Entering Innkeeping,…….. the Business Plan

Businesses with plans have a higher success rate. As you have gathered information, you have already compiled much of the information needed for a written business plan. Writing your business plan will help you make your intentions clear to yourself, and your business compelling to others. Among its other uses:
Financing
Organization method
Communication tool
Reminder of your focus

There are a number of business plan formats, even software programs designed specifically for the purpose. Generally, business plans include:

Mission Statement
General business description
Pro-forma balanced operating statement
3(aggressive) and 5 (conservative) year plans to a balanced pro-forma statement
Cash flow projections for the same period demonstrating cash needs for both
Marketing Plan
Management's background
Loan request

Your business plan is going to outline the business you are proposing and demonstrate first to you, and then to others that it is a sound financial investment. You will establish a balanced pro-forma financial statement, generally for the third or fifth year. You will then demonstrate the progression of financial improvements that will provide that balanced statement. It will serve you well to do an aggressive approach that will take your to solid financial footing in only three years and to do a more conservative approach to reach the goal in five years.

A Marketing Plan will be the second most interesting element of your plan for at least two reasons. First, you along with potential investors will want to see a documented plan for producing guests (customers) who will buy your product, that will provide money to pay back their investment. Second, people are often fascinated by all sorts of hospitality ventures. Many people have dreamed of owning their own restaurant, club, small hotel, or bed and breakfast. General discussions or your venture and its market base are part of the fascination.
Marketing is a fluid activity based on a well thought out and clearly defined plan. It's important to develop concrete lists of marketing activities complete with a time line. You will be well served to include task assignments, and to establish deadlines for many of the activities. Among other activities it will be important for you to:
Define your customer. Be as clear in establishing this profile as possible. This definition is your target market.
Define your product. Be brutal with yourself. Develop a concise definition of your product, and it must be something that no else is...or why bother?
Outline your marketing methods. Web based, print, hand to hand, advertising, public relations, and word of mouth are all important elements of a marketing plan. Determine each of their values to you in your marketing plan.
Develop a marketing budget. Once you determine the values of different marketing opportunities, how much to you plan to spend on each of them.
Be prepared to measure the results of your efforts, refine your plan, and to react to opportunities that are new to you.

With each passing day there are new web based opportunities for businesses of every sort. Many of us use the internet to research our airline reservations, car rentals, hotel rooms, vacation activities. Today's marketing plans include a great deal of web based activity. While there are a number of free web site design services available, you will be well served to enlist the services of a professional website designer with experiences specific to this industry. It's relatively easy to make a website look nice and compatible with the vision of your property. However, if key words, search engine optimization, pay per clicks, on line availability, and real time reservations are phrases that mean little or nothing to you, a professional designer is in your future. And let’s not forget social media. How will you integrate social media opportunities into your marketing plan and your daily list of activities?

At some time you will have to select a name for your new venture. If you are buying an existing property, you may elect to keep the name. There is a tradition to the name and hopefully a good reputation of product and service. However, if you are in the market for a name, don't just pick a name, any name. Here a few considerations:
• Classic wins out over clever: first time guest are always skeptical of cute names.
• Leave your ego at the door: don't name the Inn after yourself.....you will eventually sell.
• Pick a name that is short, and memorable with a matching, available web domain name.
• Be sure the name identifies you as a lodging property and not a flower bed.
• Properties are often listed alphabetically in guides
• Don't include "The" in your name unless you want to be listed with the "T"s.

What can you do right now? Take the time to discover this new and exciting life. Innkeeping is a wonderful life for yourselves and your family. You will meet terrific guests, become a part of peoples lives on a level unattainable in any other profession, and will provide wonderful times together.

Next we’ll talk about an Action Plan.

Entering Innkeeping, Part 5

As you explore the physical opportunities for entering the Inkeeping world, talking with realtors, chambers of commerce, current owners of B&Bs and Inns, even those who casually rent space in their homes, it will be important to begin to do some analysis. Careful analysis of the elements of your business as it develops is important to reaching the goals you've established for yourself and your business. I’ve organized the areas of analysis into these five categories:
• Site
• Market
• Size
• Competitive
• Supply & Demand

The site. Here we’re talking about the physical components of your potential new enterprise, and let’s not forget your new home. This business development is about you, your preferences, and your interests. Be sure the location and site are conducive to your interests. If, for example, you hate the heat, don't consider properties in the deep south. If you hate gardening, don't consider a property with acres and acres of lawns, fields, gardens.

You will spend a great deal of time at your home/business and it will become a reflection of your tastes and interests. As you begin your search you might want to make a short list of specifications that starts somewhat like:
• In a skiing area for your love of all winter sports and the mountains
• A city population of no less than 20,000 with excellent schools
• With-in a two hour drive to major medical facilities

You'll also want to assess the amenities at the location that will meet your guests' needs. As examples:
If you're considering a beach resort community, will your business be convenient to the beach, shopping, dining, parking?
If food service is not nearby, are you planning to provide that service in-house?
If you are interested in a remote location, is there sufficient road signage for guests to physically find your property in the night?

Market analysis is a collection of economic data of the area. The local government or Chamber of Commerce collect and maintain records of the area's economic health. You'll want to have historical data to review the economic trends for your potential hometown, its present economic health, and projections for its future including any developments in the planning stages. The big question you want to have answered, Is there a market for your new venture in the location that you are considering? This is not the time to depend on anecdotal information, but rather cold, hard facts. This information isn’t sexy or romantic, but crucial for your success.

