Rumours, records, ratings, and a bit of rocket science

I follow lots of B&Bs on Twitter and it’s a great community with B&B owners helpng each other out and giving advice. I was watching a discussion the other day about the food hygiene rules and there seemed to be conflicting advice out there. So I thought I’d ask an expert! Rachel Jones and her husband, Richard, run A470 Training , specialising in hospitality and licensing qualifications

I’ve been following Rachel for a while on Twitter and am impressed by how knowledgeable she is in her area of expertise. I’ve also met her in real life and am happy to report that she is as witty and fun to be with in person as she is on Twitter. So time to debunk some myths……

Rumours, records, ratings, and a bit
of rocket science

Guest Post by Rachel Jones of A470 Training

For new B&B owners, it may come as a bit of a surprise to find yourselves
categorised as a food business. After all, you’re not running a fancy
restaurant or catering for more than a handful of guests – how hard can it be?
But like it or not you’re making your living, partly, from preparing and serving
food. Otherwise you’d just be running a B!

If you haven’t run a food business before you may be daunted by the “red
tape” aspect, but for a small business like
a B&B it’s actually really simple.

Training

Food safety regulations require food business operators to have “appropriate”
training for the job they do. There’s no legal requirement to do a particular
qualification, but if you’re offering cooked
breakfasts then the one-day Level 2 Food
Safety in Catering course will give you the best grounding, as well as a
nationally recognised certificate which proves you’re up to a certain standard.
If you’re short of time there are plenty of online courses available (eg
through learndirect),
though personally I’d always recommend a tutor-led course so you can ask questions and share ideas with other learners.
There are thousands of courses nationwide, and plenty of independent trainers
who should be willing to run courses on your own premises – you can find
accredited trainers and more information through awarding bodies like Highfield ABC
and the CIEH.

One of the first things I ask on a
food hygiene course is whether anyone has done one before. It helps me
determine who might need extra attention – and also who I can pick on to answer the difficult questions! Invariably,
at least 3 people say “I’ve done it before, but my certificate has expired”.
Actually, food safety qualifications don’t “expire”, but awarding bodies
recommend you have refresher
training every 3-5 years. No-one’s saying you have to do the whole thing
again – there are short refresher courses with a new certificate at the end,
but refresher training could be something less formal. The point is that you
can demonstrate to your Environmental Health Officer (EHO) that you’re making the effort to keep
your knowledge up to date. Get into
the habit of recording any additional learning you do (eg attending events,
reading industry publications or internet research) and you’re halfway there.

Record keeping

All too often the first you hear about food safety “paperwork” is when your EHO turns up with a thick folder under his arm, and leaves it lurking ominously on your kitchen
table. Food businesses need to keep
some basic records so they can demonstrate that they’re following best practice
all the time, not just when the EHO happens to visit. Large food businesses
have been doing this for years, but since 2006 ALL UK food businesses, however
small, have been required to have a written food safety system based on Hazard
Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP). Don’t panic, let me explain…

I used to tell learners that HACCP wasn’t rocket
science. Basically it’s looking at
your food operation, anticipating what might go wrong, and taking steps to prevent it – much better than waiting
for something to go wrong then trying to figure out why. I then found out that
in fact it WAS rocket science, developed
by NASA in the run-up to the Apollo missions. They couldn’t afford to risk food poisoning in space, so needed to identify and
eliminate all potential risks. HACCP
became the industry standard for the vast food production businesses across the
USA,
and ultimately worldwide.

However, it wasn’t designed for small businesses and so the Food Standards
Agency produced the excellent Safer
Food Better Business pack
(that ominous folder) to help small caterers get their written system in order.
Whilst a large food factory might keep
detailed records every day, a B&B only needs to work
through the pack, keep some basic records (such as fridge and freezer
temperatures) and record any problems when they occur. It may take a couple of hours to do the initial groundwork, but should take
no more than seconds to complete each day. Easy peasy. Frankly, any small caterer who tells you they spend
hours each week on food safety
paperwork is doing something very
wrong. You don’t have to use the pack
or accompanying diary if you’re happier with your own system, as long as you
can show you‘ve thought about any potential problems and how you would handle
them.

Scores on the doors

Most local authorities are now operating a food
safety rating scheme, with businesses being graded for 0-5. Designed to
increase consumer confidence, the scheme also encourages food businesses to
raise their game. For a small, low-risk
business like a B&B it should be
fairly easy to achieve a good rating, but do bear in mind that a large part of
the scoring will be based on your food safety system and something called
“attitude of management” – are you doing your best to operate safely and
legally and to keep your knowledge and skills
up to date?

So, if you haven’t done so already, time to brew a fresh pot of coffee and dust
off that lurking file. And remember,
it’s only rocket science…

Rachel Jones is a freelance trainer
specialising in hospitality and licensing qualifications – for more information
see www.a470training.co.uk

I’ve Kept My 5 Star Rating Why Am I Thinking About Dumping It?

I have been sitting on this blog post for several months
unable to publish it for a couple of reasons. The first is that it’s rather self-indulgent
and about my business and I prefer my posts to be about helping other business
owners. It’s also a bit rambling. The second reason is that it could be contentious
and may upset people and I’m really not in the business of treading on toes. However
events today have focussed my thinking & I’ve spoken to several other
B&B owners who are having similar thoughts. I’ve also spoken to other
B&B owners who think I’m stark raving mad.

So here we go…..

