Vineyard Bed and Breakfast Business Plan

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Vineyard Bed and Breakfast Business Plan

Executive Summary

The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast is a charming bed and breakfast (B&B) located in the Lorane Valley, outside of Eugene, OR. The valley is well known for its beauty and concentration of vineyards. The B&B will be set up as a sole proprietorship of Missy Stewart. The B&B will reside in The Stewart’s newly renovated home. Their home is the center piece for the entire B&B experience. Each of the five rooms have their own private bath. The facility has a wonderful centralized living room for the socialization of the guests, a private garden patio, and an on-site winery on the Stewart’s 10 acres of land. To top things off, every room has 65% of their walls as windows offering guests an unprecedented view of the valley.

The Market
Within the hospitality industry, The Enchanted Vineyard will be competing with hotels and other B&Bs. Although The Enchanted Vineyard competes with hotels, their direct competitors are other B&Bs. Enchanted’s facilities are far nicer than other B&Bs for its size. All of the smaller (less than 9 rooms) B&B are a fairly standard house converted into a B&B, nothing noteworthy. Enchanted Vineyard on the other hand is a newly renovated house and vineyard in a picturesque setting.

The Enchanted Vineyard will be targeting three distinct groups. The first is weekend getaway travelers, generally people from Eugene looking to escape for the weekend. Eugene is a wonderful town in the Willamette River valley nationally renowned for its wineries, cycling and old growth trees. This customer group is growing at 11% a year with 12,000 potential customers. The second group is out-of-town travelers which is growing at 10% with 18,000 potential customers. The last group of customers the B&B is targeting are University of Oregon travelers. The university brings thousands of visitors to Eugene whether they are professors, speakers, or parents. Once a relationship has been established with the U of O, it will be a constant stream of business. This customer group is growing at 17% with 12,000 potential customers.

Competitive Edge
The Enchanted Vineyard has two distinct competitive edges that differentiates it from the competition. The first is the never-ending attention to detail and customer service. The Stewarts recognize that their mission is to ensure that their customers have the finest stay with them. Both Missy and John will do whatever it takes to ensure the customer’s happiness. Their second competitive edge is the unique facility. The facility is so wonderful in part because of the actual structure which is a wonderful place to stay. It is also unique because of the location, overlooking the Lorane Valley, a beautiful area filled with wineries and vineyards.

Management Team
The Enchanted Vineyard will be able to execute on its strong business model because of its management. Missy has earned her MBA providing her with invaluable business skills. While Missy was pursuing her MBA, she was on a team of five students that opened up their own service business. Lastly, Missy has spent numerous years in the B&B industry, providing her with amazing insight and experience directly related to what she is doing now.

The Enchanted Vineyard will be able to leverage its amazing facility and turn it into a beautiful, special B&B serving the Eugene community. This will be done by the passion and experience of Missy Stewart, the sole proprietor. The B&B will become profitable by year two and will earn over $77,000 in revenue by the end of year three.

1.1 Mission

The Mission of The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast is to provide the finest B&B experience. We exist to attract and maintain customers. When we adhere to this maxim, everything else will fall into place. Our services will exceed the expectations of our customers.

1.2 Objectives

The objectives of The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast for the first three years of operation include:

• To create a B&B whose primary goal is to exceed customer’s expectations.
• The usage of The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast by visitors every week through out the year.
• To increase our number of clients by 20% per year through superior service.
• To develop a sustainable business, surviving off its own cash flow.

Company Summary

The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast, located in the Lorane Valley, will offer a luxurious, quaint B&B for people to enjoy. The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast will have four individual rooms with private baths, a central living room/socializing area, a garden patio, and an adjoining vineyard for its guests.

2.1 Company Ownership

The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast is a sole proprietorship of Missy Stewart. The B&B uses John and Missy’s home as the Inn.

2.2 Start-up Summary

The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast start-up expenses include:

• Home office equipment including: computer, copier, fax machine, extra telephone line, desk and filing cabinet.
• Extra computer for the living room with Internet access via a DSL line.
• Website creation.
• Advertising/association dues for the local B&B association.
• Remodeling of the house to add two individual bedrooms with baths, a patio and to enlarge the common areas.

Please note that the cost of the remodeling will be depreciated using the straight line method over a 30-year schedule. Although the Inn will have to finish their research into tax law, it does appear that the Inn will be allowed to depreciate the remodeling as the additions will be used only for business.

