The TRUTH About Hospitable PMS – Is It Worth It?

Introduction & Meet Chad Harker
[00:00:00] Liam: Hi everyone. Welcome to the Boostly podcast. This is the podcast that gives the tools, the tactics, the training, and most importantly, the confidence for you to go out there and get direct bookings. We do a behind the host Sort of focus and where we interview hosts from all over the world. You get to learn the tips, the tricks, and the things that they've put in their business, which is working for them.

[00:00:19] Liam: So you don't have to go through the pains of learning, uh, like they did. You can pick up from this podcast and go and put those things in your business and just hear some cool stories from all over the world. So. Today, we've got Chad Harker. He's the founder of Echo Escapes. Uh, he's a Airbnb super host.

[00:00:37] Liam: He's a real estate investor and he's got properties, which he's going to share with us today and experience. And so we're going to dive in. Uh, thanks very much for joining us today, Chad. Yeah, well,

[00:00:46] Chad: thank you so much for having me, Liam. I've been a long time listener and big fan of what you guys are doing.

[00:00:51] Chad: So I'm really happy to be here.

[00:00:53] Liam: I'm really happy to have you here, and I know that you've got, um, uh, you, you're a Boly customer. You've got a Boly website I should mention. And, and that was one of the things which really, uh, we, you've got something a bit different on your website, which is the calculator, which we're gonna dive into.

[00:01:08] Liam: But before we, uh, give too many hints as to what we're gonna talk about, what would you like the listeners of this podcast to take away from this podcast?

[00:01:17] Chad: Yeah, well, there's definitely a few things. But I would say if you're first getting started, just, just get in, like, you know, you miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take.

[00:01:27] Chad: So if you're going to go in, just go in with and give it your best effort, give it your all and fully commit. Because especially now with how competitive the space is, if you're, you're not willing to give it your best effort, you're Pretty, pretty sure you're not going to succeed. So I would just say that's like one of the, probably the key takeaways, cause a lot of people are probably just looking to get in, get started.

Chad's Early Start & Real Estate Journey

[00:01:53] Chad: Not sure if they should try it or not, but a little bit, uh, pessimistic, but yeah, if you're not willing to give it your all, I would say it's probably not even worth. worth going in.

[00:02:03] Liam: It's good advice. And ultimately, Chad, obviously people on the audio won't necessarily be able to see the visual on the YouTube, or they might not go and find it afterwards, but I'd love to know an elevator pitch for your business, but can you include as well?

[00:02:17] Liam: Um, I hope you don't mind me saying how old you are as well, because it's amazing to see the journey. Yeah, no, I don't

[00:02:22] Chad: mind at all. I'm, I'm 25. I'm, we're based out of Canada. Uh, another, uh, Maybe a little bit colder than what you got going on in the UK there. But, uh, yeah, we're a management business and I'm a investor myself.

[00:02:37] Chad: So yeah, I kind of got started just trying out one of my rooms on Airbnb and was pretty amazed with the results from just one bedroom and thought, you know, this would be a lot, this could have a lot of potential moving forward with future investments.

[00:02:56] Liam: That's cool. That's cool. And, um, you mentioned, uh, obviously where you're based.

[00:03:00] Liam: So, uh, I know we covered it briefly, but what's the name of the business and what is your kind of niche? What do you specialize in?

[00:03:08] Chad: Yeah. Our, the name of the business is Eco Escapes and we specialize in kind of the eco friendly hospitality. We cater to a lot of families and You know, larger groups traveling to the city.

[00:03:22] Chad: We're a metro market where I'm based out of in Edmonton, not as well known as Toronto or Vancouver, some of the other areas, but it is still a major market. And it's really great for investors because the prices are aren't as inflated as some of the other, you know, major markets in Canada. So that's a little bit about us and what we

[00:03:44] Liam: That's cool.

[00:03:45] Liam: And obviously, uh, before we dive into like the, the calculator and that side of things, I'd love to know, you mentioned you start by just putting a room on, on Airbnb. So first of all, did that not put you off? Sometimes I know sometimes some of the, um, uh, Some of the stories we hear of guests staying and stuff like that can sometimes put us off, but obviously it went well.

