Speak to your local shops and try and get a good deal for your guests. I myself have been lucky and have just got vouchers for free facials from Molton Brown I haven’t yet decided what to do with them as I could send them out with confirmations or pop them in rooms for guests to use. Its free advertising for them and a nice treat for my guests a good job all round. Be careful not to clutter up the rooms with too many things though as you can get bombarded with coupons from restaurants. We keep the coupons in a box and when someone is discussing where to go for dinner we give them out then. However if you promise to send your guests to certain salons you can get a good discount so at least you are benefiting. When I worked at a large hotel we used to get a 50% off coupon for Peter Gothard on a regular basis for our referrals. There are few perks in this business make sure you get the ones you are entitled to.

I find that the best marketing ideas pop out at you all the time look at what other people are doing and don’t do the same but do similar and with a twist or be completely different. I often find that the best ideas come to me as I am puttering about doing something else. The trick is to be thinking about the problem and about other things and sometimes you just get illumination. Also it pays to always keep your eye out for opportunities. I free cycled a book and two chaps wanted it and I noticed that the second chap had just started a new business running courses as he used the signature technique to advertise so I sent him an email saying was he looking for space to hold the classes. So keep your eyes peeled for opportunities like these. Also he is doing health and safety courses and basic food hygiene which I now get a discount on. I would also recommend getting out and meeting people as well as doing activities such as Facebook they spread the word like nothing else. I would also recommend that you have a signature which includes the details of your premises i.e. name, address, phone number, email and Website and have this put on the bottom of any emails you send about anything. This is also a really cheap way to advertise as it means that anyone you respond to gets an advertisement for your place. This is really easy to set up if you use Yahoo or Outlook Express and I am sure Hotmail does a similar thing though I have not used it myself.

Useful tip as regards marketing is when they are staying with you make notes I use the back of their registration card i.e. why they are here and what they particularly enjoyed. If they are here for shopping or say things like we must come back for shopping though we are here for fill in the blank make a note and you can send them a postcard, email or Christmas card in a few months time. I keep a special file for these people as November and December in Harrogate are very quiet and send them Christmas cards at the beginning of November. I also have been super organised this year as I got all my Christmas cards in the January sales for a bargain so I am now prepped for Christmas. I would also recommend doing these cards etc on the afternoon of the day they leave as then you will remember the person and can put a personal message and it will save you trying to do them all at once and if you put stamps on them then it spreads the cost over the year as well. I have a box that I do the card of likely repeat customers and I pop it in and when November comes I take the full box to the post office and my work is done. One book I read suggests that you have your own cards done with a picture of your premises on it for these occasions. This is up to you and if you do it is a useful marketing tool you can use all year round. However I find things like this can be very expensive for the actual revenue you generate from them so be careful. Postcards on a similar theme are a lot cheaper and have the same effect. We are considering having postcards done because then you can leave a few in each guests room and if they send them to relatives then it is free advertising for you, you don’t even have to pay for the stamp yourself.

I am currently reading How to own and operate a Bed and Breakfast by Jan Stankus I would recommend this book to anyone thinking of starting a B&B. I was a bit wary myself as this is a new edition and therefore I had to buy a new copy from America where it was a bit more expensive. However so far it has been worth paying a bit more for. The only drawback is that it is aimed at American B&B’s so has a large section on American regulations which is less relevant but has an exceptionally useful section on how to deal with pets should you allow them in your premises that I am reading currently. It has a good section on accounts which I would recommend anyone who is currently building their business plan to read and though is full of facts is not a hard read. All in all full of useful subject matter but I would recommend reading it twice to take it all in as it is quite a thick volume. I also like the worksheets of setting up expenses and how to record your figures for marketing which are in the back. I would also say as a warning this seems to be aimed at small home stay operations who don’t rely on the B&B income as their sole source of money. There is advice on how to juggle things with your job and how to make it homelike for your guests in a way that implies you would be unlikely to have more than two couples staying at once. So if you are thinking of taking on something larger such as a guest house it would be less relevant.

Not sure if I put this in the section about brochures but when you have them done whatever you do, do not put your prices on it. Design your brochure in such a way that a tariff can be slotted into it or put them on a separate sheet which you include with your brochure or I guarantee that your rates will change before you run out of brochures.

Tip I have just picked up from the B&B book I am currently reading buy an accordion file with at least twelve pockets and label them per month i.e. Jan and put any receipts for that month in each section to save work for your accountant and money for you.

As regards taking pets I myself don’t but I wouldn’t jump to a knee jerk reaction to animals. A lot of people like to travel with their dogs especially and with the cost of kennels being prohibitive they can’t afford to go away and do so. Where I live there is only one place I know that takes them in the entire town so I would look at the competition and decide if it would put you ahead of the pack buy taking them. It is up to you but as long as you clean thoroughly I see no problem with it.

If you are going to use your own sheets make sure you wash any new ones before you put them on the beds. This is because they often spray them with chemicals to keep the shape in the packaging and make them more fire retardant while they are stored and I myself and many others are allergic to this. Also they look a bit odd straight out of the package. This may seem like pointing out the blindingly obvious but my mum ran out of sheets once so dashed to ASDA and bought some and put them straight on the bed we got away with it but we might have had some very ichy people at breakfast the next day.

Coat hangers are an essential for every wardrobe. I would not advocate spending a lot of money on these as they will walk faster than anything else. We get the plastic ones from Morrisons for a pack of 10 it’s about three pounds. Do not be tempted to use the wire ones you get free from the cleaners or anything of this type as they are awful, there is a reason they are so cheap. What happens is people lift the clothes they have brought straight out of the closet and take them away I can see that it is easily done.

Non-slip bath and shower mats. I would strongly recommend these as people will find ways to have an accident. One chap where I was working in a large hotel was started by the temperature of the shower as he had gotten straight in without testing it leapt out slipped and fell banged his head, leg and back. Now this is an extreme example and the customer thought it was hilarious and so did all his mates but it could have been really serious. These mats are very cheap and you can buy them from Asda for about £2.00 for really basic ones of I have seen really nice ones in Morrisons for about £3.00. You don’t have to spend a lot of money and you can put them in gradually but the safety aspect is quite important. I have also found that older guests are red hot about having them. We had a saga tour in and every guest wanted one! Needless to say we didn’t have enough and we had to nip to the shop and buy some.

101 ways to grow your business by Hugh Williams may possibly be the most useless book I have ever read there was nothing about marketing at all and it was mainly aimed at people who produce an actual physical product despite his being an accountant who works in a service industry. I was hoping for some low cost marketing ideas to bring my business forward but was sadly disappointed. It is going on freecyle today.

Hi another tip when buying plates run a knife on them like cutting as if you buy really cheap ones then it will leave a black mark. I bought some really cheap plates from Dunelm and thought that I was getting a bargain but they marked in about five minutes and looked awful. So I advise you to learn from my mistakes.

I have read a lot of books on this subject as I am always looking for new ideas and so I am taking the liberty of doing a brief review of them.

The Complete Idiot's guide to Running a Bed and Breakfast by Park Davis and Susannah Craig.

this is by far the most useful book that I have read so far which is why I am including it first.
this is a clear and concise book which is easy to read as some of these books as a bit to figures orientated.

It is full of useful tips on marketing and sales and even if you have the right personality for the job. The only downside is that it is written for the american market and there is a large chapter on regualtions which is not relevant. All in all a good read.

Another valuable tool that you will learn to rely on is internet shopping, if for example your partner goes out into the world to work leaving you to run the business it is a lot easier to order your groceries and so on and have them delivered.

Something people don’t often realise is you can have your phone set up so that you can divert it to your mobile which is invaluable if you have to be out and about. Just make sure you have your booking book on you at all times. Ladies this means an excuse for having a massive handbag!

