• Contact other bed & breakfast owners in your area to ask how long it took them to open their business from the time they first started planning. Ask some of the basics: When do they take vacations? What are the most active tourist seasons for your area? Do they run all the operations or do they hire help to clean and cook? What do they do if they have guests and have an emergency?

•  Take a class. At business schools and community colleges there are often community education classes offered. Check your local school listing for business classes being offered to the community. You could also ask your local Chamber of Commerce or other business affiliations to see if they are offering workshops in your area

• Find out if the B&B owners in your area have any kind of cooperative agreement between then. Many do. If so, meet with them to ask about their successes and things they’d do differently to help you decide what to include in your business plan

• Do it yourself. Business plans are a difficult and cumbersome task, but necessary for business loans and successful first years. The key to doing it yourself is to understand the intricacies of your business which also allows you to give a better presentation increasing your chances for a loan.

• Consider a business plan writer or specialist. These are people and companies that are skilled in writing business plans and often have many years of experience and success. You can check their references before purchasing to make sure. One such company is the Plan Magic Corporation where you purchase an easy-to-use template for only less than $150.

• Invest in a business plan software program. They are readily available at office supply stores and other business resource places. Palo Alto Software company makes Business Plan Pro, a great business plan software with templates for every kind of business and they also have marketing plan software for taking that next step in your bed and breakfast development.

• Take a class. At business schools and community colleges there are often community education classes offered. Check your local school listing for business classes being offered to the community. You could also ask your local Chamber of Commerce or other business affiliations to see if they are offering workshops in your area.

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