What not to do in your management response to an online review.

The idea for this article came from this article http://lifehacker.com/5940640/how-can-i-deal-with-rude-emails which is about dealing with rude emails which is a very similar topic (I would recommend reading this article when you have finished as has a lot of good points.

Many of the points are similar -

(1) my first point is the same - Don't answer right away!!!! - I say this over and over again - DO NOT LET THE CRAZY OUT ON THE INTERNET! -  you will be hurt and right afterwards you will be angry but this is the most important thing to remember - this a problem DO NOT MAKE IT WORSE!

(2) So step 1 is shout a bit, kick the cat and write a real stonker of a response about how stupid and annoying they are etc then bin it! do not under any circumstances ever post your first attempt at a response it will be disaster. The number of people who say "we read the management responses of XYZ place and thought if that is what they are like we aren't going to stay there!" is high and that's only from the people who tell me! do not make your bed and breakfast, Guest House or Hotel one of those places with the loony owner! it only serves to re-enforce the review.

(3) if you can, get someone who you trust to give you their honest opinion to read it - do you sound like a loony? if so give it another shot. Remember you want to seem like someone who is nice to stay with (I always say my ambition is to be the cool aunt - everyone has one the aunt that always sends cool gifts and is fun to stay with? thats your target and who you want to show you are - not the crazy aunt who could do with locking  in the attic!

(4) do not ever use phrases like "well we can't get it right all the time" this was nearly put by a friend of mine on to trip adviser - your guests expect that you do get it right every time - its what they are paying you for! we all know full well real life isn't like that but frankly they don't care. They don't give a monkeys about your child/husband being sick or the shop running out of vegan spread (don't get me started on that one).

(5) Remember any review is an invaluable marketing opportunity be it good or bad so don't waste it. If you get a bad review of X room you can give an update of how you are renovating it, changing the drapes and so on so your future guests are aware of this. Take the opportunity to mention things completely unrelated to the review if you have added or improved something - people will not read web sites extensively but they will read reviews so here is your opportunity to put in a plug for yourself.

(6) If this was a nightmare guest and we all have them - special diet that they only told you when ordering breakfast, late check in, damage or drunk  - try and make it so that you are not having a go at them directly ie try and make the reader - read between the lines. I also try and put in a plug for booking directly at this point as well ie if you need a room on a lower floor (ie guest complains about the stairs), special diet, late check in etc please ring us directly so we can make sure that we can accommodate your requirements and give you the best possible service etc.

(7) People will complain about getting exactly what they booked ie we have 2 single rooms with private bathrooms ie not in the room - the description on booking.com is single with private external bathroom - reviewer comment was bathroom outside the room - well that is what you booked isn't it?
In cases like this the answer is "for future customers we advise that we do upgrade where we can but if you book a room with a private external bathroom you will not necessarily be in an ensuite room"

(8) My friend Mike has the best attitude to bad reviews (his place is cracking by the way so they are few and far between) - the problem is not with my place its with the customer - understand this simple truth and move on. Most bad reviews are caused by customers not understanding what they have booked - ie I am in a 4 story building - this is on my access statement on my web site in full detail with the number of steps to every floor, pictures of my entrance and exit included - and yet people with mobility issues do not put this on their booking and end up with the only double left on the top floor etc - If I had a pound for every person who asked me where the lift is I would have enough to block pave the front garden!

(9) - When you have done your response - let the review go - I know it is hard and I still have one or two which rankle and pop up in my mind now and again but don't let people like that have power over your life! do not let people that stupid ruin your day! Also (and I know its the ones you wish you could forget stick in your mind!) try and remember the multitude of nice guests who come through your door - the people who brought you flowers or left a little gift? these are the people that matter and don't forget it!

Just seen this article from fellow blogger - http://chocolatepillow.com/tripadvisor-management-responses-the-dos-donts/ - top notch!

Successful Tourism Marketing by Susan Briggs - Book Review

This is now quite an old volume published in 2001 but I bought it as I know the author Susan Briggs who teaches tourism marketing courses - http://www.tourismknowhow.com/ which has lots of free hints and tips. It is more an overview of tourism marketing for example locations, counties and more about large scale projects for example spittlefields market.

Feel it is more aimed at someone taking a tourism marketing course at university rather than the average joe therefore would not advise it as a read for accommodation providers- ISBN 0749434694

Making a reservation - the best way

Now this post is advice from a booking perspective for people who do not understand the inner workings of hotels or bed and breakfasts.