The First Airbnb Experience & Lessons Learned

[00:04:08] Liam: And how did that transition to now, uh, real estate and then a management company? Um, I'm a little bit jealous cause I wish I knew this stuff. Um, you know, way back when I, I didn't get started in this industry until about, until I was 32. So, um, I wish I'd have known that before.

[00:04:25] Chad: Well, you know, you're, you're, you're still young.

[00:04:27] Chad: You got lots of runway. So, but that's why we're here, right? To help other people get started earlier. Cause the, you know, the more time you have in the business, the better you're going to be. But I would, uh, yeah, like, that's a really good question with the room. Cause especially with like a room, like you're letting a stranger in your house and you're living there too.

[00:04:45] Chad: I thought it would be a good. experiment to see, you know, if it was something that was viable and you would really get a good, maybe a little bit more control on the type of guests, how they're going to treat the place. If you're there, obviously it's a little bit different than what we're doing now with, uh, the individual homes and larger properties, but I think it was a great way to get started.

[00:05:08] Chad: And I just kind of made the sacrifice to move into my spare bedroom and put my master on because it has a en suite bathroom and. I just thought it would be a great way to become familiar with the platform on a lower, lower risk way, rather than fully committed, fully committing to doing like an entire property, like with that model.

[00:05:30] Chad: So that's kind of how I got got into it and then it just went really well like we we did a renovation and did an entire like legal basement suite two bedroom two bathroom and like that first month, even with. all the stupid mistakes I made and not knowing what I was doing. We still generated more income actually than the entire legal basement suite rented out on a long term basis.

[00:05:56] Chad: So I was like, no, there's definitely

[00:05:58] Liam: something here. It's always inspiring to hear when, when things go well, it edges us on to do more, but also, but we do speak to a lot of people who basically get started because they're too worried about trying to move from like step one to step five straight away.

[00:06:13] Liam: Whereas. There's, there's the quote, which says, Hey, start now with what you've got, because what you've got is plenty. And that sounds exactly what you've done is just, just get in there, start generating some income, learn a lot about what you're doing, and then, uh, continue to build on that success, which is what you've done.

[00:06:32] Liam: So how long ago was this? Is this, is this, um, you know, is this years ago? Is this recent? How, how long ago was all this?

[00:06:39] Chad: Yeah, like the initial start into the Airbnb business was actually just a year ago, but I bought this property five, five years ago. So was investing in real estate a little bit sooner.

[00:06:51] Chad: And I had like the mindset of like the very traditional longterm, like, uh, you know, that very traditional approach. But I heard a lot of good things about short term rentals, and then you also hear a lot of the bad things, like a lot of the things that people would be concerned about, you know, damage, stolen property, all of the, all of the common objections.

[00:07:11] Chad: So I thought, like, the only way to know for sure was to actually just try it, try it myself and see how it How it went and yeah, like I said, it was very happy with the results and never looked back.

[00:07:23] Liam: And what was your secret to getting into real estate, uh, you know, at relatively young age? I mean, I wish, um, I, I, I, my little boy is, you know, seven going on eight now and I'm trying to get him interested already in just saying, Hey, property is, is the way forward.

[00:07:39] Liam: What, what sparked your kind of, uh, the, the property bug for you?

[00:07:43] Chad: Uh, well, honestly, like, uh, you know, my family was always You know, they did the best they could with what they got, but we were never really well off and I think that always kind of, you know, pushed me and motivated me to secure that financial independence for my family and I wanted, I was always very interested in investing and then the more I looked into it.

[00:08:08] Chad: You know the with different books or podcasts like there's so much great information out there I found that real estate was probably going to be the best approach and I had some experience with doing some of the renovations from previous work experience and I always Enjoy that sort of thing. Like just seeing how a space could come together, come to life and how you could transform it.