Size analysis is a matter of determining the number of guest rooms you will manage. This is another important analysis that will affect the outcome of your venture on a number of levels. If you plan for a B&B/Inn of 2-4 rooms, you may find you are completely comfortable working the business with no additional staff.
To the other extreme, if you plan for a 32 room property, you will rely on employees and you may find yourself more heavily involved in staff management than you would prefer. How are you planning your personal time each day?

Your financial goals are another consideration. If your goal is some additional income, then you may find a small property appropriate. To the other extreme, if your new business is to be your primary means of income, the sales potential of a larger property may be necessary to meet your goals.

Carefully consider the property size in relation to your interests and financial goals.
Real estate investment that will provide a specific (substantial) return in a specific projected time frame.
In and Out in 5-10, etc? You know your goals. Do they match the site you have in mind, the market you’ve selected?

So far, most of your focus as been on you, your wants, and how to get, it. Now we’re focusing on the community that will be around you.

• How many other lodging businesses are in the area and how many rooms do they constitute?
• What are their rates?
• Do they offer discounted pricing?
• Are there minimum stay requirements, which indicate they are busy enough to be selective?
• Are any of the properties similar to your property?
• What markets are being served by your competitors?

When you have the answers to these questions, you'll be able to determine where and how your property will fit in the lodging landscape of your area.

The last area of analysis is supply and demand. Much of this information will also be available from local government and Chambers of Commerce, especially in communities who rely on tourism for at least part of their economic health. However, in some areas you may have to make some assumptions on which to base your analysis because area hoteliers and innkeepers may not have or be interested in sharing statistical information.

However, a little well thought research can help you come to some good conclusions.

• Calculate the area's overall occupancy rate, OCC. This is a sum of all the potential rooms available in your market, compared to the number of these rooms that are occupied in a specific time frame.
• You'll also want to calculate an estimated average daily rate, ADR. You’re looking for the total room revenue collected in your market for a specific time frame. You will compare that number to the total number of room nights for the same period. You want to make some comparative calculations between the information you can gather from your market area, and what you have in mind for your own venture.
• Make a careful review of the different market segments being served and any known goals for market growth or expansion. For example, if you discover there is a 400 room hotel about to be developed in your area, that certainly changes your market and you may be uncomfortable competing for travelers in that market.
• Based on the information you have gathered it will be important for you to estimate your properties projected occupancy and average daily rate for year 1, year 2, and year 3.

I can’t stress sufficiently the value of this work. It will be the foundation for all that you do in developing your business venture. Just as in building any structure, no matter how pretty the interiors, it’s the foundation that supports all the pretty. Work to establish your business venture on the solidest of footings.

Once you’re worked through this analysis, it’s important to digest your work so that you can communicate your venture clearly to those around you. You may be talking with lenders, marketing professionals, artists, vendors, potential employees, neighbors, family, and friends. While I think the term is overused, and I avoid its use as much as possible, I’m talking about a Mission Statement.

You want to clearly know and understand the answers to these two questions:
• How will the Inn be different from other guest lodging opportunities?
• Why will the guest prefer your lodging opportunity?

What was once a cloudly “idea” for a potential business in your future, should now begin display itself as a clear vision. With all the information you have gathered, you’re ready to write your business plan.

Entering Innkeeping, Part 4

After all the research you’ve done, you’re ready to get down to finding your perfect property, one that will help you fulfill your personal entrepreneurial dreams. It's all about location. This is a real estate investment. As in all real estate, its location will greatly affect the results of your decision. There are generally three options for the acquisition of a B&B/Inn property. You can:
• An existing B&B or Inn Purchase
• Renovation/Restoration of an existing structure
• Build to Purpose

Purchasing an existing B&B or Inn can be the easiest way of acquiring your business.
• There is no development time because the business is operating.
• Licenses, permits, zoning are in place along with staff, and operating policies.
• Since there is immediate cash flow through the sale of rooms, there is minimal operating cash required compared to alternative acquisition methods.
• With a financial history, financing is often times easier, especially if an eager seller is willing to finance at least part of the sale.
The disadvantages of purchasing an existing business are limited, but should be carefully considered.
• You may prefer to make significant changes to the physical structure. It is not uncommon for physical structural changes to create an unanticipated financial strain on a new business.
• Even if you're happy with the structure, new ownership may bring about required changes of the property. Certain building code provisions that might have been overlooked in the past, may well have to be addressed with new ownership.
• Since you are buying an ongoing business, there will be a comparatively higher per room purchase cost for this option.
• An ongoing business may have an image problem of which you are unaware. When you buy an existing business, you buy all of it, the good, the bad, and the potentially ugly.
Renovation/Restoration of an existing building is a very popular option. Many of us are drawn to a beautiful old building that needs some tender loving care. Adaptive reuse of historic structures is particularly popular in historic districts.
• There is an unlimited choice of buildings that can use your tender loving touch. Choosing this acquisition alternative allows you to create your vision of your B&B/Inn in the framework of adaptive reuse.
• It may allow you sweat equity in the renovations.
• Since you are not purchasing an ongoing business, there will be a lower per room purchase cost than the purchase of an existing business.
• You should expect significant appreciation when you decide to sell.

However, with that creative license comes the headaches of renovations.
• Cost overruns and missed construction deadlines.
• You may find yourself in the middle of a zoning war with your neighbors.
• Since you're developing your business from the ground up along with your building, there will be higher operating capital needs for the marketing and business development costs.
• With no financial history, financing this new business will difficult and comparatively expensive.
• Renovations can be particularly stressful.

