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[00:00:00] Sarah: Hello, listeners. Welcome back for another great week. My name is Sarah Karakaian.

[00:00:03] Annette: I am Annette Grant. And together we are–

[00:00:05] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.

[00:00:07] Sarah: We’re going to kick off this episode like we do each and every time, that is sharing one of you, our listeners who’s using our hashtag #STRShareSunday. Please use it on Instagram. We’ll find you, and we will share you here on the podcast, on Instagram, to our entire email list, and give you a little love. Annette, who are we sharing this week?

[00:00:24] Annette: This week we are sharing @blissfulborrow. Blissful Borrow, B-U-R-R-O-W. And I’m just going to start right away with, on their Instagram, we love their link in bio, is their dot com, theblissfulborrow.com. And when you tap on that, the very first message that you see is, “We love talking with guests. Call or text us for details.” If that isn’t–

[00:00:55] Sarah: Phone number is right there.

[00:00:56] Annette: Yes. Key component there. Their phone number is right there. Like, hello. That is making me feel really welcome. My host is attentive. They’re going to be there for me. And secondarily, the next thing that they do is offer a discount code for direct booking right away.

[00:01:22] So it’s like they’re giving a one-two punch on, “We want you to stay with us. We’re going to be right here for you to call or text, and we have a discount code.” So I just want to say well done to The Blissful Borrow for having that knocked out like that so quickly. And they’ve got some cool stuff also. I just want to highlight about their property.

[00:01:43] Does the slide go from the inside, the outside? It goes from the top to the bottom. I think maybe it’s just outdoor. But super, super cool. They have a hanging bed. The game room is really bringing lots of fun for the whole family. Believe there’s an EV charger. Yeah. Take the family. Go hang out with The Blissful Borrow. And they have two pugs. They’re so cute.

[00:02:13] Sarah: No, but again, I want to just reiterate their website. At the top gives them their phone number, which guests or listeners, I know that there is– we’ve been talking on the past few episodes, some questionable inquiries from platforms like Vrbo and Airbnb. I feel like we get so obsessed with automating all the things, but when you connect with guests, when you can connect with someone who, before they even book, you can really understand how to curate their stay, but also understand what they’re about, whether or not the property’s a good fit for them or not. So don’t discount the power of connecting in person, especially if you’ve got one property. And this is very doable. This is a great way to do some market study.

[00:02:54] Annette: Agreed.

[00:02:55] Sarah: Yes. All right. With that, let’s get started with this episode today. We are on the heels of a new year, and you might be thinking, okay, I need to get organized in 2024 and not just with making my supply closet–

[00:03:13] Annette: Wow. Sarah’s really bringing that, no pun intended, get organized once they hear what our episode is about.

[00:03:19] Sarah: In today’s episode, we are going to help everyone get organized here in the new year. Now is a great time to see how 2023 went. Look at your data, look at your numbers, look at how you felt, and really unpack the emotions that came with 2023. Did you feel like you were organized? You knew what you were doing. You knew it was coming next.

[00:03:41] Everyone who’s on your team, whether that’s your spouse or your kiddos, or maybe you truly are 1000% on your own, did you feel like you know what you were doing each day to take it to that next level? If the answer is no, or you haven’t even thought about that yet, then an org chart might help you get there.

[00:04:02] Annette: Or you are so dialed in you are like, it is ready for me to hire some team members. I am exactly where I need to be. I want to free up some of my time. This is going to help you, and we will let you know this org chart keeps coming up. We brought it up to all of the members in our membership.

[00:04:20] They were all begging us to send them copies of it. We did that. Sarah and I ourselves had a planning meeting last week, and you better believe we had the good old org chart out assigning who does what, when, where, why, and what the results are. And so this is for all hosts. This is for everyone. If it’s your one property, two properties, three properties, four, it’s exciting.

[00:04:44] Let’s do it. Because, listen, you are wearing a lot of hats. And what we want to do with the org chart too is this is your time to plan out your year. And there’s days that you should be doing revenue management. There’s days that you should be doing marketing. There’s days that you should be doing networking. There’s days that you should be doing accounting. You got to block it off on your calendar, make it happen. But you also need to know where it falls in line. So let’s get into it.