There is also a side benefit to this in that you may have spaces in your premises that would be suitable for small meetings which don’t require much work for example book clubs and so on. We do teas and biscuits for these groups and we charge on a per head basis so that people are not penalised if only a few turn up. Also if you can gain meetings and groups in this way during the day it is a further spread of free publicity and means a second use for your breakfast room. It also requires no special equipment as you already have tea, coffee, biscuits and tables at the ready.

Another thing to consider for your breakfast room when you are buying tables or replacing them is to buy square ones are they fit together into various grouping so much easier. If you have groups of four i.e. two couples staying together then you can organise your breakfast room accordingly.

We use in our guest house four types of business card which may seem excessive but is very handy. Type one is standard business card name and contact details, two is the same but with an offer on i.e. produce this card for 10% off and the third just has a request for name and email address which we leave in rooms to encourage people to fill it out and leave us their details. You will find people are very lazy about giving you contact details you must have an address from them on check in on their registration form this is a legal requirement but if you can gather email addresses then you can advertise to all your repeat customers for free hopefully gaining further business.

I always say to people about marketing think outside the box doing what everyone else does simply makes you part of the pack not ahead of it. A big area that many people neglect is local people and your first thought in reaction to this will be “if they live here then they won’t be staying with us!” Yes this is true but their friends, relatives and business colleagues might if you can make your establishment the first name that springs to mind. It is more and more the case I have found in recent years that friends and relatives when visiting do not wish to stay with the people they are visiting but would rather stay nearby and be able to come and go as they wish. This seems to be for two main reasons 1 if you stay with someone they seem to want to be with you all the time and organise everything and second quite often people don’t have the room. Therefore there is gap in the market we are happy to fill.

It can be tempting to mock up these kinds of things and they can be done well with the appropriate software but I myself am a bit wary of this as sometimes it can be more expensive. When we first started doing business cards we printed them ourselves but we soon realised that it was a lot cheaper to buy them from the printer and considerably less hassle as they have economies of scale. These things can be assessed on a case by case basis. I would consider consulting with a few printers and see what they come up with and pick the best price and style for you.
Things you will need are:
Business cards
Headed Paper
Brochures
Things that may be useful
Compliment slips
Postcards with a picture of the place on it especially if it looks picturesque.
Depending on size wedding and meeting packs

Marketing – this is one of the two most important things to get right in your business the first is housekeeping you can never be too clean the second is your marketing. This covers a whole number of things your brochure, your business cards, your web site and so on. The easiest way to think of marketing is any way that you or your business touches the public. When designing your brochures and literature have other people look at them and give you their opinion and listen to it. What you might love might look awful to others so ask around and be prepared to be criticized. Also be careful how you design it as if you are a sleek boutique style hotel your brochure should reflect this. If however you are a country homey type of place and you have a boutique style brochure when the people turn up they are going to say now this is nothing like the brochure and be disappointed. Your literature should reflect who you are and then you will get the customers who want what you are.

Top Tip – Be very careful if you choose to change the name of the establishment make sure it is not too similar to any other establishments nearby as this can cause endless confusion. I have personally had this problem as my place is called the Camberley and just up the road is a very large hotel called the Kimberley. Further confusion is also caused by the fact that my name is Kimberley so I try not to say my name when answering the phone as you have reached Kimberley at the Camberley would be rather like a tongue twister. Many people choose names that begin with an A as this means that you are at the top of any alphabetical list but the choice is yours. I would also recommend that the name is not too long as it increases your printing costs and makes it difficult to spell. Keep it short and catchy and easy to say and spell. Some people also like to use descriptive words such as Acorn Lodge and then you can use an acorn theme in your stationary and signs etc but again this is personal choice.

Top Tip – The same rules apply to your brochure and stationary you won’t want to have loads left and you have changed your layout. If you buy in bulk from a printers then you will get a very good discount but there is a balance to be struck as too many and you will be stuck with them. My mother and father bought a guest house with a good supply of brochures included in the price and they are still giving them away four years later. I would have a reasonable number of business cards done as some things never change such as your name and address but don’t go mad as you still have to store them. Though I do guarantee that you will give away far more cards than you ever thought possible.

Top Tip – Another area to be careful of is people with rental cars as I have had people leave them for the car company to pick up and they haven’t put enough money in the meter to last until the car company comes to collect. Then the person who rented the car is then charged for the ticket. We are happy for people to leave their rental cars with us for collection but make sure you have the number of the company so should they not collect promptly you can chase them up as they are taking up your parking.
Top Tip – Be very careful when having your signage made as if you put descriptions of your rooms or ratings in visible places. This is because if they change for example if you do a lot of refurbishment then they will be incorrect and you will not be promoting yourself as well as you could. We have just put the name and the phone number on ours to keep it simple. Also as regards signs make sure you put the area code on as people passing by won’t know it and it is a popular choice to ring up from outside and ask if you have vacancies.

TOP TIP – make sure you have a good map of how to get to your place. This is handy to send out with confirmations. However what we have just started to do is we have scanned it into the computer and we can then email it out to people. We are in a position where the car park is at the back of the Guest House and you actually get into it from another street which runs along the back of the hotel so we send a small map that shows how to get round to the car park. As I am sure you can appreciate it is not helpful to arrive at the destination and then not be able to get parked. So if you have a bit of a funny parking arrangement I would recommend sending details with the confirmation for example you must park on the street, you have to park round the back etc as people are easily confused. If you are required to have permits or things of that nature you will have to check with every person who comes into your place what they have done about parking and act accordingly as nothing puts a sour taste in the mouth of one of your guests like receiving a parking ticket. Where I live we have three types of parking residents parking for which you are allowed special permits which guest houses are allowed to buy at 10p each, disk parking which is free but you need a disk, pay and display parking further out of the town centre which is free. As you can imagine this is not a simple system for outsiders to understand so make sure that the weird and wonderful restrictions that we take for granted in our home towns are baffling for outsiders and especially foreign guests.

Top Tip – If people do come for Valentines day make sure that they make restaurant reservations well in advance (that is if you don’t serve them) as people seem to have no idea that all the restaurants will be booked up well in advance. I would keep a list of restaurants that you can recommend near your phone or offer to send a list including phone numbers to them with their confirmation. We do a list of restaurants with addresses, whether they are within walking distance, the phone number and a brief description of the type of food that they serve this has proven very useful. We have also put this information in our guest information folders so the guests can make their own arrangements at their leisure should they wish to. We keep a copy of this on the computer so we can email it out to prospective guests with their confirmation or post it if they prefer.

TOP Tip – We have put together a short sightseeing guide for the same purpose and it is popular with families as we put in what places are free and what are good to go to on a rainy day. We found it useful to include in your guide the postcode as this is important for Sat Navs and people often ask us to look them up. These can be sent or emailed as appropriate and we have included a copy in our guest information. It is a cheap and easy thing to do and shows that you are thinking of your customer who obviously does not know the area. We also provide directions through Route planner and so on for people who do not have Sat Nav.

TOP TIP – It is also important to build a good relationship with a local florist who delivers. This is because I have lost count of the number of times I have been approached by men staying who want to get flowers or something for their wives at the last minute either on the day or even when they arrive. They will be very grateful that you can get it organised for them at the last minute and this is especially the case during what I call Hallmark Holidays for example Valentines Day.
Top Tip – you will grow to hate Hallmark Holidays especially Valentines Day and Christmas I am sorry if this seems cynical but it is very high pressure. This is because all the guests who stay with you want top flight rooms for single prices. This means that the men involved are determined to get value for money and are cross at having to spend so much money. The women involved want a romantic time and whatever he has organised is never right so be prepared for complaints. Some places buy special equipment for such holidays such as heart shaped egg cooking moulds. These kinds of touches are nice and can usually be picked up at bargain prices just after the holiday i.e. the 15th of February as the shops don’t want to store them for another year. These can be saved and used year after year so can be a good investment. Another piece of advice to gain some extra income is to offer around this time to organise flowers, chocolates etc for guests as often they don’t think of it and if you charge a percentage extra you can make a nice profit. However do be careful about making sure of what they want to pay i.e. so that is £20.00 for flowers £10.00 for chocolates then sir? Also make sure that they know flowers are twice as expensive on these days as most people have no idea what things cost. I have had chaps want a grand gesture like roses and when I tell them the price they nearly have an aneurism. Sometimes gentlemen want special things set up like petals on the bed I tend to humour people as my sheets go to the laundry so what they get on them doesn’t matter. However if you do your own laundry then rose petals do not come out easily!