Never ring to make a hotel or BB reservation before 11am or after 5pm - why you ask? 7am to 11am is check out time and breakfast - this is the busiest time for our type of business, so do you really think you will have the full attention of the person on the phone? if you want a specific room, upgrade, have a special diet etc do you really think this is the best time to discuss this at length?
Some hotel chains for example the Holiday Inn do have central booking which is staffed all the time but in many hotels their reservations department goes home at 5pm, this means after this time reception picks up reservations from the 3rd party booking sites ie Laterooms or Booking.com about once an hour if you are lucky to put them into the computer - if it is very busy ie a wedding on etc then it may only be once in an evening. This being so you have just doubled the chance of your date being the one that is overbooked and you may not even get the hotel you want never mind the room you want.

Also if the on site reservations team have gone home and it has transferred over to the Central team they will have little or no knowledge of the hotel ie is there a function on that you don't want to be located directly over? or is the room directly opposite the lift with noise going on all night and early morning disturbing you? - they will not have the answer.

In a Bed and Breakfast it is usually the owner answering the phone and in many cases they are only a 2 man team - therefore do not ring before 10.30am and do not ring after 9pm. The busiest time of day is breakfast and check out - the owner will be cooking and or serving this - therefore you will either get the machine or asked to ring back later - this is not the time for complicated questions. I implore people don't ring BB owners after 9pm - this is when they are getting ready for bed as we work long hours 7 days a week - waking someone up will guarantee that you don't get a reservation. (or the room with the view of the bins!)

Also don't make online reservations for BB's after 8pm they will have to be processed and put into the booking system - in a small place that probably won't be till the morning after - so if 2 lots of people are trying to book at virtually the same time it is a recipe for disaster! so please keep your reservations to office hours if possible - I know its tempting while the kids are asleep and you are watching late night tv and have 10 minutes of quiet time - but please think twice it is in your interest.

Book Review - 500 Social Media Marketing Tips by Andrew Macarthy

Primarily bought this book as something I could dip into (in between guests etc!) and hopefully pick up a few tips and for the price of about £2.99 felt even if I didn't gain much I wasn't particularly out of pocket.

However was pleasantly surprised brought to my attention Pintrest and Instagram the second of which I had never even heard of, and I pride myself on keeping up to date. Picked up a few useful tips on blogging, Twitter and Facebook which I feel will be most useful for my product as an accommodation provider - feel instagram doesn't really appeal to my target market and product but at least I now know that.

Feel the author is aiming at perhaps larger businesses than mine as feel that finding an hour in the week for social media can be difficult at best for us little guys - so perhaps a section on what to do to be most effective with a limited time allowance could be useful.

The book is also compact with approximately 100 pages and according to the author is regularly updated (last update was August 2012 so is better in this way than a paper copy for this medium). Generally pleased with the purchase and feel the tips way of writing is good if you have to keep breaking off as it is in nice bite sized chunks.

Steven A. Shaw - Turning the Tables - Book Review

This is billed as the insiders guide to eating out and an in depth look at the back of house activities which as a customer you don't see in the restaurant world. To be fair Mr Shaw does follows the course of food from the purchasing in the market, the cultivation of oysters to the table which I am sure many people do not consider at all. As well he goes through how to get a reservation in highly sought after places, how and why to tip and how to behave which as a person in customer service is something I think many would benefit from being taught - aggressive bad behaviour should not be rewarded.

It is a light read but for myself would not say it was excessively informative or instructive however on the plus side it does leave the restaurant industry in a positive light where professionals are struggling to produce high quality food in a tough environment and is not one of these often touted industry exposes full of scandal.

Thinking about feet!

This may for any newbies out there seem a very odd point of conversation - however for a Bed and Breakfast owner there is only one thing more important than your feet and thats your back!

so point 1 look after your feet, wear sensible shoes at least some of the time and if you get corns etc then make sure you take the time to go to the choropodist and have them seen to. Believe me you will thank him/her for it.

2 - remember you only get 1 back! dont shake out duvets in an extended position as this is the absolute worst thing you can do. Also what does me in is hanging over the dishwasher!

