29/07/2023
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Before and after the help of Emma:
I have known Emma for some years now, and to say I am in awe of her is an understatement. Emma is a whizz at all things technology, a very stark difference to me who is stuck in โWindowsโ and has no idea how to navigate the all-inspiring, life-changing world of โGoogleโ and all it can offer. Ohh no, not me... I am a Microsoft Office girl, an AOL girl (which actually makes me an official dinosaur), and a โsave asโ, โrenameโ, save again, and put in a file, and then add to a memory stick - cover all possibilities of loss of documents! Kinda girl.
Yes, I know!! But that is the only way I have known how over my lifetime of computer use. I hear people say there is such wizardry as โthe cloudโ, upload then download, and things never get lost, but I have a distrust in things I cannot control! Hence my need for Emma.
I had been asking Emma to assist me for some time, but our paths didnโt align at the time, so when I saw her post regarding beginning a life & business organizer business/consultancy, I jumped at the chance, literally within seconds of her putting the post up. Of course, within the same lightning speed, Emma responded, and we got to work on a plan.
Now, at this point, I could have run outside and danced in the rain, I was so happy. But living in Brittany, France, believe it or not, rain is something that is rather scarce during the summer.
Here in Brittany, I own, run, and manage a 3-bed Chambre Dโhรดtes (B and B) situated alongside the Nantes et Brest Canal. Our main business is tourists cycling the canal, either as an endurance/fitness challenge or as a leisurely holiday with family, children, and friends. During the summer (April โ end of October), my world is one of changing beds, cleaning, and cooking for our Table dโhรดtes evening dining.
Because our main business is overnight stops for cyclists and hikers, meaning daily changeover of rooms, we do also have guests who stay longer. Yet the daily physical element of keeping the turnover going is time-consuming. The admin is a whole other element of time consumption. There are days and often weeks where my only trip outside of the house is to the washing line!
Now, many people were somewhat envious of our change of life and lifestyle. โIt must be wonderful running a B and Bโ or โwhat a way to early retirement.' The truth is, I have never worked harder.
And while I enjoy meeting the people who stay here, listening to their stories, preparing their rooms, giving advice on the journey along the canal, and cooking for them, I ABSOLUTELY LOATHE the admin. It is overwhelming and stressful, and this is on top of French Administration, which is famously known as complex and inconsistent! The honest truth is I was ready to throw in the plethora of B and B towels and admit defeat!!
Before Emma officially entered the world of Central Brittany B and B, this is what my day looked like in terms of Admin Duties:
An email inquiry from potential guests involved responding manually to this, offering a room and dates, all kept on my Microsoft Office spreadsheet, and then on to a paper calendar, then linking with a channel manager once the guest responded confirming they wanted to book. I would manually raise an invoice, keeping a check on the numerical order, send the invoice and payment details, then when a payment arrived, either by cheque or bank transfer, I would enter this information onto the spreadsheet and manually raise a receipt. The time involved in this process was approximately 50 minutes per booking and at least 4 revisits to the computer. Then keeping track of when balance payments were due and again manually completing a receipt and sending, then another email to ask if they would like to dine table dโhรดtes on the evening of their stay. Then another contact to ensure the time of arrival if they require storage for bikes or parking. All of this, of course, over days, not one sitting at the computer.
Also adding the T and C and cancellation policy as an attachment email!! (which I was sure no one ever read or signed the document to say they had read and agreed to the T and C and Cancellation policy, thus leaving me hopelessly stranded in an ocean of trust for payments!
One thing that can never happen is that a room is double-booked, so there is a race between enquiry and booking to secure the stay. As we also offer rooms on Booking.com and Airbnb, if the rooms are automatically booked there, they were getting to the dates of direct bookings first, and a whole other level of complicated arose!!! It was so stressful!
In total, I estimate a good 90 minutes per booking.
We have the possibility of 21 different bookings per week! Yes, thatโs a lot of time.
Also, bookings arrive from Booking.com and Airbnb, and these too need adding to spreadsheets, manually responding to messages, and transferring that information to my Spreadsheet and to the calendar.
On a rare occasion, I did find myself with an hour spare - my one moment of โmeโ time. I would flop exhaustedly into the hammock in the garden, but then if a booking pinged through, I would have to give up this power nap to trudge resentfully back to the computer!
Enter EMMA โ Life saver โ Goddess of admin.
Emma has automated everything; a booking arrives from the website, it is automatically added to the online calendar and linked, and the risk of double bookings is eliminated as there is no human (my) error to be made.
She has linked all of the bookings to my Google calendar, and this updates automatically without me needing to enter all data. You may laugh, but until this point, I used to carry an A4 calendar everywhere, to the Drโs, hospital, friends โ it was my only way of keeping track of everything happening in my world.
A massive change for me now, confidence in the systems Emma has set up.
The website, well, letโs just say it was a mess! Not created by me but by someone professional who claimed it was a good website. Enter Emma โ clearly not a good website as she glanced at it.
I could never understand why people didnโt book directly through the website, but when Emma had looked at it, she quickly realised that it did not give the option to book directly as had been promised. It had been set up with 4 different email addresses for me to check daily, and in busy season with the possibility of late and same day bookings, I was checking morning, lunch, and evening. Yet again, more time-consuming effort, and then add the time mentioned above if a booking did arrive, my life was one big, made-crazy, stressful whirl.
Emma has overhauled the website and streamlined it into a very quick and easy bookable space with everything automated. Each page has the facility to book without having to send an email first to enquire if there is availability. It is, in one word, GENIUS.
The overhaul of how my business ran is incredible. I have been rescued from the doldrums of beginning to loathe the ownership of a B and B and the lack of time I had for myself. After all, isnโt it what you see on the TV shows, that living in France is a breeze of cheese & wine and leisurely days?
Emma has not just invested herself into the mechanics of the admin and tech of my business; she has done far more than that; she has invested in ME. To be truthful, I was feeling quite broken and overwhelmed, and at times ready to throw in the B and B towel. I used to say I was a victim of my own success; now, I realize I was a fool stuck in old-fashioned ways with a fear of technology.
Emma has given me confidence; her patience is incredible. My endless questions and cries of help are always greeted with โok, we can sort thisโ or โI can show you.โ It is not easy being a teacher, believe me, I know! (12 years a teacher in the UK)
Having my hand held through this transformation has been more than a comfort; it has saved not just Central Brittany B and B but me too.
My testament โ
Emma, with her caring yet uber passionate approach to problem-solving and rebirthing my business, has not only brought me joy but has re-ignited my enthusiasm for my business. I have not once felt stupid about any questions I have asked because Emma has a wonderful way of injecting her enthusiasm for success. Her working speed is incredible; within one week, the transformation was up and running.
I have also been 100% included in the changes being made, with video calling and working through website pages together. I have enjoyed this process as I felt I still had ownership of the changes. Emmaโs recommendations have also been key; โKnowledge is power,โ as the saying goes, and Emma has this in abundance.
This process is ongoing; Emma has assured me she is there to hold my hand along the way; there will be no abandonment; this is hugely comforting and important for me.
We are about to begin a journey of overhauling my social media platforms and lessons from Emma on how to engage communities and drive more bookings my way. I am excited for this and looking forward to the results.
I am also very excited about the reclaimed time I now have, so I can fully immerse myself into French life.
Eternally Grateful just doesnโt cut it.
If you are reading this and feeling the same way I was, I recommend that you do NOT hesitate, that you contact Emma and reclaim your life too."