There are a few things that are likely to strike fear
into, all but the most hardened, B&B landlady’s heart ( I know there are
B&B landlords out there too but for ease of reading I shall refer to you
all as landladies and I know you all look so lovely in pink ;0)

The first is the arrival, in the inbox, of the email titled
“You have a new Tripadvisor Review” and the second is the arrival, on the
doorstep, of a single man/woman, smartly dressed carrying a suitcase and
overnight bag.

There are a lot of B&Bs out there, who take business
guests, and who greet these types of people everyday. However my market is
almost 100% couples ( married, unmarried, gay, straight – all positively
welcomed ) here on a few days away to enjoy a country break in comfy
surroundings. I just don’t get single men here on business wearing a suit and
being flexible about their dates. “Oh you’re full Tuesday, well can you do
Wednesday I can rearrange my meeting” What meeting? A KPI session with the
local bull? So I know that this man is going to be “THE HOTEL INSPECTOR”

Actually they’re called Quality Assessors these days but
calling the hotel inspectors is more fun and reminds everyone of Fawlty Towers.

So I had my inspection last night. It did become slight
Fawlty Tower-esque as he read my report out to me propped up on kitchen units
whilst I rushed around preparing a late breakfast for guests who had both
ordered poached eggs at the last minute (another B&B landlady nightmare –
poached eggs). Apart from a couple of comments such as putting brown sugar in
the rooms & offering warm milk with coffee, we have passed with flying
colours and it’s been recommended that we keep our 5 star gold rating.”Yeeha”
you say. Or maybe not?

There have been rumblings in the press & on the
internet in recent months claiming that the government are planning to withdraw
support for the UK Quality Assessment scheme as it believes customer reviews
are the way forward.

I’ve been thinking about the Quality Assessment scheme
for a few years now, and wondering how much value my own business actually gets
from it. Unfortunately I don’t know if there is a right answer, which as a
mathematician pains me greatly. I much prefer the 2+2=4 approach to life, just
don’t get me started on Schrödinger’s cat.

So here are my thoughts.

To set the scene, our own B&B has a 5 star Gold award
rating from VisitBritain. We started off with a 4 star silver and have
gradually improved & updated the B&B as the years go by.

I never aimed for this rating as a goal in itself. I just
want to give my guests the best possible B&B experience they can have. I
love food & I’ve been lucky enough to travel all over the world & stay
in luxury hotels. So the rating has been a bit of a by product of this.
Actually I would prefer that people didn’t choose the B&B because of our
rating and the aim of my online marketing; my tweeting, facebooking and
blogging is a bit contra that rating.

I want people coming to stay because they can relax and
indulge and have great food and a smile, not because they just want to stay at 5 star B&B.

Before I go on, I do need to say that, on my B&B
courses I always recommend potential B&Bers to join either the AA or the
VisitBritain rating system when they first start up. It gives them standards to
work towards, ensures nothing is missed and I believe that being assessed by a
professional assessor is very valuable for a young business. It also provides
potential customers with reassurance that they can expect a certain level of
quality when staying in that establishment, whilst the B&B builds up its
reputation and marketing efforts.

I also think that if you’re one of a lot of B&Bs in a
town or city, then your grading can help differentiate you and make you stand
out from the crowd.

However I’m not a young business and there are not
hundred of B&Bs locally to compete with. I’ve been immersed in running a
B&B for 7 years and have been running my B&B courses for 5 years. I’ve
met, and shared ideas with lots of other B&B owners over the years. I have
a fab website produced by the wonderful Perfect Arc and optimised beautifully (
with lots of help over the years from Helen Mitchell at Ascendancy marketing )
so I appear in the top 3 or 4 on Google for all the search terms I want to be
found with. I know it’s a great website because of the huge number of people
who have complimented me on it and said it was their reason for staying with
us.

These are the facts. In 2010:

• 0.002 % of
  visitors to my website were referred by VisitEngland or Enjoyengland
• 0.001% of people
  who came via Google Organic had searched for 5 star B&B or an
  equivalent keyword phrase

Don’t you just love Google Analytics?

As an established business (here’s the mathematician bit)
I work on allocating 5% of my turnover to my marketing budget. So every £1 I
spend on marketing or advertising should generate £20 in turnover. For a 3 room
B&B that charges £80 a night for single occupancy the fee for belonging to
the VB scheme is £480. So playing by my own rules that £480 should generate
£9600. I don’t believe, for my own business, that it does that. For £480 I
could buy an iPAD and generate a lot more business myself whilst watching Glee.

And, whilst I appreciated the advice of the Quality Assessor
when I first set up, it now really bugs me to have someone come and go through
a tick box exercise and tell me how to improve my business. I KNOW what I’m
good at and I KNOW what my flaws are. Actually I hadn’t considered the brown
sugar thing so that’s £480 well spent…….Grumpy old Landlady syndrome?

So, what’s stopping you leaving the scheme right now? I
hear you ask.

This is where the circular argument in my head kicks in.
In Shropshire, anyway, you can’t advertise in the tourist information centre,
belong to Shropshire Tourism, belong to local networking groups like the
Shropshire Farm Holiday Group or be eligible for any grants unless you are
assessed. You essentially become a non person in the local tourism industry.

I’ve actually already left Shropshire Tourism and the
Farm Holiday Group. The latter due to lack of time.

If you’re not assessed you can’t participate in the Enjoy
England Excellence awards. Not that I have entered since 2007. I won B&B of
the year for the West Midlands and, to be honest, didn’t get a lot of new
business as a result. I’ve had far more business from a photo & short piece
in Woman & Home.

