INNfocusmeetings.com: Management consulting and operational services for innkeepers

Consulting Services

On-going Innkeeping

Are you feeling overwhelmed and need to get away to relax? I know the feeling! When high season was done, so was I! I did not want to see another muffin pan or baked apple French toast! The problem was finding that special person who could cook for a crowd, manage the daily business of producing revenue, handle conflicts in reservations, operations personnel, and services, and just fill in 50% of the innkeeper’s shoes!

Things that I learned as an innkeeper/owner:

1. Have a trained person onsite who can stand in for you in all regards: innkeeping; financial; decision making; online operations; emergency situations.

2. Prepare an operations and policy manual for the interim innkeeper.

3. Prepare incoming guests—especially those having a special event—that you will not be there.

4. Murphy’s Law takes over when you take your first vacation in years. Hurricanes, floods, and other disasters happen to everyone.

5. Make certain that communications on all levels are in place and working: online reservations; email reading/responding; telephone answering; coverage for same-day/night guest arrivals.

In addition to full-time innkeeping – with all of its working parts – INNfocusmeetings.com can provide other services including but not limited to the following:

Remote operation of your online property management system, telephone, and email, and other online services.
Catering for small parties.
Meeting with potential wedding and/or special event prospects.
Developing a business plan.
Consulting on your inn regarding current trends and upgrades to existing accommodations, furnishings, and services.
Meeting facilitation.
Pre-sale, post-sale consulting.

Pre- and/or Post-purchase/sale Phases of Inn Acquisition

It is the nature of the business that it reflects the personality of the innkeeper and so if you are looking to purchase an inn, you need to be able to really get into the personality of the business.

To give you a few examples of things to ask:

Does the innkeeper have to run her or him self ragged? Is it because they do not have enough staff?

What are the financials for the inn?
Does it or will it support two people?
What’s the location like?
Is this a “community property?”
What are the guests comments like?
What is its presence on the Internet?

There are many things to know that the average, aspiring innkeeper(s) does not have access to unless you know what to ask and where to look for the answers. As a successful innkeeper, providing the financials for my inn to potential buyers was easy because I had the computer expertise to maintain an audit trail for 10 years of operations.

INNfocusmeetings.com can help you in your pursuit of a business or the expansion of your existing inn. Some of the services we would provide are:

Evaluation of the existing inn(s) for purchase: Financials; Internet visibility; location; history; future growth potential; current quality standards vs. future needs.
Developing a business plan for purchase financing: Cash flow; occupancy potential; Pro Forma for five (5) year plan.
Recommendation to financial institutions for mortgage loans.
Training for computer and general operations, marketing, sales, and maintenance.
Interior design and decorating for business & leisure travelers: Evaluate requirements to attract guests based upon market segments that will mean success.
Internet advertising and promotion: 85% of my business for 10 years came from the Internet with over 700 hooks into sites from A-Z.
Transition operation of the inn, short term.
Consulting in all aspects of buying or selling, or owning and running a successful inn: Marketing, sales, operations, housekeeping, inventory control, kitchen and restaurant management, personnel, provisioning, and cooking for a crowd.
Computer Operations - including online reservation systems and accounting software. Thirty-five years spent in the computer business before becoming an innkeeper. Expect recommend systems--hardware and software applications--that will be right for you and your business needs.
Project Management - facilitation is available from the search through the move-in of your inn.
Marketing – Beginning with answering the phone and the door and taking reservations; pricing your rooms to meet the competition; meeting objections and objectives; determining where you need to be on the Internet; advertising to get more bang for the buck.