Help - Advise on Running a B&B

[TheBrowns]

Help! OK, we have holidayed in france for a few years and love the country, the people and the culture. With being made redundant and my son being of the impressionable age of 10, my wifes long term ambition of running a B&B and the current high value of our UK house we have decided, rightly or wrongly to take the plunge. We have a property in mind which belongs to a more elderly couple which they run as a guest house but already has 3 ensuite rooms done up and with little work, 3 more are in the offing. The potential B&B has a bar area\breakfast room although no license and we have visions of opening a small cafe. We can afford the B&B with cash in the bank. But, there is a gite with an 11 month let (so instant income) also, but we would have to take out a small mortgage to enable us to buy this and have some cash in the bank too. Oh dear, can you see all of the pitfalls already as I only see opportunities! Finally the Village is small (60 people in the winter and twice that in the summer) and has no real hub ie bar\restaurant\shop etc - the nearest village for these services only 4km away and 10km away from the second biggest town in Le Lot, Gourdon. Another plus is the close proximity, 12km from one of the biggest tourist attractions in the area - Rocomodour (probably spelt it wrong now).

So I guess the questions would be, now you know the life history(!) are...

What are the pitfalls, costs, added expenses, experiences on any aspect of the above and what advise would you give?

Oh yes, what about a check list of must do things we have to do before we move...

Thanks in advance

Gary

[Suzyq]

Welcome
You seem to be well on the way to thinking of the potential problems that in itself is a good thing. Check out the forum on B&B, Gites and earning a living in France there is some useful information.
If you didn't buy a licence with the property and intend to run a bar/resto do a bit of research, the commune might have one to sell, or if you need a new one be prepared to pay quite a bit. If it's just for your own B&B clients it's cheap.
Suze