TOP TIP – Be careful of hoaxers you will get calls from pranksters as you are now in a prominent position with your phone number clearly advertised. These are usually kids or sometimes people who are a bit drunk walking home after a night out. I myself have been caught out on Valentine’s day by a chap who rang saying he was coming later with his girlfriend called Mr Chance could we order some flowers for him. We did and then we realised that it was missed chance and ended up £20.00 out of pocket. Another popular choice is P Staker and so on. Some people do genuinely have weird and wonderful names so don’t be too quick to judge but be aware that there are people who don’t have anything better to do and they will waste your time and money without a second thought. To cover yourself take credit card numbers at the time of ordering anything special for example flowers and then charge the card at the time that way you are never out of pocket and the client is more likely to come as a result.

You will also get what are commonly called walk ins. This is where people turn up at the door wanting a room when they haven’t booked. Always and this is a golden rule get payment in advance for these people I am sure the vast majority are honest and have been stranded due to no fault of their own but for the small minority its best to have a back up. I usually do a cheap deal for people who turn up at the door as it gets the bed filled but don’t go any lower than you are happy with. If you don’t like the look of them you can quote a high price and that almost always puts them off. If you don’t have any rooms for walk-ins i.e. you are full then I always try and find somewhere for them as they will then get a good impression of you and hopefully either book and stay with you next time or at the very least recommend you to other people. You can never have enough people saying nice things about you. The other advantage to this is that you will get in good with your neighbours and then hopefully they will send you people in the same situation.

Some people will not haggle at all but when they come to the hotel make sure they don’t know what the other people are paying. For some reason people always assume that all people are paying the same for that particular night and that you charge the same every day. This may be the case in your establishment if you choose to go that way but for the vast majority it is not. I have never understood this as when you fly you don’t assume that everyone on the plane paid the same as you. Do your best to make bookings that you take over the phone are not done in earshot of the other guests as this can cause mayhem. In a particular hotel I worked at the first offer for a twin room was one hundred and twenty pounds but we were allowed to go as low as one hundred if necessary. A lady was sat in reception directly opposite me and was clearly listening while I was on the phone this can be a problem when taking credit card numbers so be careful. The lady on the phone wanted a twin and haggled me down to one hundred and ten pounds which was fine but then the other lady insisted on knowing why she had got it cheaper. I explained that the lady on the phone was coming midweek when it was a quiet time which it was and that she had haggled with me over the price. I said to the lady did you haggle when you booked over the price she said no with a look of complete horror on her face. Some people see it as shameful to haggle as if you are saying you don’t have any money but being a Yorkshire lass myself I feel it is more important to get a bargain. Some people will also say can I have it cheaper if we have room only. I say yes as you then get the booking and you don’t have to cook them breakfast but it is entirely up to you.

One book I read on guest houses said a room is like cream you can only sell it that day or the opportunity is gone and you cannot sell it for that night again. Now I am not sure about the cream analogy but he is right you only have one night to sell that room so be prepared to bargain. There is a fine balance between taking your first offer and making sure that the room is full and waiting for a bit and seeing if you can’t get a better price later on. Some people will take the first price you say and some will haggle be prepared for this. I myself always say as my first offer at least ten pounds more than I would go as a minimum so I can say oh well twist my arm and I’ll go down to sixty from seventy for example.

Top Tip – buy a personal safe and put it somewhere that you can lock the room as well for an extra layer of security. Nowadays people don’t really pay cash very often so there is less about but make sure you don’t leave any lying about as opportunity makes the thief. Also check your insurance as you may only be covered to have a certain amount of cash on the premises make sure you know what that is.

TOP TIP use an insurance broker for your insurance. Hotel and guest house insurance is very specialised and if you get it wrong they will not pay out. This is not worth it if it! Using a broker insures two things one you get it right and two that you get the best price. These can be found in your local telephone directory and yellow pages. It is also important to check this every year to make sure you have the best deal.

Top Tip – when you do a rooms turn on all the lights and lamps at least once to make sure all of the bulbs are good. It does not look very good when a guest comes to you bulb in hand to say they would like a new one.

TOP TIP – be very careful where you leave your handbag and chaps the same for you as regards your wallet it is very tempting when you live in a place to leave your stuff about but always lock things up securely. My mother many years ago had her handbag in the kitchen where you would think it would be safe but someone got into the front of the hotel let themselves into the private area took her bag with the car keys in pressed the fob to see which car and took the car as well. The simple solution is get a sturdy cupboard with a lock on and keep things like that in it and keep the key on you.

Top Tip – I would use the receipt books that are a carbon as then you write one for the customer and the one for you is the second copy which saves writing everything out twice. These can be bought easily on the high street but you can get them cheaper from the big stationers that operate mainly through catalogues or through the internet. There is also usually a discount for buying in bulk believe me you will use a lot of them so it is worth getting the discount. Also people will ask you to put certain amounts which are not what they are actually paying don’t do it as it is fraud and it is your head on the line if they get caught diddling their expenses. You also won’t be very popular with the tax man.

TOP Tip – leave the lights on in the hallways as people will find ways to fall down the stairs. If you don’t want to leave the full light on then you should consider night lights and emergency lighting. I would however make sure you have energy saving light bulbs as otherwise it will cost you a fortune. These are more expensive but they last for up to eight years so they will save you in the long run and it is one less maintenance job.

TOP TIP – The most important things to keep are your registrations cards you need one for every adult (i.e. over 16) that stays with you, confirmation details and any financial records i.e. receipt books credit card slips etc. But check with your accountant if you are unsure of what to keep and for how long as something’s can go quicker than others and the rules change all the time.

TOP TIP – be very careful where you leave your receipt books. I would keep any that are full locked up at all times and the one you are currently using on you at all times. This is because at one time where I live there was a scam where this lad asked to see a room and then went to consult supposedly with his mother but was really scoping the place out. He then snuck back in and pinched receipt books full of credit card numbers and when they caught him he had spent over 100,000 thousand pounds over the internet.

Top Tip – You have to keep all your records for what seems like forever! Make sure you have somewhere to put them all. You will find in a lot of Guest Houses there will be cupboards bulging with stuff everywhere you go. The previous owners should take any stuff up to the date of completion with them as the tax man can ask for it. So build in any stores or closets you can as after seven years you will have an awful lot of files that need a home.

Top Tip – make sure that the people you are buying from have all their bills paid up to date as you don’t want to be lumped with their Gas, Electric and butchers bills. It can be very unpleasant if you have tradesmen turning up at your door wanting money.

TOP TIP – The method I use us have a handbag with a few compartment in it and use one exclusively for receipts so when you buy something you keep them all together. You will think you will remember what you bought and how much and I guarantee that you won’t! Then put a spike (the kind they have in restaurants) next to your computer so when you get back transfer them all to the spike. This way they are always in date order and it means whoever turns on the computer next can input them onto a spread sheet with what for and how paid for. If you speak to your accountant ask them how they want things split up ie maintenance, miscellaneous etc. This way it will all be in the easiest set up for him and therefore the cheapest for you. We have a spreadsheet per month and then we print it out and put all the receipts for that month and the print out in a big A4 envelope and it keeps us straight with the tax man.

Top Tip – Look on the Business Link and Learn Direct Web Sites they provide all sorts of courses for either free or very reasonably priced on all sorts of things such as accounting where you can do it online or in a class. These if you take them before you start out especially accounting look very good to your bank manager and show that you are serious. Also from experience the vast majority of people who get themselves in a mess do so because they haven’t accounted properly.

