AWKN Ranch
Operations Playbook

What to Consider Before Opening the Doors

A working checklist of everything that needs to be set up, solved, or thought through to run a wellness retreat as a hospitality business — lean, efficient, and guest-ready from day one. 18 beds, 12 acres, the smallest team that can pull it off.

01

Before You Open — What Has to Be in Place

These are the things that need to be done, purchased, permitted, or contracted before a single guest walks on property. Missing any one of them means you're either operating illegally, offering a bad experience, or both.

Permits & Licensing

Short-Term Rental permit — required by City of Austin or Travis County before operating. Application process takes 2-6 weeks. Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) registration — you must collect 6% state + local on every booking and remit monthly. Register with Texas Comptroller and the city. Business license / DBA — file with the county. Fire inspection — every structure where guests sleep needs to pass. Smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, posted evacuation routes, exit signage. Commercial pool permit — if you're letting guests use the pool, it's commercial. Requires permit, CPO certification, daily chemical logs, depth markers, safety equipment. Septic capacity assessment — have an engineer confirm your system can handle 25+ daily users. If it was designed for a single-family home, you likely need an upgrade before opening.

Insurance Coverage — All Policies Active Before Guest One

General liability ($2M-$5M) — covers guest injuries, slip-and-falls, property damage. Commercial property — covers all structures, contents, equipment. Must specify "glamping" / temporary structures. Wildfire rider essential in Austin. Workers' comp — required the moment you have employees. Professional liability / malpractice — if offering clinical services, each clinician needs coverage plus entity coverage. Umbrella ($5M+) — excess liability above everything else. One bad lawsuit can exceed primary limits. Cyber / HIPAA breach — if handling medical records. All in: $18,000-$40,000/year. Get a broker who specializes in hospitality + behavioral health — a standard commercial broker won't know how to cover a property that does both lodging and ketamine therapy.

Infrastructure Readiness

Every dome must have: functioning HVAC (tested), private bathroom with hot water, working smart lock, WiFi coverage, smoke/CO detector, fire extinguisher, posted emergency info (property address + 911), bedside lighting, power outlets. The property must have: reliable internet (Starlink + cellular backup), generator for essential systems (well pump, smart locks, one heated common area), lit pathways between all structures, emergency supply closet stocked, first aid kits in every building, posted property map with evacuation routes. Before opening weekend: do a full test — have 4-6 friends stay overnight and pretend to be guests. Every system, every lock, every shower. You'll find 20 things that don't work. Fix them before paying guests arrive.

Vendor Relationships Locked In

You don't want to be searching for a plumber at 9pm on a Saturday. Before opening, have confirmed relationships with: HVAC contractor (same-day emergency service), plumber (same-day), electrician, pest control (monthly service scheduled), landscaping crew (weekly service scheduled), laundry service (3x/week pickup scheduled), pool service / CPO (2-3x/week scheduled), private chef (dinner nights confirmed), meal prep / catering partner (for non-chef nights), handyman (on-call retainer). Save every number in the ranch manager's phone and in a shared emergency contacts doc.

Guest-Facing Collateral

Before first booking: website with online booking/payment (Square), liability waiver (SignWell for digital signing), intake/dietary restriction form, property guide PDF (sent at booking), welcome card template, checkout instructions. In each dome: printed property map, WiFi password, emergency contacts, weekly schedule, checkout instructions. In the common area: posted house rules, meal times, quiet hours policy, pool rules, fire circle guidelines. None of this is hard. All of it gets forgotten in the rush to open.

If You're Offering Clinical Services (KAT)

Add to the above: DEA Schedule III registration (medical director), Texas Medical Board supervision agreement, licensed pharmacy relationship, attorney-reviewed informed consent forms, HIPAA-compliant EHR system with BAAs for all vendors, emergency protocols with crash cart and AED on-site, clinical SOPs documented and staff-trained. Budget $5,000-$10,000 for the initial legal compliance review alone. This is non-negotiable — administering ketamine without proper licensing is a federal offense.

02

The Lean Team — Minimum Viable Staff

The instinct is to hire for every function. Don't. At 18 beds you can't afford a hotel-sized staff and you don't need one. The question for every role: can a vendor, a system, or a smarter process do this instead of a W-2 employee?

