How to Start a B&B Business
A bed and breakfast can sometimes sound like a romantic way to supplement your income using the extra rooms in your home, or as a way to make extra money as you live out your retirement. But starting a bed and breakfast requires the same level of planning as any other business, and the commitment involved from you and your family make a bed and breakfast an intimidating venture.
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Instructions
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Starting a Bed and Breakfast
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Discuss your plans with the local city engineer and zoning board to make sure that your bed and breakfast idea can legally be realized in the building of your choice. The zoning board may either limit your plans, or it may require you to make structural changes to your house in order to legally accommodate guests. You may need a zoning variance to turn your home into a business, and that process may take some time.
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Devise a name for your bed and breakfast and register that name with the local government business office to get a business certificate.
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Use the business certificate to open a bank account in the company name so that you can write and receive checks, accept credit card payments and do transactions on behalf of the business.
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4
Remodel your home to make it appealing to people who are looking for stay in a bed and breakfast. Develop a central theme and then remodel around that theme. Some of the more popular themes for a bed and breakfast are a cozy country house, a large rural mansion, and a colonial home with authentic looking colonial furniture.
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Determine if you will be a seasonal business or if you will be operating your business during the entire year, and then begin devising marketing plans to get customers.
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Tips & Warnings
Turning your home into a bed and breakfast is a big commitment for you and your family. Be sure that your family supports the idea of converting their everyday home into a partial hotel. If the idea is not supported by the entire family, then you may want to purchase a separate property.
