Before buying your campsite or hotel

Spending time together on hobbies, vacations or everyday tasks is not always a good enough test of whether you can work as a couple. Each person's professional approach may be different: organizational methods, strategic vision, choice of service providers or collaborators, purchasing or investment decisions...

Spend some time talking frankly about each other's goals, the day-to-day vision of working together, and validate your new life project together.

At the same time, before buying a business, you need to know as much as you can about it, to find out if you're right for it.

Being a regular customer of campsites or hotels is not enough to know the business. If you've already worked out your plans, don't hesitate to discuss them with existing owners and learn from their experience. This will reassure you in your decision and help you avoid getting the wrong idea about the business.

To help you, GRAVITAO regularly publishes

The keys to success as a couple

In a campsite, as in a hotel, the list of daily tasks is long. It's a lot of work, but at the same time an opportunity for a couple: everyone can have their own "reserved area".

Indeed, the first key to success for a two-person business is that each person is responsible for his or her own day-to-day tasks.

1/ Draw up a list of tasks, daily or not

Here is a non-exhaustive list to give you an idea of what to expect, hotels and campsites combined:

- Breakfast organization

- Invoices: payment and preparation for the accountant

- Management of cleaning of rooms, accommodation and sanitary facilities

- Reservations and sales channel management

- Answers to customer reviews

- Swimming pool: maintenance, daily cleaning

- Small repairs management

- Grocery management and supply

- Maintenance of green spaces

- Bar

- Managing staff or service providers

- Sales prospecting, advertising, presence on social networks

- Website animation, SEO actions

- Relationship with the chain (franchise), if applicable...

And, in the middle of all this, the activity that stands apart, the one for which you're willing to put in all those hours: welcoming your customers, whom you'll be proud to bring into your establishment. The essence of the profession!

2/ Defining each person's role according to their preferences

Managing for two doesn't mean managing everything together!

With this list, each person begins by choosing the positions for which he/she wants to be responsible.

There really is no such thing as a good or bad job - some people like dealing with bills, others don't, and it's the same for the whole list!

Usually about half the list is filled at this stage.

Then define the ones you're ready to try. You need to fill at least 75% of your list.

For the last 25%, if necessary, take it in turns or in pairs.

Another key to success is to exchange ideas on a regular basis. Being responsible for your own area doesn't mean not communicating. Each can have a good idea for the other, complement a good practice...

And, in any case, deciding on each person's role is not the same as setting it in stone. You can decide to allocate certain tasks for a specific period of time: month, quarter...

Time and experience will enable each individual to objectively validate whether he or she is really cut out for the management of a specific domain.

Before being hosts to your customers, you are company managers. As in any business, you need to take regular stock: look at what's been done, objectively measure what's working and what still needs to be improved and define decisions for the future.

It's also a good time to redefine everyone's role, if necessary.

And what about married life? Balancing work and personal life

Striking a balance in everything is not easy. Together, you have to decide on moments that are just for you or dedicated to the couple and preserve them. And it's even more important when children are involved!

We're often so exhilarated by this job that it's easy to forget ourselves in the equation.

Even if you want to be there all the time at the start of your adventure, the posted reception hours are there to give you the necessary rest periods. Make sure that your customers (or at least the vast majority of them...) understand that you're not available 24 hours a day.

If you want to stay friendly and smiling, and maintain the highest standards of hospitality, you've got to look after yourselves. Well, that's a bit easier said than done between July 14th and August 15th!

As you can see, the successful management of a campsite or hotel by two people is very similar to... a successful life as a couple: each with their own area of expertise, their respective tasks, the constant quest for balance and the enhancement of each other's personal development. Quite a program, but it's such a source of happiness and pride to achieve it!