Ranch Manager — The Only Day-One Full-Time Hire

This person is the operation. They greet guests, manage housekeeping, receive deliveries, handle complaints, coordinate vendors, troubleshoot the smart lock that isn't working, and make the place feel like someone gives a damn. Hospitality background — boutique hotel, Airbnb superhost, event management. Not clinical. Pay well ($65K-$85K) because replacing them costs more. They should be CPR/First Aid certified, comfortable with basic maintenance, and genuinely enjoy people. This role covers 80% of what a 5-person hotel staff does.

Housekeeping — 2 Part-Timers, Scheduled to Occupancy

One person can't flip 3-4 domes between 11am and 3pm. Two people can. But on low-occupancy days, you only need one person for a few hours of common area cleaning. Two part-time staff at $17/hr, scheduled based on that week's turnover count. Heavy turnover day (Friday/Sunday)? Both come in. Tuesday with one checkout? One person, 3 hours. Keep a third person on your "call when needed" list for peak weeks. Pay slightly above market — reliability is the only thing that matters here.

Kitchen Assistant — Part-Time, 5 Hours/Day

Preps the breakfast spread (6-7am), maintains the lunch station (10-11am), handles dishes and cleanup, restocks pantry, receives food deliveries. This person is not a chef — they're prepping simple items (overnight oats, egg muffins, cutting fruit, reheating soups, building a bowl bar). $17/hr, 25-30 hrs/week. Food handler certification required. They do not cook dinner — that's the private chef's job.

Everything Else Is Contracted

Private chef (dinners, 3-4x/week). Landscaping crew (weekly). Handyman (on-call). Pool service (2-3x/week). Pest control (monthly). Laundry service (3x/week pickup). HVAC service (quarterly + emergency). Bookkeeper (monthly). Legal counsel (retainer). None of these need to be on payroll. Clinical staff (medical director, therapist, coaches, IV nurse) scale with bookings — if there are no therapy sessions this week, clinical labor cost drops.

Lean Payroll Target

Fixed W-2 payroll: $12,000-$15,000/mo — ranch manager + 2 PT housekeepers + PT kitchen assistant.
Variable contracted: $10,000-$25,000/mo — chef, clinical, maintenance, all vendors.
Total labor should flex with occupancy: a slow month costs ~$28K, a full month costs ~$40K. If your labor bill is the same regardless of how many guests you have, your structure is wrong.

03

Daily Operations — What Actually Happens Every Day

This is what a typical operating day looks like with 10-14 guests on property. Every task has an owner. If a task doesn't have a name next to it, it won't get done.

Total Daily Labor Hours

Ranch manager: ~12 hours (8am-9pm with a break). Kitchen assistant: ~6 hours. Housekeeping: ~3-6 hours depending on turnovers. Private chef: ~4 hours (on chef nights). Total: 25-28 labor hours/day. At an average cost of $25/hr blended, that's $625-$700/day in labor to run the entire operation. That's the target.

04

Food — What to Consider

Food is the second biggest operational consideration after housing. Guests expect meals at a retreat. The question is how to deliver them without building a restaurant or hiring a full kitchen staff.

Don't Hire a Full-Time Cook

This is the biggest payroll trap for small retreats. A full-time cook is $40K-$55K/yr plus benefits, sick days, off-days, and opinions. Instead: a part-time kitchen assistant handles simple breakfast/lunch prep, and a contracted private chef handles the one meal that matters as an event (dinner). The chef is $300-$500/night including ingredients. You get restaurant-quality food with zero benefits overhead, zero downtime, and you can swap chefs if quality drops.

Breakfast and Lunch Are Prep, Not Cooking

Both meals are self-serve. Breakfast is a spread: overnight oats, egg muffins (baked the night before), fruit, yogurt, coffee station. Lunch is a build-your-own bowl bar: a grain, 2 proteins, roasted vegetables, toppings, sauces. All of this is prep work, not cooking. One person handles both meals in 5-6 hours. No commercial kitchen needed — a residential kitchen handles this volume for 18 guests.

Dietary Restrictions — Design Around Them, Don't Accommodate After

Don't make 4 versions of every meal. Make the base menu gluten-free and dairy-optional by default. Every meal has a protein, a starch, and vegetables available separately so anyone can build a plate. Vegan path always available. Nuts are toppings (separate), never baked into mains. Collect restrictions at booking, flag in the system, brief the chef 48 hours before new guests arrive. The only true danger is anaphylaxis-level allergies — that requires a phone call, not a form.

Consider: Where Does the Food Come From?

