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Starting and Running a Holiday Cottage Business (Small Business Start-ups)
 
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Starting and Running a Holiday Cottage Business (Small Business Start-ups) (Paperback)

by Gillean Sangster (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 292 pages
  • Publisher: How To Books Ltd (24 Jun 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1845280393
  • ISBN-13: 978-1845280390
  • Product Dimensions: 24.4 x 16.8 x 2.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 324,977 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  • See Complete Table of Contents

Product Description

Product Description

Many people dream of buying a house in the country or near the coast, with outbuildings that can be converted into holiday lets; or of taking over an existing holiday cottage business. Gillean Sangster did it. She moved to Scotland with her husband where they started their own successful holiday cottage business. In this book she tells you how you can do it too. This book will help you to identify your market, choose a property, and then prepare and present it for maximum effect. It will also help you to: sort out the finances with minimum fuss; deal successfully with planning permissions; market your business effectively; run your letting business day to day; and provide good service so that your clients come back again and again.


From the Author

I decided to write this book after running our holiday cottage business in the Scottish Highlands for several years. It is intended to be a guide and a source of encouragement for those whose dream it is to set up a similar business. It is also intended to be a reality check for anyone who is not clear about how much in involved in the setting up and running of a tourism business!
I have tried to include information on everything from the decoration and design of the properties and the financial considerations to be taken into account, to the marketing involved in making the business a success. There are chapters on the different quality assurance schemes in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and the rules and regulations to be considered with regard to fire, health and safety etc. Finally, there is a useful and extensive appendix with contact details for all the relevant bodies and organisations mentioned.
Running a holiday cottage business can be fun as well as hard work and I hope that this book will also give an idea of the pleasure and sense of achievement we get from the complimentary comments of our guests.
See all Product Description

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Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A "must read" for anyone in the self-catering industry., 11 Oct 2005
By david smythe (Perth United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
For anyone thinking of starting and running a self-catering business in the UK, Gillean Sangster's excellent new book is simply essential reading. Writing from her experience of running her first self-catering cottage in Wiltshire, and now running self-catering at Ardochy House in the West Highlands of Scotland, Gillean takes the reader gently through from a first business idea, to how to keep a business going.

The increasingly attractive option of 'buy-to-let' investments, and from April 2006, the possibility of putting property into a pension plan is bound to see a growth of interest in self-catering businesses. Every year, many people set out to start, or take over established self-catering businesses only to find out very soon that to be successful, it is not as easy as it first seemed.

Self-catering has changed radically over the past years, and there are now many really good establishments that are well-run and offer wonderful properties in fantastic locations. Businesses in the wrong place, offering only mediocre quality will always struggle. For those who take the time and trouble to set up a self-catering business correctly and continue to take a proactive role in its development, there are undoubted rewards.

The book is structured into two: Setting up the Business, and Making a Success of Your Business. Logical chapters, each with a check-list at the end covering all the points to be considered, take the reader in a logical progression from the 'business idea' onwards. There are really useful 'top tips' spread throughout which give an insight into what the best self-catering businesses are up to.

Tourism businesses can't do it all on their own, and all tourism businesses will come across various tourist official bodies. This book is unique in unravelling the minefield of the UK tourist infrastructure, and clearly explains the differences between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. There is a valuable appendix listing who does what, and how to contact them.

Any small business has its share of red tape to cope with, and self-catering is no exception. Here, the reader is led through all the relevant regulations including Fire, Gas, Electricity and e-commerce as well as sections on VAT, Business Rates and Tax and National Insurance, as well as basic business activity, like book-keeping, and things to consider when setting up a home office.

This excellent 'how to...' book should be a first investment for anyone considering running a self-catering business. It is also essential reading for those already running establishments, with the chapters on 'keeping up standards' and 'maintaining the momentum' being particularly valuable. There will also be a readership for those who simply need to know how self-catering works, like those new to the Trade, and tourism students.

I recommend "Starting and Running a Holiday Cottage Business" to anyone who is involved in the self-catering sector, or who thinks it sounds like a good idea.

David Smythe
Chairman, Association of Scotland's Self-Caterers.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent, 16 Feb 2009
By Mrs. C. M. Hadlum "Tina Hadlum" (Aberdeenshire) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
We are now running our own self catering business, and this book was really useful. Lots of stuff I would'nt even have considered are contained within this "bible".
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