I do wonder how many people come to my website by other
means and their decision is helped by the fact it says 5 star gold on the front
page. I think we’re getting into Schrödinger’s cat territory here. So For a bit
of fun, I’ve taken the large 5 star & gold award badges off the front page
of website to see what happens and my bookings have actually gone up. Not
everybody is comfortable booking into what they think a 5 star B&B will be.

But on the other hand the Occupancy Survey Results
clearly show that higher rated properties have higher occupancy levels.

What about the proposal that we just rely on customer
reviews. There is one huge flaw in this suggestion and that one flaw is the
customer themselves. The quality assessor is meant to be objective, clearly
measuring your business against a common set of standards. A customer is very
rarely objective. They are measuring your business against their own
expectations. If, for example, they are used to staying in 2 star B&Bs they
may well give a 2 star B&B 5/5 on Tripadvisor. Whilst a 5 star guest may
give a 5 star B&B ( of much higher quality than the 2 star ) 3/5 because
the towels weren’t soft enough and their breakfast sausage wasn’t to their
liking.

My main problem is that I don’t really see myself as 5
star B&B landlady. I’ve been waiting for 4 years for the Hotel Inspector to
find me out. I just want people to come here and love the views and the food and the birds and the wildflower meadow and be really comfortable and have long baths and have a bit of giggle

And the answer is…………………….I really don’t
know.

What would be great is if you can comment on this blog
and share your thoughts. Whether you’re in the tourism business yourself or just
someone who goes on holiday.

Thank you for getting this far.

Setting Up a B&B – One Landlady’s Story

When I first set up my own B&B nearly 7 years ago I had nothing more to help me than a book and a 2 hour visit from a Tourism Business Advisor. The book told me that if I didn’t like housework to drop the idea of running a B&B straightaway – I ignored that bit of advice.

The Tourism Business Advisor was very good but he hadn’t actually run a B&B. I did ask some local B&B landladies for advice but they weren’t that forthcoming, so I used the internet and set it up all by myself – well not quite all by myself, but with quite a lot of help from my DIY fanatic husband.

After a year or so of running the B&B, very successfully much to everyone’s surprise not least my own, I decided to set up B&B Academy to help others in the process of setting up their own B&B. My aim was to share the how tos, what works well but also the mistakes I made, and there were quite a few of those.

I run the courses about once a month and they are usually over subscribed. I think they are so successful because, although you can get all the information of the internet, they answer the questions you didn’t know you needed to ask. Participants benefit enormously from meeting other people who are planning to go through the B&B process, sharing ideas and discussing their ideas with like minded people.

I think about 5% of people who come on the course decide that running a B&B is not for them. I see that as a positive outcome too. It’s far better that someone comes on a 2 day course and understands the realities and that’s it’s not for them, rather than spending £1000′s and then deciding they’ve made a big mistake.

Fiona Potts came on my course in May 2009. She has since set up her own increasingly successful B&B, Gwaenynog B&B near Welshpool. Fiona has kindly shared her story with us here.

Past course attendee – our story!

Having spent 18 months searching for a suitable house to set-up a B&B, we finally found one in June 2009, and moved-in during October 2009. We carried out all the works to install the en-suites (an essential requirement for guests these days!) and redecorated in all the guest areas – all in the wettest weather Wales had seen in 20+ years, then the snow in Christmas & early 2010, and finally the driest first 6 months since 1929 – which meant we spent a lot of money on things we had not planned: drainage, a new soakaway, re-doing the drive, and even installing a bore-hole! So we’ve been on a very steep learning curve all the way!

However, all the hard work has paid off and we had a great first year, with nearly 300 room nights in our first “season”. This has meant phase 2 has now commenced – converting the very large family bathroom into another room, as well as putting a shower into our room (pretty essential since we removed the one in the utility!). After being so glad to see the builders go, I invited them back!!! Ah well, never again (she says!). Phase 3 is going to be adding camping/caravanning to the field at the back – so the builders will all be outside!!!

We’ve learned a lot about running a B&B – nothing really prepares you, not even Karen’s course – although it came close! We’re constantly tired – but a big contribution is trying to carry out other tasks on the farm: fence repairs, moving stones, other groundworks and helping with the animals. The one thing which has been a joy – our guests; either they’re just like us and enjoy the peace & quiet, are here for the steam train or to visit Lake Vyrnwy, or are keen birders and discovered birds on our land which we didn’t know about – we’re learning every day about what is here… Apparently we’ve even got an otter down in the bog area!

So, would we change anything? Perhaps we would choose to have more savings, as no matter what they say you’re going to need and then to double it – I would double it again, and perhaps again, to come close to what we really needed. I realise that is to do with the house and our location, but we didn’t know that when we fell in love with it… Wisdom is great in hindsight. However, I would still do it again – perhaps with some lessons learned, but the joys have far outweighed all the dramas and crises!

Good luck to anyone else planning the same sort of lifestyle change…

Regards,

Fiona

www.gwaenynog.com

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Occasionally someone comes on my B&B course who has decided that they will just offer a continental breakfast to their B&B guests. Now this is fine provided you make it clear up front to guests, on your website, when they book, in the confirmation email or if you’re planning on setting up a B&B in France! It also depends on your target market as well. However the vast majority of people who come to an English B&B for a break away want some variation of a Full English Breakfast.

As well as offering any variation of the Full English at my own B&B, along with scrambled eggs & smoked salmon and omelettes, I like to offer a daily special. This could be thyme scented mushrooms on toast, smoked haddock kedgeree, bubble & squeak topped with a fried egg…I could go on for some time here.