Our accountant nearly cries at the end of the tax year as so many of his client’s just turn up with carrier bags of receipts and expect him to sort them out. This is a false economy as accountants are paid by the hour and the more complicated you make it the more it is costing you.

Top Tip – When you first start be prepared to waste food as you will find it hard to judge how much to buy and put out etc but believe me this will dramatically reduce as you go along as you will get a feel for how much and how many.

Top Tip – keep on good terms with your tourist information as they will send people to places they trust the owners of and they know that the people won’t come back with complaints. I know people who get no trade from the TIC because they can’t be trusted not to leave the guests unhappy. The TIC are only people and they will go with who they know so make sure that when they phone you are polite and efficient however harried you feel. Some people even go so far as bringing gifts at Christmas etc to their TIC but it is up to you.

Top Tip – apply for membership of your local cash and carry they tend to stock all the weird things that you cannot get anywhere else such as catering size bottles of ketchup, mini portions of jam and so on. You need proof that you are a business usually but if you have appropriate bills and stationary you shouldn’t have a problem. If in doubt pop in and ask what they require. However be aware that although they are a wholesaler they are not necessarily the best price and they are not always the best quality. I have often found for things like toilet roll Asda is cheaper and better quality so know your retailers.

Top Tip – sometimes if you only have one or two in for breakfast it is better to just buy a small pack of bacon and leave the big whole sale ones in the freezer as you save money on wastage.

Top Tip – shop around for your current account as you can often get a better deal I myself keep an eye on MoneySupermarket.com for this purpose. There is enough people trying to get money out of you without giving it to the bank for the privilege of banking with them. The only thing to watch is if you have a mortgage they often insist that you have your current account with them to so be careful you don’t contravene the conditions of your mortgage. At date of posting the most competitive is the Abbey.

Top Tip – Make sure you are getting the best deal for your gas and electric as you will use a great deal more than you ever considered. You can use special agents who find the best deals for businesses and it is a free service or you can use the internet. It is worth checking these deals about every 6 months. I would also keep an eye on the phone bill as shopping around generates a number of savings.

TOP TIP – If people ring up asking all sorts of odd questions then be very wary as there was a couple round where we are ringing up asking if there were DVD players in the rooms we said no as at that time we didn’t. However they found another guest house that did and walked out during the night (as they hadn’t been asked to pay on arrival ) with the DVD player. They aren’t very expensive nowadays but having things taken like this leaves a nasty taste in your mouth.

TOP TIP – Most banks charge you for putting cash in and out of your business current account which personally I think is a cheek they tell me that it is because cash is time and labour and time intensive. However to reduce this fee as it is usually about 1% of every amount you put in save your cash for any expenditure for example eggs, food, cleaning products and then you won’t be charged twice. Just make sure that you account for every penny and keep every receipt this is vital for tax purposes.

TOP TIP – Try to keep your prices around number for example £65.00 as you will spend your life sorting out change. Plus I don’t care what the supermarkets say I don’t think that £64.99 sounds particularly cheaper than £65. I would also try to keep a selection of five pound notes and pound coins on the premises for these occasions as hunting round for change during a busy check out and breakfast is a nightmare.

I myself believe in making people pay on arrival as trying to take payments and do breakfast at the same time is really difficult. Some people can be a bit funny about this but if you explain about the clash with breakfast they are usually fine they just don’t think. This also has the advantage of if they pay by card you now have that on file if they try and run off or steal things. One couple staying with my parents took the pictures off the wall. Luckily they were very inexpensive but this is just one example. It is always a good plan to have a back up. In the last four years we have only ever had 2 lots of things taken the aforementioned pictures and a set of towels which belonged to the laundry so incidents of theft are rare.

Top Tip – The format I use is – 1 double room arriving Wednesday 13th January 2009 for 3 nights at the rate of £65.00 per night to include accommodation, full English breakfast and VAT.

If you are going to serve dinners you can use 1 double room arriving Tuesday 14th February 2009 for 4 nights at the rate of £75.00 per night to include dinner, bed, full English breakfast and VAT.

We live in a modern age and people live and work fast they expect that their accommodation provider will do the same. If you cannot keep up then they will go somewhere else. Also if you confirm and send out straight away then it is one less thing to think about. Save copies of everything you send as people will insist that you said a different rate, dates, times and all sorts and in the heat of the moment if you have nothing to back it up it is easy to be taken for a ride.

Top Tip – I would also strongly recommend confirming every booking either by email, fax or letter. If you can push people for email addresses then this can have 3 main benefits. 1 You have a contract with the customer in which you can state your cancellation policy clearly, I also find that people who receive confirmations are more likely to turn up as sometimes if they don’t receive one they make other plans as they worry that they don’t have a booking. 2 You have their email address for marketing purposes to use later on. 3 To email is free which over a year can save you a fortune as to send a letter is money for a stamp, money for ink, money for paper and money for an envelope which all adds up. An email also has the advantage of being almost instantaneous which not only looks efficient but ties the booking in and makes sure that they have got their dates right and what they want. You will marvel again and again at the number of people who ring up after you confirm and say they wanted the Tuesday to the Saturday isn’t that what they booked? The answer is no.

Top Tip – These machines can be hired very quickly and used straight away and then with some hairdryers you can get spills and stains out ready for the next guest. The only thing is make sure the carpet is completely dry as there is nothing worse than taking off your shoes and putting them on wet carpet. They can also be used on rugs but be careful near to the edges as tassels can be sucked in. Also it can be tempting to put in electric heaters to dry carpet but be very careful as you could have a fire and electric and water don’t mix if in doubt don’t risk it. To give you an estimate if you carpet clean a room it will probably take a good two days to get that carpet dry.

TOP TIP – Most of the books recommend that you steam clean your carpets at least once a year. I agree with that but you have two options of how you carry this out. Option one is if you have a slow season such as in Harrogate February is dead so that would be the time to blitz the housework or you can do one room at a time crossing them off as you go. This way is probably the easiest as you have to move all of the furniture out of the room and then back in again. This means that you have to have somewhere to put it so in reality you will have two rooms out of service for at least 1 day. You can have the carpets done by a professional which can be expensive or you can hire equipment and do it yourself which is the cheapest option. The rug doctor machines or similar can be hired locally for a reasonable fee and you can do as much as you want to in the time you rent it for. I myself did a three bed house in a day but you will find the stairs a lot harder.

TOP TIP – On the program the hotel inspector one of the inspectors uses the phrase the room should be so clean that it would appear that no one has ever used that room before. I’m not quite sure if that is achievable every day as I am a realist but the key areas such as the bathroom especially the toilet should be immaculate. Clean sheets for every customer are a basic minimum as well as vacuum the carpet for every customer. Most customers do not expect the carpet to be vacuumed every day but for longer staying guests it should be done as a minimum every third day as they will wear their shoes in the room and therefore will track more dirt. This also has the advantage of making your carpets last longer as the dirt will wear them out faster. Vacuum as often as you can but be realistic about time.

Also making friends is a good way to find good workmen get them to recommend their plumbers and electricians. If they say that a particular person is excellent then get their number equally if they say someone was appalling then remember not to use them!

TOP TIP – you can also often find a cheaper plumber, electrician, laundry service, painter and decorator from your neighbours it is the quickest and easiest way to shop around and you get the benefit of their mistakes as well as their experience.

TOP TIP – if you are looking about you to buy a Bed and Breakfast or Guest House or even to convert your current house start looking for the right kind of furniture, lamps, pictures etc from today that way the expenditure is spread and you have a better chance of remembering everything.

TOP TIP – if say your grown up children have left home etc and you are thinking of doing some B&B be realistic you have to redecorate and upgrade the customer will not expect anything less than that.

