A DREAM I HAVE…
I’ve always been entrepreneurial. I’ve started and owned about 4 different companies, and sold 3 of them… sometimes by myself and sometimes with partners. I’ve always loved the idea of working for myself, and it’s part of the reason why I ended up going to business school in the first place. However, straight out of university I ended up working at a video game company.
I’ve been working in the video game industry in Vancouver for the past 4 years. In all honesty, I can’t imagine myself working in a different industry… at least not for a long, long time. Still, I often find myself thinking of new business ideas, thinking of new opportunities… and how to implement them. The strange thing is, out of all of the ideas… the one I want to do the most is the simplest one.
When I was growing up, I always wanted to open a bed and breakfast. In recent years, this dream and desire has intensified, and I am sure now that I would open it in Tofino. I’m so passionate about this idea that I find myself thinking about it almost every night.
I’d like to purchase a home in Tofino, and move out there when I am 40 or 50 to open it as a bed and breakfast. I’ve always known that I wanted to get out of the city and move to the Island when I am older, and it just seems like the perfect plan for Allan and I. Sure, we’d be old farts out there surfing… but we’d have our piece of land, a home, a business to get us by (cost of living is a lot lower out of Vancouver), and we’d get to surf whenever we wanted. And still be close by enough to do trips every once in a while to Mount Washington to get our snowboarding fix.
And of course, the next level to this idea is to also own a bed and breakfast on Mount Washington, or a small mountain town somewhere in BC. We’d work at the Tofino B&B in the summer, and the mountain B&B in the winter, and have a manager to run the operations in the low seasons.
It would definitely be a dream come true.
I feel like it is well-suited to our skills and interests as well. Both Allan and I love entertaining, we can cook and clean, and we love meeting new people. We’d have a social media strategy for the business, and we’d use our other interests like photography and filming to round out our offering. Allan is great at teaching surfing and snowboarding, so it could be a nice little package add-on with photography included. I could go on and on with more ideas we’ve thought up.
I’d love to think of new breakfast ideas to serve to our guests each morning. There would be numerous personal touches to surprise our guests at every turn, like freshly baked warm chocolate chip cookies with milk before bed on stormy nights.
The property would be west-coast style with vaulted ceilings and exposed wood beams, with a focus on earthy elements like wood, stone, and plants.
However, it would be warm and cozy in décor… lots of lamps, comfy couches, flowers, and warm colours.
Ideally, we’d be living on the beach… or at least with a view of the ocean. The property would be heavily treed, so that guests feel like they are living on the ocean and in the forest at the same time. There would be wooden walkways around the garden where we grow our own produce, surrounded by flowering vines and foliage. The walkway would be lit with lanterns at night, leading to a secluded hot tub where you could gaze at the stars or at your loved one.
At one point, I even spent a few days creating the business plan and some spreadsheets. I crunched the numbers… I did the cashflows and investments required and even detailed licensing and legislature considerations. It looked good on paper. But paper is very different than reality.
I guess we’ll just have to see if the dream ever comes true… 
What’s your dream?
Tags: B&B, bed and breakfast, Business, Dream, dreaming, ideas, Mount Washington, Snowboarding, Surfing, Tofino
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January 15th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Reading about what you plan to do with the B&B, I just gotta ask… When can I book a reservation?
It’s an awesome dream, and dreams are a great thing to visit again and again – never dismiss one out of hand just because it doesn’t seem plausible at the present!
January 15th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
That is such a great idea.
It is ironic, I once had a similar dream. I worked in the tourism industry for 5 years here in Yellowknife for an eco-tourism outfitter. I often shuttled guests around Yellowknife showing them the sites and loved it. That is when I started to think a B&B would be such a great idea.
Since then I left the industry but my passion for sharing Yellowknife with others continues.
January 15th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
That sounds awesome. Let me know if this plan comes to the forefront in the near future… surfing and snowboarding, what could be better?
January 15th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
Um. When do you start, and can I book now?
Seriously, it’s a great idea and I have no doubt that you would be incredibly successful!
January 15th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Clearly stating your dreams to the universe initiates the forces that will manifest it in reality.
It sounds wonderful and I hope it comes true!
January 15th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
Wow that sounds like a great idea. Just imagine what kind of breakfast you’d make it making me hungry.
January 15th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
What do I dream about? Now after reading this.. staying at your B&B in Tofino!
What do I dream of? Too many things to list; invited to all sporting events to take photos (preferably the snowy ones), travel, move to Costa Rica (or Vancouver Island which is more feasible) and more!
January 15th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
My dream was to live in a mountain town, and I just made that happen four weeks ago! Dreams are a crazy, yet essential part of life. And when you put them out there its scary sometimes how easily and quickly they can become reality. Best of luck with yours.
January 15th, 2010 at 8:26 pm
That dream sounds pretty perfect to me.
January 16th, 2010 at 5:45 am
chocolate chip cookies with milk before bed on stormy nights…what a lovely idea
January 16th, 2010 at 8:59 am
I agree with Alissa, the universe will find a way to make this happen for you. One of my dreams came to life in June 2009 when I started Shred Love. Shred Love is a nonprofit org that takes inner city youth snowboarding at no cost to them. Our first trip will be on 1/24. We still have some hurdles to overcome but I have to admit, it does feel good to be at this point.
Good luck with your B&B! I would love to visit.
January 16th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
from what i’ve gathered reading your blog, you would be a success at it! i’ve had dreams like that myself but always in the tropics.
hope you make your dreams a reality!
January 18th, 2010 at 9:59 am
You should totally do it. My husband and I dream of opening a B&B too, that combines art and yoga. My husband is an artist and would provide art workshops/teaching and I would teach yoga.
January 18th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
that’s awesome – rob and i had the same idea but in south africa or somewhere else. But ours might be a horse riding/clay pigeon shooting range and be a rambling country estate. let me know when you open b/c i would totally stay there! cookies with milk would be awesome.
January 19th, 2010 at 8:55 am
You should do this! You have the skills and the outgoing personalty required of a successful B&B owner. I think your only problem would be to book yourself a weekend off from the business!
Years ago when I was considering a career change, I looked into this kind of business myself. I’ve stayed in all kinds of B&Bs, and often inquired about what worked best for the owners. A couple of things stood out – you must buy white linen (you can bleach it), put out a small but nicely worded sign to the ladies to please remove all traces of their lipstick before using the towels, and you must like to do laundry.
January 19th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
That sounds lovely. I would definitely be a customer. The food, the ambiance. If I had money to invest I would!
January 20th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Go for it…and I’d like the waffles with strawberry sauce, please!
February 1st, 2010 at 4:17 am
I think this is a great idea Allie, hope your dream comes true some day!
February 2nd, 2010 at 12:11 am
What an amazing future hope! I got shivers reading about it and became very giddy for you both.
Count me in as one of your patrons ;D