Congratulations! You are the proud new owners of a Bed and Breakfast! A million thoughts and questions are running through your head. Answer these "5 Ws" in the beginning and you will be well on your way to finding the answers.
- WHO do you want to attract as guests?
- WHAT can you offer your guests?
- WHEN will you be open?
- WHERE are you located?
- WHY will guests choose you?
Goodness! This could easily turn into a half dozen more blogs or I could end this right now. But I will try to be brief and get you pointed in the right direction...
WHO do you want to attract as guests? This will be your target market. We knew early on that we did not prefer guests with small children or pets and we could not accommodate people requiring barrier free or handicap accessible. But do not rule out these categories immediately. If you can open your doors to these, you will find yourself in a market with high demand. Since like likes like, we thought about what we looked for when traveling and looked at the history of our B&B for ways to build on it's five-star reputation.
WHAT can you offer your guests? Take the time to look at your competition, maybe even spend a night or two with them. Don't offer what they offer, you can't compete where you don't compare. Find out what is not available in your area and see if you can offer that. Is your home architecturally unique, on the Historic Register or a working farm. Popular B&B packages include Romance, Health & Wellness, Outdoor Escapes, Remote Working and Seasonal Getaways. Do you have a talent you can share like cooking classes, baking, scrapbooking, music, drawing, writing? Does your B&B have a swimming pool, hot tub, sauna, gym? Now is the time to think about what you love and incorporate it into your new lifestyle.
WHEN will you be open? Do you live an area where all four seasons are attractive or are some seasons best to be shut down so you can take time to travel, relax or work on home improvements. Will you be open seven days a week or only weekends because you have a day job Monday through Friday. Check the occupancy numbers of your neighbor lodgings (a quick look at their reservation calendar can tell you a lot with a glance) and see when their bookings are occurring, then think about why.
WHERE are you located? Are there local attractions that guests will be visiting? Look at the 30 mile radius around you for an amusement park, zoo, museum, casino, hospital, college, wedding venue, wineries, anyplace of interest that people will be visiting. Are there local bike paths, kayaking, golfing, skiing or fishing spots for guests to enjoy? Find the places around you that your family and friends recommend and list these on your website. Work with your local business owners to put a package together for your guests and they may, in return, recommend your B&B to their customers.
WHY will guests choose you? Naturally, once you have your five-star ratings and start showing up at the top of a google search, guests will choose you first. But until then, you need to make sure that you have an inviting website, fascinating Facebook page and an interesting blog. Stress the W's we have talked about so far and make it easy for people to reach you. Pick up the phone when it rings, return calls immediately and respond to emails the same day. Accept a last minute reservation (in the beginning our motto was "always be prepared") and give your guests what they want (within reason). Make it easy for guests to provide feedback ratings on google and remember that word of mouth goes a long way.
Well that's a lot of food for thought. Did I miss anything that you would like to ad? Or have I said something that you find questionable or outright wrong. Let me know your thoughts and thanks for taking the time to read.
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