Ideas for hotels. Business idea of ​​opening your own mini-hotel. Original inventions of some hotels in the world

Haven't realized your idea to open a mini-hotel yet? You will find here valuable tips, an example of a business plan, a useful video. Implement!

Rest after a long trip, relax in comfortable conditions, eat delicious food and sleep well at an affordable price - these are the main requirements that average travelers place on a hotel.

Therefore, if focusing on such customer needs, it will be relevant open a small hotel And on this you can eventually start earning good money.

Despite the fact that this business idea for opening a mini-hotel will require large financial investments, if you do not buy a building for a hotel as a property, yours will pay off within 6-12 months!!!

Most of the funds will have to be invested in equipment and renovation of the premises, as well as the purchase of textiles and interior items!

You will need: comfortable beds, tables, chairs, wardrobes, electric kettles, TVs.

We offer you some tips on how to how to open a mini hotel?

STEP #1: Choose a room to open your own mini-hotel.

Since the hotel is small, you will not need a room that is too large in size.

Its size directly depends on the planned number of rooms.

As a rule, mini-hotels have from 10 to 30 rooms.

When choosing a room, be sure to consider the possibility of dividing the rooms into 1-bed, 2-bed and 3-bed rooms.

In addition, think also about the premises that will be allocated for household needs (laundry, security room, etc.), common areas (dining room, reception).

Take care of the heat safety of the room: mini-hotel must be equipped with emergency exits, fire escapes (if the building is multi-storey), fire shields.

STEP #2: Taking care of communications and electronics in the mini-hotel.

To open your own mini-hotel we can not do without our usual communications: electricity, plumbing, telephone.

Today, guests also appreciate the availability of Wi-Fi Internet in hotels.

Also, each room should have a telephone, because, despite the fact that each guest has a mobile, for example, it is much more convenient to contact the reception by an ordinary phone.

In addition, equip each room with air conditioning and a heater so that your guests are comfortable at any time of the year.

STEP #3: The mini-hotel will require staff to operate.

The staff of a mini-hotel is no different from the staff of a large hotel, except perhaps the number of people.

First of all, you will need a receptionist who will also perform the functions of an administrator.

A security guard is needed even in a small hotel, so it is better to conclude an agreement with a security agency in advance, because qualified personnel are trained only in professional institutions.

For a small hotel, 2-3 cleaners, 3-4 maids and a janitor will be enough to keep the main rooms clean.

If any equipment fails, the assistance of a qualified electrician or plumber will be required.

If there is a dining room (or cafe) in the hotel, cooks and waiters will be required to work.

STEP #4: We advertise the opening of our mini-hotel.

Advertise your hotel wherever possible.

Have you decided to implement your own mini-hotel?

Then get ready for the fact that in reality everything will be somewhat more complicated than in your thoughts and fantasies.

Try to concentrate and tune in to win, because in the process of implementing what you have planned, you will have to face very specific difficulties.

To better understand this sector of the business industry, let's try to pay attention to good examples in Europe.

In almost every developed European country, one can note the firm position of mini-hotels in the hotel services market..

For example, in France you will find many cozy small hotels where each client can comfortably and quite inexpensively stay.

Such places are distinguished by an unusual calm atmosphere, warm, friendly atmosphere.

A huge hotel can confuse guests with its excessive luxury and size, so a small hotel wins in terms of customer service.

Hotel classification

Considering the hotel market globally, one should be guided by the classification and some parameters of this business.

In our country, until recently, there was no single document or regulation that considers such a concept as a "small hotel".

There was no division into groups and classes. It is not surprising that questions and difficulties always arose in this direction, which sometimes could not be resolved.

The situation was further aggravated by the fact that the authorities put mini-hotels and large hotels on the same plane, trying to create rules common to all. And this, of course, is impossible to do.

Today, the organizers and owners of the hotel business have decided on a clear and specific classification in this sector:

So, depending on the occupied premises and the number of rooms, hotels are divided into: mini-hotels with 12 to 15 rooms in the non-residential fund, apartment-type mini-hotels that have 7-15 rooms in the residential fund, and small hotels in separate buildings - contain more than 50 rooms at their disposal.

If we consider the classification according to the principle of providing hotel services, then it will look like this: hostels, affordable hotels, apart-hotels, home hotels, business and economy class hotels.

