Social

If you enjoy being at home and desire to be around others as well, a Bed and Breakfast situation can provide both.

Deciding to own and manage a Bed and Breakfast can be as simplistic as one desires. It can be as adventurous or casual as one desires. Of course, to maintain a respectable clientele, it must be proficiently and professionally handled.

I have heard many comments about how much fun and interesting it would be to open a Bed & Breakfast. I have, therefore, included here our experience in this delightful lifestyle.

The hidden agenda requires fortitude and attention to details.

We made some family decisions before we began our venture. It would be necessary for everyone to help keep the house tidy and some privacy might be deprived.

The first step in starting a bed and breakfast business is to ask city officials what the zoning is for your locality. Make sure it is acceptable to have this kind of business. Check with neighbors to get their approval of having additional vehicles parked on the street in front of your home. Assure them that it will be a quiet business.

Zoning may specify a maximum size for a sign on your property. It may be posted by hanging on your porch, over the front door, or freestanding in the yard. This is a form of advertising so it is good to display an attractive, eye-catching sign.

The second step is to get a state sales tax number. Writing to your state department of revenue and finance can do this. The state sends guidelines of how to file. You will collect state tax from your guests in addition to the fee you charge.

Your insurance representative can offer suggestions for the type of coverage for you to carry for this project. This is an important consideration because it may cost a little more than your current policy rates but it is safer to carry special insurance.

Customer fees vary. If you have only a room and breakfast to offer, you may choose to charge a similar fee as what local motels charge. If you are accessible to a popular tourist proximity or have something unique to offer, you may choose to charge more.

Prepare the rooms so they are pleasant, with possibly a special focal point or theme. Queen or king size beds are a preference.

Sleeping in each guestroom before you open for business can provide attention to detail. Does the room have a window facing east? This could awaken guests earlier than they prefer. Heavy drapes or venetian blinds can solve this potential problem. By staying in each room over night, you can see what the guests will experience.

Plan whether you will offer a continental breakfast consisting of sweet rolls, toast, juice, and coffee or whether you will offer a full breakfast with a hot dish. A full breakfast may require approval by the health department. A dining room, semi-formal, gives a comfortable setting for breakfast.

Bed & breakfast homes are becoming popular in many areas. You do not have to be in a tourist locale to receive guests. Brainstorm about possibilities. Nationwide advertising is not necessary.

Often people have family get-togethers with not enough room for everyone coming to stay. Notify local motels, requesting referral when they are full. This means being prepared to accept guests at any hour.

Exchange brochures with other Bed & Breakfast homes in your town. If you get a call and are full, give the other B&B a referral. Ask that they do the same for you.

If you are featuring anything special, include the information in the brochure. Give a bit of local history. Include a registration form. Leave blank spaces for number of guests, what date they will be arriving, how many nights they will be staying.

Be creative with where you can place the brochures. Write a news release to submit to your local paper and radio station. Make special note to advertise when there are special events taking place in your vicinity. There are many avenues of promotion available.

There are numerous books on Bed & Breakfasts at your local library. These give myriad creative ideas and suggestions for unique touches.

When they arrive, give your guests a quick tour of their facilities and explain what is available for emergencies. Do you have a 911 line? Keep emergency telephone numbers by the telephone. If it is tornado season, where is the cellar?

Let them know what is available within the household and within your city for entertainment. Be prepared to recommend places for them to dine. Be available, if they have further questions.

Our guests had opportunity to choose when they would prefer to have breakfast. Some Bed & Breakfast homes inform the guests when breakfast will be served. Setting the table with everything except the perishables the night before helps make final morning preparations much easier. Bread baking in the oven when the guests arrive gives a lovely aroma to your home.

If a front porch or patio is available, have enough comfortable seating for yourselves and your guests. This is a casual place for getting acquainted.

Hospitality and attention to detail are two very important factors, once you are ready to entertain guests. The possibilities for special courtesies are endless. Here are just a few possibilities that may stimulate creative ideas.

Visiting with your bed and breakfast guests and, if more than one couple, listening to them visit with one another, is a joy. You meet people from many walks in life with many interesting lifestyles.

Managing a Bed & Breakfast home requires work but is a gratifying and worthwhile experience.

A yearning for social life with friends and family can carry a social lifestyle. It offers a way of sharing a heartthrob with others. It might be through cooking or special entertaining. It might be a way of fulfilling a talent with a special craft or by entertaining. It can be as simplistic or as elegant as one chooses.

Gourmet cooking can be self-taught with recipe books and classes are available, as well. A fun way to develop social contacts is to share talents with others. You teach them something you are familiar with and they teach you something you are willing to learn. By doing this in one another's homes, you become closer friends and have opportunities to set other dates for enjoying one another's company.

One way to begin could be to make a new kind of hors d'oeuvre or have a luau. Maybe you would enjoy preparing a candle light dinner for your favorite couple. My love is to bake and I often share a loaf of fresh, hot homemade bread with a neighbor. Once we choose the type of entertaining we prefer and gathering techniques for a design plan, we can fulfill our heartthrob from a variety of approaches.

If baking is not your preference, you can still share other talents. Each person knows something that another desires to learn. Maybe it is learning to play pool or how to tie a knot. Maybe you desire to learn how to canoe and another person admires your technique of fishing.

If working with crafts is your heart throb, a Bed & Breakfast provides another outlet for showing and selling your creations.

Other Life Styles:

Preparation

Solitude

Simplicity

Social

Crafting

Love of Nature

Fine Arts

Professional

Travel

Health


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