Starting a bed and breakfast can be a great way to make money and start living the life of your dreams. That said, remember that it will take considerable effort to get your bed and breakfast to a point where it’s making profits. Here are five helpful tips that can help you start a bed and breakfast that has a good chance of succeeding.
1. Make Sure the Premises Are Safe
The first step is to make sure that the property is in good shape. This involves making the necessary changes and improvements to manage any risk factors that will impact guests either directly or indirectly. For instance, call a pest exterminator to get rid of any pests that may be thinking of claiming a space in or around your bed and breakfast. Another step is to make sure that there’s a low risk of slip and fall injuries. Some of the most common types of these injuries are a result of inadequate lighting, poor removal of snow or ice, wet floors, torn carpets, and damaged sidewalks.
2. Get the Right Furniture
Next, make sure that your bed and breakfast has cozy furniture that fits the specifications with the highest demand. To do this, you need to understand what various sizes and other specifications denote. For instance, the standard dimensions of a queen bed are 60 inches by 80 inches. When you know this, you can plan better for the furniture and soft furnishings that you need to invest in.
3. Establish Protocols and Policies
Don’t forget to establish the protocols and policies that your staff ought to follow. This will help everyone know what’s expected of them as well as what they need to do when faced with various situations. Come up with protocols for safety, cleaning, and all other details that you can think of so that nothing remains undone or is done in the wrong way because no one knew what to do.
For example, you can make use of nearby storage facilities to keep items that you don’t use regularly or those that you need to fix or dispose of. This is a solution that many people use. In fact, in the United States, 1.9 billion square feet of storage space is in operation. Let the concerned members of your staff know about your storage unit as well as how to access it if and when they need to.
4. Add a Personal Touch
Don’t forget to add a personal touch to your bed and breakfast. This is going to be your branding, for all intents and purposes, and it should set your bed and breakfast apart from others in your area. It should not be too different in terms of function because sticking to the tried and true methods of running operations can help make things easier for you and your guests. However, subtle differences are welcome, especially if they’re an upgrade from what your competitors offer.
5. Market Your Business
Last but not least, remember to think about marketing. This will help you reach more people and therefore do good business and make money. You can leverage free methods like posting your bed and breakfast on various booking sites online. This is only going to call for you to have good pictures and be ready to respond to interested parties who reach out to you through these channels. Make sure that you can synchronize both online and offline bookings to avoid a clash in booking schedules.
These tips should help you set up a professional bed and breakfast that will grow in leaps and bounds. After setting the right foundation, you’ll need to put in some work before things take off. This can be done if you have the right attitude and get all the help that you need along the way.