[00:05:09] Sarah: Yeah. And also, if you are dreaming of starting your own co-hosting business, if you are a co-host needing to get a little bit more professional in the new year, or if you’re a co-host who is rocking it out and you’re growing and you’re just not sure what team members you need to bring on next, again, this is going to help you and you head at thanksforvisiting.com/317. You can snag a copy of our org chart to help you get organized in the new year.

[00:05:34] Annette: Write it out.

[00:05:35] Sarah: Cut it out. Make notes on it. And shout out to our Hosting Business Mastery Membership, in-house bookkeeper, Corey Lee, and Steve Trover from Better Talent. This is definitely inspired by their leadership and their insight, or after many, many years in the vacation rental industry. We’re going to go over this right now over the podcast. And seeing is also very helpful, so when you have a moment, go ahead, get this freebie, download it for yourself, but let’s go through the top three categories that are–

[00:06:13] Annette: Prevalent.

[00:06:13] Sarah: At the top. Yeah. Prevalent in most vacation rental, short-term rental companies. Now, again, if you feel like this might be like, okay, I don’t need that yet in my business, that’s fine. Great. You don’t need that “department”. But we have sales and marketing. We have operations. We have finance and admin. Okay. Those are the top three.

[00:06:34] Annette: Say them again one more time.

[00:06:35] Sarah: Sales and marketing, operations, finance and admin. So ask yourself right now, listeners, which one excites you the most? This past year in 2023, you loved putting on maybe your operations hat. You loved getting down and fixing things in the property, or being a part of the housekeeping team. Or maybe if you’re a co-host, you love working with the owners of the property. Or maybe that was your least favorite and you really got jazzed over knowing your numbers or talking with your accountant. Why I’m asking you this is because whatever doesn’t excite you should be the first thing that you delegate out.

[00:07:21] Annette: Let it go.

[00:07:22] Sarah: Let it go.

[00:07:23] Annette: Let it go. Yes. Let’s do it. What’s next?

[00:07:28] Sarah: Yeah, so we’re going to go– I said sales and marketing. First, let’s unpack what that department looks like. So we have marketing, owner recruiting. Again, if you’re co-hosting or property management company, reservations. Say that again. Marketing, owner recruiting, which also, if you’re not a co-host, maybe this is getting your next property, and then reservations.

[00:07:52] So under those, let’s talk about what marketing is. There’s pricing, there’s branding. There is SEO, which is the success of your website online. How do people find you? Again, we’re not counting on just Airbnb and Vrbo and Booking.com to bring us our leads. Email marketing, print ads, which maybe it’s not just a print ad. Maybe it’s paid ad advertising on Instagram, Facebook, Google. And then there are your actual property listings.

[00:08:25] Annette: Ooh, that’s a lot.

[00:08:26] Sarah: I’m already tired.

[00:08:27] Annette: Hosts–

[00:08:28] Sarah: We do a lot.

[00:08:29] Annette: We all deserve a raise. You do.

[00:08:32] Sarah: We do.

[00:08:33] Annette: That is a lot. That’s it though?

[00:08:36] Sarah: That’s marketing.

[00:08:38] Annette: Woo. Okay. This is where it gets a little difficult. You really do need to carve out time to do this. Just start, even if it’s 20 minutes, but put marketing specific. I know you will see the results when you start to free up some of your time to focus on this.

[00:09:01] Sarah: And remember you can do anything, but you can’t do everything. So the pricing, the branding, SEO, email, print ads, property listings, some of those things are non-negotiables. We have to find time to make sure our listings are accurate, and they’re attracting people. But when it comes to maybe email, print ads, SEO, maybe you pick one to focus on in Q1, Q2.

[00:09:22] Maybe you take all of next year and really get into your email marketing. What you focus on expands. So I know a lot of our listeners you own between one and five properties. So you are doing a lot. Take it one thing at a time.

[00:09:37] Annette: What’s up next?

[00:09:38] Sarah: All right, let’s move on to– I said owner recruiting. So any of you, co-hosts, out there, under here, it’s approaching and recruiting. So finding owners who are in need of your services and being proactive, and then, of course, responding to inquiries that you get from your marketing efforts. And that’s another thing too, co-hosts.

