How can I excel in vacation rentals?

How to excel in your vacation rental business

The first step to excel in your vacation rental business, is to really, truly understand it.

This doesn’t just happen, it’s not instinct, or experience, it requires research. 

Small businesses should take time out to have a good look at themselves - and then, and this is important, use the findings to attract more sales and grow the business.

Today we’ll cover 3 points: 

1. Research
2. Take action 
3. Communicate. 

Why do you need to understand your vacation rental business?

To help your business excel, you have to fully understand how it works, from the perspective of everyone involved. 

By breaking down and truly understanding your company, its processes, your employees, the impressions you make, and your guests; you can make educated business decisions. 

Here are just some decisions you can make on the back of your work.

By identifying your strengths you know what is working well for you. 

• Do you communicate your strengths sufficiently? 
• Do you charge the right price for the value you give?
• Do you allocate the right amount of time on activities that benefit your company?
• Do you have sufficient funds to cope with a rough period?

By identifying weaknesses, there are opportunities to grow. 

So although this can be painful, this is key.

• Do you need to outsource a problem area? 
• Should you undertake some training?
• Can you get to the root of a problem and fix it? 
• Do your staff need training?

So let's start with the research.

Research your vacaction rental business

I'd recommend starting with a Strengths and Weaknesses analysis, on your own or with your team.

If you’ve never done this before, then you’ll enjoy this! 

Create two documents, title the first one ‘Strengths’ and the second ‘Weaknesses’. 

Now is the time to think about your business.

On each document, make a list of the aspects of your company which are strengths or weaknesses.

If you’re stuck for ideas, ask around. Start with your team, your business partners, your guests (either directly or looking at your reviews). 

Strengths 

Here are some questions to ask.  

• What do guests say that pleased them personally or in reviews?
• What do you do better than your competitors?
• Which tasks bring you joy?
• What are the special features of your properties?
• What does your team do well?
• Do you have a strong recognisable brand?

This is just a starting point, dig deep and take your time. 

Weaknesses

Here are some questions to ask. 

• What is written in your complaints?
• What does your team fail to do?
• What does your team think that your company doesn’t do well?
• What do you dislike doing?
• What do your competitors or other companies do better than you?
• Why do customers leave your website instead of buying?
• What tech limitations do you have?

There are two other areas - opportunities and threats, which are also important, and we’ll cover in a future post. 

Take action 

Your findings will help you make informed decisions. 

Looking at the points you’ve noted in your strengths and weaknesses, now is the time to plan the changes to make. 

1. Identify what to take action on (or not)
2. Prioritise and delegate tasks 
3. Review the effect of the changes. 

The changes you make are entirely based on the outcome of your research. 

You may choose to focus on one aspect initially, or to cover a number at a time, and this is down to your company and what is best for you. 

• Change or build new processes 
• Improve how you and your business to stand out from the crowd
• Arrange tasks to add further value to your proposition
• Adjust your communication strategy
• Adjust how you manage your guests

It’s important to be aware that no list is ever completed, so prioritise your actions. 

Communication

Now you know a great deal more about your business, so it’s time to tell your guests and contacts about it. 

The effect of a positive business change is magnified enormously when you communicate it, and this is a perfect opportunity to build relationships. 

For the changes that you’ve made, consider:

1. What messages to communicate with guests / contacts
2. What mediums to use to communicate with guests / contacts
3. How often you’ll communicate with them.

So that’s it for now. 

I hope you’ve found this useful. 

This task is a valuable exercise, but isn’t a one-off task. This activity should be completed regularly, I’d recommend at least yearly. 

Good luck. 

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Excelling in your vacation rental business takes time and effort and a whole lot of patience. 

Start with these 3 steps: Research, Take Action and Communicate.