Bed and Breakfast or for that matter B&B businesses have actually gone on to experience quite a surge of popularity in recent times thanks to their brilliant ability to bring the best of both worlds — i.e. luxury and private living—right to the tourists.
What should you know about Bed and Breakfast Businesses?
Very simply put, bed and breakfast businesses are generally smaller establishments than the luxury hotels with around 10 or so guest rooms as against the 50 to 100 rooms of hotels. The most striking aspect of these hotels is that they actually have the owners living right at the site interacting with the travelers. The travelers are regarded more as invited guests rather than temporary boarders assigned different room numbers. However, the popularity of B&B businesses shouldn’t really be the only reason for you to start it in the first place. Embark on such a venture only when you are passionate about running such a business – passionate about knowing your boarders – passionate about bringing them the best of both worlds… the comfort of the luxury hotels at the price of private lodgings. Documented below are certain ways with the help of which you will be able to start such a business.
Planning and research: Their significance is unparalleled
Needless to say, it all boils down to some solid planning and research at the same time. Now, merely knowing that bed and breakfast businesses are drawing tourists in scores will not really do. The key is to find out whether B&B businesses enjoy some kind of demand in the area where you are planning to set it up or not. This again will require you to resort to substantial market research in the first place. Do invest time in market research before going ahead with your plans.
The skills you need to portray
It is extremely important on your end to consider the fact that you need to portray a combination of skills including administration, operation, social interaction and overall flexibility. You have to remember that one of the ways in which you can add a personal touch to the whole experience of the boarder is by interacting with them on a regular basis. There might as well be complaints or grievances that your guests might want you to look into – quite frankly because they are interacting with you and not your manager.
Plus you have to keep in view that most of the B&B businesses actually are family run and don’t end up promising a huge amount of money as well. You have to weigh all these pros and cons before you are initiating your business.
What about the branding?
Consider reaching out to professionals, such as the Rental Tonic team, to increase holiday rental bookings. Yes. There are credentialed professionals whose job is to help holiday rentals increase their bookings through happy repeated guests.
And how exactly do they help you do the same? By:
¨ Helping you identify your client needs so that you are in a position to create amazing plans that are sure to draw them
¨ Make your business look stunning so as to attract immediate attention of potential guests
¨ Promote your strengths so that potential guests are inevitably drawn towards your business
¨ Plan a perfect marketing story that your guests can hardly ignore
¨ Will help you design decent rates for your holiday home
When it comes to branding, you know that you have to depend on the social skills of professionals. You just cannot go on depending on the age-old mouth to mouth publicity to work wonders for your business.
Everything starting from the optimization of the social networking channels like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn should be capitalized on in due fashion.
Consider leveraging the power of digital marketing in a bid to realize the true potential of your business. Explore the power of insights when it comes to facilitating business returns. See how rivals are actually building success stories around social media collaborations and internet marketing.
Do not hold back. Start researching the credentials of the marketers before you are actually getting one of them on board. Make sure you are researching core skills before roping them in.
Wrapping up…
Don’t just go on to settle for services of digital enthusiasts on an arbitrary basis. Look up their experiences and previous projects as well. You should be prudent enough to find out whether these consultants have the prior experience of dealing with the needs of businesses like that of yours. If not bed and breakfast hotel, find out whether they have actually gone on to help luxury or regular hotels or not. Look up their previous social media campaigns as well. Do remember that you can actually find out whether they have gone beyond social marketing to capture the next phase of social loyalty in a bid to help businesses or not. These are just a few ways with the help of which you can actually go on to identify names that can actually help your business.
So, basically, you know that there is a lot to do when it comes to transforming your dreams into reality. Plan ahead and definitely invest time in gauging the plausibility of your business idea!
Sarah is a senior content curator in HolidayFactors.com, a leading holiday portal in Dubai, UAE
