Taking the Plunge: Diving into Country Inn or Bed and Breakfast Ownership

A lot of people dream of handing in their notice at work, selling the house, saying goodbye to the city, and moving to a lovely countryside or dramatic seaside location to run a bed and breakfast place.

Of course, the dream is coloured by experiences of B and B breaks at idyllic locations as a guest. Who wouldn’t want to live in a lovely place on a permanent holiday? But remember, it’s not you who’s going to be on holiday. Here are some points you need to think about carefully before you take the plunge and decide that countryside living is worth the hassle of running a hospitality business.

Finances: Mind the Gap

Don’t sell up and buy a B and B without having a solid business plan. It will probably take a couple of years to get the business going, so you will need to have enough money available to tide you over those years before you establish a reputation and a clientele. Make sure you don’t spend all your available cash on buying the place.

Do your research before making the move. Is this a place where there’s excess demand for rooms? Are there too many already? What do they charge, and what’s their typical occupancy rate? How long is their off-season? Try staying at one or two without your rose-coloured holiday spectacles on.

If you are selling a town house to move to the country, consider selling up and renting in the locality you are dreaming about first, to get a feel for the place before you decide.

Work

Do you actually enjoy cooking and cleaning? Do you have a partner who plays their full part in those chores, and is fully on board with the plan? Running a B and B means hours of solid work every day during the season, simply cleaning the place and keeping it in order. Reckon that each room and bathroom will take at least one hour to clean daily. Even people with relaxed standards at home will expect your place to be as clean and shiny as a first class hotel when they pay to stay in it.

You’ll have to be up early to get the breakfast, even if you opt for a partly self-service model. Most people really love a full English breakfast when they are away from home, so that might not be the best choice for you anyway.

If you’re ill, it makes no difference. Your guests don’t expect to have to cancel their break because you have the flu. Your partner must be ready to work twice as hard.

People

Your guests will usually expect to have a friendly relationship with their host. It’s part of the B and B experience. But you need to be sensitive also to those people who find too much attention overwhelming and prefer to be left in peace.

Whichever sort of guest you have, you need to be cheerfully responsive to their needs. You must be ready with advice about the local area, accommodating with dietary preferences, and above all welcoming.

You have to put aside any religious or political prejudices when it comes to looking after your guests. That doesn’t mean that you need to agree with your guests about everything in the world, but it’s necessary to respect their beliefs. It isn’t a good idea to introduce a discussion on potentially contentious topics. If your guests do, then be tactful if you don’t share their views.

Privacy

Can you face the idea of having strangers in your house every day and night during the holiday season? It’s true that you can probably take a break in the off season, but you’ll have very little time to yourself for the rest of the year.

Whether you go to Austin Wyatt or another reputable estate agent, you need advice to pick an area where you can afford a large property. Bearing in mind the need to have a cash reserve, it’s a good idea to buy a place that’s big enough to allow for some purely family space. Try to arrange the house so that there’s a part for your use only, that’s out of bounds for guests.

If you have children, you have to think about how they’ll react to being uprooted. Also, you’ll be more available to guests than to the kids a lot of the time. Having said that, you will at least be at home. A long office day with a commute at each end is not ideal for child-rearing either.

A move to the country could be the best thing you ever did, but think, talk, research and do your sums before you take the plunge. And be certain as well that you won’t miss the bustle, the culture and the stimulation that are part of city living so much that you end up regretting the move. Because it’s much harder to make it in reverse.

Jake Brookes works as a business transfer agent and likes to share his insights and tips online about how to prepare for a new business challenge and change of lifestyle. he is a regular writer for a number of lifestyle and business opportunity websites.