Building to purpose can be a visionaries dream.
• You get to choose a perfect location.
• The design of your B&B/Inn can be focused on your target guests' every want and desire.
• The list of guest amenities can be limited only by your imagination. Fireplaces, whirlpools, guest room size, ceiling heights, accessibility, private gardens, the choices can be endless.
• You can design for efficient use of your square footage, and efficient staff time and operating costs.

With all of that flexibility comes a price tag.
• Construction time seems to always take twice as long as projected, and during all of that time you will be personally involved on a daily basis.
• Your equity requirements will be particularly high because there is no business financial history and you will have to develop your buildings, business, and marketing plan.
• All of those wonderful amenities will create a high construction cost per room and might get out of hand.
• Because this option is the most likely to get out of financial control, it is the most difficult to finance.
• Will require the most operating capital of all the options.
• Is the most stressful of all options.

There you have it, three paths to consider. Will you look for an existing business, adapt a building to suit your business, or build your facility from the ground up?

Next week we’re going to take a look at the analysis of your business venture as you explore your different business options.

Entering Innkeeping, part 3, Research

Research. Research. Research. Based on my own experiences, I strongly encourage anyone who’s exploring any business venture to do as much research as your financial, time, and energies allow. I can’t begin to count the number of people I’ve heard say, “if only” about six to twelve months after folks have entered into a new business. Granted, there will always be surprises in any new business, but don’t be sideswiped by something that could have, should have, been included in your business plan. Research will help you refine your goals, gain perspective on the lifestyle, help you find your comfort levels, and narrow your choices, as you pursue your enterprise.

It may sound silly, but if you haven’t , be a guest. There are at least two primary reasons to stay in as many B&Bs as possible. First, there are as many ways to operate a Bed and Breakfast as there are innkeepers. By staying at a variety of B&Bs in different locations, you'll be exposed to a number of business models. There are operational differences based on location. Building code, fire safety code, zoning, and health codes differ by local and business models follow those location specific codes. There may be a business model that would particularly appropriate to your needs. Conversely, you may be exposed to a way of doing business that you find inappropriate. That exposure will help you immeasurably as you develop your own business model. Beginning to understand the lifestyle is the second reason it's important to visit B&Bs. This networking with experienced innkeepers will help you understand your best opportunities and the pitfalls you can avoid.

While talking with experiences Innkeepers is valuable, there are those who have taken that one step further and gotten first hand experience by working in an established business. Some have found fulfilling careers working for others, rather than owning their own business while enjoying the lifestyle.

There are generally three innkeeping career paths. Rarely do any of them offer income sufficient to invest in your own property, but they are terrific ways to network with innkeepers, understand the challenges firsthand, and develop your business model based on those experiences.

Interim Innkeepers are sometimes referred to as innsitters. Assignments generally fall into two categories. Short term assignments are of one day to three weeks. Long term assignments are more than three weeks and rarely go beyond six months. Interim Innkeepers get to experience a wide variety of properties, places, and people, which can be a very interesting yet challenging lifestyle. They generally have to be well versed in all elements of Innkeeping. In recent years, professional development of interim innkeepers has become more and more important. The Professional Association of Innkeepers International currently offers a certificate for interim innkeepers who have demonstrated their commitment to professionalism and guest safety.

Interim Innkeepers have to be well versed in all elements of general small business management and have a clear overview of innkeeping specifically. Among their bag of skills successful interim innkeepers are proficient in:
• time management
• communications
• food preparation and service
• housekeeping
• guest management
• staff management
• general building maintenance
• computer program knowledge
The longer term assignments require that interim innkeepers have even more honed people skills because of their on-going responsibilities for staff, guests, reservations, and their fellow business owners. Long term assignments may also take a toll on family relationships. Not everyone is comfortable spending large blocks of time far away from their loved ones.

Assistant Innkeepers can be part or full time and generally work along with the owner or general manager. Generally, they have specific management functions, but there are job descriptions that include similar descriptions to that of housekeepers with little management responsibilities. Assistant innkeepers generally have good command of:
• work flow of the specific property
• general policies and procedures
• reservation guidelines
• job descriptions of fellow employees
• management preferences

General Managers are usually full time management level staff who may work along with the owners, but are well equipped with all the skills to professionally manage the property in lieu of the owners. Many general managers operate properties for absentee owners, serving the function of full time Innkeeper. General Managers generally have command of skills including but not limited to:
• financial planning and management
• legal business responsibility
• time management
• communications
• food preparation and service
• housekeeping
• guest management
• staff hiring and management
• general building maintenance
• computer program knowledge

Weekend Audits can provide excellent opportunities to understand the work flow for a B&B/Inn operation. You might have wondered, how'd they do that. By developing relationships with Innkeepers, asking to spend time with them during operations, especially in the kitchen, you'll get a feel for the flow of work, and personal responsibilities of innkeepers and staff.

There are a number of organizations around the country that offer working vacations, or workshops specific to innkeeping. They are a great way to yet again, get specific experience. It's important to note here, that those who find little satisfaction in their innkeeping career are generally those who didn't carefully research the specifics of this business model.

There are also “boot camps” offered by a number of Inns. You get to pay to work for them for a short period of time.

There are a number of books on the subject of Innkeeping that are excellent reference material. So read, read, and read, again. But be sure to check publication date. This industry changes dramatically and quickly, try to use information that is as current as possible.

The standards for amenities like shared baths, the availability of online reservations, global distribution, marketing sites, social media have all changed over the years. Base your business model on current or next generation business practices.
Reservation Services
Web based reservations
You'll find a number of books about opening your own B&B. "So.....you want to be an innkeeper?" is a widely recognized publication, as is “Bed & Breakfasts for Dummies”. Reading a couple of these titles will help you learn from others mistakes.

