10 "pitfalls" of country house development and operation

 China's country houses have experienced a development process from scratch and from small to large, and have now become an important format of rural tourism, an important driving force for rural economic growth and an important starting point for comprehensively promoting rural revitalization. However, due to the dual challenges of consumption upgrading and the impact of the epidemic, the development of many country houses is currently facing the test of practical problems such as lack of characteristic operation and lack of multi-channel income increase...

01 

Property rights

At present, there is a very important, but unsolvable problem in country houses, which is the problem of property rights. Before the state officially realized the market circulation of property rights in rural homesteads, there were risks in the issue of property rights in country houses.

After all, both asset management and compliance issues of leasing entities are based on property rights. At present, rural houses generally only have land use certificates, and there are no documents certifying the construction on the land, and all local governments can do at present is to promote the real estate registration system.

What the future of policy will be is not yet known. The uncertainty of government policies has also led to relatively insufficient government support, insufficient support for rural entrepreneurs, and lack of reasonable laws to protect rural entrepreneurs or institutions.

Even the policies and regulations are not perfect, the clerks are difficult, and there is nothing they can do in the face of unreasonable demands from some villagers. In addition, many homestays do not have a formal business license, which is also a hidden danger in the process of operation.

02

Spirit of cooperation

It is undeniable that most villages are relatively backward, and villagers lack the spirit of cooperation, legal awareness and contract spirit.

For example, the aborigines of some scenic spots have seen that foreigners renting houses have gradually formed a better business model, especially the business format of homestays and inns, and have put forward rent increase requirements and do not play cards according to the contract, forcing many operators to be unable to operate or be maliciously increased in price.

Individual villagers in the village are simple, and group villagers may compare with each other. Confucius said, "Do not suffer from the few, but suffer from inequality." This is especially true for rural villagers, where it is difficult to level a bowl of water, which will plant a time bomb for homestay operators.

If the rent next to me is high, my rent will rise, and my house will be renovated if it is beautiful, which is a huge pressure on the investors and operators of the country house.

In ethnic areas, there are also problems of ethnic contradictions and differences in belief. For example, a hotel group opened a country house in the Kham area of the Tibetan people, and its original intention was "a bridge of national unity and a link for the development of the western region". They are very well connected, but they are still cautious when it comes to cooperation.

The hotel believes that other investors in Tibetan areas have no way to compete with the Songtsam Group. Because Mr. Baima, the founder of the Songtsam Group, is well versed in Tibetan culture, he said: "Cultural differences and identity are Songtsam's greatest strengths. ”

03

Neighborhoods

The relationship between the owner of the country house and the villagers, neighbors and local officials at all levels is the most critical. If there is a big problem in every link, it will lead to the loss of the previous achievements.

Before leasing a property, especially farmhouse land, take as much time as possible to understand the choice of the owner, and by visiting the villagers in the neighborhood, find out the credit before signing the contract, and must not sign in a hurry.

Because as investors from cities to villages, they generally require rural administrative departments to be fair and just, honest and creditworthy, and act equally.

However, some local villagers feel that you are a big boss from the city, and you should either help the poor or give in politely, in short, some people in the village regard the investors in the city as "big fat meat". Therefore, handling various relationships such as rural neighborhood relations is the basis for the long-term operation of country houses.

04

infrastructure

At present, the rural infrastructure has not yet met the requirements of accepting high-level projects in a short period of time, such as transportation, logistics, network, etc., nor can it meet the service and speed requirements of Internet projects.

Some homestays are overly pursuing feelings, amplifying stories and legends, resulting in a lack of necessary supporting facilities, comfort and lack of security. For example, when the weather suddenly warms up in the countryside in summer, the original charge load of the homestay is not enough to bear, resulting in frequent power and water outages, which makes the customer experience extremely poor.

Another example is that the drainage system of some lakeside guesthouses or inns is not in place, resulting in sewage being discharged into the lake, polluting the lake water and damaging the natural environment.

05

The pit of feelings

Don't sell feelings as products and ignore the essence of the product. The author has contacted many people who open homestays, and they all miss the feeling of being in their hometown when they were children, and they all like to have a house arranged according to their preferences in a clean tourist place.

What if there is no market on the market? Open it yourself, such a beautiful thing, after the opening, all kinds of similar people still come in droves?

Things that seem reasonable will not be known until the operation stage, and feelings and reality are separated by 108,000 miles.

06

Design and build

Too many country houses are built by home improvement design and construction units, and investors who do not understand this line of work can only wait to be pitted.

It should be said that the building renovation, interior decoration and outdoor landscape gardens of homestays are very expensive, and because most of them are non-standardized construction, and rural areas are relatively remote, the transportation cost of transporting materials is very high, and the labor cost of inviting from the city to the countryside is also very high.

Therefore, you will find that a homestay looks like it has done nothing, but it has already spent tens of thousands. Indeed, because it is difficult for homestays to have a clear process and transparent materials like real estate development, people who do not know how to do it will definitely spend a lot of money.

07

The cost is too high

Instability of customer sources, seasonal influences, low frequency, low occupancy rate, off-peak season is obviously a problem that can not be solved, now the peak season in the general countryside is only 4 months, the peak season and off-season average, the average annual occupancy rate of most villages will not exceed 40%, so this is unlikely to bring high returns.

On the other hand, the occupancy rate of country houses is low, it is heavy investment, the homogenization is serious, the services and products are too weak, the unit price is too low, and the labor cost is very high. The low premium rate due to low property costs is not enough to support the operation of the project, especially the operation with a good experience.

In the long run, only early adopters may opt for resorts that place an increasing emphasis on personalization on weekends.

08

Capital traps

People who do homestays should not take money easily, especially the money of investors who do not understand homestays. A homestay has been operating with capital since the location is selected, especially a group of laymen who feel that they can subvert any industry through capital.

If you do, there is a 90% chance that you will lose all your money. In addition, some operators with a homestay background do not use the entrepreneurial mentality to do homestays, but the thinking of professional managers who work part-time, and it is easy to kill homestays.

Only those who really want to do homestays, infect and unite people who really love homestays through their own enthusiasm, and regard homestays as a joy of life, away from those teams that only rely on capital operation to make money, can make homestays successful.

09

Blindly follow the trend

Now there are so many villages that want to introduce homestays, but there are not many villages that are really suitable for opening homestays (it is feasible to meet the aforementioned "timing, location, people" and "people").

If you just blindly choose or are attracted by the other party's request, the probability of success is very small.

Some people who want to do homestays do not understand themselves and follow others, and later find that many problems such as the demolition and relocation of rural houses have not been solved, and they drag on for months or even longer, wasting a lot of time.

For those who do not have the expertise and do not take the initiative to learn about the rural situation, opportunities can also become traps.

10

Not grounded

Rural Internet entrepreneurship is one of the components of the state's encouragement of mass entrepreneurship. However, it is still too early to start a business in the direction of rural Internet projects.

Mass entrepreneurship in first- and second-tier cities is somewhat overheated, and many entrepreneurs are also opening up new markets and looking for new opportunities, but China's rural development is far from reaching the stage where the technology of first- and second-tier cities can be directly transformed, and the docking in the middle is several levels worse, which is not grounded.