Waiter Rant by Steve Dublanica - Book Review

Bought this as a bit of light reading packaged as a behind the scenes look at being a waiter in New York. To be frank its what it is, simply a bit of light reading with a tiny bit of kiss and tell thrown in. Perhaps I am cynical as have done my years in the trenches as a waitress during my uni years surrounded by drunk conventioneers who think the wait staff come as part of the package. If you have ever read Hotel Babylon it is written in a similar style though set over a period of time from when the author is made redundant and becomes a waiter to manage and never leaves.

So all in all a light read but in my opinion not a gripping page turner.

Looking after No1!

You may initially think this is your customers which to a certain extent is true however what is as important and quite often over looked is you have to look after yourself! - I hear gasps of horror in the back ground but a grouchy tired innkeeper is no good to their customers. Now before you start running your bed and breakfast you may go to bed at 11pm every day that is up to you - but don't fool yourself that this will carry on once you are started. This will sound obvious but if you are tired then GO TO BED! I am usually in bed by 9.30 and have been in bed at 8pm before now, eat your veg and take your vitamins as when you work for yourself there is very little chance of a day off for illness. As I am writing this I am on day 14 of having a cold with 4 days of being quite ill and the rest trying to shake off a stubborn cough! Guests will expect their beds to be made and breakfast to be served no matter what.

Also if you have what is known as a Season make sure before and after you schedule at least 2 days of down time where you just sleep and rest both mentally and physically. Try no matter where your B&B is to have the occasional night off, go out to dinner, go to the cinema or have a day trip!

All this will probably seem like common sense but when you hit the ground running and it is very tempting especially with a huge mortgage to just keep on plugging - which I am not advising against however with careful planning ie next week I have 12 rooms arriving Sunday for 4 nights - once they have arrived on the Sunday I pretty much have my evenings free. If you have a busy season can you put on a 3 night minimum? If you have particularly busy event can there be a 2/3 night minimum?

Also it is very easy - (and believe me I get roped into it)- to allow late check in's, I won't advise not doing this at all but there are ways round this ie coming for a wedding? check in, in advance ie early check in is better than late, lock boxes and instructions? door locks that operate with a combination that could be texted with instructions to the guest? Ive had more than one guest roll up at 3am - "oh should I have called?" you think? and believe me its hard to smile at them during breakfast! Or the ones that do call "Ill be there about midnight, is that ok?" So though its not always possible try and limit those late check in's with explicit check in and check out times on yours and your partners web sites.

And last but not least - don't be afraid of having an afternoon nap!

Book Review - How to be a Hotel Receptionist by Matt Shiells-Jones

I saw this book advertised in The Caterer Magazine and for £3 figured it is worth a whirl. For a Bed and Breakfast owner the poem introduction is hilarious and what we deal with every day, the other most useful section is complaint handling which I also found informative and useful. I am going to quote the intro section for you hear as I laughed out loud as I used to be a receptionist in a large hotel and dealt with situations like this on a daily basis -

"I have advanced degrees in Accounting, Public Relations, Marketing, Business, Computer Science, Civil Engineering, and Swahili. I can also read minds.

Of course I have the reservation that you booked six years ago even through you don't have the confirmation number and you think it was made under a name that starts with "S".

It is completely my fault that the blizzard shut down the airport and you have to sleep in a warm king-sized bed while 5000 of your co-travellers are sleeping in benches at the airport, I am sorry.
It is not a problem for me to give you seven connecting, non-smoking, poolside suites with two king size beds in each, four rollaways, 3 cribs, and yes I can install a wet bar. I know it is my fault that we do not have a helicopter landing pad.

I am a Front Desk Agent. I am expected to speak all languages fluently. It is obvious to me that when you booked your reservation for Friday on the weekend we're sold out that you really meant Saturday. My company has entrusted me with all financial information and decisions, and yes, I am lying to you when I say we have no more rooms available. It is not a problem for me to quickly construct several more guest rooms. THIS time I will not forget the helicopter landing pad. And it is my fault that everyone wanted to stay here. I should have known you were coming, after all, you stay at our brand of hotel all the time, 300 nights a year, and this is only the first time you've ever been to our city.

I am a front desk agent. I am quite capable of checking three people in, two people out, taking five reservations, answering 15 incoming calls, delivering 6 bath towels to room 625, plunging the toilet in room 101, and restocking the supply of pool towels, all at the same time. Yes, I will be glad to call the van driver and tell him to drive over all the cars stuck in traffic because you've been waiting at the airport for 15 minutes and you've got jet lag.

