Lessons learnt from the B&B: 2 years on

Our family just completed 2 years of running a Bed & Breakfast/ home stay. Looking back, we realise that we stepped into this venture quite blindly, which is not advisable at all when starting a new business. Due to lack of experience, we did no prior market research or risk assessment. However, we've learnt a thing or two along the way.

We are still a no-profit business with 7 more years to go on our loan repayments. Essentially, still in the danger zone. Amid challenges and ongoing improvements, we've come to enjoy certain aspects of this little family business. Meeting open-minded people from various cultural backgrounds in various parts of the world have been interesting and rewarding. Hosting and being hospitable gives a warm feeling of satisfaction. A few guest-host relationships have progressed into good friendships.

I've even found my parents' thinking and perceptions changing and expanding slowly.

Shuri: Mom, this guest has an interesting profile. He does a lot of social work in health with vulnerable communities and seems to have an impressive educational background.
Mom: Then he's ideal for you.
Shuri: I think he might be gay.
Mom: No, I meant ideal for the type of projects you do for work.
Shuri: (Embarrassed for walking into that trap, impressed by her wittiness AND her indifference to sexual orientation). Oh. *mind blows*.

Mom: Don't you want to find a partner like the type of backpacker couples that come here?
Shuri: What type is that?
Mom: They seem genuinely happy, are loving towards each other and enjoy traveling without the extra baggage of kids and being overly attached to their jobs and maintaining houses.
Shuri: Yeah, that would be nice.

Of course, not all guest experiences are rosy.

Once, a guest left at the end of his stay without payment. Some are difficult to please and expect 5-star facilities and services for a low budget, some guests leave negative reviews despite our best efforts to keep them comfortable and we've had to bear small damages to property sometimes (because we noticed it after the guests left).

Like a cascade effect, several people and businesses around us have stood to benefit from our business. For example, Kumudu, our helper with housekeeping has a better paying job now for less tiring work (compared to her previous job). Another lady who earns a living by running a grocery store and making string hoppers receives orders from us. The bakery in our neighbourhood has increased sales for sliced bread. Many other grocery stores benefit from our purchases for the B&B supplies. Another family nearby provides accommodation to drivers who bring some of our guests. Take-out restaurants in the area benefit from the increased number of orders from tourists. Many tuk tuk drivers in the area benefit from offering transport and tours to our guests.

Our operations team has also evolved over time to take up various fitting roles, depending on each one's interests, abilities and availability:

Mom - Guest Relations, Chef, Local Buyer, Head of Housekeeping
Dad - Finance, Tours and Transport, Repairs and Maintenance, Garden and Garden Harvests
Bro - Transport, Repairs and Maintenance
Sister - Overseas Buyer
Nicky, our dog - Assistant Guest Relations Officer
Shuri - Hotel Reservations, Human Resources, Records Administrator, Consultant, Naturalist, Quality Control, Marketing, Innovation, Sustainability

Shu's titles boils down to these actually:

Hotel Reservations (making sure the booking calendar doesn't clash with accidental double bookings and responding to inquiries from guests and potential guests), Human Resources (managing people when they become difficult including family, keeping them happy and motivated, and resolving disputes), Records Administrator (meticulously filing, collecting data in spreadsheets and carrying out analyses), Consultant (having to provide information for family friends and others who want advice with starting their own home stays), Naturalist (attempting to generate interest in the environment and wildlife), Quality Control (nitpicking and throwing fits when standards fall - the family hates having me around for weekends for this reason), Marketing (showing off our property listing online and trying to "seduce" guests into booking with us), Innovation (trying out new and wacky ideas, because no one's there to stop it), Sustainability (trying to be environmentally friendly and ethical to the best extent possible).

Sri Lanka is an increasingly popular destination for international travelers and expatriates who return home to visit friends and relatives. In 2013, Lonely Planet nominated Sri Lanka as the #1 destination in the world to visit. In 2015, Forbes Magazine ranked the island among the “Top Ten Coolest Countries” to visit. Condé Nast Traveler, Rough Guides, Lonely Planet, The Guardian, and the New York Times identified Sri Lanka as a top location to visit in 2016. In 2017, guests from 39 countries stayed at our B&B (up from 26 in 2016).

Travel trends in Sri Lanka are seasonal. Six months of the year are considered the high season according to the national statistics; January, February, March, July, August and December.

