“Just an Airbnb host” or are you an STR business owner?

Rant warning ahead- Are you “just another Airbnb host”? Or are you a STR business owner?

Do you have a love/hate relationship with Airbnb too – or is this a co-dependency?

When I started out in 2011, 100% of my business came via Airbnb. Airbnb was a fairly new business in those days but had quickly become the market leader and the bookings just kept coming in. 

Yippee – easy money! 

Every morning I would wake up to the new bookings that came in overnight (I love making money while I sleep) and then each time the familiar “ding” on my phone I had a Pavlovian response.. (At one point I tried to change that tone to “ka-ching!” lol But I digress)

The guests were always great in the early days – early adopters of a new technology always are. We had very few problems. I was hooked. 

Before long, Airbnb had became more mainstream. It has become a verb and a noun and for many hosts, an identity. To be honest, it does flow easily into conversations. I found myself doing it too. 

Do any of the following scenarios sound like you too?

This works out great for Airbnb as we are all unconsciously doing their marketing and market awareness campaigns for them. We are all advertising for them…. For FREE. 

But here is the bad news! 

Hosts are not equal partners in this little love triangle. It is a complete love fest… until it isn’t. 

Airbnb has become so big, they know that when one host drops off, there are ten new hosts wanting to get started to take their place. So, Airbnb can afford to be cavalier about the hosts’ needs. 

Or when things get tough, hosts are collateral damage and considered disposable by Airbnb.  

I have felt this personally – more than once I am sorry to say. When problems arose, the loyalty that I had given to Airbnb was not returned. This was proven to me firstly when my city went through regulations and then again when the pandemic hit. 

My Story

After 2018 when my city was regulated, the laws were confusing and documentation was never ending. Hosts were told by Airbnb “you are on your own!”. I was expecting/hoping for training or support or something – anything. 

What did I get? Zip, zilch, nada. Oh – maybe I got a key ring…. And a link to a very confusing government website. 

To get licenced, I paid out a fortune of my own money to hire an agent to manage the documentation, retrofitting my homes to meet new city fire standards and added my own internal protocols for managing guest identification and vetting as required by the new laws. 

I looked at my numbers. My business was turning over $1m in revenue – this was huge. Who was I? Just another Airbnb host? Is that how people saw me? Is that how Airbnb sees me? Great hosts give Airbnb a great reputation – not just the free advertising AND the commissions. Where was the love when I needed it? It just wasn’t there.

Heck, I wanted to feel like a successful business person in my own right. I was proud of what I had built. Plus, I was paying wages, taxes, managing assets. I was dealing with all the day-to-day operations, guest management, customer service, maintenance, troubleshooting. Plus, I wanted my staff to feel like they were working for me and not Airbnb. 

I had earned it dammit! I am a STR business owner.

Airbnb customer support started to layer up and cut costs behind robot phone systems and poorly trained call center staff. I knew more than most of these folks, so why was I still identifying as “just another Airbnb host”, dime a dozen, replaceable, interchangeable?

Lightbulb moment

This is when I discovered the power of branding, of marketing, of actually seeing myself as a fully formed business. What does this mean?

• I have more control over my company’s destiny and have a stronger vision for my business.
• I am not just a small cog in a very large wheel.
• I have built a business I am proud of.
• I am teaching lessons of independence and showing the rewards of honest hard work to my young son.
• I have built up relationships with my guests, who stay in my homes that have been designed with their comfort in mind.
• I have built a profitable and sustainable business that pays taxes, provides employment to my team and most importantly, is building wealth for my family. 

My name is Tracey Northcott, I am the CEO of Tokyo Family Stays which operates short term rentals. There! I said it out loud!

What does this mean for you?

If you have read this far, I want to encourage you from now on to think of yourself as a business owner. If the word entrepreneur doesn’t sit well with you, then find a description that does. You are more than “just another Airbnb host”.

You are managing your business, buying furniture, setting up your listings, helping guests be comfortable, bringing revenue into your community, providing employment to cleaners, handymen and most likely family members. 

This IS a significant thing you are doing. 

I would be honoured to help you build your business brand that matches YOUR values and goals. Let’s have a coffee (virtually) and let me know what you are struggling with right now. Click this link to book in for a 15 minute chat.

Final Thought

I’ll not stop being on the Airbnb platform. Airbnb is a great marketing tool. It spends a ton of money and marketing technology on advertising to the masses and growing the market. They will reach far more people than I ever can on my own. But now I see their channel as ONE of my marketing channels – not the only one.

Want to talk more about this? Why not set up a free discovery call here or, jump in with an audit.