Two months in!
It’s been just over two months since we’ve taken over Springwood Cottage Resort and it’s been a whirlwind to say the least. After navigating all of the “typical” closing activities associated with purchasing properties, plus the dealing with the legal aspects of setting up a business and transferring over some of the existing business accounts from the previous owners, we immediately went into trial by fire figuring out the business, since we had guests staying here on the day we got the keys and as luck would have it, there was a major storm which took out the power, so Ed had to quickly figure out how to operate the generator in the dark in the midst of the storm by himself.
After that rocky start, we quickly turned our sites on making some improvements. Since both Ed and I have worked in high tech most of our lives, the first improvements we took on were to implement an online reservation system and to develop a new website (and refresh the brand). We worked with a friend in the community who helped us realize our vision for the website and branding and found a Canadian cloud-based reservation system that enabled us to move into the 21 st century of bookings. We also quickly switched out the road and property entranceway signage to align with the new branding.
Next, we focused on hiring some of our key employees, and took on organizing some of our primary work areas, so that our employees could be a bit more efficient, and we knew what we had to work with behind the scenes. Unfortunately, the previous owners did not leave us with many tools or operable equipment, so our local hardware store employees have quickly become our best friends. The back storage and workshop will likely always be a work in progress, but we’ve definitely made some headway in the short time we’ve been here.
I have a background in Interior Decorating, so the idea of tackling 18 separate dwellings is quite exciting. For the past 2 months, we’ve been replacing and moving around key pieces of furniture in the cottages so that the spaces have a bit more functionality and flow while being esthetically pleasing. While I would love to do everything at once, this just isn’t practical, but we’ve made a good dent in refreshing many of units.
The most notable improvement is that we replaced nearly every mattress, box spring and bedframe at the resort. Initially, we were going to do this over a 3-year period, but once we got in here, it became apparent that we needed to bite the bullet and upgrade these more quickly than originally planned, since having a good nights sleep is paramount for having a restful vacation. We also replaced several of the more tired couches (sofa beds), dining sets and a few other pieces that were either broken or didn’t suit the space. The other big item we tackled on was to replace patio furniture at many of the cottages, since we want our guests to be comfortable outside to fully experience natures beauty.
Ed’s family has a background in the restaurant industry, so my brother-in-law has taken a special interest in helping us refresh the convenience store. We have reorganized and cleaned up the existing stock, changed out some of the fixtures and lighting, and made a few tweaks to the footprint to open up the space a bit and to incorporate more grocery items and scooped Kawartha Dairy ice cream. We’re not quite finished this, but we’re very happy with the results so far.
We’ve also bought several new water and land “toys”, such as a few newer boats, kayaks, paddle boards, bikes, snowshoes, and games for our guests to enjoy during their stay. We’ve decided to include usage of many of the non-motorized water toys, adult bikes, snowshoes, games, books, and DVDs for guests, rather than requiring them to rent these items, which we hope guests will appreciate.
The rest of our time has been spent doing typical annual maintenance and preparations for the upcoming busy season, like repairing and putting in the docks, cleaning up the grounds, opening up and repairing cottages, etc.
None of these projects has been easy or smooth sailing while amid a global pandemic and a stay-at-home order, with stores closed and supply chain issues, but we have done the best we can during these challenging times. And while we did not get a roadmap of how everything here worked previously, we’re hoping that we’ve gotten the key elements right for our longstanding guests and that the things we’ve improved so far will make for a great first impression and have a big positive impact for our guest’s experience and the community at large. Please give us your feedback when you arrive.