Business Resources: Bed and Breakfast Business

Bed and breakfast businesses complement natural resource enterprises by providing unique lodging opportunities on private lands. Historic buildings, country inns, antebellum homes, and old cotton gins may be turned into lodging on family farms or other property.

These resources have been compiled from various resources and agencies and are provided here for educational purposes only. Please if you find information that needs to be updated, broken links, or if you have an additional resource you feel is pertinent.

• Developing a Bed and Breakfast Business Plan
  North Central Regional Extension Publication. This resource covers 13 steps towards developing a bed and breakfast business plan. This includes researching the market, examination of your b and b business readiness, choosing a location, forecasting sales, and developing a marketing, insurance, and financial plan. Many additional resources are listed and checklists, worksheets, and examples are provided.
  
• Mississippi Bed and Breakfast Association
  This directory provides listing of member bed and breakfast businesses and inns.
• Starting a Bed and Breakfast Business
  Mississippi State University Extension Service. The basics of starting a bed and breakfast business are covered in this article. The article asks readers to question whether they have what it takes to open and manage a b and b. Readers will learn about using an operating plan, marketing, guest relations, finances and costs, and will be provided with a listing of tax related links.
• Beginning a Bed and Breakfast in Virginia
  Virginia Cooperative Extension. Developing a bed and breakfast requires considering a lot of business components. First, is this type of business suitable for you? Talk to various other bed and breakfast owners to hear their experiences and receive advice. This article talks about start-up costs, financing, insurance, handling reservations and guests and other policies, developing an operations plan, preparing food and providing other amenities, and the types and methods of marketing you can use to promote your bed and breakfast. References are listed at the end of the publication.
• Starting a Bed and Breakfast/Farm Vacation Business (1987)
  Michigan State University Extension. Although this publication is a little older, it covers the implications of opening a bed and breakfast for families, encourages a close examination of your home for a bed and breakfast, recommends that you investigate the zoning laws, regulations, and licenses you will need to open and run a bed and breakfast, discusses developing a business plan, promoting your bed and breakfast, and provides some references.
• Beginning a Bed and Breakfast in South Carolina - Guidelines for Development
  Clemson University. This 38-page publication goes into detail about planning and developing a bed and breakfast, developing policies and procedures for your bed and breakfast, as well as operating and marketing your b and b. An appendix of books and other references is provided.
• Mississippi Bed and Breakfasts Guide
  Mississippi Development Authority. This guide allows you to select a region of Mississippi and see the bed and breakfast inns available in that area.
• Starting a North Dakota Bed and Breakfast Business
  Kathleen Tweeten, Community Economic Development Specialist, North Dakota State University, 2002
• Starting a Bed and Breakfast in Iowa –Laws that apply
  Iowa State University Extension. This article discusses understanding the difference between a home and inn, and covers the Iowa laws dealing with food service, fire inspection, and taxes for bed and breakfast operations.
• Starting a Bed and Breakfast in Michigan
  Michigan State University Extension, 2002. This publication describes what to consider when planning to start a bed and breakfast in Michigan. Considerations include seeing yourself as a host, zoning laws, taxes, insurance, cost of doing business, your product, business policies, and marketing