I am a front desk agent, an operator, a bellhop, houseman, guest service representative, housekeeper, sales coordinator, information specialist, entertainment critic, restaurateur, stock broker, referee, janitor, computer technician, plumber, ice-breaker, postman, babysitter,dispatcher, laundry cleaner, lifeguard, electrician, ambassador, personal fitness trainer, fax expert, human jukebox, domestic abuse councillor, and verbal punching bag. Yes I know room 112 is not answering their phone. And of course I have their travel itinerary so I know exactly where they went when they left here 9 hours ago, and what their mobile phone number is.

I always know where to find the best vegetarian-kosher-Mongolian-barbecue restaurants. I know exactly what to see and do in this city in fifteen minutes without spending any money and without getting caught in traffic. I take personal blame for airline food, traffic jams, rental car flat tires, and the nation's economy.

I realise that you meant to book your reservation here. People often confuse us with the Galaxy Delight Motel, Antarctica. Of course I can "fit you in" and yes, you may have the special £1 rate because you are affiliated with the Hoboken Accounting and Bagel Club.

I am expected to smile, empathise, sympathise, console, condole, upsell, downsell (and know when to do which), perform, sing, dance, fix the printer, and tell your friends that you're here. And I know exactly where 613 Possum Trot Lane is in the Way Our There subdivision that they just built last week.

After all, I AM a Front Desk Agent!

Hotel Success Handbook by Caroline Cooper & Lucy Whittington - Book Review

This book despite its name is aimed at small hotels, B&B's, guest houses/accommodation and to a certain extent self catering accommodation. This is a handy volume which explains concepts such as google addwords which is something I have struggled with understanding. For example Hotel Harrogate to buy that phrase which would then show your add every time someone searched for hotel harrogate will obviously be very popular and therefore expensive - however hotel harrogate near the conference centre is very specific and therefore cheaper. The phrase google add words is to a certain extent misleading as it can mean bidding on a specific word but it can also mean a phrase such as hotel by the sea or hotel with a sea view. The book also comes with a supporting web site www.hotelsuccesshandbook.com which comes with helpful forms and updates which helps keep Internet marketing which is a fast moving concept up to date. However it does not cover in any way shape or form using agents such as Laterooms or Booking.com which I personally think is something in reality is here to stay and a big part of most people's marketing strategy. I also think there should have been some discussion of Property Management systems and what features you should be looking for etc which again was skimmed over in about a paragraph. It is a useful volume and covers more in relation to Internet bandb marketing than any other I have found, I just feel if they brought out a second edition this would be something I would like to see added.

Setting the Table by Danny Meyer - Book Review

Bought this book on the basis it was recommended to my by Amazon based on my other purchases so I figured for £0.01 it was worth a look. I will say however the first 60 or so pages I was thinking what on earth are people on about? but then it becomes interesting. The first section in my opinion which is less interesting is mainly about Danny growing up, his family and his student days travelling round Europe eating things. For me this is not something that particularly interests me but builds up to the point where he is deciding what to do with his life and his uncle says - well you love eating and food why not a restaurant? It follows how they started by picking the location but the developed problems with the infrastructure and so on which they learned from in their second restaurant. (ie coat room wasn't big enough for everyones coats and the kitchen was small and tight. He also states that a lot of his business decisions are about the opportunities you don't take as well as the ones you do take. He also points out the problems they had with human resources and issues as they grew and put into place round tables and staff consultations to try and head off issues before they became a majour problem. I would however say this book is more aimed at a business with staff ie a larger B&B or small hotel or perhaps as a learning tool for someone who intends on expanding their business to several properties. Therefore I would recommend this as an interesting read as well as a useful tool for someone heading in that direction. ISBN 9780462099255

Book Review of Bright Marketing for Small Businesses

Bought this primarily on the strength of the cover which is perhaps not the best way to choose a book! (the cover is the back end of a Zebra). The Zebra principle is that when you see a herd of Zebra running its the one at the front you see and all the rest merge into each other. However expected this book to be full of good advice for small businesses as well as practical ideas to go with the theory, sadly I was disappointed. This volume is about (a) theory and (b) assessing what you are doing is working however if you are looking for a volume which says "have you tried XYZ?" then this is not the book for you. Robert Craven states that 20% of your customers provide 80% of your revenue as a rough guide so look at your high spending customers how can you get more like this? however this is where it is left some advice on where to look and what to do would not come amiss. The most useful part of this book in my opinion was the link to the www.bright-marketing.com which I found up to date and quite useful - the password for the free articles and some free books is in this volume so could be worth buying to get the password. The second area which I found useful was page 158 (so took a bit of getting to) is the Bright Marketing Manifesto - this is 23 points about how to focus your marketing (these are not in order)
(1)Marketing is not a battle of the product; marketing is a battle for the mind of the consumer - ie to a certain extent what you are actually selling is irrelevant but you have to make the customer believe they want or need it.
(2) Don't compete on price! - I personally hear this everywhere and it is tempting to be the cheapest however there are two problems with this (a) you'll go broke (b) there is always a bigger company with deeper pockets willing to go lower - find something else to compete on.
ISBN-9781 85458 562 2