Consider this:
In a typical week a successful Bed &Breakfast or Inn with 18 rooms, the staff will:
• prepare 210 guest breakfasts and 60 staff breakfasts
• serve up to 4 cases of eggs per breakfast
• spend 50 hours cooking
• attend to 30 guests per day
• deal with 100 loads of laundry
• clean rooms for 60 hours
• receive 350 phone calls
• log 100 office hours
• prepare 50 special guest requests
• use 21 gallons of afternoon refreshments
When the week is all over, you get to do it again, and again, and again, in perpetuity. So, it’s always good to be prepared!

Now is the time to do a self-assessment. Determine:
• If you’ve visited B&Bs and came away with a good feeling about the environment.
• That you’ve met current Innkeepers and can see yourself in their positionsT
• That you’ve done other research in the way of auditing operations, reading quality current publications on the “How to’s”of operating your dream business

Are you going to be an Innkeeper? Is so, look for next week’s blog post on Acquisition Options. We’ll look at the ways most folks have found their property, how to do the analysis of a property, and which option fits your list of goals.

Entering Innkeeping, Part 2. Goals

Last week I shared thoughts on bed and breakfast or Innkeeping as a lifestyle choice. Have you considered your own lifestyle needs and how they may, or may not match that of an innkeeper?

As I said, enthusiasm for a project is a wonderful thing. Any of us can get caught up in that enthusiasm and find ourselves involved at a different level than initially planned. Define your goals. Don't casually allow yourself to deviate from those goals. If you decide to change your goals, do so consciously, keep them handy, and refer to them. Let’s look at defining specific goals and what the industry has discovered are the motivators for those who have entered innkeeping and found success. Remember, you’re looking for a return on your investment of your time, your energy, your money.

We’ve been able to define four general categories of motivations. They include:
• Lifestyle. It's a place you want to live, an environment you enjoy, and you hope to have the occasional guest in an effort to expand your cultural experiences. Some people with this motivation or goal, choose to participate in house swapping with fellow home owners from around the world. If you live in a highly desirable location i.e. major international city or resort area, you find house swapping a better choice than operating a B&B or Inn.
• Supplemental Income. While cultural experiences are all well and good, you'd like to make a little supplemental income. Airbnb has become very popular with this group. They can rent available space to travelers on a casual basis, making a little cash sharing space they don’t necessarily use in their existing homes.
• Career. This is a career, your primary financial source. Just you might consider a career in law, teaching, retail, health care, innkeeping could be your career of choice, either by owning and operating your own business, or work as a general manager for someone else. Either way, as your primary source of income, there are higher financial stakes in this goal than in the prior more casual motivations.
• Real Estate investment for substantial return on investment. Real estate continues to provide substantial return on investment for the shrewd business person. Buying distressed property or businesses, using business, design, operational skills and experiences to increase their value and then reselling them can provide good returns given proper timing, patience, and economic climate.
Goals run a continuum of possibilities. While yours may not fit exactly into one or these categories, most can clearly identify with one or more of these categories.

Once you’re able to identify your goals, you can then begin to do the research that will help you reach them. Are you looking for a home in a destination location that you can share with others to broaden your life experiences? Do want to make a little extra cash selling space in your current home on a somewhat limited casual basis? Are you exploring career choices? Are you searching for an existing business, or developable real estate to be used for your new exterprise? Clearly set your goal. A good friend kept this quote on his desk: “A man without a plan is planning to fail”.

Next week we’re going to explore the research that will help you refine your goals, gain perspective on the lifestyle, help you find your comfort levels, and narrow your choices, as you pursue your enterprise.

I have a question.

My father stressed a value for truth in my upbringing. On countless occasions he stressed truth. “Tell the truth.” “People hate liars”. “Lies always catch up with you”. My mother told all of us to “Just be nice”. So I always try to be the good son who wants to be nice and to tell the truth. Most of my family and friends were much the same. I thought everyone aspired to at least those two very simple values. Through the years of course I’ve met people who clearly didn’t share those values, but I thought they were the exception. They were the bad guys i.e. robbers, rapists, thieves and villians. I suppose I’m just a naïve idiot, but every day brings with it questions about the truth. Just today I have these:

1. The US House leader said that he’s “watched them kick the can” of budget issues and fiscal responsibility down the street for the 22 years he’s been in Washington and that “it’s gonna stop now”. So I have a question. Where the hell was he in those 22 years? Watching from the men’s room window? He also explained that it was the administration’s and senate democrat’s responsibility to come up with a feasible plan. So again I have a question. He, with his 22 years of experience, is idealess?

2. The USPS announced that Saturday mail delivery would have to end because the organization has lost $16 or $18 BILLION in 2011, and continues to loose money at a rate of $25 million a month much in part because so many of us are paying bills and communicating online. Of course that caused a rucas about the legality of such a move. A Congresswoman from Maine has suggested that such a move be put off for two more years, until the USPS tries to work out its financial issues in other ways. Others think we should continue to “study” the problem. The greeting card association is very upset because they know with certainty all Americans hope to get personal mail when they go to their mailboxes. I have a question. Really?

3. A Congressman was reported to express his, and the Republican party’s concern for the families of immigrant families in an effort to negotiate a compromise for immigration reform. I have a question. Since when? The most recent republican presidential candidate ran on the republican platform that supported “self deportation”. Doesn’t’ that mean, we need to make things ugly enough so that the illegals go back to wherever it is they came?