[00:09:57] Going back to marketing, it’s not just acquiring guests to come to your properties, but you also probably marketing to owners to be a part of your program. So owner recruiting includes, again, approaching owners, recruiting them, having a program to offer them. Here’s what you get when you sign on to my program.

[00:10:16] Plus there’s a whole legal component, which we’ll get into a little bit. And then responding to– you’ve got to be on top of it because if an owner reaches out to you and you are not quick to respond, they’re going to wonder how you’re going to treat their guests, right?

[00:10:29] Annette: Absolutely. Yeah.

[00:10:30] Sarah: Okay. Now the other part of sales and marketing, the third part are reservations, of course. So under here, we have the reservations itself, the process of taking a reservation, pre-arrival, guest questions. Did they fill them out? What questions are important? Providing feedback. Terms and conditions.

[00:10:49] So this too, we should do a whole episode on this, Annette. If you have a website, we all are championing direct booking, but we have to make sure that your website has terms and conditions and a privacy policy on it. Reviews. Making sure that you are responding to reviews. You are reviewing guests and being active in that whole ecosystem.

[00:11:11] You understand the fees that you are collecting or that are being collected from you on the OTAs, and then of course leads. How are you getting your leads? Obviously, you have the OTAs. There are so many other platforms that are popping up all over the place where you can take advantage of getting eyes on your properties. And so the whole reservations “department” is robust.

[00:11:35] Annette: Yes. And you said it, “department.”

[00:11:37] Sarah: Yeah. All right, listeners. So that’s sales and marketing. Let’s recap one more time. Marketing, owner recruiting, reservations. Under marketing, there’s pricing, obviously, very important. Your property listings, very important. When it comes to your branding, we’re not just talking about your colors, your logo. We’re talking about how do people feel when they interact with your business, with your homes, with your properties, before they even book with you?

[00:12:03] Making sure those brand standards are in place. And then we have SEO for your website, email marketing, and print ads. Owner recruiting, if you’re a co-host, or maybe this is the time that you take, like Annette said, maybe Mondays are marketing Mondays, and every four weeks, you rotate through all these things. But one of those might be talking to your real estate agent, looking on Zillow, seeing what your next property acquisition is going to be.

[00:12:32] Annette: Your own owner acquisition.

[00:12:33] Sarah: Right. What is your buy box, and what really excites you moving into 2024? And then of course, reservations and how robust that is from making sure the process– right now in my business, I am having one of my assistants go through the booking process because we’ve really onboarded to a lot of online travel agencies, additional ones, and I want to make sure that onboarding process for paying guests is clear, concise. We’re not talking to them too much, not talking to them too little. Is there areas for clarity and improvement? So that’s something you can do in your reservations department. Reviews, are you responding to them? Your terms and conditions on your website. It’s a lot. It’s important.

[00:13:14] Annette: What’s up next?

[00:13:14] Sarah: All right. Operations. My favorite part, Annette.

[00:13:16] Annette: This is the doozy.

[00:13:18] Sarah: All right, Annette, we’ve got guest services.

[00:13:20] Annette: What’s guest services? That’s very general.

[00:13:23] Sarah: Yeah. We’re going to go through all of these. Guest services, owner services. And maybe, again, if you’re not a co-host, this is how you are serving yourself and your family because you got into this for a reason. Maintenance and housekeeping. This is my favorite part. And let’s go over the guest services. So we have post arrival guest questions, dispatch on call, guest satisfaction in general, inventory and assets, community relations, reputation management.

[00:13:56] Annette: Where’s the cleaner fall on this?

[00:13:57] Sarah: The cleaner is under housekeeping.

[00:13:59] Annette: Oh, I didn’t even hear you say housekeeping. Am I–

[00:14:01] Sarah: Yeah, housekeeping is a whole department.

[00:14:03] Annette: Oh, okay.

