So what do you do when there are no guests? The pause in bookings may go on for as long as the Coronavirus shuts down business and disrupts our lives.
It may scare people from their normal routines of life for quite some time, maybe 6 to 9 months. In the meantime, what do you do with all your mental energy that is normally spent on helping guests?
Some owners may shut their rental down for a few months and take a holiday. Switch off and relax. However this is foreign to most short term rental owners who are naturally creative and energetic. A time of opportunity to do some of those things that have been put off for a while. Here are 3 things you can do.
1 Implement your newsletter.
One of the most powerful assets for a rental owner is a solid newsletter to past guests. It works for me above all else, but if you’ve been putting it off, now is a great time to build your own newsletter. It can take a while to go back through past records and build a clean email list of past guests. Next you can create a store of material and actually write future newsletters. Then as the population pulls back from the grind of daily coronavirus news, you gently remind past guests that you are still open, and now is a great time to switch off and get some enjoyment at your rental.
2 Mastermind
Have you been putting off forming a mastermind group because you are too busy? Given that a mastermind group is one of the most valuable ways to get ahead of the pack, now is the time to make it happen. See more about masterminds here.
3 Go on a free swap holiday
Contact a few other rental owners and see if they would like to do a swap. They stay free at yours and you stay free at theirs. You just have to pay for a clean, or do the clean yourself. If could be at the same time or time shifted. You are both professionals, so you can make it happen and have a great holiday for free. Also see those little touches that your swap partner has in place as inspiration for you.
Seize the day and grab these free opportunities!
Hi King Rex. Loved your article and we always have to be thinking of working smarter not harder. Whilst we had a good March and an ok upcoming April (but who knows if that will be the case). we have decided to do jobs around our property, painting, lots of plantings in garden. Depending on how the virus pans out, we will just convert our home into 2 seperate dwellings. One thing Rex taught me early on was a risk management plan and I thank him for that. I already have plumbing in place and all I need to do is buy a cheap ikea free standing kitchen and I can rent out 2 seperate dwellings. We have a couple of small long term rentals and the rent is amazing when compared to big homes. Plus , if I can’t get both booked, we still have at least one rental and it means we don’t need to move all our furniture out. Of course this is all dependant it we aren’t locked down. There is a down side with going back to long term rentals and that is when things pick up (over summer) you are locked into a contract, but it’s all about making some money. And of course the most important risk management plan is to make sure you have a savings account to get you through the bad times. I’m sure a lot of recently joined properties will suffer as they are not prepared for the worst. Risk Management…Thank you Rex fo teaching me this important lesson. You are indeed a king xx