1618
8 min 46 sec

Accountant Shifts Gears To Renting Out Cars

When an Atlanta accountant discovers the sharing economy, he wheels and deals his way to owning an entire fleet of cars.
Cars Service Unique Ideas

Subscribe Now For A Free Five Step Tutorial

What It's About

An account uses the Airbnb model to rent out his fleet of cars.

Business Model
Service
Skills Required
Organization & Marketing
Complexity
Medium
Profit Potential
High

Words of Wisdom

Kisean shares advice on time management, "take a fast from social media, Netflix, etc. whatever is taking up your time. Check your screen time on your phone and think about how much time you waste a day. You would have a full degree in whatever area you want to specialize in."

Fun Fact

Getaround has been in business for over 11 years and, as of 2019, was reported to have five million users and approximately 20,000 connected cars worldwide.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1618
Kisean Smith graduated from the University of Georgia in 2016 with a degree in accounting. While studying, he had low expenses and paid minimal student rent. But after graduating and landing his first job, he soon realized student life is not real life.

In his home city of Atlanta, rent for even a modest place was four times what he was used to. Being an accountant, Kisean started to crunch some numbers. He figured he could buy a modest home, rent out the spare rooms on AirBnB, and make a profit on top of his monthly payments. To make a long story short, it worked—and that was what led to his next adventure.

The sharing economy has become a huge industry. AirBnB is now a household name but there’s plenty of other services in the space—and Kisean set about exploring them. He soon discovered Getaround, a platform that enables car owners to rent their cars to others for an hourly or daily rate. After a good experience as a renter, Kisean decided he wanted in on the action.

He settled on a 2015 white SmartCar: cheap, small and fit for utility. He purchased the car for one thousand dollars down with monthly payments of one hundred and seventy six dollars.

Kisean received bookings almost instantly. By the end of the first month, he’d earned seven hundred dollars in rentals. After the car payment, insurance, and commission he was still left with well over two hundred dollars profit. The best part though, was that it took almost no work. Getaround provided the marketing channel, their app took care of the logistics, and all he had to do was sit and wait for the money to hit his bank account.

Kisean was excited! That first month's results were enough to go all in on this side hustle. Almost immediately, he purchased a second car, same as the first and under the same financial terms. It too became a successful rental on Getaround. So, he did it again and by now was the proud owner of three Smart Cars all zipping from A to B around Atlanta earning him money every month.

Being an accountant, Kisean kept a close eye on the numbers over the following months. He learned that on average his cars were rented for nineteen days a month resulting in up to nine hundred dollars of rental income. After subtracting the expenses he was still left with an average of three hundred dollars profit per car, per month.

With those figures, it was time to hit the gas.

Kisean switched from a financing to purchasing model and began using his own funds to purchase additional cars in cash. He’d buy from private sellers, not dealerships, that enabled him to find better deals. Over the next two years, his personal fleet grew to thirteen vehicles and encompassed not just Smart Cars, but Fords, Nissans, and Kias as well. With that many cars, Kisean earns well over three thousand dollars profit per month. The best part though, is that he does it all remotely and in less than one hour a day.

 
  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Thinking about replicating Kisean’s hustle? Learn more about how people rent out their vehicles at, getaround.com or Turo.com.
SEE ALSO:

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work! Yours in the revolution, cg-sig-newsletter
Download Episodes By Months:

Season 8 (2024): JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC |

Season 7 (2023): JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC |

Season 6 (2022): JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC |

Season 5 (2021): JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC |

Season 4 (2020): JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC |

Season 3 (2019): JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC |

Season 2 (2018): JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC |

Season 1 (2017): JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC |

Resources

GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

Earn 50,000 travel rewards points (enough for 2 round-trip plane tickets or $625 in travel credit). You'll also earn 2x points on all travel and dining spend, with zero foreign transaction fees.

I use this card every day all over the world! ✈️


Learn More

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today!

Learn More

Quote of the Day
"Take a fast from social media, Netflix, etc. whatever is taking up your time. Check your screen time on your phone and think about how much time you waste a day. You would have a full degree in whatever area you want to specialize in"
—Kisean Smith #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Learn More With Skillshare!

Supporting the sponsors keeps the show free. Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Skillshare. 📷

Skillshare is giving Side Hustle School listeners 2 months of unlimited access—for $0.99! Join the 2 million students learning everything from street photography to SEO on Skillshare today!


Get Started Here!

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.




Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!





To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau