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Bed, Breakfast & Business

Bed, Breakfast & Business

By: Gerry MacPherson
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Beds, Breakfast & Business is the practical podcast for current and aspiring B&B owners who want to build a successful bed and breakfast without becoming overwhelmed by the business behind it. Hosted by hospitality professional Gerry MacPherson, each episode answers a real question faced by people running or starting a bed and breakfast. You'll discover practical strategies for bed and breakfast management, B&B marketing, pricing, direct bookings, guest experience, daily operations, reviews, housekeeping, technology, profitability and growing your B&B business. If you're already a B&B owner, you'll learn how to improve your systems, attract more of the right guests, increase revenue, strengthen your guest experience and make the day-to-day operation of your property easier to manage. If you're dreaming about opening a B&B, planning your property or getting ready to welcome your first guests, you'll learn what to consider before opening the doors—from choosing your concept and understanding your ideal guest to pricing, marketing, operations and avoiding expensive mistakes. Because running a great B&B takes more than comfortable beds and a memorable breakfast. It takes heart and systems. Beds, Breakfast & Business brings the two together with straightforward, practical advice you can adapt to your own property. No corporate theory. No unnecessary jargon. Just useful B&B advice from someone who understands independent hospitality. New episodes each week. Follow Beds, Breakfast & Business and start building a more profitable, organised and guest-focused B&B—without the chaos.© 2026 Beds, Breakfast & Business / Keystone Hospitality Property Development. All Rights Reserved. Economics Leadership Management Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • B&B Standard Operating Procedures: 5 SOPs Every B&B Needs-143

    B&B Standard Operating Procedures: 5 SOPs Every B&B Needs-143
    6 Oct 2026

    Practical advice for current and aspiring B&B owners.

    Hotel Standard Operating Procedures: Which 5 SOPs Does Your B&B Really Need?

    How much of your B&B is currently stored inside your head?

    If room inspections, breakfast requirements, check-ins, guest problems, and emergency procedures all depend on you remembering what happens next, this episode will help you turn that knowledge into simple B&B standard operating procedures that make your property easier to run.

    This week on Beds, Breakfast & Business, Gerry MacPherson answers our cornerstone question:

    Which SOPs create the biggest impact in an independent hospitality business?

    And no, the answer isn't to write a 300-page operations manual and place it on a shelf where it can enjoy a peaceful retirement.

    The goal is much simpler.

    Create procedures people actually use.

    What You'll Learn

    In this solo episode, Gerry looks at five high-impact areas where a clear SOP can make a significant difference:

    • Housekeeping and room inspection
    • Guest arrival and check-in
    • Breakfast and dietary requirements
    • Guest complaints and service recovery
    • Safety and emergency response

    You'll hear why a room being “cleaned” isn't necessarily the same as being guest ready, why arrival information should be standardised without making your welcome sound scripted, and why difficult guest situations become easier when you've already decided how they'll be handled.

    You'll also learn a simple structure for writing an SOP:

    Purpose → When → Owner → Steps → Exceptions

    Then Gerry shares the Three-Test Rule for deciding which procedures deserve your attention first:

    Does the task happen repeatedly?

    Does inconsistency create a problem?

    Would your B&B struggle if the one person who knows how to do it wasn't there?

    Three yeses?

    Write the SOP.

    Because you don't need fifty procedures nobody reads.

    You need a handful of good systems that protect your guests, standards, time, and sanity.

    YOUR NEXT STEP

    [Insert this week's most relevant free Beds, Breakfast & Business resource and explain in one sentence how it helps.]

    Get the resource here: [DIRECT RESOURCE LINK]


    ABOUT BEDS, BREAKFAST & BUSINESS
    Beds, Breakfast & Business is the practical podcast for current and aspiring B&B owners who want more bookings, stronger profits, better systems and memorable guest experiences—without the chaos. Hosted by hospitality professional Gerry MacPherson, each episode offers straightforward advice you can put to work in your B&B.

    FOLLOW THE PODCAST

    Follow Beds, Breakfast & Business in your favourite podcast app so you don't miss the next practical B&B management episode.
    And if you know another b&b owner who could use this episode, please share it with them.

    MORE PRACTICAL BED & BREAKFAST HELP

    Visit Beds, Breakfast & Business for free tools, guides, articles, videos, and resources for bed & breakfast owners:

    https://bedsbreakfastsbusiness.com/


    NEXT EPISODE

    Next episode, we'll talk about Saving Time Through Systems.

    We'll answer the cornerstone question:

    What systems save the most time without reducing hospitality?


    CHAPTERS

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    20 min
  • Preventive Maintenance Checklist for B&B Owners: Stop Costly Repairs

    Preventive Maintenance Checklist for B&B Owners: Stop Costly Repairs
    29 Sep 2026
    Join us for free on Patreonhttps://www.patreon.com/cw/BedsBreakfastBusiness(Members can find all weekly downloads) Practical advice for current and aspiring B&B owners. Preventive Maintenance Checklist for B&B Owners: Stop Costly Repairs What if the next expensive repair at your B&B is already giving you a warning? A dripping tap, sticking door, slow drain, strange boiler noise, or flickering light can seem harmless — until a guest discovers the problem first. In this week's Beds, Breakfast & Business episode, Gerry MacPherson looks at how a simple preventive maintenance checklist can help B&B owners reduce guest complaints, catch small property problems earlier, and avoid some of those unpleasant emergency repairs that have a remarkable habit of happening on busy weekends. What You'll Learn Preventive maintenance isn't about becoming an expert at fixing everything yourself. It's about noticing problems early and creating a system for dealing with them. In this practical solo episode, Gerry walks you through a simple four-level B&B maintenance rhythm: Everyday guest-room checksMonthly property walksSeasonal maintenance preparationAnnual professional servicingYou'll learn how to look at your property through a guest's eyes, identify small signs of wear before they become failures, and move recurring maintenance jobs from your memory onto a calendar. Gerry also explains why good maintenance often goes unnoticed. Nobody writes a glowing review because the toilet flushed, the bedside lamp switched on, and hot water came out of the shower. Guests expect those things. But when one of them doesn't work? Suddenly, it's memorable. That's why preventive maintenance isn't separate from the guest experience. It's hospitality before the guest needs it. Try the 20-Minute Maintenance Walk After listening, take 20 minutes and walk around your property. Don't ask only: “What's broken?” Ask: “What's changing?” Look for the tap that's beginning to drip. The door that's becoming harder to close. The carpet starting to lift. The sealant beginning to separate. The toilet taking longer to refill. The lock that's becoming temperamental. Those small changes are your early-warning system. Catch them early and you have a maintenance job. Wait until your guest finds them and you may have a hospitality problem as well. Free Resource: Your B&B Starter Blueprint If you want to build stronger systems throughout your B&B, download Your B&B Starter Blueprint: https://bedsbreakfastsbusiness.com/your-bb-starter-blueprint-pdf-download The Blueprint gives you practical steps for building stronger foundations, organising your ideas, improving guest experiences, and avoiding expensive beginner mistakes. You'll also find this week's Annual Maintenance Planner in the episode resources/show notes to help you schedule recurring maintenance throughout the year. Who Is Beds, Breakfast & Business For? Beds, Breakfast & Business is for current and aspiring B&B owners, independent innkeepers, small accommodation operators, and hospitality entrepreneurs who want a profitable business without losing the personal hospitality that makes an independent property special. Episodes focus on practical topics including: B&B operations, preventive maintenance, guest experience, direct bookings, pricing, revenue, housekeeping, standard operating procedures, marketing, business systems, and running a bed and breakfast without letting it take over your entire life. The tone is practical, conversational, and based on the realities of independent hospitality. No corporate b&b theory. Just ideas you can actually use. ABOUT BEDS, BREAKFAST & BUSINESSBeds, Breakfast & Business is the practical podcast for current and aspiring B&B owners who want more bookings, stronger profits, better systems and memorable guest experiences—without the chaos. Hosted by hospitality professional Gerry MacPherson, each episode offers straightforward advice you can put to work in your B&B. FOLLOW THE PODCAST Follow Beds, Breakfast & Business in your favourite podcast app so you don't miss the next practical B&B management episode. And if you know another b&b owner who could use this episode, please share it with them. MORE PRACTICAL BED & BREAKFAST HELP Visit Beds, Breakfast & Business for free tools, guides, articles, videos, and resources for bed & breakfast owners: https://bedsbreakfastsbusiness.com/NEXT EPISODE [One-sentence teaser based on next week's cornerstone question.] CHAPTERS
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    19 min
  • Hotel Housekeeping Checklist: 5 Steps to a Guest-Ready Room Every Time

