When this phase is done...

[Morticia]

...I am going to do...
What? I have no idea what I'm going to do when we sell. It's many (I hope) years down the road but I am not prepared to do anything. Are YOU doing any prep work for the future?

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

TOURISM FOR OUR COUNTY.
I have it in my craw that I will be in there with bells on. Rearing and ready to go. Chompin' at the bit. Let me at 'em.
So yes I am planning on what I will be going after we pass this beauty on to the new owners. But have to get it ready to sell...too much going on. Maybe our winter doldrums will enact great accomplishments around here!

 

[EmptyNest]

Me... doing free lance web design..but about ready to slow it down and do something else now. My back and neck are getting too old to sit at this computer for this long. I t hink i may do something with tourism here in town as a volunteer or something with animal shelter. I really thought about going back to teach at JR. College but i don't want to be tied down to that kind of job again. Plus I would have to buy a new wardrobe:-(

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

Our newspaper had a very nice insert today for a neighboring one stopsign town. It is home of the hippy culture in this state. Example: this is a real place...The Grateful Bread.
Anyway, I was flipping through the sustainability and eco builders and composters and kept seeing ads for B&B's I have not seen before! Gorgeous old historic homes, I pull the magazine in and sure enough,they are FUNERAL HOMES! SO I had a good laugh! They looked better than the B&B ADS in this magazine! They even have cool names - followed in small print by funeral home.
I have no idea why, oh year, tourism. This has to do with tourism that is why I posted it.

 

[gillumhouse]

I expect my next place to be one of two:
Ga-gag ward of the Nursing Home
Roast & Toast
I have worked doing many things in my life - full-time or part-time, have had the opportunity to be wife & mother and now Granny, volunteer up to my eyeballs, and be active is my kids schools and now in my City (and helping shape it to what it is today and be involved in where it is going). I have been blessed to have had it all and am content with whichever is the next step. I do not do well with having nothing to do..... I do hope someone will take over the B & B some day to keep it here for the City's economy. The second owners will be the ones to make a living with it.

 

[Copperhead]

My next roll I hope will be just chillin'. May do some volunteer work but only if I can do it when I want, for once I want to be able to do my own thing!

 

[gillumhouse]

My next roll I hope will be just chillin'. May do some volunteer work but only if I can do it when I want, for once I want to be able to do my own thing!.

for once I want to be able to do my own thing!
I am fortunate enough to be doing just that right now.

 

[YellowSocks]

sleep.
have only one toilet to clean.
everything else is gravy.
=)
Kk.

 

[greyswan]

move into a small house.... give the bulk of the antiques to the kids - it will be their turn to be caretakers of the family heirlooms! Be closer to other family members... but not in the same town... will want to live closer to where there are good hospitals/physicians. Doing what? volunteer work, playing with the grandkids, traveling, being eccentric

 

[muirford]

sleep.
have only one toilet to clean.
everything else is gravy.
=)
Kk..

have only one toilet to clean.

After sharing a potty with DH for six years I have unequivocally decided that we need two in our next house.

He already does his software work, which he would continue doing. I would do some more writing, which I started doing this year. I might apply for one of those about jobs if I found the right specialty!! Tourism stuff for our town visitor center - could get paid a little for that, not a lot. Would really like to do some volunteer work at the cat shelter that helped with our ferals last year. I won't be ready to completely stop working but I'd like to ratchet it down some.

 

[Morticia]

OK, it sounds like most everyone is retiring or close to it (lots of 'volunteer' options in there). I won't be old enough to retire. And we certainly won't have the money. Which is why it's a little nerve-wracking to try to plan what's next while trying to do the what's now!

 

[Penelope]

Assuming that being an innkeeper was a dream that one has for a long time before it becomes a reality; assuming that one loves being an innkeeper and only lives to try new things and being an innkeeper is the culmination of many years of dreams and aspirations and desires...I have seriously wondered what will happen when it's over. What do you do when the dream is over?
Not only WHAT will happen (ex. "what do we do NOW"), but how do you know when it's over? What signs do you look for? What emotions will be felt? How do you "exit"? Do you leave on a high note and maybe leave things/ideas left undone? Leave when you can't take it anymore and you've done all you wanted to do, maybe at the expense of having lost heart and soul for the biz, but wanting to finish nonetheless?
I am probably more curious about the results of this thread than any other.

 

[YellowSocks]

Assuming that being an innkeeper was a dream that one has for a long time before it becomes a reality; assuming that one loves being an innkeeper and only lives to try new things and being an innkeeper is the culmination of many years of dreams and aspirations and desires...I have seriously wondered what will happen when it's over. What do you do when the dream is over?
Not only WHAT will happen (ex. "what do we do NOW"), but how do you know when it's over? What signs do you look for? What emotions will be felt? How do you "exit"? Do you leave on a high note and maybe leave things/ideas left undone? Leave when you can't take it anymore and you've done all you wanted to do, maybe at the expense of having lost heart and soul for the biz, but wanting to finish nonetheless?
I am probably more curious about the results of this thread than any other..

