- Hi, I'm Bryan. - And I'm Catherine.
We're Airbnb Superhosts,
parents to 2 little girls
and small business owners in Columbus, Ohio.
Neither of us had any experience
running our own business or any hospitality experience.
8 years later, we're hosting 4 different properties
and we're working on a bed & breakfast.
Airbnb has asked us to share some of our experiences
and advice about starting your own hosting business.
A great first step is to do a little bit of research
into your potential listing's local market.
We got started by listing our spare bedroom.
The purpose of it was just to pay off some student loans that we had.
We looked at hotels and Airbnbs
and other bed & breakfasts in the area
to see how much they were charging,
what their occupancy was
and that gave us a really good idea of what we could charge.
It's important to double-check your local laws
to make sure your space can be rented.
To estimate how much you can potentially earn,
you have to take into account
expenses and costs that you'll have to manage within your business.
We keep a running spreadsheet of all our expenses and earnings.
That way, we know exactly what's coming in and going out.
Upfront costs are the costs that you need to purchase
in order to get your Airbnb up and running.
Ongoing costs are those you need to purchase frequently,
such as new bed linens or towels.
Sometimes investing in nice amenities upfront
like a really nice mattress or cosy linens
will go a long way.
Smart locks is a great example of that.
We incorporate those.
Setting your price can be tricky
but it really comes down to what you want.
We wanted our experience to be manageable.
We were OK with less turnover and a slightly lower occupancy rate
in exchange for a higher nightly price.
We've also seen people do lower nightly price
with higher occupancy and higher turnover.
Pricing can take time to get right
so just remember you can always tweak it,
always change it whenever you want.
It's very simple to do that in the app.
If you really don't know where to start,
try using Airbnb's Smart Pricing tool to get you started.
When we first started, we were doing everything.
We were doing the turnover,
getting all the maintenance done
and we were kind of running ourselves ragged.
We'll try to do all of our maintenance at a certain time of year.
We'll get all our carpets deep cleaned
and do a full deep cleaning of every house
and it just helps you stay ahead
of those emergencies that can come up.
Think about how much time you have to dedicate to your business
and let that be reflected in what you are more hands-on with
versus what you hire out.
Success depends on your ability
to create a really great guest experience.
We considered what kinds of travellers might be staying with us.
You can provide high-speed internet for people
who might be travelling for work,
board games for families.
Or maybe your listing is by a beach.
You could provide an umbrella and beach towels.
We think that connecting our guests to the local community
is a great way to give them a unique experience.
We worked with a local artist
to sketch the outside of our houses
and turn them into little postcards
that our guests can use or send home.
It's really rewarding just creating experiences for people
and knowing that they're using your space
that you put your talent into.
Every single life experience that you could think of
can happen at your house and it's pretty cool.
So once you've assessed your space and got your place ready,
it's time to list your space on Airbnb.
You'll give your listing a name,
upload photos, set your description and your hosting settings.
The Airbnb app guides you through the process step by step.
Some of the first things people notice
when they're browsing Airbnb for where to stay:
good photos and a catchy listing title.
We noticed a big difference in our bookings
when we invested in professional photography.
You can do it yourself,
just make sure that your space is well lit and uncluttered.
Photos are great for attracting guests
but they also set expectations,
so make sure yours are telling an accurate story.
Becoming Hosts and running our own business
has been incredibly rewarding.
It has provided us so much flexibility, so much freedom.
With these tips, we hope you feel confident
taking the first steps and getting started.
Be sure to check out your local Host Club
or if you want to connect with Hosts around the world,
check out Airbnb's Community Centre.
There's an entire community of Hosts
willing to share their knowledge and experience with you, just like us.
Good luck and happy hosting!