This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
All right, all right. Welcome to Side Hustle School. Welcome to a brand new week. My name is Chris Guillebeau, your host. Excited to have you with us.
Today's episode is part of a feature we call Your First Thousand Dollars. How did somebody out there get started? How did they go from zero to, well, I guess it would be a thousand since it's, you know, your first thousand dollars. Not your first hundred thousand dollars or your first million dollars. That's cool, but that's a different day of the week.
Actually, we don't have that as a day on the week, but you know, I'm trying to help people get started. That's the point. I'm trying to help you see how ideas go from this generation phase to the income phase. I want you to get into the income phase. And so with that in mind, we're just gonna jump into it here.
Today's feature comes from Tom, a serial side hustler who built an ADU in his backyard. ADU is assisted dwelling unit. It's like a little cottage, you know, or could be a tree house in some cases, you know, there's various like zoning requirements, depending on where you live for how you can do this. But building a small structure in his backyard, allowing him to earn $1,500 a month in passive rentals. And then because Tom is that serial side hustler, he uses the profits to buy another property.
I respect the hustle. How did it all get started? Let's hear it from Tom. [Music]
I'd always been interested in real estate and finding ways to make passive income. When I heard about people making money by renting their spare rooms on Airbnb, I knew I had to give it a try.
I had a small self-contained unit on my property that I wasn't using. So I decided to list it on Airbnb as an assisted dwelling unit, also known as an ADU. It had its own entrance, bathroom and kitchenette. So it was perfect for travelers who wanted a little more independence and privacy than a traditional bed and breakfast could offer. I was a little nervous at first, but I followed all the guidelines and made sure the unit was clean and well stocked with amenities.
To my surprise, I started getting bookings right away. The first few guests were all very nice and left good reviews, which helped me attract even more bookings. As I gained more experience hosting, I learned a few important lessons. The first was the importance of good communication. I made sure to always respond promptly to inquiries and messages.
And I provided clear instructions for things like checking in and out. This helped to reduce any potential confusion and made for a smoother experience for everyone. I tried to think about everything from the perspective of the guest. Just as I was nervous about renting, some of them might be nervous about staying in a stranger's backyard. The second lesson I learned was to always have a backup plan.
One time, a guest broke a key and was locked out of the unit. I wasn't home at the time, but I'd left a spare key hidden in a safe spot. I was able to quickly communicate with the guests and help them get back into their unit, avoiding any potential frustration or inconvenience. That guest left an especially great review. I also learned that sometimes things don't always go as planned and that's okay.
One time, a guest accidentally left the stove on and set off the smoke alarm. I was able to handle the situation calmly and resolve it quickly, but it was a good reminder to always be prepared for the unexpected. As my business grew, I started to earn more than 1,500 a month for my ADU rental. This was a great source of passive income that I saved up and invested in another property specifically for rentals. Overall, my experience with Airbnb has been very positive.
It now runs mostly on autopilot and it's been a great way for me to make passive income while meeting new people from all over the world. I've learned a lot along the way and now I'm ready to start a more active side hustle for 2023. [Music]
Hey Tom, thanks so much for sharing. Appreciate that. I'm sure our listeners enjoy hearing about that first $1,000 as well, all the way to $1,500 a month, in fact.
And so listeners, I hope you found it encouraging if you have a question, if you're doing Airbnb or something else entirely, if you'd like to update us about your hustle, sidehustleschool.com/questions. We just have an amazing community of folks out there from all over the world. So grateful to be able to make this podcast for you every day. This has been episode 2,235. Guess what?
2,236 is coming out tomorrow and you can listen completely free, not just for a limited time, but always. You can do that on the website, sidehustleschool.com or on Spotify, Apple Music, wherever you prefer to listen. I wanna make it easy for you and I hope this is helpful. All right, that's all for today. My name's Chris Guillebeau, this is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the Onward Project.
