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| *Ostroff, Fair and Company>>>Food Service |
Should I quit my full time job to work at my Bed & Breakfast? |
I am co-owner of a 5 room Inn/B&B, which we have owned for three years. We have one full-time employee, who manages the biz while we work full-time at other jobs. The emp. is leaving soon for a job that pays more and offers health/retirement benefits. We cannot afford to replace her under current conditions. The Inn is still not turning a profit, but we are close. Presently, we have a small bakery and we cater small parties. We have the facilities to offer sit down and take out meals but don't due to lack of proper staff. We feel there is much room for expansion in the food end of the business, such as expanding the in-house bakery, (we also sell to 3 small outside accounts, a college bookstore, conven. store, coffee shop). We could also offer sit-down and take out food to the public. The competions is lame, but well established. The big question is: should we expand our food offering, which would require my services, or seek other alternatives for staffing? I think you should sit down with your partner and see what you could do to improve your Inn. If you have a log book with the address's of past guest send them a questionnaire ask about the things they like and disliked about the Inn. do you offer a continental breakfast and tea in the afternoon with lite horsd 'oeuvres. Some places have beautiful gardens where guest walk though or just sit and relax. You have to keep in mind that a bed and breakfast Inn is seasonal You may take a weekend and visit a inn in your area just to see what they are doing it will help you fine tune your place. In the mean time keep your job until the inn starts to make money. You need to go talk with a professional business consultant. There are plenty out there that specialize in helping small businesses succeed. At least go talk with them and get some general ideas on how to move your businesses forward. Also find a good banker, marketing/advertising person and some good legal help to put together a plan. It sounds like you have the makings of a great group of businesses that can complement each other. Maybe try to consolidate these 2-3 operations under one name and start marketing (for cheap at first) around town and abroad for the visitor market. Start pounding the streets and knocking on doors with free samples and nice brochures to get local people supporting you. Get some advice from professionals who have been there before and you will go very far! Good luck! Free Job Search Advice: http://www.freejobsearchhelp.com/... Daily Job Search Blog: http://freejobsearchhelp.blogspot.com/... |
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