I suspect it's like any other job... starts out wonderful, becomes routine, has good parts and bad parts. Then one day you don't want to get out of bed and go to work (and not because of a hangover!). Or you're at work and you just don't care anymore. Burn out happens in all professions. The trick is recognizing it in time and switching to a new firm or career before you hurt yourself or your company or your business.
At least, that's how I suppose it goes... as it's how I finally left several of my jobs in the past. At some point you just know it's time.
=)
Kk.

 

[gillumhouse]

Assuming that being an innkeeper was a dream that one has for a long time before it becomes a reality; assuming that one loves being an innkeeper and only lives to try new things and being an innkeeper is the culmination of many years of dreams and aspirations and desires...I have seriously wondered what will happen when it's over. What do you do when the dream is over?
Not only WHAT will happen (ex. "what do we do NOW"), but how do you know when it's over? What signs do you look for? What emotions will be felt? How do you "exit"? Do you leave on a high note and maybe leave things/ideas left undone? Leave when you can't take it anymore and you've done all you wanted to do, maybe at the expense of having lost heart and soul for the biz, but wanting to finish nonetheless?
I am probably more curious about the results of this thread than any other..

For me it will be when I no longer get excited about a reservation. After 12+ years I still whoop it up when I get a reservation.
There are times I do not want to do anything but sleep, but if that phone rings, I slip into perky smile and the thank you for calling speech and I am not tired again until I hang up.

 

[Samster]

Politics.
Or a hitman.

 

[greyswan]

Assuming that being an innkeeper was a dream that one has for a long time before it becomes a reality; assuming that one loves being an innkeeper and only lives to try new things and being an innkeeper is the culmination of many years of dreams and aspirations and desires...I have seriously wondered what will happen when it's over. What do you do when the dream is over?
Not only WHAT will happen (ex. "what do we do NOW"), but how do you know when it's over? What signs do you look for? What emotions will be felt? How do you "exit"? Do you leave on a high note and maybe leave things/ideas left undone? Leave when you can't take it anymore and you've done all you wanted to do, maybe at the expense of having lost heart and soul for the biz, but wanting to finish nonetheless?
I am probably more curious about the results of this thread than any other..

We had a very good financial planner help us with our business plan and part of that plan is to have an exit strategy.... Our plan is to get out at year 10 but put it on the market at year 7 (giving us 3 years to sell) We will want to be prepared to leave if we get an offer we can't refuse at 7 years, too. And, of course, we could change our minds at that time, too... we're pretty flexible! I've been going thru this exercise of "what do I want to be when...." When this dream is over it will be replaced with another dream and then another. Have you seen the movie "The Bucket List" - think I'll be working on that list!

 

[YellowSocks]

...I am going to do...
What? I have no idea what I'm going to do when we sell. It's many (I hope) years down the road but I am not prepared to do anything. Are YOU doing any prep work for the future?

Live in a cabin by a lake sounds good... if I have energy left. 'Cause the other plan is to keep at this til I'm too tired to do the required work, and cabins are work, too.
Plan B would be to RV around the country, but I know I like my friends and family too much to be gone that long.
Either way I've got to save my pennies.
=)
Kk.

 

[muirford]

Assuming that being an innkeeper was a dream that one has for a long time before it becomes a reality; assuming that one loves being an innkeeper and only lives to try new things and being an innkeeper is the culmination of many years of dreams and aspirations and desires...I have seriously wondered what will happen when it's over. What do you do when the dream is over?
Not only WHAT will happen (ex. "what do we do NOW"), but how do you know when it's over? What signs do you look for? What emotions will be felt? How do you "exit"? Do you leave on a high note and maybe leave things/ideas left undone? Leave when you can't take it anymore and you've done all you wanted to do, maybe at the expense of having lost heart and soul for the biz, but wanting to finish nonetheless?
I am probably more curious about the results of this thread than any other..

We had a plan very similar to greyswan which had us running this Inn for 7 - 10 years, and beginning the exit process around year 7 because it can take 2 - 3 years for even a profitable B&B to sell. At year 10, my DH will be 60. We won't be ready or be able to afford to 'retire' but we would like to work fewer hours than we work running this B&B.
We bought our Inn from someone who had it for 3 years and decided to sell it after the first year. It really showed. Guest amenities went away, only the bare minimum maintenance was done, the sheets and towels were threadbare. When we moved in I brought several boxes of linens that I had bought at the outlets so that I could just get rid of most of what was here. Although we had nowhere to go but up, we spent the first two years here repairing both the body of the house and the soul of the business. I wouldn't want to do that to the next owner. Things will break after we're gone, as old houses always need something, and some old guests will go away and new ones will come, but I'd like that to be just the normal functioning of things, not because we got so burnt out we couldn't do it any more.
I still have plans and ideas about what to do here but if some of them don't come to fruition it won't kill me. We are not sure that we wouldn't run another B&B, although probably not in this area - it would have to be one that was either smaller or more seasonal. My DH will keep doing software work - he loves it and will never give it up entirely. We have found in trying to plan for that next step that it is too difficult to make plans until this phase is pretty close to ending, just because of the uncertainty of the ending. So we will likely wait until closer to the end before we do much more planning for the next phase.

