It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Hello everybody!  Month twelve, day seven, boy oh boy we are in December and less than three weeks before the big day!  I guess I must have been busy as this year has seriously flown by!  We are just getting the cottages ready for our Christmas and New Year guests, the trees and twinkling white lights are going up this weekend and our winter wreaths will be gracing both front doors very soon too.  It's been a terrific year, we have welcomed both new and familiar faces at Ashknott and Bewerley Hall Cottage and not forgetting our new family member in our own home - Riley the black lab!  We've also been away recently, our first doggie holiday with Riley Roo who just adored the empty beaches of Pembrokeshire in November!  (as we did!).  Having time away with your loved ones really is a great tonic, not thinking about too much, reading a book, flicking through a magazine, enjoying great local food and walks, we have promised ourselves to do it more often!  At our cottages, we offer short breaks all the year round and January really is a superb time to get away and to blow away the cobwebs!  Our three night breaks are from just £250.  We also include lots of goodies in our rates including gorgeous Eygptian cotton bed linen and towels from the White Company, locally sourced organic toiletries for you to enjoy during your stay.  BT wifi, logs for the stoves and your holidaying dogs.  Plus the odd bottle or two in the fridge to welcome you with too! 
So until the next time, have a fabulous Christmas and a happy and healthy 2012 - hope to see you in it!
Sarah, Tim and Riley x

How to Run a Great Self Catering Business: What we've been up to this October!

How to Run a Great Self Catering Business: What we've been up to this October!: Hello friends, time to write a few lines to you to let you know what we've been up to this month. Boy it's been a busy one! Loads of short...

What we've been up to this October!

Hello friends, time to write a few lines to you to let you know what we've been up to this month.  Boy it's been a busy one!  Loads of short breaks especially at Ashknott Cottage, now coming up for air and have a few jobs to do over the next week.  There's painting to be done, logs to be stacked for the winter and a bit of marketing in anticipation for next year to boot!  Somebody asked me the other day what I do all week?  Believe me there is plenty to be done!  I guess on the surface it looks like you just work on your changeover day, but there is a lot of preparation that goes into getting ready for our guests, so time management and great organisational skills are a must!  We are delighted to re-launch our Bewerley Hall Cottage website http://www.cottageinbewerley.com/ please let us have your comments, we would love to know what you think?  We are also looking forward to receiving our copy of the new Sawdays Guide - Dog Places to Stay, it is published tomorrow Tuesday 01st November 2011, we can't wait to get our paws on it!  Although both our cottages are dog friendly, Sawdays have chosen Bewerley Hall Cottage to be featured as there is so much to do in the local area with your dog, from fantastic walks from the cottage door to great dog friendly pubs within walking distance, you can be assured that you and your dog will love your stay at Bewerley Hall Cottage!  Our new boy Riley has settled in really well, six months now, where has this year gone?!  Until the next time!

The Nidderdale Show and this and that!

What a gorgeous day it is today here in North Yorkshire, makes you glad to be alive!  Bright blue skies, sunshine and the glorious sight of seeing the trees starting to turn, awesome!  We had a great afternoon at the local Nidderdale Show in Bewerley Park last Monday, the sun shone, the crowds flocked and even Kirsty Allsop was there from Channel 4 filming her new show 'Kirsty's Homemade Home'.  The Nidderdale Show is the last agricultural show in the year, a chance for the local farming community to get together before the weather turns and to show off their hard work throughout the year.  It's of course a good opportunity for a few local beers to be enjoyed and local produce to be sampled too! 

For me, this time of year is all about reflection.  Looking back at what we've achieved, how business has been for us and concentrating on keeping busy during the forthcoming winter months.  It's also the time to get any jobs done; outdoor maintenance before the weather does become more unsettled and looking at improvements we can make for the future too.  We have just started working with Dorthe and her team at Sedbergh Soap Company who create fantastic and natural skincare  products, made by hand in the Yorkshire Dales, hope our guests will love them as much as we do!  We are also giving our websites a new look for the Winter so we'll keep you posted on that front too!