[00:08:31] Chad: Like all the properties I bought were, you know, 1960s and seventies from that era. So they, they all needed a lot of work. And that is one of the things that you might need to sacrifice. If you're, if you want to get in younger, you might have to buy the, buy the ugly house and not get something, you know, the beautiful turnkey, you know, five bedroom, three bedroom.

[00:08:52] Chad: Uh, standard house newly built and be willing to put in some of the work and build some of the equity yourself. So I would say that would be One of the best tips for like someone looking to get started is maybe like be willing to compromise a little bit

[00:09:08] and

[00:09:08] Chad: you're just going to have to make some sacrifices and put in some work if you want to make it happen.

[00:09:13] Chad: But once you get the ball rolling, like it's, it's pretty powerful.

[00:09:17] Liam: That is cool. And it's useful to know ultimately because so, um, so many people are in that situation right now. They're listening to this going, do you know what? I'm hungry to either get started or, or really push forward in this industry.

[00:09:30] Liam: And that hunger is so important. That initial kind of like, Hey, you know, I, I want to get. To the next step. And that, that sounds as though that's exactly what you did. And also talking about sacrifice. I mean, you've reminded me of, of, of my partner, one of, one of her friends, um, basically in, in a sort of late teens and twenties, didn't used to go out partying and all that stuff.

[00:09:53] Liam: She used to save and invest. Um, now the landscape's very different. She's, she's got a development company. They're buying. You know, land building 19 homes and all this stuff. And you go, do you know what? Actually, um, to sacrifice a little in the early days puts you so much further ahead because time and everything compounds.

[00:10:14] Liam: Right. So, um, yeah, it's, it's, it's really good to hear that that stuff works. What was the book you mentioned? There was books and podcasts just so we can have a taster of what those were. Was there a particular one?

[00:10:25] Chad: Uh, well. There's been like a lot, but I really like, uh, it's, it's very classic, but it's called a rich dad, poor dad.

[00:10:33] Chad: There's also like even a Mark's book for specifically for, uh, Airbnb and short term rentals, the book direct playbook was amazing, but. Yeah, I would say just like having the mindset of, you know, not limiting yourself because everything's going to be especially a bit more challenging when you're first getting started.

[00:10:53] Chad: So asking yourself how you could do it. And like you said with your friend, you know, like maybe you're using the framework of like, I always like to think of like what my future self would say. So like, If I'm choosing to go out at, you know, on a Saturday night, go to the bar with my friends, or do something like that, I'm like, well, would this, because ultimately you're saying no to something every time you say yes to something, so by doing that, what are you saying no to?

[00:11:19] Chad: And that could be, Staying up a little bit later, getting some extra work done at the property or working on some of the business operations or some of the systems that you need to build out to take yourself to that next level. So,

[00:11:32] Liam: you know,

[00:11:32] Chad: just asking, asking yourself that. And, and, you know, like, you got to have some fun too, right?

[00:11:36] Chad: So it's having a good balance.

[00:11:40] Liam: Yeah, you got you got to fit in those times, make those memories and just know that some of the pain and the sacrifices is going to put your put your head long term. And where I am in this room at the moment, there's quotes across the walls. It was something which I wanted to surround myself with inspiration.

[00:11:57] Liam: And one of them says that people underestimate what they can do in a sorry, overestimate what they can do in a year, but underestimate what they can do in a decade. And That makes me think as, as, as I get older, I realize how short decades now seem looking back and, uh, you know, it's, it's, it's that thing where people do make new year's resolutions, whereas actually, if you go, do you know what I'm going to do now, I'm going to start something, which in 10 years time is going to be absolutely amazing.

[00:12:25] Liam: Um, you know, it's, it's thinking long terms. We're not programmed, programmed as humans to think like that, which is for people like yourself, who's investing and starting this journey. Um, You know, a great time to be starting it is, uh, it's gonna, it's gonna pay dividends in the long run. What would you say has been the biggest wow moment?

[00:12:44] Liam: I know it's been quite a short period of time, but what's been the biggest wow, the biggest win?

Team Building & Utilizing Virtual Assistants

[00:12:48] Chad: Uh, you know, there's definitely been a few. Seeing that initial success with, uh, the bedroom was probably one of the Biggest catalyst for like, you know, seeing the potential that, and the power that short term rentals could do to help you scale quicker and take yourself to that next level.