Considerate Hoteliers Group.

One of the things we were looking at as (a) a thing to do and (b) a marketing angle was to promote our green credentials. We looked initially at the Green Tourism Scheme started by Visit Britain however this is only open to Visit Britain members (ie we would have to pay £600 to be members of VB plus another £300 to be green I don't think so) so we started looking around and found http://www.consideratehoteliers.com their basis premise is that you do your best which unlike VB where they come and check your bins is a more realistic approach. I would also point out that they provide you with networking opportunities with other like minded businesses as well as green resources to help you know where is best to shop for example for green cleaning products etc. Their annual awards create a lot of PR and encourage hotels to compete and hopefully win in the green stakes! Plus the membership fee is far more reasonable at the 2011 price of £65.

Guerrilla Social Media Marketing!

Yes I know yet another book review however it is February which is our quiet time here in Harrogate so I am taking this opportunity to get caught up before the madness that is March starts. I also feel book reviews are important even if they show the volume isn't particularly useful in that at least I have prevented you from waisting your time and money on a volume better left unread.
This particular volume is not a technical volume ie set up your facebook page like this and so on, it is more an instruction manual of how to think about what you should say and do to improve your social media skills. For example you need to be interesting rather than be about what your product is. To a certain extent you are selling yourself, you need to be someone people want to listen to. For example I did follow a carpet company on twitter (notice I used the word did not do!) who all they did all day was tweets about how they love carpets - how dull is that? is this someone you want to listen to or speak to? I think not. For example as a B&B your tweets can be this show is on, this person is coming to speak at a festival, we have renovated a bedroom, we have new pictures on the web site and so on. Also think about search terms people search for things with twitter in a way that is not possible with Facebook to be aware of what people thinking of having a mini break would be looking for. So the most important thing is to be interesting. I would also say though the authors don't is don't over do it people don't want to be pelted from all directions with your stuff day and night to be frank you aren't that interesting.
I would say this volume is worth reading if you know nothing about social media and are looking for a place to start and a clear understanding of what its purpose in relation to conventional marketing is. However be aware it is NOT a technical instruction manual of what to do and how to do it. ISBN 10 - 1-599183-838 by Jay Conrad Levinson and Shane Gibson. Was also surprised that a volume of this nature was not out on Kindle at this time. www.camberleyguestaccommodation.com

Room Design and your guests.

Was discussing this in connection with comfy chairs, when designing your rooms or picking out new furniture you should think about the main aspects of your market and what they will need. For example most of my guests are here for work and need a desk and wi-fi and a handy plug socket. If your guests are mainly leisure travellers then perhaps a comfy seating area where you could sit and read may be of more importance. In an ideal world we would all have these things in every room but I appreciate space can be an issue. So make sure you design your rooms to suit your guests one item of furniture at a time.

Possibly the most Grumpy B&B book ever!

Running a Successful Bed and Breakfast Venture  the Pleasures and Perils - Read this in about 2 hours but will be honest was not impressed. The author seems very focused on not letting the guest inconvenience you and that they abide by "rules" and if they want to be in the B&B throughout the day they should have booked somewhere that does and they should be encouraged to do outside (the BB) activities! Where I am it is very competitive and no guest would ever expect not to have access to his or her room during the day! For a book that is supposed to be revised and updated it was very old fashioned. Some of the advice is valid for example equipment in rooms, networking locally etc but there was nothing on the Internet or any other type of advertising which might have been helpful with the only comment really being that you have to get going with your business and then you can cut back which isn't particularly helpful. The suggestion about how to pick your site IE near a attraction and other factors to look for was helpful but to be honest have read other books which were more helpful.
www.http://www.soyouwanttorunabedandbreakfast.com/

