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.