Course expectations

Registered for state association convention's innkeeping course coming up this weekend. Any thoughts on how to prepare or what to expect? Background: I'm still an aspiring; there is an established bb that I'm hoping to buy, and this will be my first formal industry-related class.

Expect to learn a lot of real life stuff you never considered about the business. Since it's this weekend, don't do anything to prepare, other than to take a pen and some paper and get a good night's sleep the night before so you're alert. And get a cup of coffee as soon as you arrive. Caffeine increases mind sharpness.
But after it's over, be sure to read Run ning a Bed Breakfast fer Dummies and anything similar you can find.
:welcome:

If you are permitted to, perhaps taking a voice activated recorder with you to tape the class. I am old - do they still have those? Take copious notes. Then sift through it looking at it from the perspective of the presenter. Large inn will see things differently from a small inn. Different problems.
And even though what you are eyeing is an existing inn, check on the zoning codes, building codes etc to ensure you are still going to be good as a new owner - AND GET IT IN WRITING before you lay down the first penny. Some variances are good only with THAT owner and some as long as it remains that usage only.
For instance - in my city, if a new retail comes in to a building as a retail, all is well. But if they put in a service business or instead of putting storage upstairs, renovate for apartment rentals, it is a new ball game and new rules for building codes kick in. Be aware.

I agree with Arks- do not prepare- just go, take notes, and listen.
Then- Start your business plan and don't forget to add 30% to everything that has a cost and subtract 30% from everything that is a gain.

Thanks for the input. Arks, thanks... that was the first book I picked up!
GH, I went to a real estate seminar a couple of weeks ago, and a lady had her i pad set to record... the instructor asked her to turn it off. Turned out the presentation was copyrighted. Even so, it will be worth a try this weekend- good idea. And thanks for mentioning that zoning permits might not convey with the property. The agent said they did, and I took his word for it. I'll dig deeper now to make sure.
Happy, thanks for the 30% padding tip for the business plan; I'll plug it in. (gulp)
Sharpening my #2s now.... bring on the caffeine and the information overload!

Have fun!

rosebud said:

Thanks for the input. Arks, thanks... that was the first book I picked up!
GH, I went to a real estate seminar a couple of weeks ago, and a lady had her i pad set to record... the instructor asked her to turn it off. Turned out the presentation was copyrighted. Even so, it will be worth a try this weekend- good idea. And thanks for mentioning that zoning permits might not convey with the property. The agent said they did, and I took his word for it. I'll dig deeper now to make sure.
Happy, thanks for the 30% padding tip for the business plan; I'll plug it in. (gulp)
Sharpening my #2s now.... bring on the caffeine and the information overload!.

Click to expand...

Get it in writing re any Codes

rosebud said:

Thanks for the input. Arks, thanks... that was the first book I picked up!
GH, I went to a real estate seminar a couple of weeks ago, and a lady had her i pad set to record... the instructor asked her to turn it off. Turned out the presentation was copyrighted. Even so, it will be worth a try this weekend- good idea. And thanks for mentioning that zoning permits might not convey with the property. The agent said they did, and I took his word for it. I'll dig deeper now to make sure.
Happy, thanks for the 30% padding tip for the business plan; I'll plug it in. (gulp)
Sharpening my #2s now.... bring on the caffeine and the information overload!.

Click to expand...

rosebud said:

Thanks for the input. Arks, thanks... that was the first book I picked up!
GH, I went to a real estate seminar a couple of weeks ago, and a lady had her i pad set to record... the instructor asked her to turn it off. Turned out the presentation was copyrighted. Even so, it will be worth a try this weekend- good idea. And thanks for mentioning that zoning permits might not convey with the property. The agent said they did, and I took his word for it. I'll dig deeper now to make sure.
Happy, thanks for the 30% padding tip for the business plan; I'll plug it in. (gulp)
Sharpening my #2s now.... bring on the caffeine and the information overload!

Click to expand...

NEVER believe a real estate agent on those things. They have no idea and will tell you what you want to hear. I dodged a bullet on one property we were going to buy and when I called the county about the special use permit I found that it had been revoked and could never be turned into a b&b even though it had been one before. The real estate agent told us there wouldn't be a problem. Right!!!

4 Surefire Ways to Get the Most from the Next Conference You Attend
Saw this in my Twitter feed today...

Joey Bloggs said:

4 Surefire Ways to Get the Most from the Next Conference You Attend
Saw this in my Twitter feed today....

Click to expand...

Joey Bloggs said:

4 Surefire Ways to Get the Most from the Next Conference You Attend
Saw this in my Twitter feed today...

Click to expand...

