We typically make some sort of post on Facebook, either for the Inn or on our private personal pages, in regards tohow we are doing at the Inn and personally. I thought it would be a nice idea to make this a bit more public and transparent, as so many of you are really invested in our wellbeing and success.
Reviewing 2023
Whether talking to other business owners or guests, 2023 was a weird year. We were really busy at the Inn, which we are thankful for, but with rising interest rates our success was eaten up by rising mortgage payments and inflation.
As a lot of you know we had an almost 2 year saga of trying to refinance the Inn. We worked with some incredible people, and made new friends from the trials and tribualations. In the end it all fell through. In turn we realized no one was coming to our aid so we sold the Central Street Cottage. This has helped our financial position, plus we scored a fantastic new neighbor! More on this in our planning.
Probably the biggest win for us was the discovery and use of the World Wide On Organic Farms, or WWOOF. We had over a dozen Wwoofers stay with us and help us whip the garden in to to great shape. It has given us a foundation for success, with also having Lauren completing her freshman year as a Freedom Farmer, we think we will do even better producing food for the Inn and our family. It is another potential way to make connections with people, so check out our profile on Wwoof.
We unfortuantely did not get to travel or camp in 2023. After April it was all resources to maintain payments on the Inn.
Nathan had a good start to his Real Estate career, with two transactions. It does not sound like a lot but his coaches tlel him this is a start, especially in an interesting year for Real Estate. Casey took over running the girls Girl Scout troop, which is no small effort!
Planning 2024
So we started the year, with literally just having closed on the cottage sale. This in turn led to upgrading our Wwoofer accomodations!
We also were very close to leasing out the Spa and having that operated independently, however the Massage Therapist is not quite ready to pull the trigger yet. Stay tuned for developments there!
Nathan jumped ship from his old brokerage, and is now with Engel & Volkers, a bespoke brand with European roots and a dedication to service. He can and will still help you in relocation efforts. To add to this he has a better network to draw upon and use to get your property sold too.
Goals already achieved;
- Rebuilt our web site (speed improvements, photography, functionality).
- Had new gutter added back to the old part of the Inn.
- Upgraded carpets in Astoria room.
Plans to achieve in 2024;
- Refinance the Inn with a local bank (We are hoping Olympia Federal Savings, if you bank with them let them know you love us!)
- Move Columbia Room bathroom. We had hoped to do this last year but finances got eaten up.
- The trickle effect of moving the Columbia rooms bathroom would be renovating the other bathrooms.
- Continuing to develop Nathan’s Real Estate business, based under “Basecamp Olympia, Experience and Explore”.
- Continue to accept Wwoofers and in conjunction with Lauren’s Freedom Farming grow more for the inn.
- Working with the Olympia Beekeepers Association, partner with the Freedom Farmers to teach Introduction to Beekeeping and Apprencticeship Classes.
By no means is this a complete list, but it is a start and in a place we can hold ourselves accountable for. We hope when we write this next year we can say we have achieved most of these items.
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