It's been a great year for business, sometimes have to pinch myself on just how busy we have been and when I read our visitors book and the lovely comments received, well it's what it's all about.

Hoping this Indian Summer is around for a few more days yet.......

Take care,

Sarah x

There's a chill in the air!

Hi folks!  Hope you have had a great summer out and about, wherever your travels may have taken you?  We have had a fantastic and very busy time over the last few months, thus the lack of blogging.... sorry!  We have met some lovely guests along the way, old friends and new ones who have loved our cottages and the superb area of Nidderdale where they are situated within.  For Tim and I, welcoming back past guests is really the icing on the cake for us, it's what I guess hospitality is all about.  Guests become friends who then spread the word for us, organically, which is just the best.  Although business has been great for us over the last few months, it doesn't mean that we can stop thinking about how we can progress forward with new ideas and ways to improve.  I guess the summer is my thinking time.  At the beginning of the year it is spent concentrating on marketing and getting the bookings in for the year ahead and then once into full flow it's a case of keeping on top of essential maintainence, decorating and ways to improve.  So over the next couple of months we are making some great new changes which we hope you will love as much as we do!  Watch this space, we will be keeping you posted of course!

Well tomorrow is the last day of August, Autumn is just around the corner.  I love Autumn.  Friends say to me that surely Spring is the best month?  For me I just love Autumnal days.  Bright blue skies and seeing the colours change all around me, fantastic.  That superb 'woody' smell, log fires and curling up on the sofa with a good book and a nice glass of red - perfect. 

It's also a fantastic time to come up and see us in Nidderdale and to enjoy a short break, whether it's a weekend or a midweek break away, you'll be sure of a right Yorkshire welcome!

Our new boy Riley is settling in well, some of you may have met him upon your arrival - he's the one that is very fond of my homemade lemon drizzle cake which is for you, not him remember!

Well I'll sign off now, thank you for all your superb comments and delightful feedback we receive every week, as I said to Tim the other day, I've got the best job in the world, thank you for being a part of it.
Sarah x

Happy Dog Tail

Hey folks.  So sorry for not being around on the blog recently, for those of you who are dog lovers, you will understand why I am posting this, we sadly had to put our beloved first rescue dog to sleep last month - Murphy boy, may you rest in peace.  He came to us in March 2002 and quite simply was the inspiration behind our present business, without him we would have never gone on that first doggie holiday to Wales - which gave me the idea to launch our own holiday cottage business in Yorkshire.  For those of you who have stayed in our cottages, you may have come across Murphy during your holiday with us, he did get to meet lots of lovely people, was a Pat dog at the local hospital in Harrogate and was even featured with me in an article by Rachel Bridge for the Sunday Times.  Life without him was just too much, so just a week later Tim and I went to meet our new four legged friend at the same dog rescue centre where we adopted Murphy from - so a big warm Yorkshire welcome to Riley.  He's big, ever so soft and friendly and asleep at my feet as I type.  Thank you for coming into our lives and for filling that ever so large 'Murphy Gap'.  May we have lots of happy times and travels together.

Getting Started

So you have found your dream property, that's half the battle, then you need to decide how you are going to market yourselves.  There are lots of different ways you can do this, which method you choose, rather depends upon your circumstances.  My background is in travel and tourism and after a career in this industry for the last 25 years I felt that I would at least give it a go myself, and if I couldn't manage it or achieve the level of bookings I needed to start making a profit, then I would look for help.  For some cottage owners they may have another career in a completely different industry and instruct an agency to take care of their marketing, property management and weekly changeover and cleaning duties.  Should you decide to go down this route, expect to pay anything from 18% commission for simply taking a booking to a much larger fee, say 50% of your weekly rate should that agency solely manage everything for you.  The type of property you have purchased and it's location will goven how and to whom you market it to.  You may need to think about how to attract walkers, cyclists, dog owners, families, couples and groups - there's a lot to go at there!  Once you have decided who your target market is, then it's time to think about star ratings if that's the route you wish to take and how you are going to furnish your property.  There is a set criteria for achieving 'stars', the more facilities you offer the more brownie points you will gain and the higher your star rating will be.  Another important factor to think about is do you want to offer a 'green and sustainable tourism business'?  This is a growing trend and something that your visitors will wish to see in your business over the years to come.  Next time we will discuss the logistics of running a self catering business, until then...