4. The Boy Scouts of American (BSA) decided to not decide a change in the organization’s stand on gay membership. I heard Texan Governor Rick what’s his name voice his objection to such a change. A church leader also expressed a similar objection and went on to say that if “they” want to have such an organization with gays, “they” can start one. I have a question. Is there indisputable documentation that the founders of the current BSA were in fact, not gay? I’m not suggesting they were, to know, or to suggest anyone does after all it was 100+ years ago, but it may be important information to have. Unless we know, it’s quite possible “they” already organized such an organization all those many years ago.

Back to my original question, where’s the truth? Here’s what I see:
1. Any one in a real job who watch’s “them kick the can” down the road shouldn’t be employed, not for 22 years, and not in a leadership position of any organization, certainly not as the leader of the US House. Let’s stop paying people to watch.
2. We don’t have any money! At my house, when there’s no money, we don’t get to “study” the problem, nor do we get to postpone any action for two years. If we can’t afford it, we go without. I can wait for my greeting card till Monday….seriously.
3. He didn’t give a rat’s ass about the quality of these folks lives until the stats of the recent presidential election indicated Hispanics have become a powerful voting block. Get these folks in the voting and TAX paying community of citizens so they can help pay the frickin’ bills!
4. There are gays everywhere, have been for centuries. Let’s stay out of one another’s bedrooms. There may be secrets there that we really don’t want to know about one another. I mean, really. If the degradation of societal values is a worry, then focus on liars, cheats, thieves, killers, child molesters, and rapists, none of which is exclusive to the gay community. If instilling values in the leaders of tomorrow is a goal, then teach them love, mutual respect, honor and truth. Don’t teach them to lie. We have plenty of that.

Entering Innkeeping....Part 1. Lifestyle

As I’ve said, people regularly tell me they think they want to have their own B&B and I’m asked how to go about it. I’ve promised five Mondays to break the process down into easy steps of consideration. Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of the individual steps because taken together they will provide a good basis for your decision to work toward your own business or to look at other opportunities.

As a first step let’s take a look at the lifestyle of someone who not only operates his/her own business, but specifically a bed and breakfast or small inn. This is a centuries old business. Let’s not forget Mary and Joseph and the whole “no room at the Inn” thing. Down through the ages, the core business hasn’t changed that much. An Innkeeper has overnight space available for the traveling public. The traveler pays a fee for the use of the space. Food has often times been served. I use the word space because in times past it was not uncommon for the innkeeper to divide available space down to parts of a single bed. I use the word food, because again in times past, travelers weren’t quite as particular for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Wholesome sustenance was the priority of the time. But I digress. Tired people needed a place for rest and nourishment, and there were Innkeepers ready to provide those things in whatever fashion.

The owners of bed and breakfasts and small Inns, either in metropolitan or rural areas generally refer to themselves as Innkeepers. Today Innkeeping is a wonderful career many people have undertaken with great spiritual and financial success. It has also been romanticized to some degree. There have been those who are disenchanted soon after they enter innkeeping. There are some harsh realities to owning and operating your own business, particularly when you must depend on others to help with that business. I know a couple who spent months, even years, exploring all sorts of bed and breakfast business opportunities. After all their research they found their perfect dream business. These bright eyed, eager entrepreneurs became angry and bitter over the daily grind of business ownership in just a few short months. They soon had the business back on the market, and were ending their personal relationship as well.

Realistically, if your enterprise is successful, you could find yourself up at 6:00am every morning for the rest of your working life getting breakfast ready for hungry overnight guests. If you’re the sort of person who’s not awake until their third cup of coffee, sometime after 9:00am……well…..Houston….we have a problem.

If you have not been an entrepreneur before, it's important to understand the seemingly simple differences from the more traditional employer/employee career paths. Entrepreneurs are always doing business, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The responsibility is around the clock, 365 days a year, ultimately responsible for each and every decision involving the enterprise. Innkeepers are generally very hands on owners, oftentimes responding to reservations information, greeting & entertaining guests, cooking, cleaning, decorating & redecorating, repairs & maintenance, gardening, marketing, business planning, etc. They may have staff, but when the housekeeper, that one and only housekeeper, isn’t able to get to work, guess who’s cleaning guestrooms?

On one hand, you may feel a sense of emancipation. The freedom to determine your destiny, to succeed or fail by your own means might be a particularly important personal goal. On the other hand, you don’t get to go home at the end of your shift. Some have found that kind of total commitment to be too heavy a burden to bear, day in and day out, year in and year out.

Each of us has life goals. Your interest in innkeeping has been sparked at least in part by one of your goals. Your perception of an element of the lifestyle may have sparked your interest in it.
• You might be attracted to a particular part of the world and operating a B&B in that location is a logical plan of action i.e. you love the mountains, and can live and earn a living in the environment you relish.
• Perhaps owning a large spacious house is important to you. You love to have family and friends in. You’re a people person. Innkeeping would be an extension of that entertaining, and operating that house as a B&B for at least part of the time, making a little money, will help you afford that kind of home.
• Maybe you are expecting the enterprise to provide a long term career with substantial financial benefit throughout your career.
• There are also those who see the business as a career and also as a major real estate investment whereby they anticipate a dramatic return on their real estate investment.

Over the years, the industry has been able to identify those four general areas of interest that draw people to the industry. Again, they are:
• Location. Where you want to live
• Love of entertaining family and friends
• Career choice with substantial benefits.
• Real estate investment with anticipated dramatic financial return.
It’s important to recognize that many people who are drawn to this business niche for real estate investment purposes, often times have a specific project in mind. They have an old building that must be saved, a neighborhood that needs revitalizing, an empty city block that needs to be filled, or an existing building that should be repurposed. They look to the bed and breakfast business as a way of utilizing the building.

