Monday, September 13, 2010

Chapter 4 - Preparing Your Presentation



Making it real by putting it down on paper


You've done the ground work.  You've researched the requirements and checked the laws.  You're ready to get going with your B&B.


Now it's time to prepare a presentation of your project.  This is different from a business plan.  This is an over view to show case your proposed B&B.



People love to see the
kind of food they
can expect at your B&B
 
Your presentation will help make your ideas real and will answer questions in a formal way.  This is important when dealing with towns and counties.  Municipalities want to see information presented in a concrete manner.   A professional looking, thoughtful, well crafted presentation will make or break your idea.


Our Presentation Cover
"Proposed Bed and Breakfast
at Cheesecake Farms"




We used our presentation with the zoning board, the planning office, our insurance carrier, our plumber and electrician, our sign makers - everywhere we needed to describe the details of our proposed B&B. 

 
A formal presentaion gives an accurate picture of your ideas rather than leaving people with their own interpretation of what they think you're doing.  


We still use our presentaion whenever we need to describe our B&B.  We use it to remind ourselves of what we want to accomplish, too.


A presentation can take any form - or a combination of several forms for that matter. Our presentation was a booklet but it could be a DVD, a slide show, a poster - whatever you think is appropriate.


Our booklet contained about a dozen pages placed into a clear, term paper cover - the kind with the slide on, plastic spine.  We took pictures with our digital camera and, using our computer, arranged them artistically on the pages with appropriate copy then printed them out in color.  It was simple and cheap but looked very professional.


What can guests do at your B&B?

The cover of our booklet had a beautiful picture of our farm and was titled "Proposed Bed and Breakfast at Cheesecake Farms."


Here's the information we included:

  • Our purpose and statement of intent (what we were planning to do and why)
  • The number of rooms we planned
  • A description of the public access streets
  • How many cars per hour pass our drive way entrance
  • The distance from our neighbors on all sides  
  • How many off street parking spaces we would provide
  • Things guests would be able to do (on the farm and in the area) while staying with us
  • Where our guests were likely to come from
  • The rates we would charge
  • A description of our decor and lodgings
  • Our water and septic sources
  • The menu
  • and the zoning ordinance that showed our by right status  


We kept it short and simple.  Multiple copies were prepared so we always had some on hand and could give one to anyone we talked with about the project.


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