Start Your Own Bed & Breakfast: Your Step-By-Step Guide to Success

This book offers the reader an indepth look into opening and running a successful Bed and Breakfast. Although I have not been able to put any of the information learned through reading this book to use, I am planning on it in the not too distant future. Much of the information is pretty straight-forward and dull, as with any textbook is read like a novel, it was interesting to find out what is acceptable in the business and what isn't. In otherwords, you just can't stick a sign out in your front yard. In many states, counties, and municipalities you have to have approval to open as a B & B, and will come under much scrutiny by your neighbors, as well as others in higher places. This book along with "Open Your Own Bed and Breakfast" by Barbara Notarius are excellent primers and must reads for those inspiring innkeepers of the future.

[reposted from a comment] Apparently, the product description does this book a disservice. The authors recognize that most folks who dream of opening a B & B don't realize how much work it's going to be, which is why they remind the reader of this on **nearly every page.** There are fairly detailed worksheets for nearly every aspect of the business, outlining all the little things a B & B owner needs to think about. The realities of what running a B & B would entail comprise the majority of the book. Most of all, the authors recommend not jumping straight in, but apprenticing oneself to an existing B & B for a few months to a year, to learn the business and see if you've got the temperament for it. My only problem with this book is that the authors consistently refer back to the basic Entrepreneur Press How to Start a Business manual, rather than go into detail about some of processes not specific to running a B & B. I know they did it to keep this book shorter, but it felt like they were pushing you to buy that other book, where they could have made this one richer instead. If it weren't for this, I'd have given this book 5 stars. For all the effervescently sunny and (a bit) cheesy tone, it's actually a very practical and helpful manual. I got this first edition from my public library (to see if it's worth buying), and now I'm waiting for the second edition to arrive so I can compare the two.