    Hotel Housekeeping Checklist: 5 Steps to a Guest-Ready Room Every Time
    22 Sep 2026

    Join us for free on Patreon
    https://www.patreon.com/cw/BedsBreakfastBusiness
    (Members can find all weekly downloads)

    Practical advice for current and aspiring B&B owners.

    In this episode of Beds, Breakfast & Business, Gerry MacPherson answers:

    B&B Housekeeping Checklist: The Simple System for Happier Guests and Less Stress

    Is your guest room clean — or is it truly guest ready?

    A practical B&B housekeeping checklist can help B&Bowners create more consistent rooms, improve guest satisfaction, catch small problems before guests do, and reduce the daily stress of trying to remember everything yourself.

    In this episode of Beds, Breakfast & Business, Gerry MacPherson looks at housekeeping systems for independent B&Bs and shares a straightforward five-stage approach:

    Reset → Clean → Restock → Check → Release.

    Because there’s a big difference between saying:

    “I think the room is ready.”

    and:

    “The room is ready.”

    What You'll Learn in This Episode

    Running a B&Bmeans juggling breakfast, departures, laundry, guest questions, room turnovers, maintenance issues, and new arrivals — sometimes before lunch.

    Housekeeping can easily become a mental checklist that follows you around the property.

    Did I replace the towels?

    Did somebody check the remote?

    Was the coffee restocked?

    Did we look under the bed?

    Is that room actually ready?

    This episode shows you how to move those details out of your head and into a simple, repeatable B&Bhousekeeping system.

    Gerry explains why “clean the room” isn’t really an instruction. A guest room contains dozens of individual jobs, and relying on memory becomes increasingly risky on busy turnover days.

    You'll learn why cleaning rooms in the same sequence each time can improve consistency and why every B&Bshould define exactly what guest ready means.

    You'll also discover the five-stage housekeeping framework:

    RESET
    Strip the room, remove rubbish and used linen, look for damage, and identify maintenance issues before cleaning begins.


    CLEAN
    Follow the same route through the guest room every time. Pay attention to obvious surfaces, high-touch areas, corners, behind doors, and under furniture.


    RESTOCK
    Create clear standards for towels, toilet rolls, toiletries, tea, coffee, water, and other room supplies so nobody has to guess.


    CHECK
    Step out of the room and return as though you were the arriving guest. Look at the room again from their point of view.


    RELEASE
    Don't mark a room ready until the final inspection is complete.

    Gerry also explains the Guest-Eye Test — a simple final inspection that helps you look beyond whether a room has technically been cleaned.

    Does it feel welcoming?

    Is everything complete?

    Would you happily hand the guest their key right now?

    The goal isn't complicated housekeeping software or an enormous operations manual.

    It's a repeatable standard.

    One room.

    One checklist.

    One process.

    Then repeat it.


    ABOUT BEDS, BREAKFAST & BUSINESS
    Beds, Breakfast & Business is the practical podcast for current and aspiring B&B owners who want more bookings, stronger profits, better systems and memorable guest experiences—without the chaos. Hosted by hospitality professional Gerry MacPherson, each episode offers straightforward advice you can put to work in your B&B.

    FOLLOW THE PODCAST

    Follow Beds, Breakfast & Business in your favourite podcast app so you don't miss the next practical B&B management episode.
    And if you know another b&b owner who could use this episode, please share it with them.

    MORE PRACTICAL BED & BREAKFAST HELP

    Visit Beds, Breakfast & Business for free tools, guides, articles, videos, and resources for bed & breakfast owners:

    https://bedsbreakfastsbusiness.com/


    NEXT EPISODE

    Next episode, we’ll talk about Preventive Maintenance and answer the Cornerstone Question:

    How can preventive maintenance prevent guest complaints and expensive repairs?


    CHAPTERS

    Show more Show less
    24 min
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