The characteristics of mini-hotels and some of the distinctive positions in customer service, determine a number of advantages.

Firstly, guests always have the opportunity to choose a room according to their taste and budget.

Secondly, many creative people consider the individual design of rooms to be a big advantage. After all, small hotels can afford it, because they do not have so many rooms. In addition, most of the owners of such hotels treat their business like a father, reverently equipping each room separately.

Thirdly, for service personnel, clients become not just visiting faceless people, but acquire the status of welcome guests.

That is why mini-hotels are famous for their hospitable atmosphere and comfort, which cannot be purchased for money in large hotels..

The biggest hurdle in the hospitality sector is the real estate itself.

Mostly small hotels occupy space in old communal houses or converted apartments. Making such a living space legally is a very long and difficult task.

The authorities will require the transfer of the building you like to the non-residential fund, which seriously complicates the whole procedure.

Thousands of entrepreneurs wind down their business already at this stage. They simply cannot cope with the material costs of re-registration, taxes on acquired property and land. Yes, and the approval of the necessary documents takes a year, or even more.

It is difficult to find such an area that can be transferred to non-residential fund without any problems.

This is probably why 60-70% of mini-hotels are owned by individuals and are located in residential premises..

It is difficult to call an apartment rented for a day a hotel, but there are no questions with the tax office.

Another global obstacle in the way of the hotel business is GOSTs, SNiPs, sanitary and fire regulations.

Specific echoes of the Soviet era, which modern entrepreneurs do not want to listen to. As a result, it turns out that the statistics are not able to name the total number of mini-hotels. Nobody has such information.

The process of creating a mini-hotel

What is the process of creating a small hotel? Imagine a mini-hotel with 10 rooms. First you need to choose a suitable room, preferably on the second floor.

It would be nice to find a communal apartment in a facade building, which is located in the historic district of the city.

It is very important to have a developed infrastructure: shops, cafes, restaurants, cinema. It will take about 350 square meters for the hotel itself, the kitchen, and administrative premises.

If such an area is found, then the second stage follows, the most complex, long and painstaking: the resettlement of residents and the re-registration of documents.

Next, you need redevelopment and a good repair. This process is quite costly. Since after planning it is necessary to conclude agreements with such supervisory services as firefighters, a water utility, power engineers, and a sanitary and epidemiological station.

But the next stage is the most interesting - it's thinking through the aesthetics, decor, interior design of your hotel.

It is necessary to make the hall and rooms as comfortable and cozy as possible, having nothing to do with the former communal apartment. You will have to fork out for the purchase of modern furniture, plumbing, household appliances, and other necessary equipment.

We determine the profitability of a mini-hotel

Before launching your hotel business, you should study the supply and demand market. When selecting future personnel, it is recommended to focus on a strict work procedure and a desire to constantly learn.

For a hotel with 10 rooms, you need: a manager, a senior administrator, 3-4 administrators, a chief accountant, a head of the reservation department and 2-3 maids.

Mandatory and unchanged should be the availability of breakfast and perfectly clean linen. Sometimes clients are offered the services of a gym, sauna, car rental, if you conclude the necessary agreements with their owners in advance.

If you invest enough material and mental resources, then a mini-hotel can be an excellent business option.

How to start opening a mini-hotel

In this case, you need to perform a huge number of actions. At the first stage, you must find a room or house that will meet all the standards for the further placement of people in them. Naturally, the ideal option would be to build an entire residential complex, which you will use as a hotel, but this is very expensive. After you select the necessary building, you can proceed to register a business and purchase all the equipment necessary for the operation of a mini-hotel. In addition, you need to take care of finding service personnel who will work in your even a small, but hotel.

How much can you earn

If we consider the profitability from such a business, then we can say with confidence that the amount earned will depend on what form of hotel you open and how many people the hotel will be designed for. On average, the profitability from a mini-hotel per month can be approximately 40-300 thousand rubles. If your hotel will provide some additional services, then the cost of the rented room will be much higher. Naturally, during the holiday season you can earn several times more money than when the hotel is idle without visitors.

How much money do you need to start a business

Despite the fact that you are going to open a mini-hotel, the initial capital should be quite high. The main expenses include:

  • 30-35 thousand dollars - purchase of the necessary equipment for a mini-hotel;
  • 50 thousand dollars - implementation of various actions and registration of documents of the regulatory plan;
  • 200-300 thousand dollars - the purchase of real estate, which you will rebuild into a mini-hotel (rental real estate will be an order of magnitude lower).