Offering lots of choice at breakfast isn’t for the inexperienced B&B owner. Getting out 6 different variations of a perfectly cooked Full English with 6 different types of egg isn’t an easy task – believe me I’ve been doing to for 6 years and there are still some mornings when the language in the kitchen would make Gordon Ramsay blush. So I always suggest to new B&Bers that they start simply and build up their repertoire as they gain in confidence.

So on day 1 of their stay, provided the guests aren’t vegetarian, no matter what wonderful specials I offer,  the majority of guests will request a Full English. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of guests in 6 years who have just wanted cereal & croissant! However on day 2 people tend to get a bit more adventurous. The most popular special I serve is American style pancakes.

I’ve tried lots of different recipes for these pancakes and have finally settled on one I like. I have Nigella to thank for the idea of making up pancake mix in advance but the recipe itself is from an American cookbook, with some adjustment. The great thing about this is that you make a large batch of the dry mix in advance, then just scoop out some mix when you feel like pancakes, mix with the wet ingredients and hey presto!

The recipe can be varied depending on the season. In summer I make blueberry pancakes – put the pancake mix in the frying pan, then add the blueberries. If you stir them into your mix then it can turn purple. In the Autumn & Winter I love my Apple Cinnamon Pancakes. For each cup of dry mix I add a teaspoon of cinnamon and 2 eating apples chopped into small chunks.

You can make the pancakes up with milk but using buttermilk creates the most sublime fluffy pancakes imaginable.

Bear in mind that the cups mentioned here are measuring cups, available from any good cookshop or supermarket, not teacups.

Pancake Mix

• 4 Cups Plain Flour
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 8 Teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt

Put all of the ingredients into a large jar – I use a large kilner jar. Put on the lid and shake really well to ensure all the ingredients are well mixed. Repeat this when you come to use the mix.

When you’re ready to make the pancakes. Mix the wet ingredients together.

• 1 pot of buttermilk ( just over 1 Cup ) or 1 Cup of milk
• 1 tablespoon of melted butter
• 1 egg

Take 1 Cup of the dry ingredients and put in a bowl. If you’re making the cinnamon pancakes add a teaspoon here and mix well. Add the wet ingredients gradually. You’re looking for a fairly thick batter, a bit thicker than Yorkshire pudding batter. You may not need all of the wet mixture. If you’re doing apple pancakes add 2 diced apples at this point.

Put a large frying pan over a medium high heat. Brush with melted butter or oil then drop the pancake mix in large spoonfuls ( I use an ice cream scoop to measure them out – thank you Ina Garten for that suggestion ).

Cook on first side until small bubbles start to appear on the upper surface and the edges are set, about 2 minutes. Then flip over and cook for 2-3 minutes until you have a nice golden brown colour.

Serve with crispy bacon and maple syrup – some English folks need persuading about this combination but you really need the bacon, pancakes & syrup to get the perfect taste.

Why Tripadvisor Is Like Marmite

Like the mature 44 year I am, I spent most of last weekend stomping round the house saying “it’s not fair, it is JUST NOT FAIR” to anyone who would listen. My husband, after 30 minutes of “I know, it isn’t”  suddenly found something very important to do out in the shed, my daughter decided she urgently needed to go to the shops and even @murphythebnbdog  decided his paws were in immediate need of a good clean, best done the other side of the paddock.

So what sparked these middle aged tantrums? It was bound to happen sometime – I had my first “less than glowing” Tripadvisor review. I had actually been waiting for it all week. You know, as a B&B owner, when a guest is not happy.

I am friends with a lot of B&B owners and the majority of us work exceedingly hard to achieve the best possible experience for guests. We create comfortable places for people to stay, cook hearty breakfasts, bake cakes & biscuits, clean like mad and then greet guests with a smile & a chat. For most of us, the B&B is our home and an extension of our personalities.

But we’re also human, which means we’re not perfect and everyone’s expectation of what they will find at a B&B is different. One day, no matter how accurately you describe your B&B on the website or in your welcome email, someone will stay with you who just doesn’t get what you’re doing or they haven’t done their research carefully enough or something just goes wrong.

When someone writes something on the internet that is critical, and could damage your business (I’ve gone from #1 B&B in Shropshire on Tripadvisor to #10 because of that one review), it can be very hurtful. To many accommodation providers Tripadvisor is like Marmite, you love or hate it, depending on the reviews that have been written.

As B&B owners we have the right to reply to any review and “put the record straight”. However it’s not that simple. Behind many TA reviews there is another story or agenda and one that a smart B&B owner, though desperate to do so, will never put into print. A wise B&B owner will never make public the guest who walks off with your bathrobes, breaks the shower, cancels last minute, wrecks your room or smokes. Sometimes, no matter how painful, you just have to take it on the chin.

I think that the response a B&B owner gives to a TA review is sometimes more important than the review itself.  I had a splendid afternoon yesterday reading the responses one B&B owner gives to her negative reviews (always good therapy if you’re feeling a bit down about a review or guest comment). She really doesn’t come across very well at all, but says she has more people coming to stay as a result of her bad reviews.

So is it true that no publicity is bad publicity? I think for most of us, who want guests to visit us for what we offer in terms of comfort & relaxation, rather than because we come across as a female Basil Fawlty, we need to handle things a bit differently. Potential guests want to know, if they have a complaint whilst they’re staying with you, you’ll handle them calmly & not throw a hissy fit. If you get defensive on the internet how do they know you’re not going to do it in person?

There’s lot of advice out there on the best way to respond to negative online reviews. Heather, @forfeng, wrote an excellent post here.

 Here’s what I did.