[00:14:04] Sarah: Yeah. You’ve got guest services, owner services, maintenance, and housekeeping. And under guest services, we really want to make sure that we understand after the guest leaves, yes, they leave us a review, but I would say, every so often, reach out to the guest, call them, and see if you can get some more information, if they had a really great stay. And those guests who really were unhappy, no matter what you would do, see if you can connect on a human level and get some feedback.

[00:14:25] It’s only going to make you as a short-term rental owner operator or co-host more strong and improve your property. On call. Dispatch on call. This is one of the toughest things for us to tackle. Especially as owners of five or less properties, it’s like part-time, but all the time. You never know when you’re going to get dispatched.

[00:14:45] How can you improve this? Are you contracted with a third-party maintenance company? Maybe you’re lucky enough to be in an industry or in a marketplace that has something like that. Maybe you are hiring a handyman just for weekends for yourself.

[00:15:02] Was this a pain point for you in 2023 and maybe under your guest services hat that you’re wearing, you figure out a way to improve this component? Guest satisfaction. We can always improve guest satisfaction. Maybe comb through Airbnb’s review system and see where maybe you got a few four stars. Maybe you even got a three-star. You never know. You know what I mean?

[00:15:26] Inventory. This is another biggie in guest services because if you are running like your head’s cut off in between guest stays and maybe the guests are suffering because you get a lower quality product or you decide to omit it for that stay because you’re not on top of it, how can you make it a little bit more automated? And then we have community relations. Annette, you want to talk a little bit about why that’s so important?

[00:15:50] Annette: Ooh, yeah.

[00:15:51] Sarah: And why we should not forget that. And that should definitely be about guest services.

[00:15:54] Annette: Yeah. If the community relations is number one, what’s going on with your neighborhood? How can you be a better neighbor? How can you just be active in your community? So listen, if you can reach out– Sarah and I just today, we were talking about we need to send some holiday cards to all of our neighbors that they help us with our property from time to time.

[00:16:17] But this is something, if it’s your direct neighbors, but also just being out in the community, letting people know that you’re a host, that you’re a proud host, I don’t know. Maybe you start your own meetup this year, but just being out there, being approachable, doing some give back, you can make an impact, either it’s very close to your neighbors, right next to you or, your whole entire community.

[00:16:42] Sarah: And then we have on your reputation management, what does that mean? Well, could mean a lot of things to a lot of different people, but for me, the first thing that comes to my mind when it comes to my reputation management is to be proactive in my community, not just take, take, take in terms of, list my property, have my guests come in there, fight for my right to host responsibly, but also, I don’t know, sponsor a little league team.

[00:17:02] Or if there is some sort of community festival, how can I be a sponsor of a 5K?Again, you are a business. You are an integral part of the ecosystem of your community. So how can you really stand up for the reputation of your business?

[00:17:20] Annette: Do it before they’re wanting to make changes. We were talking with someone today. They have a cease and desist. They’re switching what’s happening in their neighborhood. So it’s like you got to get ahead of the stuff before there’s any changes to the bylaws.

[00:17:35] Sarah: Let’s go to owner services. And again, I said, whether you’re a co-host or you are an owner operator, take this as you will. Survey owners. Let’s check in with the people we serve. And again, if you are an owner operator, check in with yourself. Are you happy or do you feel some sort of, maybe not work-life balance? I don’t really believe in that, but I believe in seasons.

[00:17:59] So if you are getting into a season of really self-care or really getting hard with your family, make sure that you’re setting yourself up for success there. But also asking your owners co-hosts, are services you provide– are they appreciated by your owners? Are they needed? Do they feel that they have enough information about their property and the success of their property.

[00:18:18] Communication. Look at your communication flows. Do you feel like you don’t have one source of truth to communicate with you or your team? Could that be improved? And then owner onboarding. So what’s that process? It is a lot of work onboarding a property. Co-hosts out there, hopefully you feel me on that one. Owner operators, if you’re buying a property, looking to buy a property in 2023–

[00:18:44] Annette: It’s going to take up a lot more time than you think.

[00:18:46] Sarah: Always.

[00:18:47] Annette: Either of you have it down.

[00:18:49] Sarah: To write down that process and to get as streamlined as you can, that could be part of your owner services department. Maybe you do all of these little checkpoints here I have for you once a quarter. You put on your owner services hat. Then we have maintenance. So maintaining your asset. Listeners, you all know. You’re like, I don’t need to preach to the choir.