In many of the big hotels it is the policy to overbook so if you have one nearby keep on good terms with them as sometimes you can pick up the overflow. My parents live opposite to a Holliday Inn and they are rung on a daily basis for their availability in case they need the rooms. It may be worth ringing your local big hotels and making contact so you can have the benefit of their emergencies. Also there are the emergencies that other places have that are no fault of their own for example a large hotel nearby to where I worked at the time their boiler packed up in January we were happy to help and picked up quite a few rooms. Something people forget is that although you are in competition with other accommodation providers you can quite often help each other out so never make the mistake of upsetting your competition with rudeness as they will never send you their overflow or help you out again.

Also be very careful putting rooms onto many and various web sites you could end up double booked. If you are going to take this approach then I would recommend two things 1 make very good friends with people with guest houses or B&B’s of a high quality nearby so that if it comes to it you can book people out. If this occurs some people like to wait and see if they get a cancellation and it all works out. I myself don’t like this approach as more often than not you end up in a mess. Ring the customer right away that you discover the mistake and provide them with alternative accommodation at another venue for the same price. You will probably lose the customer but at least you do not have them arriving cold and tired to be told there is no room at the inn. I have been in this situation and having irate customers shouting at you at full volume is not a pleasant experience. Second I would have broadband and leave your computer on at all times and make sure you check your email and fax at least once an hour to take off any rooms before they sell twice. Remember if you put one room on and sell it you can always put another one on. This also depends on the number of rooms you have and your cancellation policy as if you have 20 there is a fair chance you will get a cancellation if you have four it is a different story.

If the previous owner is using any of the booking sights you will have to find out from them which ones and what availability they have put on as you do not want to get double booked. You will also need to have new contracts with these sights as the account numbers will be different. If you can ask the previous owners to close out this means take off the internet any rooms they have on at the moment ready for you to start a new contract.

As regards brochures these in my opinion can wait your most important ambassador is your web site as a good 60% of bookings come through the internet. At the very least you should look into using sites such as Booking.com and Laterooms if you haven’t got your own site up and running. If you are buying a going concern it should in this day and age have all of this already set up but make sure that you have all the details of their web site designer, who maintains it and that you now have the rights to the domain name.

The web site is great because all it takes is a phone call to your web master to get things changed and up to date the same day. Some obvious details such as the change of ownership can be put on the same day as you complete. I myself however would wait as in that first week I guarantee that you will have enough on and frankly of all the things that are important that can wait. You can put your own individual stamp on the web site two or three months down the line when you have found your feet. This is however only the case if the site is half decent if it is appalling get onto it right away as this is your billboard to the world if it is rubbish you aren’t putting out a very good sign.

As regards your advertising my best advice is to shop around your best price may not be local but it can save you on postage if you can pick things up yourself. Also it may just be a Yorkshire thing but I like to see the people I am dealing with and speak to them face to face and make sure they understand what I want. I would recommend getting your business cards done right away as they are relatively inexpensive and you will need ones with your name on as the new owner. You can even have these done before you take over and have at least a box ready to go. It is also important to have a stack on you at all times. I often find as I am a gregarious person that I am in conversation with people i.e. in the queue at the post office and you get into the subject of your B&B and it is very handy just to be able to give them a card. The conversation may not generate any business but they may have friends or relatives they need putting up when they visit so be friendly with everyone you meet.

TOP TIP – Also if you are going to do your own ironing you may want to consider buying an industrial press for ironing you simply fold the sheet and put it in and press closed leaving the sheet ironed. This is great for doing a number of sheets and or pillow cases at once. My mum and her best friend used to sit in the kitchen pressing the sheets when I was little I even did a few myself. That was before they gave it up as a bad lot and went over to sending the sheets out.

Another area you can gain furniture and all sorts is the society of Freecycle where people give away any old furniture and unwanted possessions and all you have to do is collect them. It is definitely something to consider if you are on a shoestring budget.

TOP TIP- If you decide as many people do that it is not financially viable to have a premise licence then make it clear that you allow bottles on the premises and be willing to provide appropriate glasses and bottle openers. If you don’t you will loose a lot of business as people like to have a drink before going out.

TOP TIP – If your decide to do your ironing yourself I would recommend the sheets you have are not 100% cotton or your life will not be worth living. Many see nylon as evil but it does reduce that work load.

Shop around for furniture carefully solid wood lasts a lot better than chipboard and looks a lot better though it is more expensive. I would recommend for those on a budget looking in second hand furniture shops, auctions and the charity furniture shops you can find them in your yellow pages. Another top place it to look is car boot sales but decide in advance how much you want to pay and don’t be lured any higher than you intended.

If you are on a budget and let’s be realistic most of us are, sometimes what is best is to buy furniture for a room one piece at a time. What I mean is to decide on the theme and slowly build up pieces that tie in with that. The alternative is to do up a whole room at a time and really blitz it which does mean that you have a room out of commission while it is done. I on one occasion was painting a room in the morning and letting it in the evening but I wouldn’t recommend it.

TOP TIP – If you take on a place where the carpets are a little ropy but you don’t have the money to do them all at once then get them all professionally steam cleaned it’s a lot cheaper and will make a dramatic improvement. Then you can get the rooms done one at a time as you save up for them. Also shop around in the sales January is a good time and you can also buy the carpet in advance before you are able to fit it. Another tip is whoever comes to fit the carpet get their card as they are usually independent contractors so if you buy any carpet in the sales etc then you have someone ready to fit it.

TOP TIP – always have in at least two cans of carpet stain remover at the ready accidents will happen but they have to be fixed before the next guest comes.

STANDARD KIT FOR ROOMS
One Hairdryer – try to fasten this to the drawer it lives in, in some way as they do go missing. Usually this is husbands they have no idea what their wives have packed and just put it in the bag as well, I have had more than a few posted back for this reason.

Two mugs or three if it is a triple room – Have a second set on standby for quick a change.

Top Tip – some establishments don’t do a tea tray but do it as room service as an extra charge. This is up to you but it has three main disadvantages 1 people don’t like making a fuss so won’t order it and are then cross, 2 they want it at all hours of the day and night do you fancy making cups of tea at 2am? And 3 its very cheap and people expect it and just want to have their drink when they want it. My mum puts out biscuits every day and people love it.

Various tea, coffee, sugar, NutraSweet and Decaf -coffee – I wouldn’t put out special teas as people just take them. I would buy a selection and keep them in the kitchen and then only the people who are serious about having them will ask and you can give them out.

2 Tea Spoons – Keep them clean there is nothing worse than a dirty spoon.

Kettle - try and put it and the tray near to the relevant plug socket as there is nothing worse than having to hunt about for a socket. At a large 3 star hotel I will mention no names the only free socket was one on the floor which was very odd.

Have two bedside lamps this is one of the things the rating people look for by the way and they should be easy to use and give enough light to read by.

1 bed pick your size but it must be standard as this is another thing the ratings people look for. My parents have had trouble with them because they have bought Zip and Link beds which are a good investment as they can be a double or a single increasing you flexibility. However the ones they bought are non standard when in the single form so the AA do not like it. Therefore watch out when buying you get ones which when unzipped they are a standard single size.

Some kind of desk or dressing table for working or writing. This is important for the business traveller or even to write a postcard so think of what the customer might do.

Clean carpet – I would recommend something with a bit of a pattern and a darker shade as there will be a lot more traffic on it than a domestic one. I would also recommend if you can get it carpet with some kind of stain retardant in it as though you will pay more for it in the long run it will save you money. The AA are very particular about the fit of carpet so make sure it is right and they also mark higher for high wool content. They do however mark a new nylon carpet higher than an old wool one if you are making choices.

TOP TIP – Buy at least one extra kettle and keep it in the cupboard this is both a stand by for the bedrooms and for the kitchen. The ones in the bedrooms will get a hard time. Just get cheap ones and replace them as you can never have them mended properly and they have to pass electrical inspection. Also unless one of you is an electrician do not even attempt to mend electrical appliances. I would also keep in a spare hair dryer for the same reason plus occasionally they walk.