Services

The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast is a small, attractive B&B that offers travelers a secluded, relaxed setting for a weekend getaway, change of scenery, sports or cultural events, family occassions, U of O events, etc. The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast has a large central gathering room that allows travelers to socialize. The customers will receive the personal attention of the Stewarts, who will meet any need a traveler has.

The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast provides a wonderful breakfast feast and can meet any dietary restriction. The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast is centrally located about 15 minutes from downtown Eugene in the heart of the Lorane Valley wine country. In fact, The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast has its own vineyard which grows grapes for local wineries and clients are encouraged to explore The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast’s 10 acres of land.

Market Analysis Summary

The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast has three different target groups that it is attempting to attract. The first are people from the region that just want to get away for the weekend. They may have activities planned for the weekend, or just chose to vegetate. The second group are travelers who are passing through Eugene and prefer to stay in B&Bs instead of a hotel/motel. The last group is any customer affiliated with the local school, the University of Oregon. This group may be parents of students or visiting the University on official business and the University is the entity that sets up the reservation. While The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast will certainly get customers that fall outside of these groups, this classification should be fairly accurate.

4.1 Market Segmentation

Our customers can be broadly divided into three groups (please note it is possible to divide the customers in to much smaller groups, but we have chosen not to):

1. Weekend getaway customers. These people are from the region and are looking to get away from their life so they come to The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast to be pampered and escape.
2. Travelers. These people, for whatever reason, are passing through Eugene and prefer to stay in a B&B instead of a hotel/motel.
3. University of Oregon travelers. The University brings a large number of people through Eugene, and The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast believes that a good portion of their business will be from the University. Occassions include parent weekend, orientation, parents visiting, and graduation. Lastly, the University will often set up rooms for administrative visitors.

4.2 Target Market Segment Strategy

The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast intends to target these three customer groups as they make up the largest population of people who utilize B&Bs. The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast has a three pronged strategy that will work for all three groups:

1. Association membership and advertising. A large number of visitors will look to regional B&B associations for information about the different B&Bs in the area. Most associations publish a guide to the local B&Bs and The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast wants to be in this guide. One of the other perks of membership is visibility on the associations website with a link to ours. Additionally, we will be a member of the Chamber of Commerce because people will typically inquire with the local Chamber when planning a vacation.
2. Website. The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast will have a full-service website that allows the visitor to view the B&B, read details about what it has to offer, provide information on regional activities, and even allow the visitor to book a reservation. With the growing use of the Internet, the Web has become an indispensable tool for planning vacations to areas that are not close enough to check out in person.
3. Strategic relationship with the University of Oregon. The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast will develop a partnership with the University so when the school is in need of finding rooms for guests they will use The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast. We will also be advertising with the University so when students are searching for places for their parents to stay, they will come across The Enchanted Vineyard Bed & Breakfast in a school related publication and feel more comfortable with booking a reservation sight unseen because of the trust bond they have formed with the University.

4.3 Competition and Buying Patterns

Competition comes in several forms:

• Other B&Bs. Typically B&Bs have a set of unique features, something that makes them stand out.
• Some B&Bs will create uniqueness down to the level of different rooms within the B&B. The size of a B&Bs range from one or two room (traditionally called a home stay) to a country inn with 30 rooms.
• On average most B&Bs have only a couple of rooms and are often booked up in advance. Particularly during special events, demand outstrips supply for the B&Bs.
• The B&Bs differentiate themselves by personal service offerings and the general ambiance of the Inn. Finally, B&Bs usually have a very nice sit down breakfast for their guests. This is not a simple continental breakfast of juice, coffee, and a bagel, but an elaborate spread of gourmet food such as quiche, a portabello mushroom, fresh roasted garlic and sun-dried tomato omelette, or some sort of fresh smoked fish.
• Guests of B&Bs are looking not just for a room to sleep in but the whole experience in staying in a lovely setting, with interesting people to chat with and people present to pamper them in any way possible.
• Hotels/motels. These facilities are generally much more sterile in character relative to B&Bs.
• The rooms are typically the same throughout the facility (unlike B&Bs where each room is typically different). The guests of hotels generally use the hotel as a place to stay at night.
• The operator will usually see the guest when they check in and when they check out. This differs from a B&B where the guests are encouraged to spend time in communal rooms and socialize with the operators and the other guests.
• Breakfasts, if included, are sparse. The typical guests are looking for a room to stay in at night and not much more than that.

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