• I wrote the response I wanted to write in a WORD document. I embellished it, I made it funny, I then deleted it.
•  I then put myself in the next guest’s shoes, the person who would be reading that review on TA. I wrote a response which was factual.
•  I sat on it for a while, checked for any emotion, I rewrote it.
• I then sent it to a fellow professional in the hospitality industry and asked for their honest opinion.

On the positive side it provides me with good material for my B&B courses. I have actually been through the process of responding to a negative review & come out the other end.

So do I like Marmite? At the moment I’m favouring a rather nice homemade apricot preserve………

No Dogs, No Children, No Smoking, No Singles, No Guests

A few years ago I watched in horror as an argument unfolded on a Tripadvisor forum between a guest & a B&B Landlord. The single lady guest had used the hot tub on her own, despite warnings from the B&B owner that sole occupancy of the hot tub was not allowed due to Health & Safety Reasons. To make sure nothing untoward happened to her, the owner had stood next to the hot tub whilst the lady tried to relax.

Now I can see both sides here. I wouldn’t really be able to completely partake of the whole relaxing hot tub experience with a strange man hopping from foot to foot behind me and, as a B&B owner, I need to consider the laws that bind and my guests’ safety.

The B&B Owner was obviously very hurt by the guest’s comments and went on to update the terms and conditions on his website. Unfortunately he went on to create 2 pages of terms and conditions, demanding that the guests agreed to them before booking.

I’ve been there. I ask guests to check out by 10.30 & to check in between 4 & 6 ( later OK, but by arrangement – we do occasionally go out in the evenings! )

Now in those 5.5 hours, between check out & check in, I am not swinging in a hammock with a bottle of Bud admiring my toes. If I have to turnover 3 rooms & clean the rest of the public areas it takes me 5 hours at least. And that doesn’t allow for cake making, shopping or dog walking.

So when guests do arrive early it can throw everything off kilter. One week, on consecutive days, I had guests arrive at 1.30, 12.30 &, on the last day, at 11.00, 5 minutes after the other guests had checked out. As soon as I got the chance I signed onto my content management system and updated my terms & conditions with several paragraphs explaining why guests weren’t allowed to turn up before 4.00 and the consequences if they did. Five minutes later I calmed down, saw sense & deleted them.

You see, guests turning up early is really quite a rare occurence and sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and accept that guests don’t read everything you send them. But having  a huge list of Terms & Conditions that mitigate against every type of digression that guests MAY commit will probably put a whole load of potential guests off.

All B&Bs need a good, but concise, set of Terms and Conditions. If they vary significantly from the norm, it’s probably worth having them checked by a solicitor to ensure you’re not breaking any discrimination laws.

If you don’t take pets, children or smokers, all this needs to be very clear to potential guests. But when you’ve written your T&Cs reread, reread and reread again. Put yourself in the shoes of your guests and see if anything in them is potentially offputting. If you’ve had to reduce the size of your font to pt 6 and have 2 columns to get everything onto 1 page you may be overdoing it. Also be wary of red font and underlining. Are your guests coming to a relaxing rural retreat or a prison camp?

Want To Run A B&B? Marry a Plumber

I remember, in the long distant days when I worked in an office 9-5 and had weekends off, chatting to the nice lady who cleaned the office loos. I came back to my desk and remarked to my colleague that it must be really nice to have a stress free job where you just cleaned the loos and then went home and didn’t worry about your job.

Many people come on my courses, currently living the 9-5 office existence, and long for the stress free existence of running a B&B. But I’m afraid there really is no stress free job.

The other week just as the guests walked in for breakfast, the power went. Now I’m lucky enough to own an AGA and a gas hob so, if I’ve planned, I can still cook breakfast. But I rely heavily on all of the electric gadgets in the kitchen; electric kettle, liquidiser for smoothie, orange juicer, toaster, grill, breadmaker….not to mention a fridge full of sausages & bacon slowly warming up.

If it’s your own home & the electricity goes, it can be a bit of an inconvenience. You tell the family they can dry their hair later, have cornflakes for breakfast and stop whinging about the lack of hot water. This isn’t so easy when you have guests in who are paying over £100 a night for the pleasure of staying in your luxury B&B.

Then there was the day when it rained and rained and rained. Rob started construction of an ark and gave the chickens straws to pull to decide which 2 would be coming with us. Unfortunately we have a dodgy water table & a poorly constructed septic tank ( oh for a mains water supply ), which filled with water and then overflowed all over the lawn. Of course it happened on a Friday afternoon and the septic tank emptying man was going home for his tea. So when the guests turned up ( to a house full of scented candles ) they were asked if they might minimise the loo flushing and not use the lovely large bath for two, or indeed shower. Luckily the septic tank emptying man, fresh from his Friday night, arrived the next morning. Unfortunately it was 6 in the morning – so there went the guests lie in……..

Or the time when the guests had a shower at 11.30 one night and, rather than turning the tap clockwise, tryed to pull it towards them, taking the whole thing of the wall, leaving water shooting into the bathroom.

And the incident involving the non flushing toilet & the bucket. Rob drove round all of Shropshire, Herefordshire & Powys looking for a spare toilet flushing part. But apparently the toilet, fitted 18 months before, was now defunct so there were no spare parts available and it required a new toilet to be fitted. This was beyond my husband’s plumbing capability so we needed to wait for our plumber. The guests who arrived that day were presented with a bucket - there was some confusion and a very panicked lady guest, who thought she was meant to use the bucket as a toilet, rather than to flush the toilet with – and a bottle of wine for the inconvenience.