Enthusiasm for a project is a wonderful thing. Any of us can get caught up in that enthusiasm and find ourselves involved at a different level than initially planned. Define your goals. Don't casually allow yourself to deviate from those goals. If you decide to change your goals, do so consciously, keep them handy, and refer to them.

Next week we’re going to explore specific goal details. In the meantime, take an inventory of your life, the way you want or prefer to live. Does it match inkeeping?

If you always do what you always did…..

Over the years I facilitated meetings for a variety of organizations who were planning for their future. Somewhere during the course of their discussions I generally would use the quote, “If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.” I can’t site the source. For that matter, I’m not entirely sure it’s accurately repeated. But it invariably got the folks in the room to open their imaginations to other possibilities to what they knew from past experiences.

I’m told we all dream, but that the frequency with which we remember those dreams is different from person to person. Very early this morning I woke from a very vivid dream. I woke in a cold sweat saying to myself, “this is not where you should be. Why are you back here? Who are these people? You can’t be here. You can’t be in the past.” I can’t remember dreaming but a handful of times. Never has a dream been this vivid, certainly not this much a nightmare. I got up from bed and walked around my house to make sure I knew where I was. I got a glass of water from the kitchen. I was exhausted! Never has a dream haunted me for much of the next day. Even now the details are fresh and clear.

I believe in change; personally, professionally, in my communities. I’ve read all sorts of materials about change; being open to change, managing change, making change, changing for a new economy. We can plan for change. We can be prepared for change. We can work toward change. But, how do we navigate meaningful change? I suspect there are many who need to navigate life changes.

Over the years, we’ve gotten ourselves in situations that are not entirely satisfying, i.e. business, job, fellow workers, boss, living circumstance, habits. We’ve paced back ‘n forth sufficiently that the rut is deep and seemingly impossible to climb from. We could be open to change, but navigating it seems at least too difficult or at worst, impossible. What I have to remind myself is that change is a constant. If I don’t want to do what I’ve always done, because I don’t merely want what I’ve always got, then I must embrace and welcome the changes that are part of every day. I don't want to be in the past. I must continue to explore ways that I fit into today and into all the days to come, to find my place in an ever changing world.

Now that’s NOT what I’m talking about.

I can’t get the concept of delighting and surprising my customers, guests, or members out of my thoughts. Every day as a customer I hear how I’m going to be delighted or surprised. Just yesterday the message recording from a vendor went on and on about how important I was to them, about excellent customer service being the core of their value statement, how I would receive premium service from the next available customer service operator and that my wait was estimated at six minutes. Later in the day I was reading classified employment ads and a hospitality company is using as their marketing tag “committed to delighting customers every day”. I’ve visited a number of this chain’s outlets. Trust me when I say, I’m not a difficult customer. Life is too short to get my boxers all up in a bind over a meal out. But you can also trust me when I say, I’ve never been delighted by this company’s product or their customer service.

When I talk about delighting and surprising customers, I don’t think we have to go to some obscure level of attention. I think we need to simply treat others as we would like to be treated. I’ve had to occasion to go to a bar where bar snacks are served at the actual bar, but are not provided at the tables. I love it when my server brings a bowl of snacks to my table or at least asks if they could bring some to the table. When I’m in line at the hardware checkout, I love it when the owner/manager opens the second register and tells his customers that he’d gladly take care of them. When I go to pick up an order at a local company, if I have more than one bag, a clerk always at least offers to carry the packages to the car for me.

What I’m NOT talking about is corporate mumbo jumbo marketing tags with no substance. Don’t tell me you care and then send my call to a non-English speaking rep after I wait 2 minutes listening to your propaganda and then to crappy loud music for six more minutes. Anyone can put that crap on the letterhead or job posting. What I AM talking about is genuine care for their fellow human being, and taking care of one another. That delights me. Let me put it another way. If you’re gonna show up to the dance, don’t stand there and tell me about your years of dance lessons, be prepared to dance!

To Surprise and Delight

So every Sunday for years I’ve listened to public radio’s Krista Tippett’s interviews. First when I was doing breakfast for guests at my Inn. It was a very casual laid morning, with a buffet of coffee cakes, muffins, sweet butter, house jam & jellies, juices, and coffee as a first course, there was always time between making the next set of omelets. Since leaving that life, on Sunday mornings I’m more able to focus on the entire program and now appreciate them even more. Last Sunday she interviewed Seth Godin. Now I knew of Mr. Godin, but only vaguely. He was that internet guy, writer, thoughtful…yeah yeah yeah. However, since listening on Sunday, I’ve gone to his website, signed up for his daily blog updates, because there are a few of his remarks that just stick. You know those ideas that come into your mind, and for some reason, your mind won’t let go!

He described the change from a small business economy some decades ago, to that of big business where my parents and others of their generation went to work. They enjoyed the stability of a big brother employer, steady job, steady income, steady benefits, unheard of health benefits!, just do as told, when as told, and expect to enjoy the golden years. And it worked. There are lots of retirement communities, many in warmer climates, where folks enjoy their later years.

My 85 year old mother shared an interesting story Sunday while we were listening. She was a factory worker for some 30 years. At a meeting with management she and others were told to understand how lucky they were to be working all those years at one job, because the future generation would certainly not have that luxury. They would work an average of 14 jobs in that time. Hmmmm….everything makes me think.

As Mr. Godin shared, times are again changing, as there are fewer and fewer big business employers and we are once again left to our own to create our own futures. How frightening is that! But here we are…..many trying to earn a living, at some enterprise that will earn them at least sufficient money to put food on the table and a roof over their family’s heads.

