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One of the perennial issues when you take over an existing business is whether or not you should put up an “Under New Management” sign or not.

If previous owners were putting off guests then you probably should put one up. After all, people may decide to book somewhere else based on all the bad reviews that your place had been getting (if this seems likely, you should also change the name).

However, in the majority of cases, the previous owners aren’t really that bad. Putting up a sign when the previous owners were anything from average to good means that you’re likely to lose customers because some people will book because they were the owners.

Where you can come unstuck is that if your marketing image is significantly different from that of the previous owners you have effectively put up the sign anyway which is something to be wary of. You might think that your new image for the place is absolutely wonderful but the last thing you want to do is to lose the existing regulars which, in some cases I’ve seen, can amount to over 25% of the guest list each year.

It’s more difficult of course when you’re in the situation where you will be running the place significantly differently from the previous owners. In these cases you need to make it clear in your marketing what you do. For example, if the previous owners offered airport pickups but you don’t, then it might be better to state that explicitly. On the other hand, be positive about the extra things that you do as well eg if you’re an award winning chef and the previous owners weren’t then say so.

So, unless the previous owners are truly dreadful, don’t erect a sign as such but do be clear in your advertising where you differ from them.

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