Course #1: How to start a Bed and Breakfast - for Aspiring InnKeepers
Cost: $350.00 (add $150.00 for each extra person) plus cost of accommodations where required
5 to 6 hours over 1 day covers the items listed below.
All courses are taught one-on-one customized to your schedule and specifically applicable to your geographical location anywhere in the world taking in to account local bylaws and regulations.
FOLLOW UP: Wherever feasible for us we will try to include your B&B in our travel plans at an appropriate time after you have opened your establishment and stay with you for a night or 2 and give you some critical feedback on how you are doing.
Legalities
- making it legal
- a business structure
- taxation
- income tax
- business license information
- zoning regulations
- building code and fire safety regulations
- permits
- identification signs
- fire regulations
- fire containment
- egress
- detection
- suppression
- insurance
Financial
- write-offs
- financial worksheet
- maintenance worksheet
- research costs
- miscellaneous start-up costs
- calculating business portion of home
- how much are my rooms worth
- helpful hints
- accounting form
This is the B&B Business
- where to begin
- what's in a name
- register your name
- what is a B&B
- can you operate a B&B
- who will be my clients
- smokers, pets, and children
- neighbourhood assessment
- tourist attractions
- know your competition
- advantages
- disadvantages
- skills required
Setting up the Home
- renovations
- bedrooms
- extra touches
- beds and bedding
- bathrooms
- hallways and stairwells
- common areas
- guest eating area
- your private space
- decorating and upkeep
- gardens
- house rules
- wedding parties
- please don't come back
- stolen goods
- accidents
- asking for payment
Odds and Ends
- B&B associations
- basic marketing
- brochures
- networking
- internet considerations
- accreditations
- Food Safe certification
- casual labour versus employees
- WCB
How To Name Your Bed and Breakfast
- Make a fairly long list of potential names before settling on one.
- Ask some friends whose opinions you trust to give honest input.
- Consider using your inn's location in the name. But be careful -- names like Inn by the Sea are overused.
- If your inn has a special history, consider working that into the name.
- Think about alternative meanings. For example, "Harry" sounds like "hairy" and might not always be particularly inviting.
- Say the name out loud several times, and have people who aren't familiar with it do the same. Names that are hard to pronounce aren't the most useful.
- Make sure it's fresh. Search for the name on the Internet -- if dozens of hits come up in any context, or if even a small handful of other bed and breakfasts are already using the name, throw it away.
- Think about how it will look in a logo. Long names can be hard to use on brochures and business cards.
- Look up potential URLs. If you want to be Smith's Bed and Breakfast, look up URLs like smiths.com and smithsbb.com to make sure a good one is available for you. And, since domain registration is relatively inexpensive, you may as well go ahead and reserve any domain name you might want in the future.
- Don't forget that someday you'll want to sell the inn. Personal names (e.g. Smith's Bed and Breakfast) generally don't pass on as well as names like Golden Eagle Bed and Breakfast.
- Think alphabetically. Some B&B directories list inns in alphabetical order. Apple House Bed and Breakfast scores better here than Yellow Frog Inn.
- Remember that naming your inn should balance all of these suggestions. AAA Bed and Breakfast might get you good placement in some inn directories, but it sounds stale and institutional.
- Make sure you like the name. After all, it's your bed and breakfast
Other courses offered:
