The Story of our Nashville Airbnb
If you’ve been following along for some time, you maaaaaay have the sense that I like having a clear strategy. I even admit that I can go a bit overboard. Sometimes, you must stop thinking and start doing; and I can think about things for a long, long time. Most facets of my life are deeply analyzed, and the story of our Nashville Airbnb is no exception.
Last week, I shared 5 Steps to Diversify Your Income, and I promised to tell you how I’ve applied this to myself in a way that now pays our mortgage. It’s given us financial freedom while I build momentum in my business, and even skeptical Dave is into it. He used to describe the Calvin Creative Suite (yes, it has a name) as “Julie’s project;” but after I hit my ROI goals two months early, he came back with foot in mouth and asked, “How do I get in on this little venture?” Ha!
If last week’s five steps felt a little abstract and you’re still not sure where to start, here’s how our Airbnb came about. Hopefully, it gives you a clearer idea of how you can apply this work to find your own way to diversify your income.
1 – Ask yourself: “What’s my end game?”
Believe it or not, the idea of having an Airbnb came about years before Nashville was even a thought. It started in May of 2014, when we were in Provence, France for our friends’ wedding (hi Shan!). Long story short: Dave fell in love with the French countryside and declared that he wanted to own a B+B when we retired. Now, keep in mind: this was pre-London-Dave, so I was dumbfounded by this vision. Yet, he continued to talk about it, so at some point I said to him, “Let’s start way small, way before retirement. Maybe there’s a way to try it, with um… less commitment.”
2 – Identify your core competencies.
At HEC we learned a strategic model that has served many of my business discussions ever since. En bref, it says: a strategy should come from product innovation, operational excellence, or customer intimacy. Businesses will have pieces of all three, but one should be the leading pillar, from which decisions flow.
This philosophy was such a lightbulb moment for me. I’ve always thrived in life and work in customer intimate situations. I would much rather have a 1:1 with someone than be in a large group, I try to make individuals feel seen and heard, and I love coming up with bespoke experiences for people.
This translates directly into how much I love hosting visitors. Luckily, I’ve lived my whole adult life in pretty cool cities, so I’ve never been short of house guests. I like coming up with themed itineraries, putting together local food, and adding luxurious and personal touches to make people feel welcome. Since our stream of personal visitors is still ongoing after ten plus years, I assume that I do an okay job at this 🙂
Also, I love interior design. If I could go back and do it all over again, I probably would study design and do something much more tactile for work. I humbly say that I get complimented on my clothing and home style, so I suppose that I’m decent at putting together pieces that turn out pretty well together. It doesn’t hurt to have spent time studying stylish Europeans for many years either; I credit their influence!
3 – Take note of your assets and resources.
During the six months of creating Ellevated Outcomes’ business plan, I poured over what resources I had and lacked. I lived by the mantra “Constraint breeds creativity.” After leaving my job, moving countries, and buying a house, I needed to be creative! I realized that I had four powerful assets:
- Contractor network, whom I could hire for my many skill gaps
- My business learnings – of which I have over ten years of diligent notes
- Global network from my time in the US Northeast, London, and Paris
and <drumroll>…
- A new house – which happens to be in a fantastic, walkable Nashville location and has a suite with its own private entrance. Mmhmm…
4 – Get honest about what you like to do.
The skills and strengths that I named are things that I like to do. They fill a creative bucket for me and get me away from screens and into real life.
On the flipside, I’m pretty good at building P+Ls (note my ROI comment above – ha!) and writing executive reports. However, I don’t love these things, by any stretch of the imagination. So it was important to reconcile my skills with my enjoyment for this income stream.
5 – Test the market.
I may not have to sell you on this one too much because there’s a pretty good chance that you, dear reader, want to come to Nashville. It is a hot city – and getting hotter by the day. Not only is it pretty to look at on Instagram, but the numbers show its popularity too:
- Eighty people (net) move to Nashville per day.
- Local hospitality and tourism is valued at $5.4B.
- 50% of the US population lives within 650 miles of the city. This means that it’s a huge travel hub, as people get from one city to another.
Of course, I researched the Airbnb market itself. I took a month to look at other Airbnbs in the area: their quality, prices, and how often they were booked. Also, Nashville is one of the stricter cities when it comes to Airbnb regulation. Therefore, by-the-books Dave and I gave ourselves a couple months to wade through the details and ensure that we were doing everything 100% in compliance.
Along with following the rules, these months also gave me time to get things just right. I painted, played with furniture layouts, and agonized over tiny details, which I knew would help us stand out to the 350,000 people a year who stay in Nashville Airbnbs.
I’m super proud of this venture for many reasons. Airbnb is a fabulous, smart company with founders who are wonderful human beings. I’m so happy to be associated with them. Also, with more screen time and focus on productivity, I have to make an effort to be active in real life.
Lastly, my friend Sam whom I mentioned last week, was right. Diversifying my income was one of the smartest things I did on day one of my business. I’ve stretched my business-creativity muscles to use my assets to their full extent. All this preparation has given me financial flexibility – and dare I say it – a form of passive income – to build a new business and life with integrity.
