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KevinS -> RE: Bed & Dungeon hotel in USA???? (11/30/2008 8:25:06 AM)
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So, there's a reason, as was pointed out by someone, that you hear of all these places going out of business, is the same reason many small businesses built around a personal passion don't succeed. People focus on the what & the why they want to be in business, not the how, and fail to realize they have to run a business which creates profit.
I've run several successful BDSM businesses, including EternityCollars which I sold not long ago, and I helped run a BDSM B&B in San Francisco, including living as the on-site manager for the last 2yrs it was in business.
Since what I do now is run businesses and help them generate revenue, I'll speak to this briefly, if I might.
Some free consulting for you.
I believe the basic business model of a BDSM themed B&B is very very difficult, to the point of being flawed, possibly unachievable, as a stand-alone business.
B&B's to begin with are tough work. Is usually 1-3 people, maybe a couple, and you have to get your name out there and recognized (advertising = cost), and then you spend the bulk of your day cleaning, which very few people think of when they think of running a place. Hotels/B&B's vend a good (a room for the night) with a constant expense and a variable price, which loses its intrinsic value if not sold; if you don't have a paying guest in a room for any given night, the value of that room is gone but the expense underneath it still occurs, so a straight loss to your books. So the overriding business pressures for a hospitality business are containing costs and increasing % occupancy rate flow to generate revenue.
So you start with that to begin with. Then, you're opening a business that only focuses on a small subset of people (BDSM folks), and a theme that is likely to not simply be neutral, but negative to those not into it; if you open a duck-themed B&B and I'm not all that into ducks, probably wouldn't bug me that much to stay there. Not quite the same thing, running a dungeon hotel. So you cut out, let's be generous and say 85% of the population who might stay at your B&B right off the bat. Now you're trying to hit occupancy rates against a population subset while alienating the others.
Your target audience is also liekly to be one-time or infrequent guests. If you set up a B&B near a college, you might get parents who stay often when they visit, or a business-friendly property near an airport or industrial area, where you'd have reliable, repeat business. People coming to some remote area to live out a dungeon weekend aren't likely coming a few times a year.
Advertising is difficult, depending on your area. Lot of places might not take your ads, or might call into question your legitimacy as a business. Might get religious groups or women's rights places fucking with you; running such a place in some places could easily constitute illegal activity - it certainly is in California, for example. Probably have to incorporate some cost measures for pre-paid legal, maybe even write into your biz plan some vandalism issues. Don;t forget zoning and licensing, for a cost also. The "community" can help spread things by word-of-mouth, but word of mouth is tough, particularly if your B&B is in a remote place.
So you've got predictably low occupancy rates, infrequent repeat business, plus the additional cost investment of start-up costs, legal, licensing, buying some decent BDSM toys & equipment (pretty minimal, really, against the other costs), so, you'll need to charge a premium for your good/service. But you've targeted a group of people who, well the public scene in particular, are not necessarily folks of substantial financial means.
Note: we can argue this all day long, but until I stop seeing ads for munches and parties with caveats of "no one turned away for lack of funds" and threads about people not being able to afford the gas to get to events, I'll stick by this.
Many of these businesses then look for how else to generate revenue, thus diluting their value proposition. Do you throw dungeon parties for a fee? Do you allow female Pro Doms to use your facilities? Do you try to market it for photo shoots or movies? All of these things, again, may dilute your core business value or reduce your audience, and all of them all may carry some legal issues (how are you licensed, what is legal in your area) as well as all carrying strong risk of further raising your profile in the local business community, and likely not in a positive way.
High start-up costs, restricted customer base with low opportunity for repeat revenue, high potential for community backlash, and a good that cuts straight loss into your books = a pretty nasty starting point for a business.
The only people I have seen successful with this, the ONLY people, are people who ran something like this as a side gig, not for a living or to make a profit. I remain convinced it may not be possible to be successful running one as a traditional business.
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