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You may have specific ideas about who will come to your B&B and what facilities will attract them, but your ideas need to be backed up by solid market research. Your customers may be attracted to your locale because of tourist attractions, such as historical sites or theater festivals, or they may be seeking a relaxing weekend “getaway.” The reputation of the B&B itself is also important (although it usually takes some time to build up the kind of reputation that attracts customers to your B&B by name alone).

It is in your best interest to do market research before you open for business, otherwise you may be trying to attract customers who do not exist, or you may be offering facilities and services that are not in demand.

You need to collect enough information to answer the following four basic questions:

(a) What attracts visitors to your area?

(b) How many of these visitors are potential B&B customers?

(c) What facilities and services do they want?

(d) What local competition do you face?

When you have answered these questions, you will have completed your market research. Keep a record of all costs encountered during your research and keep all your receipts; you will be documenting these costs at the end of this chapter.