Guest Blogger #327, Entry #897, January 13, 2012

Has the economic downturn gotten you down? Looking for something that you can use towards helping yourself to make financial ends meet? Live in tourist town or city? You might want to look at turning your house into a bed and breakfast. Here are five tips to be able to get started:

Are you thinking of opening a bed and breakfast?

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1.) Research the business

Research business structures (LLC, C-Corp, S-Corp, etc), local hotel laws, marketing, and how to convert your home into a bed and breakfast (as well as the cost). This ensures that you will know how to protect yourself legally, can earn a profit or at least earn some money, and the process and money it will take to be able to do the transformation. It’s better to know what it’s going to take to be able to go through this process. That way you can at least be prepared for surprises.

2.) Determining what you want the rooms to look like

Choosing a design is essential to your brand. Make it something unique like an Asian theme or something homely like the homes in the Southern US. This will help your clients to better be able to remember your B & B and help you create better marketing efforts. Additionally, creating a design will help you to design the other rooms and the rest of the house to keep in touch with the theme.

Choose what you want your rooms to look like

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3.) Converting the rooms

This may take several thousand dollars to be able to convert each room according to your design and according to the laws that are in place locally. Work on each room before moving onto the next, as that might make it simpler to handle without overwhelming you or your help. The renovations can be things like in room bathrooms or appropriately decorating each room according to the design you have laid out.

4.) Get the business ready and legally certified

This includes getting your business through the incorporation process, business forms, business cards, zoning, anything to run your business efficiently (like accounting software), what you are going to charge per room per night, etc. This ensures that you are taking the steps to not only protect your assets but also being prepared in terms of making your B & B successful in the long run.

Determine if starting a bed and breakfast is for you

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5.) When ready, get out there and market

The transformative process of your home into a B & B means that you have to get out there and market. After all, you put the time and money into it so you can earn money in return. Use that to your advantage and use it to keep yourself driven even if things seem a bit hard at first. Be prepared for seasonal lulls and use that to keep yourself driven!

Mike Carroll is a programmer who enjoys writing about being able to enjoy life better and getting more out of the things that we are doing. His hobbies range from Cantonese and Korean to running and writing. Additionally, he’s getting ready to apply for graduate school in South Korea, where he plans to study International Relations. He has traveled to Central America and Korea.

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