You need a reliable supply chain for fresh ingredients on a rural property. Options to think through: Grocery delivery (Instacart/HEB delivery, 2-3x/week). Restaurant supply account (Sysco or US Foods for bulk staples — rice, oils, canned goods, paper products). Local farm partnerships (eggs, produce, meat — great for the brand story, but unreliable as sole source). Chef brings their own ingredients (common arrangement, built into their per-dinner rate). Don't over-complicate this. HEB delivery + a Costco run once a week covers 90% of your needs.

Consider: The Commercial Kitchen Question

A commercial kitchen buildout is $15,000-$30,000 plus permits, hood venting, grease trap, fire suppression, and health department inspections. You do not need this at launch. A residential kitchen handles breakfast/lunch prep for 18 guests. The private chef brings their tools. Revisit at Year 2 only if you want to add cooking classes, a juice bar, or in-house catering as a revenue line. Until then, it's capital spent with no return.

Consider: What Happens on Non-Chef Nights?

If the chef comes 3-4 nights/week, what about the other nights? Options: (1) Kitchen assistant preps something simple — hearty soup + fresh bread, a grain bowl with pre-made proteins, or a casserole the chef prepared in advance. (2) Cater from a local restaurant — family-style delivery, $15-$20/person. (3) "Free night" — give guests a list of recommended restaurants in town, provide basic kitchen access. Option 1 or 2 for retreat guests who expect all-inclusive. Option 3 only if you're running a lodging-only model.

Food Cost Target

$35-$50 per guest per day covers all three meals, snacks, and pantry. At 12 average guests (72% occupancy), that's $12,600-$18,000/month in food cost. Build $50/night into the package rate as a "nourishment fee." Guests perceive "all-inclusive meals" as premium — it's a booking differentiator, not an add-on.

05

Systems — What Replaces Headcount

Every system below exists so you don't have to hire a person. A front desk is an employee. A smart lock is $200 and never calls in sick. Automate every logistics task that doesn't need a human face, so the humans you have can focus on the experience.

Replaces: Front Desk

Smart Locks + Automated Codes

Unique codes per guest, auto-generated at booking, activate at check-in time, deactivate at checkout. No key handoff, no lost keys, no front desk shift. Guest gets their code via SMS 24 hours before arrival. Entry/exit logged for security. Ranch manager carries master key as backup.

Replaces: Concierge / Admin

Automated Guest Communication

Booking confirmation, intake forms, pre-arrival info, check-in code, mid-stay check-in, checkout reminder, post-stay survey — all automated SMS/email sequences triggered by booking dates. Ranch manager only steps in for exceptions and personal touches.

Replaces: Dispatcher

Housekeeping Dispatch

Guest checks out, lock code deactivates, system texts housekeeping their assignment with notes and deadline. When marked "Ready," incoming guest gets a "your dome is prepared" SMS. No clipboard, no walkie-talkie.

Replaces: Billing Dept

Automated Payments

Square handles deposits at booking, auto-charges balance 7 days before arrival, processes add-on services. HOT tax calculated automatically. Refund policy enforced by the system, not a person.

Replaces: Reservations

Online Booking Calendar

Real-time dome availability. Guests book and pay without calling anyone. Therapy, IV drips, and coaching bookable through the same portal. No phone tag, no double-bookings.

Consider

Operations Dashboard

Real-time view: who's arriving today, who's leaving, which domes need turnover, any open maintenance tickets, this week's revenue. Ranch manager checks this every morning instead of juggling spreadsheets and texts.

The Internet Problem

Every system above requires reliable internet on a rural 12-acre property. Smart locks, SMS triggers, payment processing, cameras, guest WiFi. Budget for Starlink Business ($120/mo) as primary and a cellular failover that kicks in automatically. Mesh WiFi nodes near each dome cluster. If the internet dies and smart locks go offline, you need a manual override plan (physical backup keys held by ranch manager). Test this scenario before you open.

06

Property — The Things Nobody Thinks About

Nobody starts a retreat because they're excited about septic systems. But a septic backup on a Saturday with 16 guests on property will ruin your month faster than an empty booking calendar.

