective location? Subtract 10 points (next to a gas station, difficult to reach, on the wrong part of town, etc.).


Here’s how to score the inn location:

1-5       Forget it.

6-10     Only if you have money and time to spare.

11-15   Marginal. Have another job to supplement.

16-20   Possible, but count on long build up time. Concentrate on promotion, hold back on over spending on refurbishing. Don’t quit your job.

21-25   Good location but plan on working hard on marketing.

26-35   Choice location. Plan on two to four years for high occupancy. Work on promotion and inn personality.

36+      Prime location if you can afford it. Don’t blow it. Decorate and market professionally.

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