[00:13:07] Chad: But like another one was probably when I took in some trips and. I've seen that like the culture that we built within the business, like how people really care on like the same level as I do with how things are operating that I could like step away and people will like our team will still give it that high level of attention and quality and seeing like, wow, like, you know, some of these systems are working because you don't really know how well they're working until you actually put them to the test.

[00:13:39] Chad: So that's like really motivating if you're you. Like a business owner, just getting started and, and to have the mindset of building it out in that way to make sure that things could operate in your absence, I think is a huge, a huge thing that everyone should be working towards.

[00:13:56] Liam: Um, it's great segue to who's in your team and, uh, how do they help you?

[00:14:01] Chad: Yeah, we have, uh, an amazing team, like with the cleaners and, uh, like the maintenance personnel. On the ground here. And that's something that's absolutely essential, but I would say like one of the biggest game changers was making a hire to some of the virtual assistants in the Philippines and. You know, taking the time to actually, uh, screen an interview and making sure that they're a good culture, but we have one amazing guy.

[00:14:29] Chad: He actually, uh, worked as a case manager on Airbnb for five years. So like he had tons of experience and like, if we wanted to get a review and removed or dispute or a claim or anything, like he has the experience and the knowledge to have that internal, you know, that internal exposure to Airbnb. So it's been like.

[00:14:50] Chad: Incredibly helpful. So I would say like making sure that you surround, like have the right team and build those cultural fits with people who care, and then just making sure that they also have like a higher level of intelligence or capacity to learn

[00:15:04] because

[00:15:04] Chad: anything could really be taught, like, and if you're going to implement a new system or a new software that they, they have the capacity to figure it out and learn it quickly.

[00:15:14] Chad: Cause there's always like this industry is. moving so fast with some of the tools and software like the AI or, uh, you know, dynamic pricing, uh, property management, all of these things are so critical.

[00:15:28] Liam: You've got to be willing to learn a hundred percent. And, and you know what, some of them tools that you've just mentioned, I mean, one thing that I've done in my, uh, business, I, I actively, I know some people out there are worried about like, What if my virtual assistants are just using like AI?

[00:15:41] Liam: And I'm like, no, I want my, um, do you know what I mean? And, uh, at the moment I've found this cool hack, which I'm using all the time. And hopefully Chad, you will as well, or your team could use, which is every time, uh, they need to reply. Of course, you know, we, we encourage them to use, uh, we, we have a paid version of chat, GBT that we've actually uploaded all of the information about our company on, and I get them to use that.

[00:16:07] Liam: Um, chat GPT or, or that, um, the custom GPTs. Yeah, the custom GPTs basically. So we get them to use that, but every time they get response, the prompt, which I'm using every single day now is ask the GPT to rate herself out of 10 and it'll go, Oh, the answer I've given you is six out of 10 or eight out of 10.

[00:16:29] Liam: And this great, because then you say, right now suggest what would make it a 10 and. Implement those changes to your response and the level of quality, which is coming out of, um, not only what I do, but also what, uh, my virtual assistant teams do is just increased because first of all, we're using a, a specific, um, GPT for, for our business, but also because we're not just taking the first answer it gives us where we're kind of like prompting it to do better.

[00:16:58] Liam: And, um, while it doesn't always get it right, it's AI, you know, it does need a human still to, to just check, check the prompt we gave it was the right one, but ultimately it's really helped. And, um, hopefully I, I completely agree with your segment, uh, which is that, um, you know, hiring a VA is so important because then you.

[00:17:20] Liam: progress your business so much faster. And like you say, them having that willingness to learn and to take on board the sort of things that you're able to teach and show them, which is cool.

[00:17:30] Chad: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And that, that, uh, tip is genius. I love that. I, we always try to ask for. You know, more responses, like maybe give two or three and you might notice that one's like substantially better than the other, but I think asking it to rate itself out of 10 is a really good approach.