Weather Scenarios to Plan For

Summer heat (Jun-Aug): 100+ degree days. HVAC costs spike. Outdoor activities before 10am or after 6pm only. Pool becomes the primary amenity. Thunderstorms: 3+ inches in an hour. Know where the property floods — don't put domes there. Trim overhanging tree limbs. Ice storms (Dec-Feb): Can cut power and road access for 2-3 days (Feb 2021). Generator for well pump, smart locks, and one heated common space. Pipe insulation on all exposed plumbing. Communication plan for 18 stranded guests. Wildfire: Defensible space, fire extinguishers in every structure, evacuation plan posted in every dome. Have this plan before you need it.

07

The Vendor Map — Hire vs. Contract vs. Automate

The rule: hire for daily, contract for weekly, call for monthly. If someone needs to show up every day, they're an employee. If they come on a schedule, they're a vendor. If they only come when something breaks, they're on-call.

Hire (W-2)

Ranch Manager

Daily. The one person who makes every other system work. $65K-$85K/yr.

Hire (W-2)

Housekeeping (2 PT)

3-5 days/week based on occupancy. Must be available same-day when scheduled. $17/hr.

Hire (W-2)

Kitchen Assistant (PT)

Daily, 5-6 hours. Breakfast/lunch prep and cleanup. Needs to be there every morning. $17/hr.

Contract

Private Chef

3-4 dinners/week. Flat rate per dinner ($300-$500 incl. ingredients). No benefits, swap if quality drops.

Contract (Weekly)

Landscaping / Grounds

Weekly mowing, edging, trail maintenance. Monthly brush clearing and fire mitigation. $400-$600/mo.

Contract (2-3x/week)

Pool Service + CPO

Chemical balancing, cleaning, compliance logging. CPO cert required by permit. $400-$800/mo.

Contract (3x/week)

Laundry Service

Pickup, wash, fold, deliver. 54 sheet sets + 108 towels in rotation. $600-$1,200/mo.

Contract (Monthly)

Pest Control

Interior treatment + perimeter spray. Non-negotiable on rural property. $150-$300/mo.

On-Call

Handyman / Maintenance

$50-$75/hr when needed. Optional $500/mo retainer for priority response. Ranch manager handles small fixes.

On-Call + Quarterly

HVAC Contractor

Quarterly preventive maintenance on all 10 units. Same-day emergency service agreement. Most critical vendor relationship.

Monthly

Bookkeeper / Accountant

HOT tax filing, payroll processing, expense tracking, quarterly estimates. $500-$1,000/mo. Don't do your own books.

Retainer

Legal Counsel

Waivers, employment questions, compliance reviews, incident response. $500-$1,500/mo. You'll use it more than you think.

The 1099 vs W-2 Trap

The IRS cares about one thing: do you control when, where, and how they work? If yes, they're W-2. Ranch manager, housekeeping, kitchen assistant — W-2. Chef (sets own methods, serves other clients), landscaper, handyman, pool service — 1099. Misclassifying saves money short-term and costs a fortune in an audit. Ask your accountant before you make the hire.

08

Compliance — What Can Shut You Down

Two tracks: hospitality compliance (permits, taxes, safety) and clinical compliance (if offering therapy services). Both need to be airtight before day one. An unpermitted operation gets one complaint and you're done.

Hospitality Track

STR permit — application + inspection, 2-6 week process. HOT tax registration — Texas Comptroller + city, file monthly. Fire inspections — every guest structure. Commercial pool permit — with CPO. Septic permit — capacity rated for guest volume. Business license / DBA. Food handler certifications — required for anyone preparing food. Workers' comp insurance — active before first employee starts. Background checks — all staff with guest access. ADA consideration — at least one accessible dome + pathway (not always legally required for small operators, but smart to have).

Clinical Track (If Offering KAT / Therapy)

DEA registration (medical director). TX Medical Board supervision agreement. Licensed pharmacy relationship. Attorney-reviewed informed consent. HIPAA compliance — EHR system, BAAs with every vendor that touches patient data. Crash cart + AED on-site. Clinical SOPs documented. Malpractice insurance. Quarterly compliance audits. Budget $5K-$10K for initial legal review of clinical setup. This is not optional — ketamine without proper licensing is a federal offense.

Tax Considerations

Hotel Occupancy Tax — collected from every guest, filed and remitted monthly. Track this from booking one. Sales tax on services — therapy, IV drips, coaching may be taxable depending on classification. Ask your accountant. Quarterly estimated taxes — you're running a business with variable income. Under-estimating quarterly payments = penalties in April. Depreciation on structures — domes, yurts, fixtures, equipment are all depreciable assets. Capture this for tax savings. Meals and entertainment deductions — communal dinners for guests are a business expense. Document everything.

