I click my wine glass to you both.
My hat is off to anyone who took over or started their biz in peak season! We worked our butts off for 5 weeks and then had 3 months 'off'. I think I would have quit if we started in July or August!
In WV, unless there is a driving reason to open sooner, you start your business on July 2 - it gives you another whole year before a lot of taxes hit. In 1996 I opened July 3 and had our first guests right away - an all-school reunion. Then it was very spotty - BUT as you all know, I am in Podunk.
Our first year at this location, we started at the end of May. We underpriced because we didn't have a reputation, but our reputation grew. By the end of June we were booked over 95% occupancy and we didn't have a day off until November.
Our first day was July 5th. We like to think of it as our Independence Day. We had to hit the ground running. Fortunately, it was before TA or any other review site was created.
We were lucky, we took over the management of our place in October after the season was done and the cottages had mostly been put to bed for the winter.... (and we had about 6 months notice leading up to the hand-off, so we were able to ask the previous managers all kinds of questions before taking over).
