Starting and Running a B and B: A Practical Guide to Setting Up and Managing a Bed and Breakfast Business (Paperback)

Getting started in running a B&B is not something you should do lightly. This is, first and foremost, a business, so you need to know how to run a business, need to understand the principles of cash flow, of marketing, of planning and organising your workplace and the product you supply: once you make your home into a B&B establishment, it ceases to become just a home, it is now a product, to be consumed by strangers. You had better appreciate not just the economic and business demands and skills required, you must also recognise the emotional consequences of alienating part of your house.

There are many books available on the subject of running a B&B. I would urge you to read as many as possible - each will bring a different perspective and provide different forms of advice. Assimilate as much as you can, talk to your local tourist board and council, absorb as much information as possible.

Whyte and Jess provide an interesting take on the B&B business. Stewart Whyte works in the tourism industry; he is not an authority on what it feels like to run a B&B, but he knows a lot about how they are run and how they fit into the bigger picture. Your own home, your own B&B may be your world, but to a visitor, it is only a paragraph in a brochure. You will find yourself competing with and collaborating with other local B&B's. You will find guests you love and invaders (sorry, guests) you'd gleefully strangle!

Whyte and Jess offer very sound advice on the financial and business side of running a B&B, and a perspective on how to market it through your local Tourist Board. It is invaluable information, and it is essential information ... but it is probably not the best place to start researching or investigating the possibilities of converting your home into a B&B, or investing in a property to run as a B&B.

If you've not run a B&B before, I suggest you start by looking at other books - do a search in Amazon for other titles. I'd personally recommend Barbara Notarius & Gail Sforza Brewer's "Open Your Own Bed and Breakfast". It's an American book, and contains reference to US legislation - ignore that: Notarius & Brewer provide an excellent introduction to the trials and tribulations of running a B&B, with a wealth of practical and inspirational advice. Once you've absorbed something like this, come back and read the Whyte & Jess book for its specific business advice. But think about how running a B&B will affect you first before you try to evaluate whether or not you can successfully run it as a business.

Getting started in running a B&B is not something you should do lightly. This is, first and foremost, a business, so you need to know how to run a business, need to understand the principles of cash flow, of marketing, of planning and organising your workplace and the product you supply: once you make your home into a B&B establishment, it ceases to become just a home, it is now a product, to be consumed by strangers. You had better appreciate not just the economic and business demands and skills required, you must also recognise the emotional consequences of alienating part of your house.

There are many books available on the subject of running a B&B. I would urge you to read as many as possible - each will bring a different perspective and provide different forms of advice. Assimilate as much as you can, talk to your local tourist board and council, absorb as much information as possible.

Whyte and Jess provide an interesting take on the B&B business. Stewart Whyte works in the tourism industry; he is not an authority on what it feels like to run a B&B, but he knows a lot about how they are run and how they fit into the bigger picture. Your own home, your own B&B may be your world, but to a visitor, it is only a paragraph in a brochure. You will find yourself competing with and collaborating with other local B&B's. You will find guests you love and invaders (sorry, guests) you'd gleefully strangle! Whyte and Jess offer very sound advice on the financial and business side of running a B&B, and a perspective on how to market it through your local Tourist Board. It is invaluable information, and it is essential information ... but it is probably not the best place to start researching or investigating the possibilities of converting your home into a B&B, or investing in a property to run as a B&B.

If you've not run a B&B before, I suggest you start by looking at other books - do a search in Amazon for other titles. I'd personally recommend Barbara Notarius & Gail Sforza Brewer's "Open Your Own Bed and Breakfast". It's an American book, and contains reference to US legislation - ignore that: Notarius & Brewer provide an excellent introduction to the trials and tribulations of running a B&B, with a wealth of practical and inspirational advice. Once you've absorbed something like this, come back and read the Whyte & Jess book for its specific business advice. But think about how running a B&B will affect you first before you try to evaluate whether or not you can successfully run it as a business.