Want a Bed & Breakfast?
I am a licensed bed & breakfast in Sheboygan, WI. I have just completed my first year being in business and it has been such a beautiful experience! I want to share my story in case anyone else is considering such a venture.
Sheboygan is hoppin’ in the summer!
Many popular rentals sell out in the summer, making it easy to fill your rental space. Starting the beginning of June and going through the end of October you can count on a full calendar. Then it dies down. Like literally to nothing. I believe having a bed & breakfast in your home is the way to go, and then you get the winter off to rest, repair and invite your friends over!
AirBnB is Extremely Competitive
I recommend starting out as an AirBnB. They provide all the guests, marketing, promotions, easy price adjusting, and insurance.
There are, I believe, over 200 homes listed in the Sheboygan area on AirBnB. It’ll be harder to get bookings if you’re not on the lake, or aren’t a SuperHost.
I actually filled up immediately when I listed my home on AirBnB because 1) it’s on the lake and 2) it was still August and there are a lot of road trippers who like to check out Sheboygan.
The other thing to consider is that rates can be pretty low in the area, especially during the off-season. I won’t adjust my price down for winters because I’m not willing to work for free. I only take 5+ day stays in the winter because it’s hard to get in the flow with the cleaning and restocking and a longer stay is the only thing that makes it worthwhile.
Become an AirBnB HostIt’s Not Easy Money
I want to be clear that running an AirBnB is not easy, nor is it passive income.
I am on call 24-7 when I have guests, should they get locked out, blow a fuse, anything can happen.
I send communications, such as an introduction letter I keep handy to copy and paste into the message box. I also have to manage the listing on AirBnB to make sure everything stays up to date. Things transform as you get more experience as a host, so you have to note those in the details of your listing(s).
I have to keep up with supplies…my coffees, waters, toiletries, candies, snacks, tissues, toilet paper and plenty of other things. It’s best to keep a checklist of things until you get in the routine.
And then there is the cleaning. I haven’t found a way to get great cleaning for a low-enough cost to make it work, so I clean it myself. It takes about an hour, not counting waiting for the washer/dryer to run.
And on top of all that, there are the business things…accounting, taxes, license, and maybe even a website and branding! For me, it’s another job, but at least for me, I get to do it off the computer and meet some really cool people.
You’re still interested?4 Stars is a 4-Letter Word
It’s important to stay involved in your guests’ experiences at your B&B because you want to earn the 5-star review. If you drop below a 4.8 star average, you lose your Superhost credentials. You get treated like dirt if you’re anything less than.
To earn my 5 stars, I try to do the following:
- Say hello to my guests, or have at least have one face-to-face encounter with them to see how things are going. I feel like the human connection is key, even with the folks who aren’t interested in socializing with their host.
- Clean the space as if I were using it. I’m a cleaning aficionado and there is nothing better for my mind than organizing and cleaning. It’s in my own home, so I take extra good care of things. I clean the remote controls, the door knobs, I use chemicals in the bathroom and a bit of bleach on the sheets and towels. I vacuum the floors, keep an eye out for spiders, sand, fingerprints and anything else a guest could find offensive or weird. Sometimes my dogs move things around, so now I have to keep an eye on their contribution to the cleaning!
- Offer recommendations for food and activities. People love knowing my favorite restaurants or the secret cool places to go!
- Accommodate special needs. A lot of guests bring bikes and need to store them inside. Or they need more fans. There are plenty of special requests and I love that people feel comfortable asking for what they want. I feel like people are always a little more vulnerable when traveling to a new location, so anything I can do to make their stay more relaxing and comfortable nurtures my spirt.
