B&B plans ... Maybe.

[Kirstie]

You don't have to do this any more - just employ a couple of Czechs, Lithuanians or Poles and suddenly you'll be amazed how much work a person will happily accomplish if they're not British and work shy.

Admittedly this was before the recent influx of people from these nations!

 

[Cathryn]

I think it's a lovely idea, we've talked about it ourselves. The downside, from our perspective, is that you're tied to the house. We stayed in a lovely B&B in Windermere last year and the owners loved it, but couldn't go out/go away without making considerable efforts to provide for their guests. That's enough to put me off.

The other thing to think about is that running a cycling focussed business generally means you have less time to cycle yourself.

But if you're keen, it sounds awesome.Personally, it sounds like the ideal kind of place for a tourer, but as Kirstie says, we'd only stay for one night and would be unlikely to return.

 

[lukesdad]

Some really interesting comments.Thanks guys. I think we would only take bookings as we dont really have passing trade. As said the evening meal wouldnt be a problem and I take on board the Quality issue something we ve allready discussed.

 

[Brains]

You could give it a go now by getting your name on the local Tourist Info list. If you don't like it, then it can be removed and no loss to anyone, so you don't have to go through the whole process of getting into books, setting up a web site etc.

My Mum tried it for a few months on this basis, decided it was too much like hard work for little pay and so removed hereself from the TI list before the time/effort of setting it up as a proper business came into play

 

[marinyork]

I have no kind of useful comments lukesdad but the sound of where you live and what your plans are reminded me of somewhere I stayed in the Dales and regret not going back and I don't even do touring!

 

[Headgardener]

Also something to include in this day and age of thieveing scrotes is good secure bike storage which should be allowed for in your new build plans.

 

[lukesdad]

Also something to include in this day and age of thieveing scrotes is good secure bike storage which should be allowed for in your new build plans.

Not really a problem where we live.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

You've got a great area there - Mrs 3BM grew up in the Beacons, when we got married there and have had family events that way booking B&Bs can be tricky sometimes due to lack of rooms.
Both my parents, long since gone their separate ways, have ended up running B&Bs (strangely enough) and although hard work they enjoy it and have met really interesting people through it.
But, as has been said before, quality is the key to success and repeat business.

If you do it - Good luck!!

Edit: If you want LD I could PM you their websites (don't want to use Admin's site as free advertising!) if you want to see how they do it. Pop's place is in Normandy and Ma's is in the Peaks (she's got a 5* rating, so it's a nice place)

 

[summerdays]

If you are thinking of going ahead then try and make the rooms flexible - when the children were fairly small it was often hard to find a B&B which could take us without having the children in a separate room down a corridor.

Or do you have any out-buildings that you could use for more self-catering use. That might free up some of your time if you don't have to cater for them.

 

[Panter]

Sorry, can't really help with advice, but your's sounds exactly the sort of place I'd be looking for

 

[longers]

Edit: If you want LD I could PM you their websites (don't want to use Admin's site as free advertising!) if you want to see how they do it. Pop's place is in Normandy and Ma's is in the Peaks (she's got a 5* rating, so it's a nice place)

Bugger it, get em advertised with Admins approval and a CC discount . Maybe

 

[lukesdad]

You've got a great area there - Mrs 3BM grew up in the Beacons, when we got married there and have had family events that way booking B&Bs can be tricky sometimes due to lack of rooms.
Both my parents, long since gone their separate ways, have ended up running B&Bs (strangely enough) and although hard work they enjoy it and have met really interesting people through it.
But, as has been said before, quality is the key to success and repeat business.

If you do it - Good luck!!

Edit: If you want LD I could PM you their websites (don't want to use Admin's site as free advertising!) if you want to see how they do it. Pop's place is in Normandy and Ma's is in the Peaks (she's got a 5* rating, so it's a nice place)

That would be great 3BM cheers.

 

[lukesdad]

If you are thinking of going ahead then try and make the rooms flexible - when the children were fairly small it was often hard to find a B&B which could take us without having the children in a separate room down a corridor.

Or do you have any out-buildings that you could use for more self-catering use. That might free up some of your time if you don't have to cater for them.

Thanks. s/days we are particularly mindfull of young children as we have 2 of our own.

When the chap before us who built theplace he got planning permission for a mobile home. We still have the old static caravan he lived in for two years. We could upgrade that for self /catering. Its all in the melting pot at the moment.

 

[MacB]

I think it sounds like a great idea and you have the requisite experience to make it work. One decision you'd need to take early on is where you want to aim, on the scale from cheap and cheerful to high end. This will dictate many other factors and it could be worth working up a business plan, that allows you to enter key variables, so that you can do comparative analysis. You could also include scope for potential progression within the plan depending on how successful it is. Maybe around further investment and expansion, like self contained chalets etc.

Attention to detail, in the planning stage, really pays dividends in the longer term, even if it leads to a decision not to proceed. Build in contingency plans as well, or at least cost them up. If you need to take time off, pay someone else to run things or even cancel bookings. You'll always get told that setting up a business, and working for yourself, is hard, certainly to begin with. Although true a lot of people seem to make things harder by poor planning.

Watching the documentary on BBC2 about the 'Noughties' last night I noted an interesting comment. It was around the change in attitudes towards flying, in particular what would be classed as frivolous/non essential flights. If the attitude change persists, and strengthens, then the internal UK holiday market will be growing.

 

[lukesdad]

Steady on there MacB , we re not planning Pontins here!