Here’s the part that has caught my attention. In this new world order, we can’t just show up. From Seth Godin’s Sunday blog, just “Showing up and taking notes isn't your job. Your job is to surprise and delight and to change the agenda. Your job is to escalate, reset expectations and make us delighted….” Surprise and delight; that’s what I have stuck in my mind. It’s a tall order, well worth pursuing, but how on earth?

“I think I want to have my own B&B”…. oh really?

People regularly tell me they think they want to have their own B&B and I’m asked how to go about it. Just this weekend the subject came up again. As the economy continues to change there are fewer big brother businesses, and we’re individually required to create our own opportunities. I’ve always referred people to the Professional Association of Innkeepers or to a few real estate business consultants who offer workshops to help folks get started.

However, there would appear to be a preliminary need for people to make some choices before they invest their valuable time, energy, and money to explore the business of Innkeeping in earnest. I’m going to break the process down into a five areas of discovery and post them here over the next few weeks. I’ll explore these five areas:
• Lifestyle. This is a century’s old niche business with a very specific lifestyle. We’ll explore the way innkeepers live their lives while taking care of their guests. They are often times sharing the same spaces as their guests, which can lead to some challenges that require a very special disposition.
• Goals. Everyone who considers their own business should consider the specific goals for their business. Is it a primary or secondary income goal? Tax planning, goal? Etc. The answers to those questions and a host of other goal questions will help avoid bad decisions.
• Research. Folks often come to the idea for their business without much research. I’ll explore the type of research that will help you understand the validity of your dream business.
• Due Diligence. What are the questions to ask? The experience to get? The education to have? The “expertise” to trust?
• Plan Development. Writing a full fledged business plan will help anyone considering their dream business solidify their ideas into a road map for success. Does your plan reflect your goals?

Look for these posts each of the five next Mondays. At the end of these five posts, you’ll either decide this business if not for you, or you’ll come away with a clear action plan to further pursue your dreams.

A Call About Photographs

I was fascinated by a recent phone call. We’re about to launch an update to the website using a couple of new services for both the listing properties and their potential guests. We’re partnering with Jumping Rocks Photography to supply a broad collection of images from Inns and bed & breakfast properties from around the country. Their work is terrific, providing an accurate look at today’s hospitality options from our segment of the industry. But I digress, back to the phone call. The caller was interested to know from where we gathered the “stock images” on the new test site! Said caller went on to say the images were beautifully done, very clear, very representative of hospitality, romantic in tone, sophisticated, and finally shared that he thought even the food, which he thinks is a real challenge to photograph, looked amazingly delicious. I assured my caller that the images were in fact provided by Jumping Rocks Photography, who specialized in capturing the flavor of today’s Inns and bed & breakfasts from across the country. I further assured him they were true representations of the environments of these properties, not air-brushed or photo shopped to make the experience look potentially better than would actually be experienced by any future guest. The caller was amazed, simply amazed that there were places around the country that provided such great environments, food, and obvious extraordinary hospitality! We finished our business and I went about the rest of by day. But the exchange has come back to me time and again in the few days that have passed. Are there a lot of people who might not recognize that the images on so many property’s websites are images of the actual property and experience? Have we collectively done so poor a job sharing our experiences that people outside our sphere of influence don’t believe us? Are Inns and Bed & Breakfasts really so small an industry that the general public would more easily believe an air mattress on a bare floor is more likely the experience than the images that are painstaking produced in an effort to show the very contradictory actuality? Have the owners and operators of these professionally operated businesses gone so far beyond the public’s expectations that the average consumer doesn’t identify the images as reality? Or, are the Jumping Rocks photos just that good?! When I was an Innkeeper myself I went to any number of professional development workshops that encouraged us to under sell and over deliver. It made sense at the time. We would use phrases like, “we’re just a beautiful example of the period, offering warm hospitality and an abundant breakfast so no one goes away from the table hungry”. In fact, we were a five star, five diamond property with the highest quality of amenity, service, and extraordinary food. We wanted to provide that “wow” factor, far exceeding any expectations our guests might have had, and it worked every time. I took a call from a potential guest one evening who wanted to know if she was calling a “Bed and Dread”. I’ve told this story many times during my innkeeping days. I replied asking the caller what she was asking, because I didn’t understand the question. During the course of a brief conversation, she went on to explain, that while she’d never stayed at a B&B, she’d heard horror stories…..somewhere, not entirely sure where, and had vowed years ago to avoid B&Bs because of the stories she’d heard. Based on anecdotal stories, she’d discounted an entire segment of my industry! We owned and operated two properties, a large bed and breakfast and a small hotel. They were across the street from one another and identical in amenity, style, and service in practically every way. So I booked her a room in the hotel. I followed up with her while she stayed with us. She had a terrific stay, was thankful that we had hotel rooms available, and was planning to make a reservation for a year later before she left us! I will never forget the story, nor understand what she saw as the difference in her mind. Maybe as an industry we’re doing ourselves a dis-service. We’re underselling ourselves in an effort to wow our guests. But in the meantime the general public, potential guests, are not getting a true image of all the fabulousness that are the Inns and Bed & Breakfasts around the country. We have the photographs to prove fabulousness! It’s time Inns and Bed & Breakfasts toot their horns, and I don’t mean with a whimpy kazoo, but with the full power and force of 76 trombones and 110 cornets! This segment is truly, for a wide variety of reasons, a truly better way to stay, in fact by any measure it’s the only way to stay!

Why Bed and Breakfast Bashing?