TOP TIP – Keep in a small supply of toiletries for example Toothpaste, Toothbrushes and Combs are top choices. You can just get the kind that you buy on the high street or if you want you can order them from hotel supply stores in sets. The only trouble with those is you usually have to order about 100 at least to start but you will be surprised how quickly you sell them I can tell you. You can expand your range as far as you want to buy be aware you have to store it. We buy asda's own toothpaste 50P and sell for a pound it is a good profit margin.

TOP TIP – Know your emergency shops where is open on a Sunday night for example Tesco Express or Sainsbury’s at Jacksons you have to know if you do suddenly run out of something where you can go to. It is also important to have a good local knowledge as your guests will ask you for all sorts. I myself have been asked where they can buy shoes at 10pm on a Sunday.

As regards cleaning products shop around, my mum likes flash for her guest house as it has a distinctive smell which has two advantages one it has a pleasant smell and two that smell shows the guest that the bathroom has definitely been cleaned. I recommend that you try a few different brands and decide what you like best you will always use them up. I would also recommend for things like this joining a whole saler and buying in bulk as you cannot be running out so have at least 8 bottles of everything in. I also guarantee that you will use a lot more than you ever thought you would. The only thing I would caution you against is using pine I find that it smells a bit clinical and that is the last thing you want.

The same goes for toilet roll they will use far more than you ever thought possible what they do with it all I will never know but buy in bulk and buy at the least middle to high quality as your guests will notice. Also if you buy the cheapest you will usually find that there are less sheets per roll so you will not be any better off in the long run.

Something you will also need if you decide to do your own laundry is a good and reasonable laundrette which seems contrary to my previous advice. However there will be days when there will be all changes and all arrivals sometimes for several days straight and you just need a break. Therefore to have a back up you know you can send at least a few sets to and forget about them is a great relief. The best way to find one is to ask around other owners as they always know the best and cheapest services. You will also need this information should you decide to have throws as they will get all sorts on them, a top choice is take away so you have to be able to get them washed. There is also the important issue of storage. I myself favour the type of duvet cover with the buttons that fasten rather than the popper kind as the poppers tend to melt and you cannot get them fastened again where as you don’t have that problem with buttons.

On the other hand if you are an operation of more than six rooms I would recommend that you use a linen service where they bring you the sheets and things and you send them back when they are done. This dramatically reduces your start up costs as all the linen belongs to the laundry and you pay as you go. I would recommend if you do this you shop around as many services are better or worse than others. Be very strict with them about the quality of linen you require and any that are dirty, not ironed property or have holes in send back or they may just tell you to chuck them away. This can be quite a common occurrence as they use extra strong bleach and cleaning products destroy fabrics quickly so they are used to a high turnover. You do pay more for this service so the economics are something to consider but it does free you up for other tasks such as marketing that you may consider more important.

As regards making beds you have two main choices to make, one to do all your laundry yourself or to send out. If you intend to do it all yourself I would recommend at least three sets of sheets per bed. If you can manage it I would buy all white with a high thread count. This is because if you were really up against it you can swop sheets and duvets round. For example if you had serviced your least attractive room and then a walk in came you could quickly swop the duvets over and get the room ready quicker. Also white has the advantage of always looking clean and you can always use bleach for all those miscellaneous stains that I guarantee will turn up. Some guest house owners prefer to have sheets that go with each room which does look nice but you can always have particular throws to brighten up each room and then you only need one.

Some people believe in matching sets for rooms and some people don’t it is entirely up to you. You can opt for identical mugs etc as they are them completely interchangeable or you can have a variety of different ones to give character to your rooms. A top tip is to get them really clean as we all know what coffee does to the bottom of mugs fill them with water and then put in about a dessert spoon of Arial in each and leave as long as you can and it will take off all the brown.

There are certain areas which need attention more than others I would recommend that you buy two sets of glasses and mugs for each room so you can simply switch them over and put the dirty ones in the dishwasher leaving you free for other tasks. It also means that in a situation where people turn up early and want to check in right away it is one less thing to do.

When breakfast is done it is very tempting to slow down but this is where the real work starts. My next piece of advice is to get an answering machine and have it on during breakfast. Some people juggle phone and frying pan but I am not an advocate of it as it is a bit dangerous and you cannot pay full attention to both. Second get your kitchen cleaned as fast as you can because this is when the fun really starts.

If you are doing all of the work yourself or you and your partner are tackling it then there is hopefully a whole house full of beds to make. So get round and do it. Most people I have spoken to find a system to follow the most helpful. At least to start make a list for each room what needs doing you will remember after a while and it is always useful for as a training aid should you be able to take on a cleaner when you get established.

It is also important to know your margins on accommodation for example if you pay a cleaner £6.00 per hour and it takes them half an hour to clean a room, plus £1.00 worth of cleaning products and cost of shampoo and shower gel etc it will cost you about £10.00 per room before you make a profit on that room. Therefore make sure you know your costs.

I also find that a lot of people are a bit vague as to even if they are making a profit you have to keep on top of how much you are paying out in bills and how much you have coming in. This is also vital for those of you who are in seasonal areas as you have to be aware that certain months will be lean and you will have to have money saved ready as the gas must still be paid for.

Another point to remember is quality of breakfast produce. Make sure that you taste everything you serve prior to making it onto guests tables. I don’t mean sample their breakfasts but make sure you cook a full breakfast for yourself and then eat it. Guests will expect fresh orange juice, good quality sausages, fresh bread both white and brown, bacon of a reasonable quality, beans and a variety of eggs. Sausages are an area where people are tempted to go very cheap and think the customer won’t notice this is a false economy they won’t say anything but they won’t come again. A lot of people struggle with costings but if you intend on doing room only or breakfast you have to know how much it is costing you to make it. Ie if there are 12 rashers of bacon in a pack and it costs a pound then it is 8.3p per rasher and so on plus oil. It is also important to remember that if they only have a rasher and an egg then it is saving you money. What you can do if you are trying something new is to try it on a few guests and say you are trying it out what do they think? People love to be consulted and have their opinion valued so feel free to experiment. I.e. We are thinking of changing sausages what do you think of this one as opposed to the old one?

You may have realised from this I am an advocate of microwaves not everyone is but we have four in our kitchen. They are very useful for those mornings when 8 come down at once. Some guest house owners get round this by making guests book a breakfast time but I have never been a fan of this as they seem to turn up when they fancy anyway. Another top tip is get a hob with as many rings as you can simply for the space of having somewhere to put your hot pans when you are not cooking with them. It is also important to change your oil regularly when cooking for two reasons 1 the quality of the breakfasts starts to drop and you get black bits and 2 you get a lot of smoke which in turn leads to a good laugh with the smoke alarm. The guests trying to have a lie in will not thank you for it.

PREP FOR BREAKFAST
This is the most important area and I cannot stress this enough! You will often think to yourself that there will be plenty of time in the morning but there never is! There will be the early risers, the various problems that need dealing with and the fact that you are half asleep and keep bumping into your partner in the rush for the shower. So tasks to do the night before are:-

1. Set up your tea and coffee trays if you are serving guests individually fit as many as you can comfortably get on your work surface. If you can find them the small round trays are the most useful as you can get more on. Then set up at least 2 of each (coffee and tea) with a piece of kitchen roll, tea pot or coffee pot and empty milk jug. Then fill up your kettles to the max I cannot recommend strongly enough having at least two.

2. Then chop up a good amount of mushrooms I myself prefer fresh but it is worth having a couple of cans of the tinned in your cupboard for emergencies. Also check your stock the night before there is still time to dash to the emergency shop as during service you will have no such luck. I find about a large handful per person is about right as they seem to reduce in the pan by a startling amount.

3. As for tomatoes you will find if you try to cut them up the night before they will go all sloppy so I would recommend waiting till the morning but have your chopping board and knife set out as it is remarkable how these things disappear when you need them most. We fry our tomatoes but they can also be grilled. A top tip is however to have several small pans about the size to take 4 slices of tomato on your shelf as the oil gets dirty for tomatoes very quickly and in the heat of service it is quicker to put the dirty pan in the sink and whip out a clean one.