[00:19:10] Annette: This is a whole other, yeah.

[00:19:12] Sarah: But being preventative and not just reactive with your maintenance. If you’re already going to your home to do one thing, could you have a little checklist of things that you’re going to check since you’re there? Maybe unscrew all the drains in your bathroom sinks, and make sure those are clear. You just became pet-friendly, so how are the filters doing in the HVAC system. So being preventative.

[00:19:35] In-stay repairs. What’s your protocol if something needs to happen while a guest is there? And then finally, we have in here, again, community relations. So maintenance is something that’s ongoing. It’s never going to go away. It’s very important. Do you have checklists? Again, you know we champion Breezeway. This is how we handle our maintenance. And also, now at the end of the year, I can pull reports for all of our properties to see what was maintenanced, what were–

[00:20:01] Annette: Planned ahead too.

[00:20:02] Sarah: Right. What properties were problem childs? You know what I mean? And see what’s what when it comes to maintenance. And then last but definitely not least, operations is our housekeeping. This department includes departure, cleans, reporting issues. How’s that going for y’all? And then reporting the condition of the property and making sure that those turnover processes are working.

[00:20:28] Annette: Mm-hmm. If you haven’t given a huge thank you to your housekeeping team, this is the time. You should be doing it all the time, but this is really the time to lay it on the holiday season.

[00:20:39] Sarah: This is our pledge to you, listeners. Get ready. In 2024, we are going to go harder into the cleaning world because you’ve asked for it with our content. So from how to hire and where to find great, great cleaners, because they are out there. How to train them effectively and communicate with them effectively.

[00:21:01] Annette: Keep them around.

[00:21:03] Sarah: Keep them around. Right. And then also the clean itself. How can we be more eco-friendly? How can we be more efficient, safe? Yeah. So again, operations, we have guest services, owner services, maintenance, and housekeeping.

[00:21:17] Last, but certainly not least in this list is finance and administration. So we have administration, human resources, accounting. Those are a bit corporate-y words, but let’s dig into what they are at their core. Administrative, office supplies, office management, and then a guest relationship manager of some sort.

[00:21:39] So in the corporate world, or in the business world, it’s called a CRM, but you might think of it more of like, how can we go– we already have these guests that have already stayed with us. How do we build relationships with them ongoing to welcome them back, get their referrals, their birthdays, their anniversaries, and build–

[00:21:58] Annette: The direct booking, this is how you’re going to make it happen.

[00:22:00] Sarah: Right. And then office management, where do you do your work for your short-term rentals? Do you feel like it’s streamlined and organized that you have some sort of system, which maybe this org chart will help you get there? Then we have human resources, so hiring. Maybe this is the year that you’re going to hire your first cleaner and take off that cleaning hat. Maybe you’re going to hire a bookkeeper, a CPA. Maintenance.

[00:22:25] Annette: Ooh, you got those 1099s. Get ’em organized.

[00:22:28] Sarah: Do you know what 1099 is? Do you know where you can store the 1099? Do you know what to do with it at the end of the year? Compliance, so having a relationship with your community, what’s going on with regulations in your area, and making sure that you are compliant. I know right now in Columbus, Ohio, our city is crawling Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, seeing who doesn’t have an active license.

[00:22:54] If you are a co-host on a property that does not have an active license, you are being held responsible in our community. What’s going on in your community? You need to know and be proactive in asking, hey, city, is there anything new you’ve introduced? What are you focusing on right now? How can I be a better host?

[00:23:11] Vendor relations. This is the time to look at your Amazon account, look at your Costco membership. How can you improve the purchasing process? How can you improve those relationships? How can you maybe work on some deals to get better pricing on things? What cost you the most this past year? What did you spend the most money on? Is there anywhere to squeeze out some more value?

[00:23:30] Annette: Bulk buy. We were talking about that earlier.

[00:23:33] Sarah: Right. Scheduling. Maybe this is the first thing you do once you download our org chart, is schedule, putting on each of these department hats so that you can feel like, hey, one step at a time.