What equipment to choose for a mini-hotel

When choosing equipment for your own mini-hotel, you should pay attention to those items that are essential for a client in a hotel room. Among the required items should be a bed, a table and chairs, a wardrobe for storing clothes, a small refrigerator, a TV and other items, including personal hygiene. At the same time, if you are looking for such equipment, then you should give preference to high-quality equipment, which will be a little more expensive than usual. You should choose only those items and equipment that will make the client's stay in a mini-hotel unforgettable.

Which OKVED to indicate when registering a business

OKVED code 55.1 should be used - the implementation of the activities of mini-hotels, hotels and other public places.

What documents are needed to open

You must take care of the following documents:

  • Registration of LLC or individual entrepreneur;
  • Individual data of the entrepreneur;
  • Receipt of payment of state duty;
  • A notarized statement written by the entrepreneur.

Which taxation system to choose for business registration

To reduce the tax burden, a simplified taxation system would be ideal, but in the case of opening small hotels or miniature hotels, you can use the UTII system.

Do I need permission to open

Make sure you have the following permissions:

  • Conclusion of the sanitary and epidemiological service;
  • Certificates of conformity;
  • Conclusions from the technical, environmental, fire service;
  • Permissions and licenses for the services provided by the mini-hotel.

Technology for doing business

First of all, you must develop room categories, and set your own price range for each of them. As soon as the client chooses the room he likes, you are obliged to issue the keys and, if the client wishes, provide further information. The next day, the rooms are cleaned at a certain time or at the request of the client.


* Calculations use average data for Russia

The global tourism market is growing by 5% annually. What other areas of tourism business exist besides the organization of travel agencies, hotels and hostels? In this compilation, we've rounded up 25 alternative tourism and seasonal entertainment business ideas and complemented them with business start-up guides and business plans.

In Europe, the share of farm income from the reception of vacationers reaches 40%. In Russia, agritourism is not yet so developed, but this area has development prospects. If you have your own country plot in an area that boasts beautiful natural landscapes, you can turn it into an agroestate and host guests from the city who are tired of the charms of civilization.


Zipline is an extreme attraction, the essence of which is downhill on a steel rope. The main difficulty of this business in tourism lies in the selection of a place (usually a hilly and picturesque area is chosen), installation of a line (there are practically no companies offering such services) and solving bureaucratic issues. On the other hand, due to the fact that the descent time is from 25 to 60 seconds, the zipline has a high capacity, and the cost of a ticket for one descent can vary from 350 to 1500 rubles.


The package business in tourism is rapidly losing ground. More and more tourists choose independent travel. However, the process of planning such trips is quite laborious, so today there are more and more personal travel services that allow customers to indicate their interests in a few clicks (gastronomic tourism, educational destination, entertainment, etc.), choose route cities and attractions, which they will visit, as well as modes of transportation and budget. It remains for the entrepreneur to combine all these key points into one unique route.


Corn mazes are a popular entertainment in America and Europe, which has not yet reached our country: this niche in Russia is completely free. On the corn fields, networks of passages are laid and quests are compiled for passing by cheerful companies, families and work teams. The corn maze can not only be an interesting seasonal entertainment business, but also become a center of attraction for tourists from other regions.


City walking tours allow sightseers to delve deeper into the history of the streets, explore objects and imagine themselves as participants in past events. An interesting direction in this tourism business is to conduct excursions with thematic mini-performances. You can launch such a project for less than 50 thousand rubles.


An order of magnitude higher will be the costs of organizing your own tour desk with the organization of excursions in the region and the purchase of a sightseeing bus. For this business idea, about 5.85 million rubles will be needed, and the initial investment will be repaid for about 17 months of work.


Zorbing is an extreme type of attraction. The idea of ​​the business is to descend a person in a transparent ball (zorb) from a hill or cross a body of water inside this ball. Zorbing is another type of tourism business that is not practically represented in our country and is waiting for its pioneers.


The organization of trips is a direction with an extremely wide range of formats. Hiking can be educational or include sports and recreational activities, there are skiing, mountain, water trips, circular and linear routes, long tours and weekend tours. The main advantage of the hiking business is that they can bring together different groups of people. There are fishing, hunting, photo tours, tours for businessmen and so on. As a rule, this business is seasonal.