4. As regards eggs I try and have in at least twice as many eggs as people as you can guarantee that if you were a bit short and decided to risk it then everyone will not only want eggs then they will want scrambled eggs which takes two.

5. Also as a side note if you offer poached eggs you can do them with an egg poacher on the hob but we have found that the easiest way is to do them in the microwave. It is 20 seconds to start and then rest for 5 seconds then 10 seconds and then 5 seconds rest and then repeat this until cooked. This was discovered after many scalding incidents with the conventional kind of cooker.

6. I tend to cook sausages through the night before and then reheat or fry them in the morning otherwise they take much longer than the other components of the breakfast. Another alternative is to serve 2 small sausages and to fry them the choice is yours.

7. Bacon we do in the Microwave for one very simple reason you don’t have to watch it you simply set it off and then carry on with your other cooking it is approximately two and a half minutes but check your instructions.

8. Beans we found the easiest way is to buy small pots in fact we use open topped milk jugs and put on one portion of beans and microwave approximately 1 Min. This leads to les wastage as you only cook what you need and it is very quick.

TOP TIP – If people ask for an early check in it is quite tempting to say no as it messes up your schedule but remember that this is a customer service that is free and is especially popular with weddings as they want to get ready before the event. It is quite tempting to let them into a dirty room when they say they don’t mind just to get changed. Don’t do it! The image of the dirty room and the fact that there was someone in there previously will haunt them their entire stay. Do everything you can to make sure their room is ready before arrival (usually they give you advanced notice before they arrive either at time of booking or they ring you when they think of it that they require an early check in) If they don’t give you notice and just turn up consider swopping room allocations if possible or simply do the room super fast and then pop in later after they have left and double check you haven’t missed anything. Another tip in this line a room is never dirty it is unserviced. I used to work with an operations manager who used to say that to the customer and I could see the recoil on their faces the customer wants to pretend that no one ever stayed in that room or slept in that bed helping keep their illusions is all part of the service.

Another important point is to think very carefully about what your job or perhaps it is better to call it a new lifestyle will actually entail. To be fair it is not surprising that most people do not have a clue. I am therefore including a typical day in the life.

TOP TIP – buy cordless phones and the kind with as many handsets as you can manage believe me when they are all over and you are running for the phone you will thank me for this. Always carry one of the handsets with you so you don’t have to run for the phone sounding out of breath doesn’t sound professional. Then when the batteries get low you swop over for a new one and put the other on to charge. Please also be aware that these phones only have a limited shelf life of about two to three years. Budget this into your accounts and be realistic about when they are starting to die and chuck them out nothing is worse to your business prospects than your customers not being able to get through to you.

7.00AM drag yourself out of bed and dash into the shower in the mad race with your partner for who gets it first.

7.10AM dash round the kitchen getting everything ready. (Prep is everything but I will go into more detail later)

7.30AM breakfast be ready to serve. If there are two of you have one in the breakfast room and one in the kitchen. I would also boil the kettles.

9.30AM breakfast finishes and then take a deep breath.

9.35AM dash about getting all the crockery from breakfast into the dishwasher.

9.45AM Take a deep breath and then start on the kitchen.

11AM have everything ready for the second set of dish washing and I strongly recommend a tea and a biscuit before tackling the rooms.

11.30AM Write a list of what rooms are stays and which are departs and gather up your linen accordingly.

2PM Have all your arrivals ready at the latest. They are your new first impressions so make them a good one. It is also important not to leave piles of dirty sheets in the corridors as it is easy to overlook one pile and then it ruins the effect when you are showing people to their room.

2.10Pm or earlier depending start checking people in. Also at the same time be finishing off any services left over that there weren’t time for.

Any time between 2pm and 11pm people checking in and dealing with bookings and catching up with correspondence.

There are also advantages to taking on a place in the slowest part of the year for example in Harrogate where I am that is February to give yourself time to find your feet. However on the other side of that it does mean that there will be less money coming in so it depends what you have saved.

You may have to get sorted with the bank on the first day so that money you take goes into your account and not the previous owners. It may be easier if you can for the first week to only take cash if you can just to keep it simple till you have your card machine sorted.
What you can do as an alternative is to use the card slips and one of those card slider machines (I am not sure of their proper name) and then put them through your new card machine when it arrives. I have also found that the banks tend to leave you to your own devices in regards to card machines assuming you know what you are doing. If you have never worked in retail or have never used a card machine they are relatively simple but if you want someone from the bank to come out they will send someone so ask. It is also worth trying it in advance with small amounts with your own card ie £1.00 to make sure you are familiar with the procedure it costs virtually nothing and it will make you more confident.

How the booking system works is the most important as many people use their own code or short hand i.e. big D means Deposit Paid and so on and you will struggle if you don’t understand it. You can bring in your own system gradually if theirs doesn’t work for you but one thing at once. My top tip here is to buy a big notepad and write everything down as you can’t take it all in at once and then you can re read it all later.

I would initially deal with the same suppliers as the previous owners until you find your feet and have a chance to shop around. After two months or so you will be able to tell if they are the quality you require or not and therefore make an informed decision about whether to keep them or not. We changed our laundry almost straight away as the linen was substandard but the previous owner was pretty much absent and hadn’t kept an eye on the standards so they kept just sending him the rubbish that was left over.

Also not to put you off but once you have gotten through the first month I guarantee that it will be a lot easier it will all seem bewildering and too much but slowly and surely it will start to come together. Don’t be put off if it all seems too much at first it will get better!

If you can before you take over book off two weeks holiday and do a proper hand over. There is nothing worse than the sale going through and you taking over and you are stood in the hall with your stuff and people are trying to check in and you have no idea who they are or what they are supposed to be paying. During the handover make sure the old owner shows you everything you can think of I will put a short list of vitals here.

Stop Cock for turning all the water off, the Gas meter, Water Meter, Electric Meter, Fuse Box, where they keep stock i.e. coffee sachets, sugar and milk for the rooms, the names of any suppliers e.g. the laundry, which day is bin day, which days do the laundry deliver, how much stock of sheets do they have in for the next week, any guests with special requirements who come regularly, how their booking system works and where are all the records. Who they bank with, a list of suppliers as these will all need to be notified of the change and so they can supply you with new account numbers and so on.

If you are shopping around to buy a place quite often if you look about in the area you want and pop in and ask you may find that the place you want is actually up for sale. Guest Houses and B&B’s never advertise on the street in the same way that house sales do for fear that they will panic their customers. So look on the specialist web sites and do your homework.

My parents however have built up quite a good relationship with a chap who sells hotel carpet off the back of a lorry he has no overheads so does a good deal and goes round all the hotels in Harrogate where I live every six months. So don’t discount all door to door sales men but make sure you are getting what you want and don’t pay over the odds. It is very easy to think you are getting a good deal in the heat of the moment and then find out later that what you have bought could be bought cheaper on the high street.

Another area to be wary off is inn keepers who tell you that they take a lot of money off the books ie cash that never makes it to the tax man. There are two reasons for this 1 nowadays there is a lot less cash changing hands as most people pay by card and second if they are willing to tell you that when you are only enquiring it is a bit dubious.

Another good example of this is when a chap pulled up at another hotel I worked for saying he had 30 Duvets to sell were we interested they were left over from a delivery and he was basically going to sell them for cash and say they were spoiled. The fact that he was telling this to me the girl on the desk set off warning bells from the start. However good the bargain it is never worth taking on goods in this situation as they will then technically be stolen and the last thing you need is a conviction for receiving stolen goods which can prevent you from getting all sorts of permits and licences for your business.

