stayparrysound
Member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2012
- Messages
- 9
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Hi All!
I remember very well making the decision that I wanted to own a bed and breakfast; and the fear that followed me as I made my torturous journey to actually getting my bed and breakfast doors open. It ended up taking me 5 years..two years doing research (and waiting for kids to get big enough to kick them out! - the standing joke in my family is that not only did I sell the family home and leave town, but I rented out their beds too, so they couldn't come back!) and then three years searching for the right property.
My motivations were personal - I had burnt myself out twice in doing work that I truly did love and was very good at; I wanted to find out if I could create and run a business on my own; I wanted a more flexible schedule and the ability to pursue some of my hobbies and other interests. My biggest fear was whether I could make enough money to live on and still run the type of B&B I wanted.
I finally had an ah-ha moment when I realized that even though the motivations were personal, I needed business results to overcome my fears, and I have been OK for the most part since then.
As many innkeepers on this forum will tell you, we all have many guests sitting around our breakfast tables who tell us that they would like to have a B&B one day...but they never do anything about it - it's more like a daydream. But if you have paid to be a member of PAII and seek out learning opportunities, then I would think that you are far more serious than those daydreamers I just mentioned.
So, I go back to the title of this post - what's the biggest hurdle that is holding you back from having your own bed and breakfast?
I remember very well making the decision that I wanted to own a bed and breakfast; and the fear that followed me as I made my torturous journey to actually getting my bed and breakfast doors open. It ended up taking me 5 years..two years doing research (and waiting for kids to get big enough to kick them out! - the standing joke in my family is that not only did I sell the family home and leave town, but I rented out their beds too, so they couldn't come back!) and then three years searching for the right property.
My motivations were personal - I had burnt myself out twice in doing work that I truly did love and was very good at; I wanted to find out if I could create and run a business on my own; I wanted a more flexible schedule and the ability to pursue some of my hobbies and other interests. My biggest fear was whether I could make enough money to live on and still run the type of B&B I wanted.
I finally had an ah-ha moment when I realized that even though the motivations were personal, I needed business results to overcome my fears, and I have been OK for the most part since then.
As many innkeepers on this forum will tell you, we all have many guests sitting around our breakfast tables who tell us that they would like to have a B&B one day...but they never do anything about it - it's more like a daydream. But if you have paid to be a member of PAII and seek out learning opportunities, then I would think that you are far more serious than those daydreamers I just mentioned.
So, I go back to the title of this post - what's the biggest hurdle that is holding you back from having your own bed and breakfast?