The main problem with running your own business is that the buck stops with you. Something goes wrong at work, you may not want to, but you can always delegate up to your boss to take responsibility.

So if you decide to run a B&B, do so with your eyes wide open & be prepared:

1. Find a good local plumber & electrician ( when I say good I mean one that won’t mind dropping everything he or she’s doing – even at 3 in the morning and driving straight over ) or better still go on a plumbing course or marry a plumber
2. Make sure you know where the stopcock & fusebox are before you have an emergency
3. Have a stock of goodies in that you can give to guests to sweeten the experience when things go wrong or be prepared to give them a discount on their stay
4. Have a list of local B&Bs readily to hand and be prepared to pass your guests onto them
5. Make sure you have a freezer / fridge full of items that can be used if the breadmaker/juicer/liquidiser won’t work.
6. Have emergency, lights, heating &  cooking supply – my Mum used to cook some wicked breakfasts on a small campstove.
7. Finally pray that your guests are filled with that great British spirit & will enjoy the rustic pre electricity & running water living

Karen runs courses on how to Set Up, Run & Market a B&B.

www.bedandbreakfastacademy.co.uk

My Personal Twitter B&B Survival Guide

I’ve been using email since before email was really invented. When I first started at BA we had a mini computer system and we were able to send emails to other people in our team. Of course, even in those days, it was mostly used for gossip and illicit office romances. As early adopters, my future husband to be and I did most of our courting electronically during work time.

However, whilst I love email, Twitter was invented for me. All my life I’ve been thinking in 140 character sentences. Little anecdotes pop into my head, descriptions of what I’m seeing, something that’s made me laugh. But the big problem was was there was never anyone to share them with. So now I have Twitter and the world to share my thoughts with. And one thing I’ve discovered is that, as well as being able to share what’s in my head with everyone, Twitter is also pretty darn good for my business.

I’ve been on Twitter for 18 months and in the beginning I didn’t quite get it, but over that time I have evolved my own personal set of rules for using it effectively to promote my own B&B business. Now these aren’t THE rules for using Twitter. Maybe it’s my age but the more people tell me I should be doing something the less likely I am to want to do it. As B&B owners we have enough people telling us what to do; environmental health, the tax man, Visit Britain. So you are welcome to pay attention to these or not, use some and not others or just disagree with me completely.

What I do know is that I’ve had my busiest year ever and I attribute a large part of that to how I use Twitter & other social networking sites, so I must be doing something right.

1. Be Clear On How You Want Your Followers To See You

As B&B owners we all want guests to perceive us in a certain way; whether it be 5 star boutique luxury, relaxed rural idyll, romantic getaway etc. On Twitter we can show our followers what our B&B is like & also show them something of what we are like as B&B owners. So it’s good idea for you to decide how you want people to perceive you & your B&B on Twitter and then, for each tweet, assess whether that tweet is helping with that image or not.

I like to think that people see my B&B as luxurious but relaxed & friendly, set in a peaceful country setting with great and varied menus, lots of birds & wildlife & welcoming to dogs. As for me I’m a friendly person, willing to see the best in most people, good sense of humour, dog & bird lover, a good cook, happy to help others, chatty & very slightly naughty on occasion.

2. Don’t Tweet The Negative Stuff All The Time

Let’s be clear I’m not Pollyanna, I have bad days when nothing goes right just like everyone else. Very rarely a guest’s actions will really try my patience. But one of the things you have to do as a B&B owner is not let the guests see the bad days. The dog has died, you’ve got PMT and your husband has left you. It’s the guests’ 1st wedding anniversary, honeymoon, 60th birthday and they are paying to stay with you to have a good time, not to hear how dreadful your life is.

The trouble with Twitter is that there are lots of supportive people out there, so it’s very easy, when you’re feeling like hell, to tweet about it. But if you have prospective guests following you and all they see is one complaint after another they’re going to start to question whether you’re really a fun person to stay with.

This is where Direct Messaging comes into its own. Tweet the disasters in private to another B&B owner who understands what you’re going through!

3. But A Bit Of Self Effacement Can Be a Good Thing!

So I’m about to contradict myself. On the other side of the coin it can be really irritating to see someone constantly tweeting about how wonderful they are. Yes – I know you’re a 5 star luxury B&B with 3 zillion wonderful Tripadvisor reviews, I can see that from Tripadvisor & your website, but people also like to see you’re human.

So I think it’s ok to balance the good stuff with some of the things that go wrong, as long as the disasters are done in a humourous Sid James type of way. The tweet that had me breaking into giggles all night, and still has the same effect now, was from @ashtonlancaster. He describes chasing his dog around the garden, who is in turn chasing a guest, who James is yelling at to stop running.

4. How To Talk About Guests

My web designers run a great course on waking Up Your Website, and one of the things they discuss is room photos. Anna says it’s important for a B&B room to look lived in rather than looking like the Marie Celeste. Getting this right can be difficult; an open book next to the bed, a tea tray on a table, a pulled back bedcover is great. For me seeing people in the room is one step too far. I want to imagine myself in the room rather than some very attractive slim couple decked out in Boden.

So it is with guests on Twitter. If you never talk about your guests your followers may start to think you are the B&B equivalent of Miss Haversham, cooking huge amounts of food that never get eaten by anyone.

Criticising guests is a no no. At best followers will worry you will be tweeting all their inadequacies if they come and stay. At worst that guest may actually be following you on Twitter. But you also need to be careful about the nice things you say too. I think describing guests actions, that can’t actually be attributed to anyone specifically is probably the safest option; “Guests went up to the Jolly Frog and had a lovely anniversary dinner”

5. Give People A Reason To Follow You

As I said in my last blog post, Twitter is about Social Networking not Advertising Networking. People need a reason to follow you and , if all you’re ever doing is advertising your business, they will unfollow you just as quickly.