Abroad, such a type of educational leisure as survival courses is popular. Classes are divided into theoretical and practical parts, the last of which takes place in natural conditions. Course participants are taught first aid, how to build a shelter, make a fire, get water and food away from civilization. You can establish such a business for a former military, firefighter or rescuer. In large cities, for a two-day survival course, the leaders receive from 5-6 thousand rubles. from a person.


Ready-made ideas for your business

Mother nature is increasingly seen by entrepreneurs as a huge room for business training. The idea of ​​business tourism is that for six-figure sums, company owners and ordinary managers are taken on extreme tours, taught to work together and reach mountain peaks, drawing parallels with business development. In between ascents, a business coach informs business tourists about the concepts of the "Blue and Scarlet Oceans", conducts metaphorical business games and helps to build their "Value Curve" or "Success Map".


The construction of a guest house is a rather expensive project, however, compared to a hotel, it has a number of advantages: the land does not need to be converted into a commercial one, a star rating is not needed, a restaurant is not required, highly qualified personnel are not required. The risks involved in setting up a guest house are minimal, and the market is stable enough to generate a generally passive income.


The growing popularity of domestic destinations in tourism makes such a type of business as the organization of private paid beaches relevant. It is attractive with the opportunity to organize a whole range of paid services, including guarded parking, rental of sports equipment, gazebos and barbecues, entrance to the beach, sale of barbecue, soft drinks and other things.


Backpacks have become one of the most popular wearable accessories that are popular not only among schoolchildren and tourists, but also among ordinary citizens. To open your online store, you will need about 425 thousand rubles, which, with the right approach, can pay off in three months of work.


Off-road tours (jeep tours) are a business in demand in all difficult areas: in mountainous areas, in deserts, in forests and endless fields. There is practically no competition in this area in our country, so your main concern will be issues with the selection of a vehicle, organizing an interesting route and advertising. There are many options for earning here: you can organize tours in your own cars, rent them out or rent an equipped track - for holding competitions among owners of jeeps, ATVs, etc.


There are still ideas of earning money “out of thin air” in the business world. One such idea is the production and / or sale of inflatable loungers (bivans). To bring them into working condition, a person only needs to make a couple of strokes and fill the parachute fabric with air. The accessory is very popular among tourists and outdoor enthusiasts. Sales of lamzacs can be organized through a one-pager or social networks.


How to get tourists to buy old and torn rubber slippers? In Kenya, they found the answer to this question: local artisans create rubber souvenirs with a national flavor from flip-flops lost by holidaymakers. You don’t have to go far for material - torn slippers are washed ashore by the sea.


Residents of seaside resorts are well aware that a cool souvenir can be made from anything. Even the most ordinary pebble stones can be sold for a lot of money if presented to the buyer in an unusual form. So, for example, does the Italian artist Ernestina Gallina. On round pebbles with acrylic paints, she draws amazingly beautiful fairy tales and animals.


Ready-made ideas for your business

Old decommissioned buses can be used as unique hotels. Moreover, you can get down to business on a grand scale, as one Chinese entrepreneur did, buying several dozen old buses on the cheap and creating theme houses from them with the design of famous cartoons. The idea may be of interest to owners of suburban areas and recreation centers.


Car tents are a whole business segment with a fairly wide offer and choice of manufacturers. Tents can be installed on the roof of a car and on the side, be soft or with hard floors and a roof. There are even special hammocks on the roofs for those who like to look at the starry sky. Considering that the number of independent tourists is constantly growing, the business of selling such tents has good prospects.


In foreign countries, bicycle tours are a separate and full-fledged direction in the tourism industry. There are two directions here - you can organize tours from scratch, focusing on lovers who have neither bicycles nor experience in cycling, or already experienced cyclists. If in the first case it is necessary to take care of all aspects, including the purchase of bicycles and equipment, then in the second case, the task is only in organizational moments: laying the route, solving issues with accommodation, paperwork, and so on. Abroad, there are separate areas of cycling tours, for example, cycling tours for girls.


A balloon flight is an unusual and expensive experience, for which the owner of a balloon can receive up to 30 thousand rubles for one flight. You can earn money by organizing group and individual flights, selling gift certificates, as well as selling the advertising surface of the balloon to advertisers.


