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| How to Open a Financially Successful Bed & Breakfast or Small Hotel (How to Open & Operate a ...) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Lora Arduser, Douglas R. Brown
Publisher: Atlantic Publishing Company (FL)
Category: Book
List Price: $39.95
Buy New: $19.00
You Save: $20.95 (52%)
Buy New/Used from $19.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  (8 reviews)
Sales Rank: 81147
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0910627304
Dewey Decimal Number: 647.94068
EAN: 9780910627306
ASIN: 0910627304
Publication Date: May 1, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
This comprehensive handbook with companion CD ROM will clearly demonstrate how to set up, operate and manage a financially successful bed-and-breakfast or small hotel. Whatever your reason for wanting to open a bed and breakfast, keep in mind that at it takes more than dreams and rooms to achieve success, it is a business that must show a profit. This book will separate the romantic notions of owning a B&B from the business end. While providing detailed instruction and examples, the author leads you through finding a location that will bring success, learn how to draw up a winning business plan (The Companion CD Rom has the actual business plan you can use in MS Word tm.), how to buy and (sell) a B&B, basic cost control systems, profitable menu planning, Reservation Systems, successful kitchen management, equipment layout and planning, food safety & HACCP, housekeeping, successful beverage management, reservation networks, legal concerns, sales and marketing techniques, room rate formulas, arrival, billing, departure, learn how to set up computer systems to save time and money, learn how to hire & keep a qualified professional staff, brand new IRS tip reporting requirements, managing and training employees, generate high profile public relations and publicity, learn low cost internal marketing ideas, low and no cost ways to satisfy customers and build sales, learn how to keep bringing customers back, accounting & bookkeeping procedures, auditing, successful budgeting and profit planning development, as well as thousands of great tips and useful guidelines. There are literally hundreds of innovative ways demonstrated to streamline your business. Learn new ways to make the kitchen, bars, dining room, and front office run smoother and increase performance. Shut down waste, reduce costs, and increase profits. In addition operators will appreciate this valuable resource and reference in their daily activities and as a source of ready-to-use forms, web sites, operating and cost cutting ideas, and mathematical formulas that can be easily applied to their operations. The Companion Cd Rom contains all the forms in the book as well as a sample business plan you can adapt for your own use.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Would have been a 5 but..... November 16, 2008
I loved this book. It was a very helpful overview of the bed and breakfast industry, however, there was supposed to be a CD that came with the book to help you to start a business plan and that was not included in my shippment. It was very disappointing.
 Great Book and I am an Owner August 6, 2007
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
As an owner of a Boutique Hotel in Cartagena, Colombia, Casa El Carretero www.CasaElCarretero.com I can say that this book was a great guide. However, the passion for the business is fundamental. Pay attention to the staff and level of service you plan to have in the hotel. That can make or break the business.
 Helpful August 7, 2006
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
I thought Lora did a great job with this book. It is well-thought-out and presented in a manner that the reader can easily grasp. I'd buy this book and "I'm Living Your Dream Life" by Michele Cozzens before going into the business.
A Truly Professional Approach June 8, 2006
36 out of 38 found this review helpful
If you're planning to open a bed and breakfast as a hobby or with the notion that "you're not really running a business, you're just making profits in your free time," this is not the book for you. This book covers almost all potential areas that you'll need to know to run a professional B&B, and the level of detail will quickly dissuade anyone who isn't serious. That having been said, anyone who does want to run a professional bed and breakfast will find the information invaluable. The forms included on the enclosed CD pay for the book themselves--everything from employment applications to inventory forms, invoices, standard recipe cards, and kitchen safety inspection forms. The book covers all stages of the planning and setup process, including business plans, marketing and promotion, safety, and employees. Particularly useful is the section on marketing, something that most B&Bs that I've known tend to ignore. With a little creativity (and there are lots of suggestions contained in this chapter), your B&B can become part of the very identity of the neighborhood or city you live in, as in, "If you want to capture the flavor of X, go to this B&B!" The only change I would make to the book would be to make the section on writing business plans a more user friendly for those B&B owners who have never opened a business before. Nevertheless, the book contains lots of hardheaded business sense, presented plainly and clearly, with many good examples of existing B&Bs to illustrate the point. While you may not need all the information included when you first open your business, this book will provide you with lots of options for a time when you're able to expand. I recommend this book to anyone seriously considering going into the B&B business as a business, rather than just a way of pouring money down the drain!
A Great Introduction May 8, 2006
15 out of 18 found this review helpful
"HOW TO OPEN A FINANCIALLY SUCCESSFUL BED & BREAKFAST: OR SMALL HOTEL" by Lora Arduser and Douglas R. Brown
This book was a fascinating exploration of the intricacies involved with opening a Bed and Breakfast. The authors were able to provide a step-by-step process for the beginning B&B entrepreneur. The book guides you in the decision to own a Bed and Breakfast, helps you decide on a location or to buy and existing B&B.
The authors make a fantastic effort to include real life business information such as how to make your own business plan and laws that will relate to your Bed and Breakfast business. They give you several checklists to help you format your mode of attack when starting your own business.
With a whole chapter devoted to computers this book is cutting edge in the Bed and Breakfast industry. Today everyone needs to have a web presence in order to market his or her company.
Guest are not going to be interested in a business plan. So the authors have developed several chapters on the operation of the Bed and Breakfast. They skillfully guide the reader from decorating, setting policies, what food you should serve, housekeeping, and your day-to-day staffing requirements.
A bonus CD is offered with the book and provides valuable samples of over 30 forms that are needed when starting and opening your own B&B. The CD is simple to use and will save any entrepreneur tons of time.
This book is a great introduction to the world of Bed and Breakfast owning and operation.
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