Thanks JB, this article was good timing for me. I've been trying to decide whether to go to the PAII conference or to the Hospitality Marketing Summit being put on by Acorn and White Stone.
This quote hit home:
"In my experience, people go to conferences for a lot of reasons other than the stated purpose. It’s a chance to get away from the office, to reconnect with colleagues and friends, or maybe just hide out in a hotel room and catch up on an important project."- Michael Hyatt
No doubt, PAII would be more fun. I'd get to add on a few more days and enjoy New Orleans. But, when I'm at a PAII conference, I take all the workshops on internet marketing. For me, it's what puts heads in beds. My location demands that our internet presence is the best it can be.
A couple days ago I decided to go to Denver to the Internet Marketing Summit. No classes on how to make beds or yummy breakfasts. Just mind exhausting information and some one-on-one help for our internet presence.
I'm going by myself since DH doesn't do any of our marketing. If anyone else is interested in going, contact me offline and we can hook-up. If you can sign up by Sept. 12th you get $100 off.

rosebud said:

Thanks for the input. Arks, thanks... that was the first book I picked up!
GH, I went to a real estate seminar a couple of weeks ago, and a lady had her i pad set to record... the instructor asked her to turn it off. Turned out the presentation was copyrighted. Even so, it will be worth a try this weekend- good idea. And thanks for mentioning that zoning permits might not convey with the property. The agent said they did, and I took his word for it. I'll dig deeper now to make sure.
Happy, thanks for the 30% padding tip for the business plan; I'll plug it in. (gulp)
Sharpening my #2s now.... bring on the caffeine and the information overload!.

Click to expand...

Aloha Rosebud,
I DID pull that number out of thin air, but the combined point is very important to your long term survival. Overestimating your costs and underestimating your gains will give you a cushion that you are ABSOLUTELY going to need. If you can make you business model run on conservative numbers, imagine what can happen when you get things rolling.
Of course, droning on about having a business plan is just something I do.

Breakfast Diva said:

Joey Bloggs said:

4 Surefire Ways to Get the Most from the Next Conference You Attend
Saw this in my Twitter feed today....

Click to expand...

Joey Bloggs said:

4 Surefire Ways to Get the Most from the Next Conference You Attend
Saw this in my Twitter feed today...

Click to expand...

Thanks JB, this article was good timing for me. I've been trying to decide whether to go to the PAII conference or to the Hospitality Marketing Summit being put on by Acorn and White Stone.
This quote hit home:
"In my experience, people go to conferences for a lot of reasons other than the stated purpose. It’s a chance to get away from the office, to reconnect with colleagues and friends, or maybe just hide out in a hotel room and catch up on an important project."- Michael Hyatt
No doubt, PAII would be more fun. I'd get to add on a few more days and enjoy New Orleans. But, when I'm at a PAII conference, I take all the workshops on internet marketing. For me, it's what puts heads in beds. My location demands that our internet presence is the best it can be.
A couple days ago I decided to go to Denver to the Internet Marketing Summit. No classes on how to make beds or yummy breakfasts. Just mind exhausting information and some one-on-one help for our internet presence.
I'm going by myself since DH doesn't do any of our marketing. If anyone else is interested in going, contact me offline and we can hook-up. If you can sign up by Sept. 12th you get $100 off.
.

Click to expand...

Looks like an excellent conference. Some of the split days have concurrent sessions that both look good. Would love to attend this but not happening.

Breakfast Diva said:

Joey Bloggs said:

4 Surefire Ways to Get the Most from the Next Conference You Attend
Saw this in my Twitter feed today....

Click to expand...

Joey Bloggs said:

4 Surefire Ways to Get the Most from the Next Conference You Attend
Saw this in my Twitter feed today...

Click to expand...

Thanks JB, this article was good timing for me. I've been trying to decide whether to go to the PAII conference or to the Hospitality Marketing Summit being put on by Acorn and White Stone.
This quote hit home:
"In my experience, people go to conferences for a lot of reasons other than the stated purpose. It’s a chance to get away from the office, to reconnect with colleagues and friends, or maybe just hide out in a hotel room and catch up on an important project."- Michael Hyatt
No doubt, PAII would be more fun. I'd get to add on a few more days and enjoy New Orleans. But, when I'm at a PAII conference, I take all the workshops on internet marketing. For me, it's what puts heads in beds. My location demands that our internet presence is the best it can be.
A couple days ago I decided to go to Denver to the Internet Marketing Summit. No classes on how to make beds or yummy breakfasts. Just mind exhausting information and some one-on-one help for our internet presence.
I'm going by myself since DH doesn't do any of our marketing. If anyone else is interested in going, contact me offline and we can hook-up. If you can sign up by Sept. 12th you get $100 off.
.

Click to expand...

Over and above the networking and workshops (I DO seriously do both), Conferences are for me, mini-vacations from DH and everything else. I usually find myself in BED by 10. This summer I missed out (or will) on 2 - one was commutable (and I had a full-house one night of it) and the other coming up this month I will miss because I already have one-nighters booked for 2 of the days - one of them was booked by our Museum.