So find reasons for people to follow. I like to share recipes, breakfast ideas, information about events that are happening locally, nice photographs of the area & wildlife, useful resources & information

If people find what you say useful and interesting they will retweet you to their followers. I personally find that I pick up far more new followers after I’ve been retweeted than from #followfriday

6. Don’t Swear Or Be Rude To Others

In real life I can & do swear loudly. Remember the opening scene to Four Weddings & Funeral? Try being in my kitchen on an “everything going very badly day”. But I personally don’t like to see swearing online ( except to a very select few friends who I know very well & who you can safely not bother to spend time looking for a more suitable description of how I’m feeling).

On occasion I’ve said something on Twitter that someone has objected to. I think it’s really important not to get into an argument on Twitter. If you feel the need, take it to Direct Message. Sometimes someone has said something that has really offended or upset me, but my Twitter business account is not the place to start a public arguments. For that reason….

7. Never Discuss Sex, Religion, Politics

These are 3 topics that turn my blood cold when I hear them being discussed over the breakfast table. I quickly change the subject and will do my best not to be drawn into any conversations about them. I will also studioulsy avoid on Twitter – best really.

8. Reply, Retweet, Engage

This is pretty standard Twitter advice. Twitter is about building relationships. You can only do that if you interact with others. Be useful, if it’s asked for, give advice, thank people, have conversations. It’s what takes time but it’s what makes the difference between Twitter being an effective business tool & it just been a waste of time that you give up after 3 months.

9. Break Your Twitter Rules

Anyone who has been following me for any amount of time knows that I regularly break 1-7 of my Twitter Rules. It’s the joy of self employment, providing I’m not breaking the law or upsetting the tax man, I can do what I like. But even when I’m breaking my rules I’m assessing the potential impact on my business.

So my daughter’s about to go to university, be prepared for sobbing empty nester B&B Landlady Tweets ( I’m really not that old – child bride virtually ) and please be gentle with me!

Please Put Your Business Card Away

When I first started out in business on my own, there was no LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter. The only way to network was to get off your backside, get in a car and attend a N.E.T.W.O.R.K.I.N.G. event.

Oh how I hated those meetings. What shall I wear? Have I got my business Cards? What’s my 60 second elevator pitch? Who shall I talk to? Is there anyone in here not wearing a grey suit? I remember approaching people, thrusting my business card at them and blurting out my speech on what I did and how it could benefit them immensely. It never worked, they grimaced, their eyes glazed over and I just longed to run to the car and head home to a nice bath & a bottle of wine.

It was only when I moved to Shropshire and attended my first Women in Rural Enterprise & Craven Arms Business Network events that I really started to understand what networking was all about. It’s not about who has the best elevator speech, the smartest grey suit or the most professionally produced business card, it’s about building relationships. People buy from and recommend people they like and trust.

Now we have Twitter & it’s a great way of networking online. The problem is people on Twitter keep thrusting their metaphorical business cards at me and giving me their 60 second elevator speeches. You can tweet me as much as you want about how your B&B is the best in your area or you’re running a special offer this weekend. Unless I know you & like you I am not going to come and stay with you or recommend you.

The clue’s in the name really, SOCIAL networking. It’s not Advertising Networking or Selling Networking. Twitter works by creating relationships with people and showing those people what you offer. Simples!

The other mistake I see people making ( and indeed the mistake I made at the beginning ) is that they think Twitter is just there for meeting future guests . Twitter is so much more that just trying to persuade all of your followers to come & stay at your B&B.

So who am I building relationships with?

1. Local Suppliers

One thing that has amazed me about Twitter is the huge number of people that I have met locally, both virtual meetings & real life ones. I have met new suppliers, @pimhillfarm do wonderful organic oats, @dragonfly_dawn makes wonderful environmentally friendly soaps, @brockhallfarm great goat’s cheese, @abundantludlow for beautiful flowers and other great bits & bobs, as well as fab dog & guaranteed hug.

Suppliers pay attention now – If I’m in a shop and see a range of products I will choose products of people I know and chat with on Twitter over products from people I don’t know. I like you so I am coming from the position of wanting to really like your product as well.

2.  B&Bs and Accomodation Providers

I’ve networked with B&Bs locally all of the time I’ve been running my business, but it’s only since I’ve been on Twitter that I’ve met like minded tourism operators. The great thing about Twitter is that you can meet people online and through chatting with them decide whether you’ve really got things in common.

We share ideas, recipes, discuss issues, provide an ear ( via direct message ) when things are going disastrously wrong. Sometimes it’s really only people in the same industry who can understand how you’re feeling.

When people ring me and I’m full it’s my local Twitter friends who get the referrals, because I like them, but also because I am constantly reminded that they are there.

3. Journalists, Radio Presenters, PR professionals and the like

Twitter is a great way of getting PR. Requests are coming out all the time for people with different stories to tell in magazines and newspapers. I’ve been in Good Housekeeping, The Mail, The Times and Woman & Home this year and I know I can attribute at least one of those directly to relationships I’ve built on Twitter.

Also by following your local journalists & making friends with local radio presenters & PR professionals you can see what they’re interested in story wise and improve your chances of getting local publicity, which is not to be underestimated when you run a B&B. Visiting Friends and Family is a target market that any B&B owners ignores at their peril.

