PASSIVE INCOME: How I Automate 100+ Airbnb Properties

Summary

The speaker shares their experience in automating an Airbnb business with over 100 properties. They emphasize the importance of creating a structured organization with specialized roles, such as territory managers, housekeepers, and guest experience managers. The key to automation is understanding what to automate and building systems that support people, not replacing them. The video offers advice on hiring, managing, and growing a business to achieve true valuation and scalability, highlighting the need for trust and continuous improvement.

Takeaways

• 😀 Automating an Airbnb business is achievable and the speaker has done it with over 100 properties.
• 🛠 The secret to automation is knowing what to automate rather than just how to automate it.
• 📈 The goal of any business should be automation to increase its true valuation and facilitate selling if desired.
• 🏢 The speaker's business is organized with a clear hierarchy, including territory managers, specialized roles, and a large housekeeping staff.
• 🧹 Housekeeping is a critical part of the business and should be automated by hiring and training housekeepers, paying them by the hour.
• 👥 The importance of having a housekeeping manager who can oversee operations and prevent burnout as the business grows.
• 📚 Reading books like 'The Leadership Pipeline' and 'Multipliers' is recommended for understanding business and leadership.
• 🔄 As the business grows, systems should be developed to support staff and prevent a single manager from becoming overwhelmed.
• 💡 Technology should be used to support people, not replace them, and to handle repetitive tasks efficiently.
• 🚀 Continuous growth and challenging the business is important to keep employees engaged and invested in the company.
• 🔑 Trusting people and giving them autonomy is a key part of successful automation and delegation.

Q & A

What is the primary goal of automating an Airbnb business according to the speaker?

The primary goal of automating an Airbnb business is to remove oneself from the company operations, allowing it to have a true valuation and be sellable without the owner's direct involvement.

What is the estimated worth of the speaker's Airbnb business?

The speaker estimates their business to be worth around 20 million if they were to sell it now.

How does the speaker structure the management of their Airbnb business?

The speaker structures their business with Haley at the top overseeing everything, followed by territory managers, specialized managers for tasks like listing setup, revenue, guest experience, landlord relations, and a large team of housekeepers managed by housekeeping managers.

What is the speaker's advice on hiring housekeepers for an Airbnb business?

The speaker suggests hiring housekeepers with no prior experience, training them in-house, and paying them by the hour to build loyalty and reduce costs.

Why should housekeepers be paid by the hour instead of a flat rate according to the speaker?

Paying housekeepers by the hour can lower housekeeping costs and provide more funds for other business aspects. It also helps to avoid competition from other industry players who might try to recruit experienced housekeepers.

What is the speaker's suggestion for the first step in automating a growing Airbnb business?

The first step is to hire a housekeeping manager to oversee housekeepers, communicate with guests, and handle inventory control, which can automate about 80 to 90 percent of the business operations.

What books does the speaker recommend for managers in an automated business?

The speaker recommends 'The Leadership Pipeline' by Ram Charan and 'Multipliers' for improving leadership and getting better work out of people.

What is the speaker's view on using technology to automate an Airbnb business?

The speaker believes that technology should be used to support people in the business, not to replace them. It should be used to handle repetitive tasks and increase the efficiency of a single person's capabilities.

What is the speaker's advice on maintaining quality in an automated business?

The speaker advises to 'continue to inspect what you expect' and to include seemingly useless high-touch tasks in the system to monitor employee engagement and ensure quality.

What is the speaker's strategy for keeping employees engaged and invested in the business?

The speaker emphasizes building a culture and vision with constant growth and challenges, ensuring that employees see the business as dynamic and not a dead-end.

What is the speaker's approach to trust in the context of business automation?

The speaker believes in giving full autonomy and trust to managers, like Haley, to the point where they could potentially destroy the business, as a trade-off for achieving automation.