250-858-7308
1-800-730-4790

Thank you for a wonderful stay. What a great place to relax and watch the birds ! Felt no need to leave the property once we arrived....
- Emma and Cam
We stopped here almost on a whim, a last minute addition to our celebration of our first anniversary. Our stay proved to be the icing...
- Jason & Terryll
We stayed here for our first wedding anniversary. Thank you very much, we had a lovely time !
- Eduard & Jessica
We stayed here for 5 nights. We came to Fraser Valley to celebrate our 25th anniversary. We have stayed in a few B&B's in...
- Bill & Cathy
Lovely girls getaway. Hot tub was wonderful. Wonderful breakfast.
- Sharon
Travelled from Comox to here for a trail race at Royal Roads University. Found this on Internet search "Perfect location", "So quiet...
- Jenn & Mike
Many thanks, we loved the hospitality and food and ambiance. Much love.
- Julia & Christian
Thank you for your hospitality and sharing your wonderful space with me. It was such a treat to sit and enjoy the view and feel the...
- Kara
We cannot believe that people have stayed here who went out in the canoe at 3:00 a.m.! A great tribute to Annette & Dieter's easy...
- Earl & Ann
Thank you for welcoming my niece and our family to celebrate her wedding. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and you were perfect hosts....
- Woodrow

Course #1: How to start a Bed and Breakfast / Vacation Rental - for Aspiring InnKeepers

BOOK DIRECT - Best Price

Cost: $485.00 (add $150.00 for each extra person) plus cost of accommodations where required

4 to 5 hours over 1 day covers the items listed below.

All Bed & Breakfast and Vacation Rental courses are taught one-on-one custom scheduled for you and usually taught on location at our B&B, or if you prefer at our QCollege.com
 

Legalities

  • making it legal
  • a business structure
  • taxation
  • income tax
  • business license information
  • zoning regulations
  • building code and fire safety regulations
  • permits
  • identification signs
  • fire regulations
  • fire containment
  • egress
  • detection
  • suppression
  • insurance

Financial

  • write-offs
  • research costs
  • miscellaneous start-up costs
  • calculating business portion of home
  • how much are my rooms worth
  • helpful hints
  • Reservation / Booking systems

This is the B&B / Vacation Rental Business

  • where to begin
  • what's in a name
  • register your name
  • what is a B&B
  • can you operate a B&B
  • who will be my clients
  • smokers, pets, and children
  • neighbourhood assessment
  • tourist attractions
  • know your competition
  • advantages
  • disadvantages
  • skills required
  • brochures and other print material

Setting up an existing Home - if you get to me before you build, or renovate I am also available for consulting both on site at your location, and/or blueprints

  • renovations
  • bedrooms
  • extra touches
  • beds and bedding
  • bathrooms
  • hallways and stairwells
  • common areas
  • guest eating area
  • your private space
  • decorating and upkeep
  • gardens
  • house rules
  • wedding parties
  • please don't come back
  • stolen goods
  • accidents
  • asking for payment

Digital Marketing

  • This is a separtate 2-part course about social media, web sites, blogs, channel partners, channel managers, OTA's, guest reviews including TripAdvisor

Odds and Ends

  • B&B associations
  • networking
  • internet considerations
  • accreditations
  • Food Safe certification
  • casual labour versus employees
  • WCB

How To Name Your Bed and Breakfast and/or Vacation Rental

  1. Make a fairly long list of potential names before settling on one.
  2. Ask some friends whose opinions you trust to give honest input.
  3. Consider using your inn's location in the name. But be careful -- names like Inn by the Sea are overused.
  4. If your inn has a special history, consider working that into the name.
  5. Think about alternative meanings. For example, "Harry" sounds like "hairy" and might not always be particularly inviting.
  6. Say the name out loud several times, and have people who aren't familiar with it do the same. Names that are hard to pronounce aren't the most useful.
  7. Make sure it's fresh. Search for the name on the Internet -- if dozens of hits come up in any context, or if even a small handful of other bed and breakfasts are already using the name, throw it away.
  8. Think about how it will look in a logo. Long names can be hard to use on brochures and business cards.
  9. Look up potential URLs. If you want to be Smith's Bed and Breakfast, look up URLs like smiths.com and smithsbb.com to make sure a good one is available for you. And, since domain registration is relatively inexpensive, you may as well go ahead and reserve any domain name you might want in the future.
  10. Don't forget that someday you'll want to sell the inn. Personal names (e.g. Smith's Bed and Breakfast) generally don't pass on as well as names like Golden Eagle Bed and Breakfast.
  11. Think alphabetically. Some B&B directories list inns in alphabetical order. Apple House Bed and Breakfast scores better here than Yellow Frog Inn.
  12. Remember that naming your inn should balance all of these suggestions. AAA Bed and Breakfast might get you good placement in some inn directories, but it sounds stale and institutional.
  13. Make sure you like the name. After all, it's your bed and breakfast

 

Dieter Gerhard

northStudio | StikkyMedia | QCollege | QAcademy | BirdsofaFeather | MarineEcotours

T: 250-391-8889
T: 800-730-4790
E: dieter@birdsofafeather.ca

 

Other courses offered: