12 Steps To Setting up your Lodge Cabin Self-Catering Business
Lodge cabins can make an excellent investment for anyone with a bit of land and imagination. These buildings can look beautiful in almost any environment, will last a lifetime, can be very popular with customers, and don’t require the same planning permission as you would for a traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ building. In this article, we’re going to take you through the full process of investing in a lodge cabin for the holiday market. We’ll look at what you need to consider before getting started, what sort of locations do best when it comes to letting out your lodge cabin, planning, how to market and deliver an experience your guests will love.
Identify Your Business Goals
Before starting any business, it is important to think clearly about what it is you want to get out. Be detailed as this will help you make the right decisions early on and start to shape a business that you want to run. This will help you be successful in the long run. How much money do you want to make? Are you willing to employ additional staff or do you want this to be something you just do yourself on the side? Do you already have a business that you want your lodge cabin to support and complement?
If you’re going to make the necessary investment to get your lodge cabin business off the ground, you need to make sure that it will be right for you in the long run. That means thinking carefully about exactly what it is you want from your lodge cabins.
Budgeting and Finance Planning
Once you know what you want to get out of your lodge cabin business, you can start to plan and budget. The most obvious restrictions here will be how much you have and/ or are able to borrow. Getting started needn’t cost the earth in terms of the cabin itself, but planning and infrastructure costs can add up so make sure this is something you’re able to do and make sure that you have a good understanding of your potential ROI’s before spending large sums of money on infrastructure.
There are many finance options available to anyone looking for a business of this nature. Let’s start with the more obvious; bank loans. If you can secure a business loan from a bank to start your venture, this is a fantastic way to finance your project. You can usually spread these loans over a long time period which makes paying them back far easier and more sustainable for your business.
Asset finance can be another option for those who may be unable to secure capital from a bank. These loans are secured against your own assets and often have fairly short repayment terms with typically higher interests than what you would get from a bank. This doesn’t mean that they’re not a good option, but it does mean that you need to be extra thorough in making sure that your lodge cabin will be popular with customers.
Grants can be an excellent way to get your business off the ground. It’s well worth doing some research at the beginning of your project and assessing whether it fits, or could fit, into the requirements of a specific grant.
Location (and setting) Matter
If you're in the UK, almost every possible location is either within a short enough distance to a large population of people to make your lodge cabin easily accessible, or remote, but beautiful.
If you're looking at purchasing or leasing land for your business and are open to it being in different places; beautiful and interesting surroundings are obviously preferable. That being said, customers are just looking for some peace and quiet. With the right cabin and enough attention given to its internal and external design - you can make a thriving lodge cabin business just about anywhere.
Design and Customisation
This is a crucial step and could easily be the difference between your lodge cabin being a success or something that you regret. If buying your cabin from a manufacturer, make sure that it's a business you can trust. Beyond that, make sure it’s a business that builds something customers want to stay in. You can’t polish a turd, and even with some really amazing design and customisation on the wrong product, your lodge cabin won’t be as successful as it could be.
Once you’ve got a great lodge cabin from a supplier you can trust, you need to think about how you're going to sit the building, what you’re going to have around it, and how you’re going to dress and customise its interior.
How and where you situate the cabin matters. When customers are browsing where to book, your property will be competing with many others. You want to make your cabin stand out and small details matter a lot. Situate your cabin in a way that gives it privacy and in a way that customers might find interesting. Make the most of any interesting features you have available to you; don't just stick it somewhere boring to save money - a little extra investment at the beginning will make all the difference further down the road.
Give your cabin a decking or patio area. Make this area beautiful and add features that will make it an enjoyable space even in bad/ cold weather (e.g. - Fire pits, sauna, hot tub, covered area). This is especially important if you want to attract customers to your site in the winter - if you're going to be open all year round, getting customers to your site in the winter will be crucial to the success of your project.
Compliance and Regulation
If you want running water to your cabin, you’re going to need planning permission. If your lodge cabin is for a letting business, you should have running water. Customers don’t want an ‘eco’ cabin with no sink or toilet. If you're going to make the investment in a good quality wooden lodge, make sure you have the necessary planning permission before you get started.
Most lodges are classed as semi-permanent structures and come under the same planning regulations as static caravans. Local planning authorities are all but different and stress the importance of different objectives. Look at the recent applications of similar businesses and start to get a feel for what your local planners are looking for with that sort of application. If possible, get neighbours and other local businesses on side: this can make all the difference.
If you're looking for help with planning or feasibility studies, click here to learn how we can help.
Sourcing Quality Cabins
There are many high quality cabin manufacturers out there. Look for businesses with experience and a good reputation. You don’t just want a good cabin, you want a business that will help and support you if you have any issues.
Evaluating Cabin Features
Look for cabins with the right balance of aesthetics, functionality, and durability. Aesthetics are important because that’s what is going to make your property stand out in the market. Functionality and durability are important for more obvious reasons.
Size matters less than quality. Look for cabins that are well insulated from suppliers like those described above.
Customers want the feel of a rustic lodge cabin. Wood is preferable and interiors should be interesting and cosy. Make the cabins suitable for families but bear in mind that it will be couples and adult groups who are most likely to stay outside of school holidays.
If sustainable practices are important to you, click here to learn more about what to look for in this area.
Installation and Maintenance
You have your planning permission and you’ve chosen your supplier. To get the site ready, you’ll need to build your foundations and run water and electricity to your chosen site.
Unless you’re able to do this work yourself, you’ll need to look for contractors in your area who can do this for you. Choosing the right contractor is no different from choosing your lodge supplier. Look for businesses with good reputations. If they list any previous work, phone around and ask if they were happy with what was done for them. Many projects can get off to a bad start with bad contractors so it's well worth doing some due diligence at this stage - it could save you thousands.
Your cabins will probably arrive on the back of a hiab lorry (one with a crane). You’ll need an access road suitable for such a vehicle and enough clearance to allow for the cabin to be craned into position before your plumber and electrician connect it up.
When it comes to maintaining your cabin: keep it clean, fix anything that breaks or gets damaged, and (if wood) treat the exterior boards every few years or so.
Marketing and Revenue Generation
Now you're ready to stop spending money and start making some money. How you market your cabin is important, but not as important as everything we’ve discussed up until now. If you’ve gotten those steps right, your marketing will stand out and customers will want to come and visit.
That being said, you still need to let people know about your beautiful lodge cabin. There are a number of ways to do this and a number of businesses that offer to make it easier for you. Essentially though, they will do something to the steps listed below:
Take high quality photos that show off everything wonderful about your new lodge cabin.
Use a booking system with channel management to list your property in multiple places at once.
Build a website and encourage direct bookings (bookings that come straight from your website)
Channel management systems offer to sync your booking calendar with other booking channels (websites like Airbnb and booking.com). These are crucial in holiday business, especially when you’re getting started and don't yet have any repeat business.
Building a website doesn't need to be too difficult these days as there are many businesses that now make it really easy (Squarespace for example). You’ll pay less for bookings that come from your website so try to encourage guests to book directly the next time they stay.
Building a strong social media presence will also help you get more direct bookings. If you’ve done the work to create a beautiful space, take interesting and creative pictures and port regularly. Easier said than done of course, but it's certainly not impossible and many such businesses make incredible use of social media in this way.
Building Customer Experience
Ultimately, it is the experience provided to your guests that will determine the success of your lodge cabin business. A lot of this work is created in the steps detailed above but there is still room for making a bit more effort and leaving your guests desperate to come back and tell their friends about your business.
Little things can make a great deal with this sort of business. Include nice soaps, teas, and coffee with every stay. Include salt pepper and oil - things your guests may not have thought to bring. You don't want them to arrive and immediately need to head to the shops - especially if you're in a remote location.
Make your customers feel your gratitude and exceed their expectations. Exceptional experiences create a word of mouth effect that no amount of marketing can compete with.
Case Studies and Success Stories
In March of 2023, Sarah Holmes took delivery of two Twin Unit lodges near Morpeth, in Northumbria. The cabins were situated in a wooded area overlooking an open field. Sarah built a simple deck complete with a seating area and listed the cabins on Sykes Cottages. Since then, she has achieved an 81.6% occupancy rate - more than what she gets on her traditional cottages!
Future Trends
No one can predict the future, but we can tell you what’s been happening over the last few years and use it to make some educated guesses as to where things are likely heading.
Customers are looking for increasingly quirky and interesting experiences. Some in the industry use the term ‘Instagramable’, but we feel this trivialises what is a legitimate desire from customers. It’s not just that they want their holiday to look great on Instagram - they just want their holiday to look great. And what’s wrong with that? This is something hotels have always known and it’s only now that outdoor accommodation/self-catering/ glamping (whatever you want to call it) is starting to catch up. People like to be in interesting beautiful spaces and that look set to continue.
Couples are an increasingly important part of outdoor accommodation. This is a trend that has been growing over the last few years and we expect to continue. These are people with no children, spare cash, and in many instances, dogs. You need to persuade them to leave their cities and travel to your cosy retreat. Follow the advice above… and allow dogs.
