Thinking about starting a B&B -- Help Please.

[gillumhouse]

Being from the "starting a B & B" from scratch and not really knowing the intricate details of how much $$$ it would take or having "rose colored glasses" on take it from someone that has struggled to make the B & B successfull and just counting on that as income---it doesn't work unless of course you have alot of $$$ to buy one that makes alot of revenue at the onset.
Volunteering at a B & B and lots of inspiring classes will help imensley, but there is nothing like "life of innkeeping" experience..

We are also of the "start clueless" crowd, and I think you have a point if you are saying that it is important to do your home and crunch numbers before investing.
We have made our B & B a vialble business that affords us a good standard of living. We started from zero and built our business. Literally, we built the house ourselves. This accomplished the opposite of buying an established business by keeping our debt down to something we could handle until the business began producing income we could live off of.
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We were a start-up and what saved us was we had no mortgage. What killed us was that we used all our money and DH had a heart attack and an aortic aneurysm also on our money (pre-existing conditions such as high BP and being told you are diabetic (Type II and never had medication) make insurance a no-go). By the time he was on Medicare and we could afford the supplemental insurance it was time for the 6-way by-pass. FINALLY a med condition that did not wipe us out again. We will not discuss prescription costs. Now, however, I do the battle of the honking loan payment (bathrooms he would not agree to before Katrina) every month, but now we are more established.

 

[1linda]

We did a plan, talked to cooperations in and around our town. Most of the outcome of the plan turned out just the opposite of the way the plan predicted. I laugh at the whole thing. The company that said they would NEVER use us has a lot and the one that said they would use us all the time do so about once or twice a year.
I read several books about running a B and B. Very helpful.
Established Innkeepers are very helpful. Call ahead is very important. I had a couple show up at my doorstep expecting to pick my brain right then and there. I was offended. I was kinda helpful but resented the intrusion first think in the morning. It was a toss up to be nice or not. I decided to be nice because if they were to start a B and B I would not want to get off on the wrong foot, but it was hard.
Good luck.

 

[Cabininn]

Hello everyone! My husband and George and I are just beginning the process of establishing a B&B at our cabin. It came at us kind of back door, we bought the cabin for our own private use on the weekends as a get-a-way from the suburban life. Now we have had several people approach us with the idea of renting it from us. I must confess, that I have harboured the dream of owning a bed and breakfast but never really considered it with the cabin, until we were approached to rent it out. I am approaching retirement in about 10 years and have been thinking that this could be my dream come true.
We have been talking to another owner here in the mid-Missouri area and he and his wife have been very helpful in guiding us in this new endeavor. He too owns a cabin that he rents out and is making a tidy profit on and he's been doing it for several years. Please, please give me any advice that you believe would help us. I have already contacted the zoning department in town and I am awaiting a reply to my inquiry. I am hoping that this will not de-rail the process before it gets off the ground. Has anyone ever been denied the opportunity to start a B&B soley determined by their zoning department?

 

[Tim_Toad_HLB]

Amazing insight from everyone and all very prudent.
Sasha,
My advice is in the form of both experiences we had and questions as I find them helpful to stimulate deeper thought and more input in responses from others. I only offer mostly food for thought and some more ideas for evryone to chew on. Certainly no expert or "final word on anything" attitude to be taken from anything I can offer..
We started our place from scratch also and had done several year's worth of research prior to taking the plunge. We read nearly every book we could get our hands on, leaned on many innkeepers of places we had ever stayed at and enjoyed and made a file of everything we hadn't enjoyed over the years of staying in B&Bs as our preferred lodging.
Many of the books available have self-evaluation tests in them to flesh out if you have the personality, tenacity, patience, perseverance, etc.. to become a good innkeeper. Taking these and evaluating the results weighed heavily on our decision to go ahead to proceed.
That being said, these tests did not reveal the ocean of additional things we have since learned about ourselves, human nature, trouble shooting, diplomacy in the face of adversity, pacing ourselves, taking care of ourselves to endure the long, sometimes grueling hours and busy seasons, etc.
Just like many have said, be ready for the unforeseens.
There is a reason why homebuilders, construction companies, etc. build in overage into their estimates, costs, etc. Stuff happens, delays occur, scheduling snafus happen, and even the most highly respected contractors, etc. can flake or not maintain a schedule at times.
Learn all you can about the market you intend to open in.
How saturated is it? Will you realistically be able to compete in a small town with an average number of visitors but a B&B on every corner?
Do most of the established B&B's online availability calendars seem to be mirroring what the area's average annual occupancy rate is? That is easily monitored over time if they use systems that show all their rooms as either booked or vacant.
Does the average room rate for the majority of B&Bs in your chosen destination seem reasonable to you if you are currently a visitor to this area on a regular basis?
How similar are the majority of B&Bs rates or is there big fluctuations on what everybody is charging for what you preceive as similar quality?
What are your income expectations and how many people would be expecting to make a self-sustaining living from the endeavor?
There are exceptions to everything but only in the highest average occupancy rate locations will a small B&B of say 4-5 guest rooms with an average cost of living will a couple doing everything themselves with no staff make morte than a comfortable living at this after expenses.
In many small size B&B cases, ours included, one of the two people very often also works outside the B&B to maintain some steady income, health care coverage, etc.
We feel like we know a lot of innkeepers and in the 4-6 room size, very few of them except for the most established and/or financially secure from other sources does the inn generate enough revenue itself to allow for much more than a comfortable, middle-class lifestyle and usually a very beautiful place to live.