Now and again I come across negative remarks about bed and breakfasts aka B&Bs via social media, online reviews, newsprint, or during the course of conversation. This segment of the lodging industry seems to be a target for this sort of negativity and I’m not entirely sure why. Any of us can experience a less than satisfactory overnight stay in any segment of the industry, no matter the price, location, style, or reputation. Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to travel a great deal. I’ve visited nearly every state in the continental United States and most Canadian provinces. In those years I have stayed overnight in everything from the most modest, to luxurious world class award winning accommodations. From these experiences I’ve come to know that good or bad experiences know no boundaries by way of type or cost of stay. What I’ve come to appreciate about bed and breakfast inns is the personal investment the owners and their staff have in the quality of my experience. These folks are the staff that I interact with while I’m in their facility. They’ve helped me with a reservation, cleaned my room, worked in the garden, planned and prepared the food I will consume, and on and on. The facility, furnishings, amenities, services, cleanliness, and menus, are a matter of pride in ownership for these business men and women. I know proprietors who have painstaking selected every detail for their guests i.e. the quality of pillow, fabric content for bedding, menu selections and specific food items. They may even grow some of the foods they use. They are personally mortified if every detail of every guest experience doesn’t meet their highest of standard. These same entrepreneurs often take their pride well beyond the boundaries of their real estate and further invest in their local, regional, or national community. During these same years, I’ve become more and more suspect of larger more industrial properties and ownership. I doubt a corporate officer of a large commercial property, franchise or not has helped me with travel plans. Reservations are often made at central services at some off site location. Housekeeping staff is large and impersonal. Rooms have a cookie cutter look and even less to my liking a cookie cutter smell that seems to travel with me home. “That” smell hits me in square in the face when I open my overnight bag. Dark colored, highly patterned acetate bed covers give me the creeps. What’s hiding in that pattern, color and slick surface? The food is commercial and sometimes needs to be unwrapped, nuked, and consumed from a foam container. Or worse yet, it’s extraordinarily expensive and hard to find, hidden away in a very fancy intimidating space. Finally, it seems I can never find anyone if I have a need. Extra towels can be a housekeeping production. I’m sure there are required ongoing education classes, but I wonder how that translates to my personal experience in such a large facility. This comparison reminds me of my recent eye exam. When the doctor gives you two intensity choices of lense and asks the question, “Now which is better? This, or this? For me, bed and breakfasts are clearly a better way to stay. I like the intimacy. I’m not talking about intimacy that some people have described as that overbearing nosey innkeeper or staff member. I’ve never had that experience in the hundreds of places I’ve stayed overnight. I’m talking about knowing the environment and have a sense of comfort with the people in that environment. I’ve kept a diary for many years, recording my travel experiences. I’ve met some great people, seen some great parts of the country, and enjoyed unimaginable foods. I think I may revisit those travel diaries and share some of the best experiences here.

Change.

At American Bed and Breakfast Inns we’re about to launch a new service. It was clear a year ago that a change of some sort had to be made because the business wasn’t performing for us as we’d planned. It seemed we had one of two choices, either abandon the project or look for added value. We decided we couldn’t give up……possibly because I’m just stubborn, but I prefer to think there is niche for the service we offer. Being on the threshold of change has had me thinking about the simple concept of change. Many years ago a business consultant said

"If you always do what you always did, you’ll like always get what you always got".

Brilliant huh?! I’ve used it many times facilitating strategic planning sessions for organizations around the country. On one hand, if you’re completely satisfied with the result of your behavior, then by all means always do what you do and enjoy the satisfactory results you always get. If on the other hand………then change may be necessary. Case in point #1: Those who embrace change with a clear purpose and goal. Some dear friends started a business some twenty plus years ago. It was located in a seasonal community and they were not happy with the seasonality of the business for a variety of reasons; too many to go into here. Suffice it to say, a change was needed if they were going to be satisfied with the results of their endeavor. So they went to work to change their own mindset and that of fellow business owners. It took years to do, but with concerted, disciplined efforts, they achieved the change they sought and the results in their business far exceeded their initial expectations. They were the voice of change. In those same years they reviewed every aspect of their daily operations and constantly looked for better and more efficient ways to do the hundreds of daily tasks involved in their work. They refined their operations until the business ran like a fine oiled machine. Again, through their planned disciplined efforts toward change for efficiency, they reaped financial rewards far beyond their expectations. Case in point #2: Those who don’t consider change as an option. I visited with a friend yesterday who was lamenting the woes of an enterprise that has struggled for many years. In fact, by all accounts for the last thirty years the enterprise has largely done the same things they have always done, and has consistently struggled to keep their doors open. I asked what changes they had considered, what plans they had to work toward success. They have determined that it’s an industry wide problem, and that if they can just hold out long enough for their competitors to go out of business, their business will then flourish. They have waited thirty years and are satisfied to simply wait for outside forces to determine their success or continued failure. We all know that change is inevitable. Babies are born. People die. Businesses open. Businesses close. Public officials are elected or defeated. Some would say,

"It is what it is. It’s going to be what it’s going to be"

However, as I think about example after example, it seems managed change makes a bit more sense in those situations where we hold some degree of influence for our destiny. I’m talking about substantive behavior change to what it is we do and how we do it. Not merely a new coat of paint or a new logo. That’s like putting lipstick on a pig. After the effort, you’re still stuck with a pig. I for one have decided to embrace change. There are some elements of life that I find less than satisfying. I’m on a mission to work through a plan for change and am committed to be disciplined sufficiently to work the plan. As a dear friend said to me years ago,

"A man without a plan is planning to fail"

I’m not prepared to fail just yet. Are there change you should consider?