Wipe Your Feet Please! by Marie Sever

I seem to be doing a lot of book reviews lately but this one I must mention! It is an absolute scream and has had me in stitches for 2 days solid. If there is anyone out there looking for an idea of what the daily life of a B&B owner is like this would not be far from the truth. The story follows Simon an intrepid B&B owner in Devon who seems to get embroiled in all sorts of mishaps from problems with guests and the local constabulary. Sally his long suffering wife also gives her view from the other side of the fence as well as bringing in the lives of their 3 children and the various staff that they employ through the season. As the year goes on they seem to be getting more of a handle on things with two really good staff and successfully expand into next door. For the bargain price of 77p I can definitely put this down as recommended reading and look forward to the sequel "No food in the rooms please".

links to article

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/hotel-star-system-to-lose-official-backing-2192474.html

Be aware that there may be a guest house and or B&B association in your area this is worth joining as they can often be involved in joint marketing events and can negotiate bulk discounts in certain cases. It may well be that you make friends with other owners this way and you may club together with them we tend to work with the people in our street to get bulk discounts.
I cannot stress this enough if you are just starting out as being your own boss have a good business plan. A few notes on the back of an envelope is not going to cut it! Shop around and ask a ton of questions for example:-

1. What is the interest rate and what will you have to make from the business to pay for it every month does this seem manageable as the bank will always want their money.

2. Never plan to be full all the time this is madness and your bank will think so to and write you off right away. If you can pay all the bills on 30% occupancy then this is more reasonable. By occupancy I mean if you only let rooms 30% of the time ie one third of the year would you make enough money to break even.

3. Look at figures for Gas, Electric and Water if you have a three bed house now then at least triple what you are paying now.

4. Marketing costs – ring printers and ask they will be happy to tell you how much 1000 business cards costs, brochures etc.

5. List everything and anything you can think of and then add a bit more. If it can go wrong then it will.

6. Specialist insurance costs ask a broker.

7. Soaps, shampoo, mending kits and so on they are all on the internet have a look.

8. Cleaning products

9. Renovations and be realistic about what needs doing and then double it.

10. Have a really good look at the property I would go to see at least three times before purchasing and make sure you look at everything from the basement to the loft!

11. If you are going to buy in an area that you don’t know the advice in a book I am currently reading is go to the local tea room and ask what the reputation is like. This may be useful but what is more to the point is get on trip adviser and speak to the local TIC I find they are terrible gossips and you are more likely to get a good picture of the real state of affairs.

12. If you are going to do your own laundry then get down to the shops and see what the prices of pillowcases etc really are not what you think they are. Something to consider is using catalogue that allow you to spread the costs of things. It does mean more cost in the end but it does spread your initial costs. On the other side of this if you are buying a going concern make sure whether they are leaving the linen or not as if not you have to have enough sets ready to go from day one. The same goes for duvets and pillows never assume what people are going to leave make sure of everything! Also Joanne says make sure they are leaving the linen they showed you not the scruffy rags left over and taking the good stuff with them!

13. A good point is to look at what the previous sellers are spending money on Joanne Muller in her book points out if they are spending no money or very little on advertising but say they are nearly always full then where are the people coming from?

14. Also if you have fallen in love with a place in a remote location check things like is the place on mains sewers, gas, water etc as these can be very expensive and tricky to run if you have always lived in a city and have no experience of them. If you are experienced in this area you’ll probably be fine but if the property was previously only domestic it may be worth reassessing capacity as you will have a lot more turnover than previously. (especially the septic tank!)

15. Joanne also mentions how they were taken in as the owners told the surveyor that a guest was in a particular room so he could not see it but it was fine. When they completed and went in the room it stank of damp there was water pouring down the back of the wardrobe and it turned out the roof was leaking and a costly repair. Now you can sue them for this but it doesn’t get your roof mended right away.

16. Try to avoid a place with little or no off street parking whatever you think about the quietness of the street and ability of your guests to get parked also you will not be popular with your neighbours if they can’t get parked either.

Mrs Moneypenny's advice for ambitious women Book Review

Bought this as a bit of light reading but felt a little let down. Its well written but is solely aimed at women who want to get on in companies which is not a bad thing but there was no advice for any women who might want to start their own company. A lot of their advice is applicable accross industries for example - get help you don't have to do everything on your own and don't expect to! Get assistance from friends, families, professionals ie cleaners or nannys and so on and most importantly make you partner in life carry his fair share of the load! It contains good career advice and would recommend women in their second year of university read it in helping them decide their career plan and how quickly to move along the fast track.