National Statistics

According to the Annual Statistical Report 2016 of the Sri Lanka Tourism Tourism Development Board, the average occupancy is 74.76% while the hill country (which we belong to) records 75.24%. However, we still have a long way to go in matching the national statistics. And theoretically, it's difficult to match since we can't employ full-time permanent staff yet and we close operations when the family needs time off.

Statistics from our B&B for 2016 and 2017

Here are some of our lessons learnt, two years on:

1. Don't let the competition intimidate you

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Board (SLTDA) actively promotes locals to open their homes to tourists. They use annual visitor statistics to back this. The result is an unregulated bloom of tourist guesthouses, home stays and apartments in all the major cities of Sri Lanka. We don't have an accurate count of such establishments in our city (not all are registered with SLTDA), but we estimate there are close to 500 in our city alone. While competition can give tourists attractive rates and a range of options to choose from, the competition hurts many businesses, especially those who have made big initial investments. In comparison, banks, which readily provide high interest loans to homeowners for tourism services, and the tourist board itself, which collects a registration fee and an annual license from registered tourist establishments, stand at an advantage.

Despite all this, using constructive criticism to one's advantage, being confident in your own unique brand (despite what your competitors do), experimenting with new ideas without fear, seeking advice from experts, and continuously thinking of creative ways to enhance guest experiences are some of the things that will help the business stay in the game.


2. It is a lot of hard work. Having a good team helps a lot. 

It's round-the-clock work, especially during tourist peak season - which is about 4 months in the year for us. We now have extra help with housekeeping. Still, managing calendars, responding to guest inquiries, arranging transport and tours, doing the breakfast service, shopping, paying bills, maintenance of facilities and managing accounts requires time.

Given the level of coordination required, a good team and good communication is a must. They must be trustworthy and capable. Managing the team involves identifying each other's strengths, quirks and the little things that drive them.

It's my parents, mostly my mom, who run the show at our B&B. It helps that she's the only pure extrovert in the family. As an unintended impact, we seem to have grown closer as a family and improved in our communication while running the operations of this B&B.


3. Reviews can make you or break you 

Everyone these days checks online reviews for travel recommendations, hotel reservations and tour operators. True enough, that's the most reliable feedback out there. Bygone are the days when tourism operators and establishments can hoodwink tourists with a lack of transparency in dealings. Modern tourists are well informed through various travel aides and experienced with travel. And as a responsible traveler, it has become one's obligation to leave honest feedback online for the benefit of others. This has made the world smaller and traveling a bit safer, which is good.

A guest review is final and permanent as far as hotel listings go. At times, maintaining ratings is like having to maintain an outstanding report card in school. Slacking will affect ratings and therefore sales.

What it means for service providers is that they will be held strictly accountable for their attitude, quality of service and facilities. This is where things like genuineness, empathy and attention to details scores the brownie points. Most important of all, we have to understand that our guests are people who, just like us, expect honesty and clear communication.

~ ~ ~ 

We don't know what the future holds for our B&B, but we'll try to make it a good one.



References:

Sri Lanka Tourism Strategic Plan 2017-2020. Downloaded on 6th January 2018 from http://www.sltda.lk/sites/default/files/tourism-strategic-plan-2017-to-2020.pdf 

Annual Statistical Report 2016. Downloaded on 6th January 2018 from http://www.sltda.lk/sites/default/files/annual-statical-report-2016.pdf

Setting up a business

Right about the time I stopped blogging in 2014, my family started a major construction project. It is no wonder that my mental faculties were far too occupied to enjoy leisurely pursuits like writing.

It started out as an idea to build a tiny affordable annex which could be rented out to a local family. The main drive for this was so my parents would have a supplementary income while I was unemployed during postgraduate study. Or so I initially thought.

When the idea went through all members of my family, it didn't take long for the idea to grow and evolve into something quite different from the original plan. Our family is divided between high-risk and low-risk takers in the ratio of 2 : 2. My sister being the ambitious one gently nudged us to take a bigger risk by tapping into the tourism industry. My mother was excited about the prospect from the start. The two low-risk takers were hesitant at first, but considering the facts at hand, they slowly warmed up to the idea and tweaked it to a more sensible one.

