Renting out your place can be a good business if you are keen to integrate some key factors that can help you scale it up. That spare room you have in your house can help pay your mortgage faster and more comfortably if you apply a few tips. If you are in the Airbnb management business, you should be thinking about how you can scale it up and make more money. Many people take it up as a side hustle, but within no time, it becomes their second job.
You, too, can make it if you are keen to follow some of the tips highlighted below to make your Airbnb listing stand out.
Use a Property Manager
The best way to have peace of mind when running an Airbnb business is to work with a property manager. From advertising to property maintenance, vetting tenants, and managing guests operating an Airbnb business can take a huge toll on you when going solo. This is especially the case in a busy city like London, where guests will expect nothing short of an excellent experience. With a good Airbnb property management London company, all this weight can be lifted off your shoulders. Your main job will be to walk or drive to the bank to collect your cheque every month. Most importantly, you can make more money from your property that way.
Include a Guest Check-In
The first impression is usually crucial in retaining your clients and getting a good review, especially since the bookings are online. When a guest decides to stay in that extra room you have, you should show hospitality right from the moment they step in. The guest check-in process involves greeting and welcoming your guests. You make the effort of showing them around in person and building a good rapport.
However, if you are coordinating many other guests or you are held up somewhere, you should have a detailed self-check-in system that will let your visitors find their way to the rooms set aside for them. What is important is trying to show concern and hospitality to the people you receive.
Communication
Communication is what builds most relationships, whether personal or business. As you get visitors, you need to have a good communication method to ensure you are available to answer whatever inquiries they might have and deliver whatever they may request. You won’t always be around, but you will need to establish a good communication channel so the guests can always get to you whenever they need something.
You can decide to integrate smartbnb, which is an automated communication method. What you need to do in this is have your shortcode messages unique to you that spell warmth and hospitality to your visitors. People often appreciate these simple gestures, and it’s a way to get you highly rated so you can receive more clients. If you intend to scale up your Airbnb business, keep in mind the significance of communication.
Cleaning Services
A small host is most likely to put on the gloves and boots and do the cleaning independently. However, this is not what it means to scale up. You will perhaps not do it that well, or you won’t always be available. However, if you are scaling up, you may need to hire a reputable cleaning service. This is going to be an extra cost, but with time it’s going to be worthwhile. Furthermore, you want the best experience for your visitors to give you a good rating and pick your place the next time they visit. Therefore, take this as an investment that will bring more profit to you.
Have a House Manual
Scaling up means turning your business into something more than what people are traditionally used to. A traditional host doesn’t need a house manual as they are always available to respond to the needs and questions that their guests have. This is, however, not good enough. We both know that no one wants to read pages and pages of your house manual. With that in mind, you need to have it just in case your guests need it.
You need to maximize the chances that your guests go through the house manual just in case of any problems or an issue arises. To do this, print a hardcopy of your house manual and place it at a point your guests won’t miss it. You can also send a copy of the same to your guest sometime before they check-in. When sent a few hours before check-in, it is more likely that they will go through it. If you are very serious about it, you can use an interactive means such as having an iPad with everything your guest needs to know about your house.
Welcome Pack
When a guest comes to your place, they expect a warm cup of coffee or tea. Also, they don’t want to be forced to go to the store to buy toilet paper and soap while they are there only for a night. As part of Airbnb etiquette, scaling up means providing the necessities your guests might need. They might cost you money and time, but it’s worth it. You can add a few bucks to the person cleaning to get you the necessities. This will save you some time. It’s wise to buy these things in bulk as it is cheaper and saves you from running to the store every time you have a guest. Make sure to check that everything is ready before a guest can check in. You can have containers that you will be refilling every time a visitor comes to your house.
Checking Out
If the checkout is chaotic, then everything else that you may have done becomes useless. It would be best if you made sure that guests check out on time, so you have a good time to prepare for the next guest. To be on the safe side, inform the guests of the check-out time, and give them the procedure. There are cases of lost keys. Replacing a key can be very expensive and might cost your clients. It is fair to impose a fee on lost keys to discourage losing them.
Laundry
Scaling up means an increased number of guests, and therefore, preparedness is key. Even if your cleaner is very punctual, have multiple fresh linen sets that will rotate as guests come and go. This ensures that a guest doesn’t have the linen used by the previous guest to be cleaned before they can check-in.
Airbnb can be a good business if well managed. You should be ready to invest in your services as much as you invest in any other business. Make sure to know what others are doing, what your guests want, and what you can afford to do. You might find a single room in your house paying for the whole mortgage over time.