Muckleneuk Guest House is located close to the heart of Pretoria, the central business district (CBD), and is conveniently located for easy access to OR Tambo International Airport and the N1 freeway to Polokwane/Johannesburg.
How did your business start? 
We (Lizette and Colin Brazendale) had some savings after working in London for seven years, wanted to invest in property and we found a house with a great location and potential to convert into a guest house. The owner wanted to change the house into offices, but could not get permission from the City of Tshwane. The neighbours as well as the homeowners’ association of Muckleneuk gave us their full support and we eventually got permission from the City Of Tshwane to convert the house into a guest house.
Why did you choose this area to set up shop?
We know the Muckleneuk area quite well, so we knew that there would be a great demand, as it is located close by the city centre as well as other businesses.
How did you find your premises?
We found the premises via a family member.
Why are the premises ideally suited to your business?
The stand is on a corner, so this helped us with parking. One of the biggest challenges in order to get guest house rights is to have enough parking. For every room you must have one parking spot and you need one more parking spot than you have rooms. We had to have space for 11 cars. If you don’t have a through driveway you must have 7m of space behind each parking as well.
Who are your neighbours?
Residential owners and an administrational office of an anaesthetists group.
What are the shop rental/sales prices like in this area?
We have a 10-year mortgage from Business Partners. The council tax for our business is very high at R4,700/month.
What is your shop footprint?
Our business runs at about 65% occupancy. We are very busy Monday to Friday, but not that busy over the weekends. Seventy percent of our business comes from business people and 30% from hospital and Unisa guests.
Do you have any expansion plans?
We don’t have any expansion plans. The last time we expanded was for the Soccer World Cup in 2010. We bought the property next to us and created four self-catering units. The month of the 2010 Soccer World Cup is still our best month to date.
Do you operate online as well?
All our advertising is done online. Seventy percent of our business comes from internet marketing and 30% word of mouth.
What’s your most popular item/service?
The most popular items asked for are TV and Wi-Fi. We offer free Wi-Fi.
076 733 7473
Words: Zena le Roux | Images: Supplied