Snow tubing is a type of entertainment that has replaced the usual sledding. Tubes are called inflatable round “cheesecakes”, and snow tubing tracks can be opened both in winter resorts and as a seasonal entertainment in ordinary cities. There are two business options here: you can rent tubes, or you can organize a professional track with a lift and a track.


Water transport rental is a broad line of business with a large type of watercraft. You can arrange rental of jet skis, catamarans, rowing boats, cheesecakes, bananas, wakeboards, boats, parachutes, flyboards and much more. Investments are directly related to the selected type of watercraft. If cheesecakes and catamarans cost from 8-20 thousand rubles, respectively, then, for example, flyboards and jet skis will cost from 200-350 thousand rubles.


The business of organizing water excursions is most relevant for tourist regions where people come for summer holidays. As with any business, you can work for quantity, simply by taking short river trips or taking people to remote secluded beaches, or for quality, that is, with tour guides and catering.


The Chocolate Museum is more than just a museum. In them, visitors can not only gain knowledge about their favorite delicacy, but also attend master classes in making chocolate, as well as go through a tasting and make a purchase of finished products. The advantage of this format: a wide target audience, several sources of income, a large number of visitors with children, which increases the average bill from visiting the institution.



4015 people are studying this business today.

For 30 days this business was interested in 321931 times.

The hotel has long ceased to be exclusively a place where people stay for the night. Today hotels are a whole complex of various services. And each of them strives to come up with their own "trick" to stand out from the rest.

Among the ideas of the hotel business, all kinds of evenings for adults and children are popular. When it is not possible to leave the kids with relatives, you have to go with the whole family. And parents often would very much like to spend the evening together, but the child does not add romance to the atmosphere at all. Hotel owners take advantage of this desire and create a variety of performances for young clients or provide high-class nannies who are able to keep the baby busy for the evening.

For those who want to retire, hotels are created where there is no telephone and Internet in the rooms. Thus, absolutely nothing interferes with the guest, and he can be left alone with himself.

Extravagant owners of some hotels in Austria have announced a campaign called "Pay what you want!". Guests leaving the hotel pay for everything in such an amount as they see fit. Someone will think that all costs will never pay off in this situation, but practice has shown the opposite. Some visitors liked the accommodation and entertainment so much that they even overpaid.

Recently, mini-hotels have become more and more popular. They are loved for home comfort, to which they owe a small number of rooms and, accordingly, people. As a rule, the creators of mini-hotels show much more creativity when decorating rooms. The service of many small hotels is also excellent.

Often hotels are created in some unusual places. For example, how do you like the idea of ​​a hotel located in an old plane, which is located in Costa Rica? Such investments can be very profitable and pay off very quickly.

In South America, a mountain hotel called "Magic Mountain" is conveniently located. It is located in the Huilo Huilo Falls nature reserve. The shape of the hotel resembles an erupting volcano, and the walls are all overgrown with lichen and moss. At the sight of this building, you rather think of some mountain elves or, rather, of dwarves. But not about the hotel. And the hotel is made of wood and stone, equipped with everything necessary for a modern hotel.

There are only nine rooms, they have all the amenities. The windows are huge. Perhaps this is also one of the Magic Mountain chips - just amazing views from the window. Each room is named after a bird that lives in the reserve.

However, getting into the hotel is not so easy. Despite all the modern equipment inside, everything is different from the outside: the hotel-mountain offers to go along the hanging bridge instead of the main staircase. There are simply no other options.

There are other options for those who want to be closer to nature. For example, in the UAE there is a hotel "Al Maha Desert Resort". It is stylized as a Bedouin camp, but only stylized. In fact, this is a five-star hotel, built specifically for fans of eco-tourism. People are attracted by the Arabian desert with its eastern exoticism, dunes and dunes.

Of course, you can not do without the Bedouins with their camel caravans. The hotel is located in one of the most beautiful reserves in the world, stretching for 200 square kilometers. It takes 45 minutes to drive from Dubai to the hotel by off-road vehicles. Yes, only in jeeps, and nothing else.

Other hotels are finding their own ways to attract guests. For example, there is a hotel in Berlin where the rooms are not numbered, the floors are slanted, and the beds are suspended. You can sleep on a king bed and in a coffin.