They also made the mistake of not checking things like mattresses. When you get serious about a property then don’t worry about being cheeky sit and or lie on every bed. This may seem excessive but my friends and later my parents were caught in this trap. They bought the place and decided to spend a night in every room making sure that the rooms were alright and found that all the beds were down to the springs. This may seem trivial but if you have 8 rooms and a new double mattress per room is about £150.00 it soon mounts up. Also if they were hiding that what else were they hiding? My advice is to buy a good mattress and turn them regularly your guests will thank you for it. You can buy mattresses from the high street but depending on numbers as sometimes there is a minimum order you can buy from hotel whole salers and get a good price. You will find also that quite frequently you will get men at the door proclaiming that their bed company is going bust etc and they have excess stock to sell you off the back of a lorry don’t be fooled into thinking you have got a bargain. Sometimes you can get one not all of these chaps are criminals but there is a fair chance that if they are selling off the back of a lorry then the goods fell off the back of someone else’s.

So the moral to this tail is check there is correspondence and credit card numbers to back up the bookings they say they have and if you can manage it give a few a ring to check they are real people. The sellers may try to get round this by saying they don’t formally confirm their booking in writing so ask to see sent emails or for phone numbers. If they won’t give them then ask yourself why?

A couple who ran a lovely guest house four star and were friends of my parents confided to me one time that they had been hoodwinked over the purchase of their guest house. They discovered that the reputation of the place they had bought was so bad that they had to change the name of the business to get any trade. Therefore the goodwill and pre booked trade was all a figment of their imagination. What they also found and this is a trick to look out for is they had written a lot of bookings in their booking book which didn’t exist but made the place look busy and pushed up the price.

So buying a rubbish business is not necessarily a bad thing but make sure you get a good price for it and then change the name straight away.

In buying an existing business you can have both positives and negatives it simply depends on the reputation of the business. Most of the books I read focused on you getting a good deal but this is not always the case as just because it is a going concern does not mean that it is any good.
The bank will value any going concern on two thirds for the building and about one third for the business you can haggle the business side down and I would do so as much as you can. The bank will only lend you money on the building side of the transaction as this is the only way they can get their money back should you go bust so be aware that you will need a bigger deposit than you would for a house.

Being realistic – There are two ways of getting into the B&B or Guest House industry (people use these terms interchangeably but they are actually quite different I will go into more details later). The first way is to buy an existing business and the second is to buy an appropriate property and to start from scratch. I myself bought an existing business so unfortunately have less advice to offer on the other but I will do my best.

When I first started looking into going into business for myself I read a lot of books on the subject but I found that the majority if not all did not go into nearly as much detail as I would have liked therefore I decided to put together my own for the benefit of those who come after though hopefully not in competition!.

One of the best ways to get an idea of a prospective employee is to do a day’s trial and see them in action. You will find quite often that unless they have a lot of experience you may have to go through every detail with them. However this can be an advantage as they will do things as you would like them doing not as they were done in their previous position. However if you are new to the trade having a capable person who you can leave to get on with it is a brilliant bonus. As you become used to your staff you can expand their duties into other areas such as doing the shopping and answering the phone. It is also good to build up a group of people you can trust to sit in for you as this means that now and again you can have a night off. Plus I find that a lot of people quite enjoy sitting in and playing at being an inn keeper. It can also be a useful experience for anyone who is thinking of going into the trade. You may find yourself that you can gain experience in this way if you know anyone who operates a guest house or hotel. Also even if you don’t know anyone you can should you wish to ring round and offer your services as an inn sitter.

You will also find that once you have taken on an employee then it is very difficult to get rid of them either for reasons of money or for lack of performance. If you do find an employee is unsatisfactory then make sure you follow all of the rules and regulations as regards dismissal or you will end up with a case against you for unfair dismissal. Let us hope you never employ anyone who is awful but if you do document their behaviour and for preference get a witness. My godmother had a chambermaid once who would after doing a room ring her boyfriend on the rooms phone therefore putting the call on the guests bill. My godmother noticed the telephone logger was clicking and printing when she knew there was no one in the rooms so caught her at it. The girl was unrepentant and saw nothing wrong with this but was fired on the spot for gross misconduct.

Also people seem to have rather odd ideas about staffing there was one guest house on the program with 8 bedrooms and they had two girls and two owners doing the cleaning when really to make any money they should have had one or if money was really tight they should have been doing it themselves. Your staff wage bill will be your highest cost so try and keep it down, you don’t want to flog yourself to death but you have to be realistic about how much money you are taking in. So many people have said to me “oh well you could hire someone to do breakfast and then you could have a lie in” yes I could do that but I would rather have a profitable business! It is also difficult to find an experienced person who will just do breakfast or just do dinners but you may be lucky. It is easier to find people willing to be part time housekeepers as for many parents this work pattern fits in with their lifestyle. For example 10am to 2pm fits in with the children and is a popular choice with parents.

Also I have watched episodes of the Hotel Inspector which follows an industry leading Hotelier as she helps failing hotels and guest houses turn themselves around. I am endlessly surprised by the number of people and this is nearly a quote oh well we thought that it would nearly run itself. If you think working in the hotel trade is an easy option then turn back now. There will be times when you will work harder than you have ever worked before and you will think that you have gone completely mad however these days are few and far between. But be prepared the first six months will be the hardest but once you have got the hang of it there is nothing more rewarding.

Post 5

If I had a pound for every time someone said something to me about how easy it must be to work in the hotel industry I would never work again. People will have no idea about your new life and will expect a great deal. You will find people that you barely know will claim friendship with you in order to get a reduced rate but be strong it’s a business not a charity. One of the things that made me laugh the most was a statement made to my sister who has no interest into going into the trade despite her sister, parents and godmother being hoteliers. This person with whom she worked said, “I don’t know why you don’t want to work with your parents it must be so easy you just do breakfast and then you have the rest of the day off”. This person obviously had not thought for one moment that you would have to make the beds answer the phone or do all the shopping for the next day. People will also turn up or try to phone you at completely the wrong times i.e. during breakfast for a chat or pop round to visit when you have a full check out and full check in and can’t spare the time.
To get round this I ask all my friends to call in advance of turning up to see if it is convenient and I brief everyone never to phone before 11am as its the peak time for business.

I worked for a short time for the Inland Revenue where I discovered that a good fifty percent of new businesses go bust in the first year. It seemed to me having spoken to a good number of people either going bust or about to a great number of their problems were caused by general ignorance of the business that they were in or simply bad planning.
Your having picked up this book shows that you are that much ahead of the pack and I wish you all the best.
I have also found that there are many misconceptions of what the B&B and Guest House industry are like and what goes on. I have worked in big hotels where they have gone bust due to overspending yet the guest expects there to be porters on standby not thinking for one moment about the narrow margins that these places operate on.
Smaller places such as yours will in some ways benefit from you running it as that saves enormously on running costs. When you start taking on staff that is when the costs start to mount up.

Post number 3

You can do your own business cards very cheeply to start off with if you want to. You can use the tools, lables, business cards part of your word program to create very basic ones or you can buy some off the shelf software and go as complicated as you want to. The only thing is this can be more expensive than having them printed as it costs you in printer ink. I made the mistake when I first started doing this as when I designed the cards I made them predominantly blue which is one of the theme colours of my Guest House however this means that you run out of blue ink three times as fast as the other colours. So be aware of this and keep in mind the plainer your card the cheaper it will be to produce.

Day 1 part 2

Another area that astonishes me is when people apply for jobs in the trade. When I was working for a large hotel we used to have receptionists that would say that they could only work nine to five. The reception desk must be manned twenty four hours in anything above 2 star so these people obviously have no idea what is required. Don't make that mistake yourself! Another area is when you get young girls and boys comming to the door asking if you have any seasonal work. You may think you are getting a useful pair of hands but I have often found that they have no idea how difficult and hard work housekeeping is and few last more than a week. Just make sure in your interview process you are clear about what is required and I would strongly suggest a trial before employing them. Some however work out really well and can really help you out during buisy times students home from university especially so just be carefull

Day 1

I have started this blog to publish advice for budding hoteliers, guest house owners, bed and breakfast people and people who love Hotel Babylon. What goes on in the trade would be astonishing to many but it is vastly entertaining.

I intend to put on stories of happenings that have occured to me and to others as well as hints and tips I have gained along the way.