Day to day practicalities

Administration

Records need to be kept of all enquiries, provisional bookings, and actual bookings. Deposits need to be checked, payments monitored. Usually security deposits need to be received, banked and later repaid.

You need to finish the year with a clear statement of the income you have generated. Maintaining complete and accurate financial records is not always easy for 'non-financial' people.

Prices advertised on websites and in advertising material need to be updated.

You may want to make use of various 'late availability' and 'special offer' features of your property listing sites, and maintain an availabilty schedule.

Depending on your level of income and personal circumstances you will need to establish some form of taxable enterprise - as advised by an accountant usually.

Saturdays

Hand-over days, usually on a Saturday, can be quite stressful. You may have several properties to be cleaned, bed linen changed and so on. Departing guests may stay beyond the official departure time and new arrivals may arrive early. Or they may arrive very late.

Lawns will need to be cut, and departing guests may announce that 'there is a problem with the washing machine' or 'the bedroom lamp has ben broken' and so on. Things that are difficult to resolve on a Saturday, and especially so within the time available in addition to the routine tasks that need doing. Occasionally sofas, tables etc may be stained and need urgent attention

Because of these pressures, some properties only accept 2-week bookings during the high-season.

Overall

It is possible to run gites as a part-time hobby, doing the bare minimum. It is also possible to make a full time job of it, in order to increase the number of bookings and to provide a better quality holiday to your visitors. The business will be harder work but more successful with the latter approach.

The one thing that is certain, there is not a situation where you have a thriving successful business but make no effort - exactly the same as with any business enterprise...Read more