 

[JunieBJones (JBJ)]

Assuming that being an innkeeper was a dream that one has for a long time before it becomes a reality; assuming that one loves being an innkeeper and only lives to try new things and being an innkeeper is the culmination of many years of dreams and aspirations and desires...I have seriously wondered what will happen when it's over. What do you do when the dream is over?
Not only WHAT will happen (ex. "what do we do NOW"), but how do you know when it's over? What signs do you look for? What emotions will be felt? How do you "exit"? Do you leave on a high note and maybe leave things/ideas left undone? Leave when you can't take it anymore and you've done all you wanted to do, maybe at the expense of having lost heart and soul for the biz, but wanting to finish nonetheless?
I am probably more curious about the results of this thread than any other..

Assuming that being an innkeeper was a dream that one has for a long time before it becomes a reality; assuming that one loves being an innkeeper and only lives to try new things and being an innkeeper is the culmination of many years of dreams and aspirations and desires...I have seriously wondered what will happen when it's over. What do you do when the dream is over?
Not only WHAT will happen (ex. "what do we do NOW"), but how do you know when it's over? What signs do you look for? What emotions will be felt? How do you "exit"? Do you leave on a high note and maybe leave things/ideas left undone? Leave when you can't take it anymore and you've done all you wanted to do, maybe at the expense of having lost heart and soul for the biz, but wanting to finish nonetheless?
I am probably more curious about the results of this thread than any other.

Next weekend we had an invite to go to Lowe's motorspeedway. A big name software company (the biggest) is footing the bill, gourmet dinner, tour of one owner's shop (bus to take and pick up from the tracK) meet the drivers of this team, pit tour, top seats, open food and bar tab, huge huge once in a lifetime event. You couldn't pay for this, it is out of this world.
Dh is going on my insistence, can I go? No way, impossible. He has two tickets. Have rooms checking in and checking out and cleaning rooms and there is simply no way in the world. Even if I knew someone to just check in guests, there is much work next weekend.
So when do you know, you asked? When you are in near tears over being stuck in the house and unable to do ANYTHING on a weekend.
Big marching band comp at the highschool. Dh is working on the porch decking and I am going to sneak off with our Band members to enjoy it. I will be too tired, but it is only three blocks away.
Tis time...Tis Time.

 

[Morticia]

Assuming that being an innkeeper was a dream that one has for a long time before it becomes a reality; assuming that one loves being an innkeeper and only lives to try new things and being an innkeeper is the culmination of many years of dreams and aspirations and desires...I have seriously wondered what will happen when it's over. What do you do when the dream is over?
Not only WHAT will happen (ex. "what do we do NOW"), but how do you know when it's over? What signs do you look for? What emotions will be felt? How do you "exit"? Do you leave on a high note and maybe leave things/ideas left undone? Leave when you can't take it anymore and you've done all you wanted to do, maybe at the expense of having lost heart and soul for the biz, but wanting to finish nonetheless?
I am probably more curious about the results of this thread than any other..

I suspect it's like any other job... starts out wonderful, becomes routine, has good parts and bad parts. Then one day you don't want to get out of bed and go to work (and not because of a hangover!). Or you're at work and you just don't care anymore. Burn out happens in all professions. The trick is recognizing it in time and switching to a new firm or career before you hurt yourself or your company or your business.
At least, that's how I suppose it goes... as it's how I finally left several of my jobs in the past. At some point you just know it's time.
=)
Kk.
.

I suspect it's like any other job... starts out wonderful, becomes routine, has good parts and bad parts. Then one day you don't want to get out of bed and go to work (and not because of a hangover!). Or you're at work and you just don't care anymore. Burn out happens in all professions. The trick is recognizing it in time and switching to a new firm or career before you hurt yourself or your company or your business.
At least, that's how I suppose it goes... as it's how I finally left several of my jobs in the past. At some point you just know it's time.
=)
Kk.

I know catlady remarks frequently that she would have closed up shop years ago if she got my guests. Even tho I get some doozies, as long as I can regroup, I'm ok. And it doesn't take much for me to get back in there swinging. Just going for a walk can take the edge off. The routine part is the cleaning, but that's not how you mean routine. It's when you're going thru the motions with no excitement, that's when it's probably a little late to reassess your love for the biz. The POs here hated it by the time they left and I'm not sure they liked each other at that point. It was all about the money at that point. Get it and get out.
We're planning another 6 years here but guests keep asking if we're going to bolt like the PO's did, not a word to anyone except the guests they'd made friends with.
What I don't know is what I'm going to do with my life. I need a job once we leave here. For at least another 8-10 years. I just don't see doing what!