The storehouse of ideas for the hotel business is inexhaustible, and everyone can come up with something new and interesting for their visitors.

The competitive struggle in the hotel business requires a hotelier to take a serious approach to organizing a competent marketing strategy and new solutions necessary for the successful prosperity and development of a business. A high level of service, friendly staff and comfortable rooms have become indispensable attributes of any hotel that values ​​its reputation. Therefore, it is advisable to make the hotel unique in order to attract more potential customers and increase profitability.

First steps towards creating a unique hotel

Modern consumers value not only comfort, but also originality, therefore, first of all, they pay attention to unique establishments where there is something unusual and non-standard. If it was decided to make the hotel unique, then several main aspects must be taken into account:

  • location of the hotel: it should be taken into account whether the hotel building is located within the city, outside it, in a forest or mountainous area. With this in mind, interesting ideas can be devised and implemented in the future that will help make the hotel unusual;
  • size of the hotel: you should take into account the number of rooms and the size of the hotel. After all, marketing decisions for a large hotel complex are different from those for a small motel;
  • Do not forget that most modern people take all the information from the Internet. A unique hotel website with an original design and captivating colorful content will attract the attention of visitors;
  • study and analysis of information: if the goal is to make the hotel more interesting and attractive to visitors, it is recommended to find out information about hotels, restaurants and other establishments on the Internet or other sources. Borrow the most original ideas and remake them for your hotel. It is only necessary to soberly assess the situation and not open an aquarium with sharks in a small motel with little traffic, as this would be economically impractical;
  • hotel style: there is an opportunity to think about changing the interior of the hotel. For example, you can stylize the rooms and the hall as a popular movie or take the ever-relevant theme of the underwater or alien world;
  • budget: needed understand clearly how much material resources the hotel can actually invest in the implementation of new ideas.

Original inventions of some hotels in the world

Many establishments, trying to attract attention, came up with something special:

  • at Metro St. James on certain days and hours you can pay with a kiss for coffee. Such a non-standard, but romantic move attracted the attention of visitors;
  • in one of the British hotels it is possible to order a goldfish in the room. Some tell her about their lives, while others make wishes;
  • An unusual but rather popular service appeared at the Omni Hotel. There, each guest can buy a favorite art object, which used to be a part of the hotel interior, as a keepsake;
  • a current service is offered by a hotel in Berlin. Anyone can book a room specifically for sleeping. The room was designed in collaboration with medical professionals and sleep researchers for visitors who are constantly suffering from stress and insomnia;
  • the Pelirocco hotel has a unique knitted number. All items in the room, with the exception of the armchair, bed and bathroom, are hand-tied;
  • at the Royal Grand Sharm hotel, a palm tree is presented as an unusual gift to regular customers. It remains on the territory of the hotel with a sign on which the name of the owner is written. Many people are proud of such attention and gift.

This is just a small part of the examples of how hotel owners have made their hotel unusual and delighted visitors.

Ready-made ideas - a note to hoteliers

Hoteliers should understand that original ideas are great, but do not forget about the quality creation, support and promotion of the hotel website. On a virtual resource, you can place ideas for transforming a hotel and make a survey among users which creative idea they like best. It is possible to create a bright theme, in which users themselves will be asked to come up with an original idea in order to make the hotel more interesting. For motivation, it is advisable to offer the winner an original prize.

It is proposed to familiarize yourself with some ready-made ideas that will help make the hotel original and more popular:

  • stylize the rooms as the cockpits of tanks, trains and aircraft: decorate the windows as portholes, add controls, consoles;
  • decorate rooms with handicrafts and handmade things: from lampshades and rugs to crockery, housekeepers and jewelry boxes. Subsequently, guests can, if desired, purchase the thing they like. Hand-made products can be purchased through the Internet or through friends;
  • car lovers will like rooms where the bed will look like a retro car; not much money is needed to complete this task;
  • naturalness and nature are in trend, therefore it is advisable to decorate hotel rooms with a large number of flowers, decorative vines and palm trees, turning the room into a miniature botanical garden;
  • style each room under one of the capitals of the country: London, Paris and other megacities.

In order for a hotel to become interesting and to be talked about, admired and eager to return, it is necessary to realize one or more original ideas and make the hotel unique in its own way. The main thing is not to be afraid to experiment!