[00:23:45] Annette: Have some control.

[00:23:45] Sarah: Yeah, exactly. Last but not least is accounting. So reconciling your books, making sure you’re staying up on your taxes. Collecting your taxes.

[00:23:53] Annette: This is the one I’m going to really go hard on because this is the thing that I think most hosts ignore the longest. It’s the reason why we’re doing what we’re doing, is for the financial gain. And this is the one thing that we put off because it’s not front-facing. The guest isn’t checking in at 3 o’clock or 4 o’clock, and they’re going to know if our receipts aren’t up to date, our books aren’t balanced.

[00:24:15] But I’m telling you, this is the thing you must calendar, or it will be, I’ll do it Saturday, and then Saturday rolls around. I’ll do it on Monday, and then Monday rolls around. This is the thing I do challenge everyone. Please put this on your calendar because January will go by, then February, then March, then April, then May, and then all of a sudden, you have this whole mountain of receipts and transactions and trying to remember where you spent what on and making sure you’re keeping your business and your personal separate. This one can be the most fun, though, once you get it dialed in, but it’s going to take some work.

[00:24:52] Sarah: We also have in there damage claims. So whether you embark with or get a relationship with a third-party damage claim collector, or you have it in-house. If you don’t know damage claim is, you should sign up for a next workshop, and we will explain it to you. It is a great way to offset awkward conversations for damages of things that aren’t purposeful, accidental damages.

[00:25:16] Chargebacks. Okay, everyone’s talking about direct booking. A lot of these platforms are now making it where you are the merchant on record. Are there guests who are refusing to pay with their credit card for whatever reason? And if this is a problem for you in your business, you need to reevaluate what’s going on.

[00:25:34] So making sure that if you get a chargeback document, even if you got one the whole year, get a spreadsheet, call it 2023 chargebacks, and just track them, understand them. Deposits, budgeting too. Are you profitable in your business? Understanding, okay, you’ve paid your team. Have you paid yourself? Do you have cashflow? Do you have profits to put back into the business?

[00:25:58] Annette: Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t because that might not be the goal. It might be a long-term play for you. So I do want to make sure that you know what your goals are there.

[00:26:10] Sarah: So hosts, if nothing else, like Annette said, you all deserve a raise.

[00:26:14] Annette: Yeah. If you are overwhelmed because my head is spinning, like that is so much stuff, and you’re like, oh, that I don’t do all that. You do. You really, really do all of those things. It’s completely overwhelming. Kudos to you. Give yourself a raise. Go take yourself out to dinner, but please download this.

[00:26:33] This is something if it’s just, you just go, wow, I do a lot. If it’s you and your partner, start to divide and conquer a lot. Let’s go through really quick. Let’s just say, why don’t you just talk through for the hosting company the order in which you hire, really quick. I think that would be really helpful.

[00:26:54] Okay. The housekeeping team was number one. Number two was reservation. Number three was inspector. Go through that really quick. Could you just say the org chart, how that’s been filed in, if you will, the order of hiring? I think that would be helpful.

[00:27:11] Sarah: I’m a multi-passionate person, and I’ve never really been great at focusing on one thing. So for me, it was, what’s the one thing that will allow me to be still really attentive with the guest, but maybe not there as often? So the first person was the cleaning. I’m actually really good at cleaning, and I actually love doing it, but I knew that if I was doing that all the time, I wasn’t also able to build out the communication with the guests or getting my next property, right?

[00:27:38] Annette: Right. There was a cap to that, for sure.

[00:27:40] Sarah: Right. So cleaning was definitely the first person, really honing in. I will tell you, though, that it was a while until I did the next hire because I wanted to make sure my cleaning were dialed in. So I would say about a good year and a half I was still doing everything else. And then I hired guest services after that. This is where I needed help with giving myself a break from answering emails. Right. Chatting with guests on the apps, and just taking a step back, I saw myself, listeners, and so– I’ll give you a little behind the curtains. I saw myself getting a little–

[00:28:14] Annette: Mad at guests.

[00:28:15] Sarah: Yeah, frustrated with guests, and it wasn’t their fault.

[00:28:18] Annette: No.