Guests Are Like Family
Anyone willing to spend their vacation in my home deserves to be treated like a VIP guest. It is such an honor to be chosen and I want nothing more than for guests to feel comfortable, safe and cozy. Some of the amenities I provide:
- Filtered cold water in the bathroom sink for drinking (this is easy, you can get a Kohler Aquifer filter that fits under the sink)
- Fresh organic cotton white sheets with bed bug encasements underneath
- AppleTV with Hulu and HBO accounts
- Room-darkening curtains
- Extra blankets
- Fans
- Some kitchen items, even though I don’t have a kitchen. Dishes, wine glasses, Frend presses for coffee, Fridge (with a gift of Wisconsin cheese, creamers + almond milk, water and club soda in it)
- Snacks – some Kind bars, crackers, chips. I never want anyone to be hungry here. I also have a bowl of candy bars at the front door entrance. Those go fast!
- Extra toiletries – I have toothbrushes, tooth paste, girlie stuff, sunscreen, lotion, shampoo+conditioner, body wash, soap, you name it!
Starting your Business
You’ll need to set up your bed & breakfast business before you list your short-term rental.
What you’ll need in Sheboygan, Wisconsin to get started:
- Either a short term rental or bed and breakfast license from Sheboygan County Environmental Health Department. They will do a pricey little first time inspection, but then annually when you renew, they’ll do a free inspection.
- Decide if you want to become an LLC or a Sole Proprietor (I wholeheartedly recommend setting up an LLC). You will need to provide your EIN or social security number when taking reservations.
- Short term rental insurance. This could be an easy and inexpensive update to your home insurance policy.
- Business checking and savings account. I highly recommend using Kohler Credit Union for this. Call the Grafton office on 2550 Washington St. Grafton WI 53024 and ask for the Manager, Lexi. She is the best and will provide an awesome human experience so you don’t have to deal with horrible phone technology.
- Not mandatory, but having an accountant is nice to have when it comes to taxes. You’ll need to include your rental income in your annual tax return. Be sure to save enough of the income so that you can pay off your tax liability at the end of the year. If you make too much, you may need to set up a payroll or pay quarterly estimated taxes.
Hosting Secrets
- AirReview – This must-have Chrome extension provides stats on listings. You can see how much everyone in the community is making on their AirBnB rentals. The real reason, however, for getting this is to check out your guests before approving them. You can see the reviews they have left for other hosts. You don’t want to book a guest who gives 4-star reviews out like candy because they are impossible to please. Avoid the bad-news-bears and use this handy little feature because 5-star reviews are the only way to get all the AirBnB perks.
- Don’t turn on the Insta-book feature on AirBnB. AirBnB promotes this feature for getting more bookings, but I am a bit discerning about who I will accept in my home to stay with me, so I turn it off.
- Turn on AirBnB Smart Pricing. This will allow your nightly rate to ebb & flow with the community. Be sure to set your mandatory price to something that makes this worthwhile doing, and then on the hot weekends, the price will go up and you’ll make more money.
- Be an impeccable cleaner. Wash the shampoo, conditioner, body wash and hand soap bottles so they don’t accumulate gunk. Use cloth shower curtains instead of plastic so they don’t get gnarly. Look for hair – you have no idea how hairy people are! Wash any kitchen stuff prior to washing bathroom stuff. I wash all sheets and blankets that have been used. I tie a string around clean blankets so they don’t get mixed up with used ones. Did you know that the reason the sheet on a hotel bed is flipped over the top blanket is because they don’t have to wash the comforters? That’s right…that’s how they keep the used covers from touching your skin…flip the top sheet over it. People are pretty nice about letting you know if a bed wasn’t used…the AirBnB crowd is definitely eco-friendly.
- Set a minimum night for bookings, such as 2-3 nights. Cleaning is not that quick that and you want to get paid for your time. The more nights a guest stays, the more you make per hour due to the cleaning. Another option is to set a cleaning fee that covers it. In the winters I set a minimum night of 4.
- Use the AirBnB messaging system rather than giving out your contact information. You get credit for prompt replies, and AirBnB can see that when you use their system. And don’t be tricked like I first was thinking you could reply to the text message alert that you get…it will go to a dead-end and you will think your guest got the message because it doesn’t alert you that it didn’t go through.