Running Gites & B&B's in France by Jo Taylor Book Review

I am writing this review as I read as she makes some good points no matter where you are starting up and I don't want to forget them. Such as the main causes for failure are -
(1) paying too much for a property or buying one that is too large and therefore being stretched to the limit to pay your mortgage every month.
(2) purchasing a property in an unsuitable location - ie middle of nowhere or where there are too many of your type of business already.
(3) underestimating how much it will cost to get the property to the required standard
(4)underestimating the time it will take to get the work done - I work to the rule of 2, whatever time the builders say it will take double it and add on at least 1/3 to the cost.
(5) underestimating other running costs ie tax, advertising etc and or if you have staff things connected with that ie tax, payroll etc
(6) over estimating rental income
(7) over estimating occupancy ie how many weeks you will get let in a season
(8) failing to allow for problems such as tenants that cause damage, who demand refunds, illness, family emergencies etc If you work for yourself there is no one to fill in when you need a week off at short notice.
MORE POINTS -
(1) be accessible, I know this is less important in the USA as people tend to drive but for example in France it is a huge advantage to be near an airport so as to attract the UK holiday crowd who only want a short trip from their arrival point. Also being near a ferry port could have the same advantage. In the UK I would advise the same it never hurts to be accessible however you don't want to be right up close to an airport! we are 20 mins from Leeds Bradford which has a shuttle bus every 30 mins and costs £3 we are a 5 min walk from the bus and train station as well which is a distinct advantage over our more distant competitors. Depending where you want to buy and your target market you may want to look at where the flights come from ie you are looking at targeting the UK market you want to be near an airport that does UK flights so look at where those flights are coming from. If they don't come from your target market are they planning on expanding?
(2) to extend your season are you near any of the following - beach, theme park, area of natural beauty, water parks, sports facilities, ie tennis, golf, pony trekking? Golf attracts all year round so is worth thinking about.
(3) remember toooo much land can be a liability not an asset! it all has to be looked after. If you fancy growing some vegetables and having a few hens you don't need 10 acres.
One of the people she has interviewed says whatever you estimate you will make in the first year decrease it by 25% to get a more accurate figure. I always say it is better to underestimate and be pleasantly surprised than be in a financial mess! (that info was from Bob and Celia Christmas (fab name!) www.larochecolombe.com.
I find this book generally very useful even though I am not moving to France. It focuses on the facts and figures and provides good sources of information to investigate further and doesn't look at the industry through rose tinted glasses as so many do. It points out there will be weeks when you don't let your property and to allow for that in your business plan.
Ive now finished this book and found a lot of it is very France focused which is the purpose of it so that's common sense. I would say this would be the very first thing you should read if you are thinking of buying a B&B in France or rent out a holiday home or Gite. There is alot of information on where to advertise if you want to have French visitors which is useful as well as large sections on tax and employment which would be a good place to start. Some of the information in the gite section and B&B section is repeated as the author is assuming you are picking one or the other. All in all  a good read for the price.

Book Review "Successful marketing get brilliant results fast by Pauline Rowson

ISBN - 9781854584816 - would say this is a very basic marketing book at the level where if you were thinking of starting a business and were looking for a placed to start this might be it. Is a good tool for looking at your strengths and analysing your competitors but has nothing in social media marketing at all. The tips for how to make your newsletters and e-shots interesting are helpful and putting in a request for people to forward them to anyone they think may be interested in your product is not something I had thought of. The main thread of this section is to make anything you send out interesting so that people will send it on as something to read therefore free advertising to people who havnt heard of you before and so potential customers. It reminds you that marketing is a long term job and is all about making people realise you are there and is something that you build into everything you do not an after thought.

Some sensible advice even if you arn't in France!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/expatproperty/9059433/Expat-guide-to-running-gites-and-BandBs-in-France.html

The article gives some good advice and I have bought the book and it is next on my review list!

Be a web Savvy accommodation business

This is an older volume now but would be a good place to start if you didn't know anything about the internet and the accommodation industry. Susan Briggs the author writes in an easy to read non technical style which is accessable to all. I would point out that as an update to her books she has a web site called www.tourismknowhow.com which has free classes and worksheets on and is much more up to date.  ISBN 9780709584315
www.Soyouwanttorunabedandbreakfast.com