Location, Location, Location!

Yep!  That classic line that is used widely within the property industry!  It's so true though.  You have got to find the right spot, otherwise, what's the point!  Think about places that already appeal to you, that's a great starting point.  Think about why somebody would like to visit that area?  What is there to see and do nearby?  Who are your target audience?  Your demographic?  How will guests travel to your holiday property?  Who will manage it?  Lots and lots of questions to ask yourselves.  If you don't live nearby your property, make sure you have a very reliable manager nearby who can assist in an emergency, because believe me, they do happen!  Do think about how guests will reach you in Winter, what might be a superb location in July, might not be quite the same in December.  Another thing to think about is the future, I know, you are just starting to think about setting up, but do think about what you might do with the property in say, ten years time - sell it as a business or could it be sold as a home?  It's better to have a degree of flexibility in there to play with. If you have found your perfect area but there isn't anything on the open market currently, why not drop a note into any properties you like the look of?  You never know, it could be the one!

Funding & Finances!

So you have the idea, the dream, the passion and the drive to start up and run a fanastic self catering business, how on earth do you fund it and where do you start?  Well I guess it depends on your circumstances - are you looking at starting completely from scratch or are  you buying an existing business?  Both have their advantages.  We decided to start from scratch, purely because of my experience and knowledge of the industry and the fact that we wanted to concentrate on a niche market.  We started to look at funding our project in 2006 when the mortgage market was quite somewhat different to how it is today sadly.  What I will say is get a good deposit behind you, find an excellent mortgage broker, fix the rate for the longest time possible and go for it!  Yes it's scarey, yes it's exciting and yes we love what we do!  I'll touch on finding the right property and location next time, until then,
Sarah

The Idea

So this little jolly down in Wales had got me thinking.  There are millions of people in the UK who don't like to travel overseas for whatever reason; don't like the food, the weather, getting there and our green and pleasant land of good old blighty has a lot to offer you know.  I think you have to leave it for a while and then return to understand that last comment.  When I was eighteen I couldn't wait to leave the small market town in North Yorkshire I was brought up in, now, that's the rural life I crave for!  I think in life you do come 'full circle' and I have certainly seemed to have done that.  I used to look after hundrededs of UK tourists visiting Europe and the Med back in my day as a holiday rep, now I welcome our guests to our own holiday cottages in Nidderdale in the Yorkshire Dales!  Strange old life.  I suppose from 2002 until 2006 I was pretty much occupied with setting up my other two business ventures, mango events (organising events for corporates and individuals) and mango mutt, an on-line e-commerce business selling natural dog accessories, dog treats and food.  Since that first holiday to Wales, we have enjoyed short breaks in Scotland, Northumberland, Norfolk and Cornwall and have loved every new place we have visited.  I suppose my dream sounds all very romantic, it was and still is, but let's get down to basics, where did you find the funds to start it I hear you ask?  Until the next time.

In the beginning....

I've been thinking for a while that I should share my background and experience with you out there.  Many guests have asked me upon their arrival 'how did you get into running a holiday cottage business?'  Well the answer isn't too complicated, it happened rather by accident really.  No fancy business plan, just a simple idea that was born from our beloved rescue dog 'Murphy'.  We had adopted our black lab back in 2002 and were looking for our first doggie holiday with him in the UK.  I found it really hard to find somewhere to stay that was stylish and dog friendly.  We enjoyed our first holiday cottage experience in Pembrokeshire, Wales and have great memories of walking along the beaches, enjoying al freshco lunches and cosy nights in front of the log burner back at our rented cottage.  It took a few years to get to launching Ashknott Cottage, but that wonderful holiday back in September 2002 really did get me thinking.