Hello my YouTube friends its Richard founder of STRU
in Airbnb super host today's video is the things that you need to think about
when you start to scale your Airbnb business just realize that scaling up is
a process it doesn't happen over a five minute YouTube video but these are
things that you need to start to think about as you plan your journey and we're
gonna break it up into two different buckets one is sort of the operations
the mechanics of scaling and then the second one is to think about when you
purchase additional properties or rent additional properties what do you need
to do from that perspective so first up is operations and here's the key to
scaling any business I don't care what industry you're in whether its software
Airbnb or ground transportation which is another company that I own the key to
scaling any business is systems and processes and the key to systems and
processes is that they must be sustainable and repeatable and what that
means is they have to be able to be done over an extended period of time so
you're not reinventing the wheel every single time and they must be repeatable
so it can't be like a one-off where somebody looks at something once figures
out what to do so think about creating scale via
systems and processes that are sustainable and repeatable by way of
example you're going to become basically an entrepreneur with a stack of
freelance helpers none of these people are gonna be your employee because you
don't need them full-time but you need a team of people in each different
location that has the exact same job so you're gonna have a cleaning team you're
gonna have a maintenance team you're gonna have a you know I don't know
repair team it doesn't really matter what teams you have but whatever teams
you require think about building that same stack of teams in every single
location and then have your cleaning team do the exact same things in the
exact same order in every single location with a caveat that like this
home doesn't have a fireplace so they don't have to empty out the ashes right
but the rest of the stuff the products they use the order that they do it the
you know fabric softener all of that stuff you should figure out once and
then repeat it another key to scale is to remove yourself as much as possible
now that's kind of like antithetical to being a Airbnb super host where you and
your personality and your brand are there but what I've done is I've created
my templates my virtual assistant uses so every
single question that comes in I read I answer it once and then I give them the
templates so that they can then insert them in the proper questions anything
that's never been answered comes to me I answer it once and that's sort of the
rule of thumb that I have with my virtual assistant so that you know I can
scale and get myself out of the process because in order for me to go from 1 to
5 to 10 to 15 units I can't be answering all the calendar requests and all of the
email requests so I answer them once and then we scale at the same time I've
trained my virtual assistant to look at my calendar and we've created templates
that she sends out for the check-in for the check out for review requests and
also a timeline when she contacts the cleaning team and gives them a notice of
when they need to be there when the next guests are coming in and so on so
everything is automated and it's on a schedule that we've all been trained on
we all practice we all know what to expect and when to expect it and it's
sustainable and repeatable also think about scaling your maintenance and
there's two types of maintenance there's preventative maintenance which you can
like schedule and then there's the unexpected maintenance so let's start
with the routine schedule maintenance there's things like air filters and
batteries and the carbon monoxide detectors and things like that and so
you want to just create a schedule in a calendar where your cleaning crew or
your handyman crew goes in say twice a year and they do those scheduled
maintenance think of it as like an oil change in your car you know you do that
every 3,000 miles or every three months same thing with your home's schedule it
make sure everyone knows what to do when to do it and then they execute and then
as far as the unexpected stuff whether it's a roof repair or anything else I
have my virtual assistant know who my team is and she can make contact with
them initially and then put me in touch with them when the time is right we also
use the slow season to fix everything and paint and do everything else that
needs to be done we do that during the slow season I recently filmed a video
about that okay so here's the big question that you're probably thinking
about right about now which is okay that's wonderful but how do I find these
people how do I create my own stack how do I keep them like loyal to me and
working with me and therein lies the magic right
like in every business it's all about the people that you attract the best way
that I've to do it is to network so when you buy
that place let's just call it in ABC Vil speak to everyone you know the
broker the banker the inspector the lawnmower whoever and say I'm looking
for a clean and crew interview as many cleaning cruises you need to just try
and network try and refer when people know that you've been referred to them
generally speaking they're gonna take you more seriously and be more
interested in working with you and then I always try to pay at least fair wage
if not more than the going wage so that I become a more regular employer and I'm
more important to them and then I give them feedback and compliments and so on
so that they like working for me and it's not just like a cleaning job but
finding people is key and not only is finding people key the real key to
scaling is keeping people so let's move on to expansion the very first thing
that you need to do is research figure out where you want to expand to I've
always aligned my places with my why and those are places that I like to vacation
or travel to where I want to retire in and that brings me closer to that
community but there's a whole host of other wise it could be to be purely an
investor and get the best return on your investment we are in the process right
now of working with them err DNA we're gonna be doing a review online in the
next I don't know a week or so so check out that site and also wait for our
review I think you'll find it really helpful but there you're gonna see
things about like which cities are best what size units in cities are best or
vacation areas as well as average night rental and occupancy and competition
there's a ton of information today that didn't exist when I started doing this
five or six years ago and so you need to be fully briefed on it and use the tools
and technology that are there so you make a very sound and wise long-term
investment so do your research the second thing I would say is work with a
trusted network again of people that you are in your stack and that could include
a broker find somebody that understands your term rentals that understands the
market that understands what you're looking for give them the parameters and
make them part of your team so by way of example the person that I've been
working with in Jackson Hole we've done now three deals together we're doing a
fourth possibly a fifth and he knows exactly
what it is that I'm looking for and he's gonna start to source more deals and
bring them to me on a go-forward basis that's invaluable
right like having somebody on the ground who's your eyes and ears and showing to
you things that match my criteria saves me tons of time now imagine having these
guys in five six seven different cities sourcing opportunities for you and you
just cherry-pick like oh I like that one try and find good relationships that are
bankers mortgage brokers lawyers all the different trades that you need to buy or
lease a place you want to find the same person and just go to them time and time
again develop that relationship develop that trust and trust me you want to
develop all of these relationships in advance of needing them because then
when you do really need them I found the best deal I really just need you to work
with me they're never going to do that on the first time but if it's your
seventh or tenth deal and you've worked with them for two three five years
they're gonna know you they're gonna want to work with you they're gonna get
the deal done and that's what differentiates like a rookie from a
professional people that are getting deals done when others wouldn't be able
to it's a huge competitive advantage lastly a big time-saving exercise that I
recommend is using the same products everywhere that you possibly can I've
created my own kid I share it with you these are products that I recommend and
I use in all my different homes if you're interested in looking I might go
ahead and click and again in interest of full disclosure if you buy anything at
the same price on Amazon we do get a marginal I don't know percentage back or
something but it's the same price to you nonetheless create your own kit so use
the same mattresses in all the different properties the same sheets the same
towels the same cleaning supplies the same you know light bulbs all the stuff
make the decision once and use it everywhere recognize of course that each
place has to have its own character and fit the area so I wouldn't do a beach
place with the exact same decor as a mountain ski area but like all the stuff
that's in the house it doesn't really matter doesn't add to the look and the
feel and the vibe that's all the same the infrastructure is all the same make
every decision once once you're happy with it scale it that's the definition
of scale make decisions once execute ten times a hundred times a thousand times
sustainable and repeatable that's basically an introduction to
scaling again all the hard work is in like the details and it takes a long
time to create your team and your stack and your infrastructure but it's really
well worth it if you want to go deeper I'll just remind you we're gonna have a
membership that goes deeper the link is in the description and go ahead and sign
up again we're just taking names right now we're going live December 1st and
we're really going to take people from a all the way out to like the scale and
I'm super pumped and excited about it I hope you are too please go ahead and
like the video and I'd encourage you to subscribe to the channel so you get
notifications when we release good videos like this thanks so much and
happy