My husband and I just left our favorite B&B - Olde World Bed and Breakfast in Dover, Ohio after a wonderful weekend. As I promised in my previous blog posts (one, two, and three) I interviewed the owner. I’ll share this interview with you in two parts:
Linda and Ronnie Stroup (young baby boomers) became proud owners of Olde World Bed and Breakfast in June of last year (I was there and met her during the transition this same week in 2007). Their journey to ownership actually goes back many years, as Linda had a dream of owning a B&B for many years. There were two ‘trigger’ events that made them decide to make the change and buy a B&B:
First, Linda went to a leadership seminar in Cleveland, and the seminar director gave each participant an assignment to answer these questions: 1. What is your passion? 2. What are you doing to get to it? These questions really got her to thinking about making a change
Second, Linda and Ronnie stayed in a B&B in December 2007. This was the first time he had ever stayed in one, and he loved it! He stated, “If this is your passion, what are we waiting for?”
They started immediately looking all over the country for B&B’s to purchase. They focused on ones they could afford, and they also looked for two main locations: tourist areas and major university towns. Linda said cities with these qualifications have the best potential for success.
The Stroups found Olde World from a B&B “for sale” listing online, and they were excited because they both loved the Tuscarawas valley and the B&B was in a great tourist area - the Amish country of Holmes County, Ohio. They went to visit, Linda states when she walked in the door, she knew this was the one.
Then came the difficult part - negotiating a price and finding funding. They were buying a “turn-key” operation, since all the furnishings were going with the business. The massive banks turned them down, but they were able to find funding from a local bank, but had to pay for a consultant to process the SBA paperwork. (I’ve never heard of this; I thought the SBA would help with this if the bank wasn’t comfortable doing it. I will find out about this from my local SBA person and let you know….). It was also difficult for the bank to estimate the value of “goodwill” (the number of loyal returning customers, like me and my family). Finally, they’d the negotiations done and were ready to begin the business.
Tomorrow: The first year, and the 3 things you need to start a Bed a Breakfast. Stay tuned….
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