[00:28:19] Sarah: It was just never being able to take some time off or to unplug because if you unplug, you stop making money, and that’s the really tough thing about this industry.

[00:28:28] Annette: Or you start coming off way wrong way. And I know there are some of you out there shaking your head right now that you know when I said mad at the guest, they did nothing except for ask a question that maybe a lot of other guests have asked, and it just hit you at the wrong time.

[00:28:48] If you start to feel that happening, you have got to check yourself. You have got to check yourself. They’re the ones paying the reservation, which is paying for the mortgage, which is paying for the bills, which is paying for the taxes. So please check yourself. That is when it’s time to get some help.

[00:29:03] Sarah: You just need a break, and you need someone to help you do what you did back in the beginning. And if you are at the–

[00:29:10] Annette: And get so excited that someone’s even booking your property.

[00:29:13] Sarah: Yes. Because if you are at the beginning– I also don’t want to scare you into this. You don’t have to get to the place where I was. You don’t have to the place where you are finding yourself being angry and resentful. So do, as I say, not as I do. Right around the same time, I also hired a bookkeeper because I also started managing for other people. Obviously, I had my own properties, and I was like, I have to make sure I am staying on top of my owners’ finances. I do not want to make a mistake. This is not my area of expertise. And actually, I went through two bookkeepers before I found Corey, my current bookkeeper.

[00:29:46] Annette: Yes, so have patience.

[00:29:47] Sarah: It was painful. Yes. Have patience. And even with Corey, her and I have had to find a flow. What works for me, what works with her. How can we merge our working relationship? Then came the inspector because I, like you, listeners, for many years, felt like I could only afford/didn’t think I needed, even when I had great cleaners, that level of quality check before guest arrival. And coming from the hotel world, I was like, I don’t know why I think I’m any different.

[00:30:17] I need to get someone back in this position of checking the cleaner before guest arrival. I couldn’t do it every time. So then I finally found that joy. Finding people who love those details, who love fluffing the pillows, checking for safety elements. Yes, checking the cleaners’ work, but really just doing the things that they may have missed because they take a tackle the mountain and then the inspectors come in and really tighten the ship.

[00:30:41] Annette: Do the detail work, the staging.

[00:30:43] Sarah: Yeah. And then, of course, we also have a CPA. And I now have an assistant and–

[00:30:50] Annette: Maintenance. Yeah.

[00:30:51] Sarah: Maintenance, we still handle in-house, to be honest with you.

[00:30:57] Annette: But then also have plumber, electrician. Just people that you have.

[00:31:01] Sarah: People that I have on call.

[00:31:02] Annette: All ready. Yeah.

[00:31:03] Sarah: Because in-house maintenance is a whole other thing. But there is that world, and I know that our listeners are out there, Annette. We’re like, we are in this spot, and I’m with you, listeners. We are in the spot where you’re just small enough to have the flexibility to have these team members. But I’m also not at this point where I’m so big and I have all this money just to throw at team members.

[00:31:23] So again, you have to really, again, go back to the finance and admin and looking at your budget and making sure– I still want to cashflow. I want to take some money home for myself and making sure that, okay, that means I still have to wear these certain hats in the business. And that’s okay. That’s what it’s all about. But doing what you love. So with that, anything else, Annette?

[00:31:45] To give you another behind the scenes look, I came to Annette last week, listeners, and I was like, Annette, I am feeling disorganized. I don’t know who I am in the company, in the business. And for me to feel like I can conquer the world, I know that I can’t just wear one hat. I have to wear a few, but I just need to know when I’m putting on what hat, and she, without hesitating, got to work with me on what those hats were and where we fit. And so if you are feeling that way, looking at this org chart and just penciling your name to the different boxes, or even putting a question mark, is going to be helpful.

[00:32:25] Annette: Our businesses are not siloed. We are still participating in all of these things, but at least getting a little direction, a little guidance, a little organization around it feels good, for sure.

[00:32:37] Sarah: Yes. All right. With that, I am Sarah Karakaian.

[00:32:40] Annette: I am Annette Grant. And together we are–

[00:32:42] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.

[00:32:43] Sarah: We’ll talk to you next time.