Many telephone, Whatsapp and Skype conversations later, it was decided that we were going to have a small bed & breakfast inn for budget-conscious travelers. Since we happen to be located in a popular city of historic/ cultural importance in Sri Lanka, it seemed worth a shot. Worst case scenarios included a failed business or being summoned to court for missing on housing loan repayments. Best case scenarios included a successful business or even simply ending up with an additional comfortable house.

This was the first time our family worked together on a project of this scale. It was no easy task to coordinate things when we were all in three different countries. Jobs were divided according each one's abilities and personalities.

My mother was the "Construction Manager/ Buyer" supervising and coordinating things on site with the contractors, vendors and other authorities. Despite our regular input from overseas, she is the real hero for completing the construction phase. My sister was the "Advisor/ Master Decorator" who gave an artistic touch worthy of a small business. I was more of a laid back "Project Manager/ Financial Controller" giving the yes/no to anything that involved costs, taking care of a multitude of details that the others missed and constantly pointing out things that needed improvement. My foster brother worked alongside the contractors so the building probably has more of his sweat and blood than any one else in the family. My father didn't play a very active role in the construction phase except perhaps keeping us grounded when our imaginations stretched far beyond our budget. Also I presume, he'll be the one to bail us out of jail some day when we fall back on housing loan repayments and the authorities come to seize the property!

Clearing the land in preparation for construction. Unfortunately, many trees and plants which were dearly looked after by my father were uprooted to make space for this house

From the ground

Slowly taking shape

Ta daa! The nearly-finished product

The major part of the construction project was completed in about 12 months' time. Looking back now, it feels like a dream. In December 2015, after much effort, stress and sacrifices from all family members, we were ready to welcome our first guests. The house was complete with 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining hall and a laundry room. There is more to be done, but we had to stop when we ran out of financial resources about the same time that I quit my job.

Every adversity in life comes with valuable lessons and experiences. For us, the project brought our family members closer than we had ever been before. This was the perfect team building activity to work together, enjoy the successes and failures, mend strained ties as a result of prolonged periods of separation and appreciate each other more - while this "baby" of ours grew from a small idea to a tangible structure.

Not only that, it was a huge learning experience. We all learnt about things we never knew about before the project commenced. My brother for example, being extraordinarily skilled, picked up the basic skills of masonry, carpentry, welding, wiring and tiling while working as an apprentice. Someday, he should be able to easily build his own little house. As for myself, I didn't know that careful planning of building layouts and obsessing over minor details would greatly appeal to my over-thinking nature (IKEA was my new best friend for inspiration).

The end of the construction phase signaled the beginning of the operations phase, which was another new subject in itself. My sister's knowledge and experience in the hospitality sector proved helpful in setting up things and shaping our mindset to a service-oriented one. Again, we had to learn a lot - about catering to various types of guests, housekeeping, managing reservations, finances, getting various licences, networking with tour operators, upgrading facilities, marketing, etc - from scratch. My mother who's very extroverted and my father who's genuinely helpful and informed have been assigned front office roles while I support them when I'm around. My mother is also the Head Chef since she is a great cook. My brother continues to support us in minor construction work. 

I happily settled to doing the back-end job of managing the online presence of the business. Also, since I don't have a lot of other practical skills and we can't afford to employ anyone yet, I have been left with the not-so-fun role of Head Housekeeper. And for someone who spent many years being a "happy bachelor" away from family, devoid of any household responsibilities, and sometimes even sneering at householders for having to clean houses regularly, it looks like I've been served by the Cosmic Joker.

Life does throw you curveballs. Helping to set up a family business was nowhere in my list of personal goals or priorities, but here we are. On the down side, this project set me back financially, forced me to take the difficult decision of returning to Sri Lanka to pursue a no-so-ideal local degree and miss my highly independent life in Singapore. On the up side, the time with family has been invaluable, just like peaceful natural surroundings I wake up to every day (and which I have dearly missed for many years), the food and the abundance of pets. And it is dawning on me that Sri Lanka (though far from being a perfect country) is perhaps one of the best places on Earth to study nature and wildlife.

Whether the recent decisions I took were good ones remains to be seen. Till then, I am going to make the most of my stay here. As I typed some parts of this post sitting on the floor outside my front door, my dog stood guard by my feet, I heard birds chirp and noticed that the soothing winds which brushed over my skin also caused the leaves in the garden to rustle.

Hello, my new life in Sri Lanka.