4. Tourism Professionals

There are lots of great tourism professionals and experts out there on Twitter. I’ve made friends with a few and benefit considerably from their expertise. Our local Virtual shropshire @vshropshire is a great example of how to use Twitter as a tourism organisation. @forfeng and @abouttheinn over in the states share great articles on hospitality and give sound advice

5. Potential guests, past guests or friends of both potential & past guests

So everyone who is following you is a potential/past guest or is a friend of a potential/past guest. Since that very first B&B landlady first donned her apron, picked up her rolling pin & decided how much to charge for the bath plug, B&Bs have been relying on recommendation and word of mouth. And Twitter is the ULTIMATE word of mouth.

But don’t just tell people how wonderful you are. Why should I believe you that you’re the best B&B in Outer Mongolia if that’s all you ever tweet? Paint a picture –  describe your breakfasts, post pictures of the views, tell them about great days out, share recipes, details of events.

Most importantly create relationships with them, reply, retweet, engage! People generally stay at B&Bs becase they prefer the more personal touch. They like the recommendations, the chat – reflect what you’re doing in your business on Twitter. When guests first arrive or come to breakfast do you spend the time saying “We won a gold award in the tourism awards this year”, “Did you know we’re the best B&B locally?” – probably not?

6. Friends

Running a B&B can paradoxically be a very lonely profession. You’re very much tied to the house, especially if you’re a one man band. I’ve made lots of friends on Twitter and I’ve actually gone out much more meeting people in real life than I would have done otherwise. I’m meeting up with another 2 new people this week. I’ve also reconnected with people I used to know, casual acquaintences who have gone onto become firmer friends.

Next week I shall be sharing my own personal Twitter Rules…..you may choose to ignore them, I frequently break them myself. In the meantime, take off the grey suit & rip up that business card.

No Sorry The Marketing Manager Is Out

You can almost guarantee that the minute I leave my desk and pick up my mop and duster the phone will ring. On a good day it will be someone wanting to make a booking on a date I have available, but as most of my guests book online, it will usually be someone wanting to sell me something. And once or twice a day that something will be advertising space on a holiday accommodation directory.

Now it sort of depends on what sort of day I’m having as to how I respond to these phone calls. But imagine this, you’ve got 4 B&B rooms, a dining room & kitchen to clean, a cake to make, a dog to walk, shopping to buy and this is the 4th such call you’ve had to race down the stairs to get today.

“Hello, may I speak to the Marketing Manager or person in charge of advertising?”

“You’re speaking to her, who’s calling?”

“Oh hello this is Sunshine B&B Holiday directory, we have a special offer on at the moment and can offer you a premium listing for only £95 for a year”

“I’m sorry I’m not interested”

The wise salesperson at the other end of the phone will now say “Thank you for your time then, Goodbye” Unfortunately this is rarely the case

“Can you tell me why you’re not interested?”

“I’m very happy with how my B&B is being promoted at the moment and I’m not looking for any more advertising”

“But this is only £95, you only have to make one booking through us and you’ve paid for your listing.”

Now here’s the rub. As well as 2 or 3 calls a day, I also receive the same number of emails asking me to join a directory. I once worked out ( just for fun ) that if I joined every directory that contacted me I’d need a marketing budget in excess of £60,000 a year. So you see I could advertise with every directory who contacted me and, yes, the bookings I made would probably cover the cost but there’s little point in being in business if virtually all of my turnover  just covers my advertising costs.

This is the point where you need to be tough & don’t let these clever sales people play on your insecurities about your business. I’m an experienced B&B owner and B&B marketeer, I know what works for my business in terms of marketing and I’m no longer worried about just putting the phone down on someone f they’re taking my time and refuse to take the hint. But  when I was just starting up I would panic everytime I got one of these calls. If I don’t advertise with these people will I lose out on business?

I’m not anti B&B directories. There are some good ones out there. I’m just anti some of the tactics employed to push people into buying advertising.

So how do I decide which directories to join?

1. Decide on a marketing budget for a year and try and stick to it. For a new B&B I was told that the rule of thumb is to allocate 20% of your projected turnover to marketing in the first year – remember this needs to include your website and search engine optimisation.
2. Join some free directories. There are several directories that offer a free basic listing. The advantage of being listed on these, provided they allow you a link to your own website, is that they provide incoming links to your website which will help with Search Engine Optimisaion.
3. Ask B&B owners locally what works for them. Some local websites work very well at attracting guests into the area.
4. Make sure you measure which marketing is working for you. Get Google Analytics on your website – it’s free and will give you loads of information, but probably most importantly will tell you which directories are sending people to your website, how many pages they’re viewing & how long they spend on your site.
5. Ask your guests when they book how they found you ( if you’ve got online booking, have a drop down box with the same question ). No point asking people when they arrive as the answer will be “The Internet”
6. Take up any offers of free advertising for 3 or 6 months. These will give you a chance to see if that particular directory is working for you.
7. If you decide you want to join a directory, go to Google and type the keywords that people would use to find a B&B in your area. So I would type in “B&B shropshire” or similar. If the directory isn’t appearing on the front page I would ask how that directory attracts potential B&B guests.
8. Ask if the directory is using social networking to promote their customer. People running these sites should be experts in marketing – that’s their job - and if they’re not using all the opportunities possible to get customers to their site, I want to know why.

When you start out you may not get it right - I made some colossal advertising mistakes in the beginning - but by tracking your stats & knowing where people find you you can start to be brutal & cut out the directories that don’t work for you.

Finally, if you own an accommodation directory and are told you’re speaking to the cleaner and that the marketing manager is out, take the hint and take me off your contact list.