Easy peasy

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JBloggs

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Boy kid have we come a long way!
I am putting together a list of renewals and information (as I am doing some office work, taxes and business license paperwork today) and keep adding to the list for our eventual next chapter of our life. As I do this I have to laugh at how difficult stuff was when we bought this B&B. Example:
Business phone line
Second phone line for fax
Credit card swiping machine used a phone line, so took it off line while you did that. There was a purchase cost of this machine and a monthly charge to use it. Not to mention PCI compliance, not to mention a separate agreement for each credit card company and the merchant account. ie Amex had its own and contract. Now we accept everything with a quick swipe of the SQUAREUP reader, from anywhere on the property and have four wifi routers.
We also got rid of the business ph, and it is part of our cable and high speed internet account.
When we bought this "turn key B&B" we had nothing given to us. No past guest information (done on index cards which were taken with)
We opened a closet and there we had a dozen B&B directories that had lapsed and were overdue for renewal, all of them expensive. We had so much more to pay for then, so many more costs than we do today.
I am so not like THOSE PEOPLE. I want the next set of innkeepers here to succeed, after all the blood sweat and tears (and $$) we have put into this, we want them to be happy and have a thriving business and a wonderful lifestyle!
 
Yes I am adding our online reservation system contact ph and email...how you renew it (we pay monthly via paypal, they may want to pay it annually to start and get it out of the way).
So much, and yet so easy peasy compared to what we walked into...
 
it was easy when we came here because there was nothing automated back then! everything now is to be sorted! its keeping track of everything to change it over!
 
As that old commercial goes - We've come a long way baby!
We were a start up as well K. Thankfully we had a good guide. A B&B in town was closing, had sold out to a Chef for a restaurant. No B&B interest. So they gave us their wisdom and their guests.
While they did not provide us with their guest records, they did unbeknownst to us until it had been done, they wrote notes to all their previous guests to thank them and they provided our info for if they return.
They had little knowledge of the internet while they did have a website. But most of everything was paper - paper directories, paper reservation book, paper ads, you name it.

We may complain about the cost of OTA commissions but considering everything it is so much more of a bargain considering our time and effort than those days. Now our time is spent keeping up with SEO etc to keep our online presence at the top.
 
No guest info here either other than the daily check-in sheets for the upcoming year. So, no address, cc #, phone number, etc. We never knew if those July and August guests were going to show.
We, too, had those 3x5 cards. Probably should have hired a kid to enter the data so we could contact all those old guests but they figured it out.
We were told there were no online databases. Until we called to validate a gift certificate we hadn't been reimbursed for. Was it real? Did they remember this one? Then a db magically appeared on their computer.
Same here with directories - all expired.
No password for the website. Their webmaster wouldn't hand it over. It was his website, not theirs to sell.
Our cc swipe machine still hogs the business line.
Online reservations are a joy. I can't even remember how we did a check-in before we got that.
 
We were very fortunate. Our PO's gave us everything. We were able to export past guest data from Guesttracker and put it into our system.
 
I feel the need to thank you all again. I just wonder how many mistakes I would of made if it wasn't for you. I did make a huge expensive one but because of all of you, got it fixed as soon as I could. Have a wonderful day!
 
We were very fortunate. Our PO's gave us everything. We were able to export past guest data from Guesttracker and put it into our system..
We had nothing when we got here. The former owners took everything; including deposits for the next season, which we felt we had to honor. Now I wish we hadn't because we never saw those guests again. Well, the things you do for karma's sake
The only thing they left behind was the "pig list" of guests who should never be able to book here again.
 
Ah yes -The start up - Thanks CH and K for reminding me that we had to make our own. In some ways, it was just good fortune that we couldn't afford some of the stuff that was out there then. Probably saved us a few pennies.
 
I was a start-up and had to create that whole mess you described - with no clue really (although I thought I did) about what I was doing. Was fortunate enough to not make any major mistakes but when starting, ANY mistake is costly. The only thing is my favor was almost our downfall - I started on my own money with a paid for house (that is now in hock).
Adding because I do not want to do another entry -
It was a combo of short funds and lack of knowledge that I used an accounting tablet to keep my ledger and and occupancy reports in. Then I learned about spreadsheets and Excel and used that (but always did and still do index cards for reservations info) for ledger, occupancy, where guests came from (don't know why, but I stopped doing that - getting lazy in my old age I guess). Anyway, I write my checks and do not keep ALL my records on the computer because I have had too many crashes over the years. I now (and have for several years) use an auto back-up but have found the restores (have had a couple of those) to take a long time and once they are back have to get someone to make them accessible for me.
Being as small as I am and in my location, I have always had to do things as inexpensively as possible (and a much as possible, myself). Only age (and bad knees) have driven me to hiring the grass guy and that actually started to help a high school kid earn some money - same with The Girl ironing - and both have moved on to college and she has not been replaced.
 
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