TIPS ON RUNNING A BED AND BREAKFAST
We owned and operated our own Guest House for the best part of ten years, providing bed and breakfast for a mixed trade, largely tourists and holidaymakers, but with a fair number of guests on business and other non-recreational trips. If you fancy running something similar, go to it, it's a great way of meeting lots of people and making some money into the bargain. Bear in mind, though, that a couple of people working together can only cope with about five or six bedrooms at the most, particularly in the busy season, and that's unlikely to turn enough profit to be your sole means of support.
There's loads of advice available to those starting up in the accommodation business, from official sources as well as from the local trade. These few tips here represent only a fraction of what you'll come to know, but from our experience if you bear these ones in mind, you'll avoid coming to grief and can get on and enjoy running your own business. They're in no particular order.
- Get it clean, then clean it again
Cleanliness is the top concern for the majority of guests. Many of our regulars told us that they kept coming to us because they knew the house would be clean. We once heard it put another way: "We don't want to find a single trace of the people who had the room before us". So, not a pubic hair in the toilet bowl, not a thumbprint on the mirror - it's a tough standard to meet but you need to meet it. - The customer is always right, at least until you say otherwise
The majority of customers are normal, well-adjusted people in high good humour. Sadly there are some who are brain-dead, anti-social misfits with massive chips on each shoulder. Treat them all the same, with a welcoming smile and a high standard of service. Put up with their little idiosyncracies, welcome their daft questions and their habit of locking their key in their room. But as soon as they cross whatever line you set, get them out in the street before they can catch breath. It's your house and they're very welcome in it, but the doormat is the hairy thing outside the front door, not you. - Keep it in stock
You can safely assume that everything vital to running your business will eventually break down either on a Sunday or at nine o'clock at night. It's no use trying to find a plumber when a guest tells you there's water pouring out of the cistern in his en-suite loo - you need to fix it there and then. So, carry a good stock of light bulbs, tap washers, cistern valves, fuses, yale lock barrels and everything else that can go clunk in the night. - You're in business, so make the most of it
Keeping costs down is vital to your bottom line, so make sure you arrange to buy as much as possible at trade price or discount. Make use of a good cash and carry for cleaning materials and non-perishable foods. Open credit accounts with suppliers of plumbing goods, paint and wallpaper, bedding and everything else you need to buy in bulk. Always ask for trade discount whenever you buy anything for the business - even 5% off your 60 watt bulbs is a big help. - Let the world see you
It's pointless having the most deluxe B & B in the world if the world doesn't know about you. Paid advertising is expensive and offers very limited returns, but there are many ways of spreading the word for nothing. Work on getting your details widely published on the world-wide web, for a start. - Keep up with the rest
You're full of good ideas, but these can become old hat very quickly. Make sure you know what your competitors are up to, both locally and around the country. You won't want to copy everything they're doing but you need to know what's going on so you can choose which trends or ideas to follow. Read the web forums whenever you can and don't throw the trade journals straight in the bin. You have to sift through a lot of dross to reach the diamonds, but it can be well worth it. - Know when to stop
As soon as you start thinking of the people in your house as bl**dy nuisances rather than guests or customers, it's time to pack up, sell up and move on. The income simply isn't worth the corrosion of the soul - go and beachcomb, or grow carrots, or...