Insurance — The Full Portfolio

General liability ($2M-$5M): $3K-$6K/yr. Professional/malpractice ($1M-$3M): $5K-$12K/yr. Commercial property (all structures): $4K-$8K/yr. Workers' comp: $3K-$5K/yr. Umbrella ($5M+): $2K-$5K/yr. Cyber/HIPAA breach: $1K-$2.5K/yr. Total: $18,000-$38,500/year. Get a broker who understands both hospitality and behavioral health. Standard commercial brokers won't know how to cover this hybrid model.

09

What Breaks — And the Plan Before It Does

Every scenario below will happen in Year 1. The difference between a well-run retreat and a stressful one is whether the plan exists before the crisis or gets invented in the moment.

AC goes out in a dome in July

Ranch manager responds in 15 minutes. Check thermostat/breaker first. If compressor: call HVAC for same-day service. If it can't be fixed today: move the guest to an empty dome. No empty dome? Deploy a portable AC unit from the emergency closet (buy 2, keep them stored). Genuinely uninhabitable overnight? Refund that night, comp a future stay. Never let a guest sweat through the night while you "work on it."

Housekeeper no-shows on a heavy turnover day

Ranch manager cleans alongside the one housekeeper who showed up. This is why you pay them well — they have to be willing to do this. Always have a third person on your "call for extra shifts" list. If you still can't finish, delay check-in by one hour and communicate before the guest arrives: "Your dome will be ready at 4pm. We want to make sure it's perfect." Most people are fine with this. The ones who aren't were going to be difficult regardless.

Smart lock won't open and a guest is standing outside

Ranch manager carries a physical master key for every dome. Always. Walk over, let them in, apologize, swap the battery (most common cause). Keep 2 spare smart locks in storage. Give the guest a temporary manual key while you fix it. Never leave a guest locked out for more than 10 minutes.

Internet goes down

Cellular backup should auto-failover. Smart locks still work locally (codes are stored on-device). POS goes offline — log the transaction and process later. Guest WiFi: be upfront ("Starlink is being restored, here's a hotspot for urgent use"). Keep 2 portable hotspots charged. If both Starlink and cellular are down, you have a bigger problem (likely weather) — shift to emergency mode.

Guest finds a scorpion / spider / snake in their dome

Ranch manager goes immediately. Removes it. Does a thorough dome check with the guest watching. Apologize genuinely. Explain that monthly pest control is active but nature is nature on 12 acres. Offer to move them if they're uncomfortable. Leave a small apology gift (wine, a comp service, something tangible). Follow up the next day. Most guests are fine. The few who aren't were going to leave a bad review regardless.

Medical emergency (non-clinical — fall, allergic reaction, pool incident)

Call 911 first. Ranch manager administers first aid (CPR/First Aid cert is required for this role). Every dome and common area has the property address and emergency number posted. Know the nearest ER and drive time (under 25 minutes). Document everything in writing same day. Contact insurance carrier within 24 hours. Do not admit fault or make promises — just take care of the person.

Ice storm / power outage shuts down the property

Mass text all guests at first weather warning. Stock the retreat house: extra blankets, bottled water, non-perishable food, flashlights. Generator powers well pump, one common heated space, and smart locks. Close the pool. Salt walkways. If roads are impassable, guests can't leave — make the retreat house a comfortable shelter. If guests are inbound and can't arrive, proactively offer to reschedule or refund. Don't wait for them to ask.

The $1,500 Emergency Closet

Stock one locked storage area with: 2 portable AC units, 2 space heaters, 2 spare smart locks, extra linens, flashlights + batteries, first aid kit, fire extinguishers, bottled water (2 cases), non-perishable snacks, 2 portable WiFi hotspots, spare toiletries, manual card imprinter, and a guest apology kit (wine, chocolate, handwritten cards). Costs $1,500 to set up. Will save $15,000 in refunds and bad reviews in Year 1.

The Takeaway

It's a Hospitality Business First

A retreat with 18 beds needs 3-4 reliable people, a map of vendors for everything else, and systems that handle the logistics no human should be doing manually. The ranch manager is the linchpin. The housekeepers make the revenue possible. The kitchen assistant feeds people. Everyone else is a contractor who shows up when needed and doesn't cost money when they're not. Automate the logistics. Keep the warmth human. Think about what breaks before it breaks. That's the whole model.