[00:17:47] Chad: And then you also gain some feedback on like, maybe how could you ask for a better prompt or to get that better answer and, and your point with the VA is like using a. tools like AI, would you, like, would you call someone foolish for using a chainsaw instead of an axe when we, you know, made these developments throughout like history?

[00:18:07] Chad: It's like, of course, of course not, right? Like you want to use the tools to, you know, better serve your business and it doesn't make sense to, you know, not use some of these resources we have available.

[00:18:19] Liam: Yeah. And, and, you know, it's, it's made me think, cause I, I used to have this innate worry that I was lazy because I'd try and find the shortest possible Way of doing something, which achieved the result that I needed.

[00:18:29] Liam: And, uh, now I realize that actually it's trying to be efficient. And, um, uh, you know, what I will do is as soon as I've solved that issue and, and, and moved on, I'll then do something else. I won't then just rest, you know what I mean? And this is really, uh, to, to your point about the chainsaw. That's exactly that you'd use a chainsaw.

[00:18:48] Liam: You'd, it doesn't mean you'd only cut down like two trees, uh, instead of the time it would take to. You know, saw through whatever, but you'd cut down 50 trees in that same time. And, um, this is, this is the way forward, isn't it? So we talked about the initial journey, obviously where you're based in Canada and, uh, you know, some of the things you've done within your business and the team, what are some of the challenges that you face?

[00:19:13] Liam: What, what's the biggest challenge you face as a host right now and how you plan to tackle it, or what was the biggest challenge that you've solved one of the two?

[00:19:21] Chad: Yeah, those are two really good questions. I, I would say that like, as we're continuing to scale and grow, you know, like, we want to be able to compete with the level of hospitality.

[00:19:32] Chad: Some of those like mom and pop operators can offer like that high level of service and care, but just doing that at scale. And what we're doing to plan to go. Yeah. Achieve that result would be, you know, like some of the things that we mentioned, like using some of those tools and software and just building out really detailed systems or procedures within the business where, you know, and you don't want everything to be automated.

Scaling & Maintaining Quality in a Growing Business

[00:20:00] Chad: And I think to your point with, uh, you know, making the most effective use of your time and seeing like some of the things that you can delegate and some of the things that might. Require a bit more of a personal touch or approach or that you actually need to physically do, then you could focus on that and delegate all of the more mundane, repetitive tasks.

[00:20:20] Chad: So then you could actually focus on the things that are really going to be moving the needle. So I would, I would say that's one of the biggest ones is just maintaining that high level of quality at scale and then building out the systems within the business to achieve that.

[00:20:35] Liam: That's a good answer. It's a good answer.

[00:20:36] Liam: And, and it brings us nicely onto systems and, and tech. What, what is your go to tech? What, what do you use in your business? Um, what, what sort of tech would you say to people listening to this? That, Hey, go and check this out. This is something which I find really helpful as a host.

[00:20:51] Chad: Yeah, there's. There's a, there's a lot for sure.

[00:20:54] Chad: It's like, especially like, it seems like your tech stack's always getting bigger, but I would say the biggest ones that like are absolutely necessary for anyone just getting started or a good dynamic pricing software, we use a price labs and they just rolled out some amazing updates to like, you could add a lot of the metrics that you would like to track a little bit more in detail, just read on your pricing dashboard, which is.

[00:21:19] Chad: Amazing. It's a lot of people like, you know, don't like some of the updates and it's different, but you know, you, you got to constantly be educating yourself in this industry. So looking at what their chain, what changes there may quite be a good hint to, you know, what's to come down the road. And we also like use a property management software.

[00:21:38] Chad: We use owner as, but. You know, there's lots of great, lots of great ones out there, but I would say that's like one of the critical ones. And then having a chat GBT and not cheaping out and getting the free version, because having that pay version allows you to make those custom GBTs. And we have ones for, uh, our social media, like how to generate captions or responses to comments based on like how you would answer and same thing with the guest communication, you can make those hubs and share it with your team and.

[00:22:07] Chad: It's, it's a really powerful tool, especially when you want to. make sure that it's like responding a little bit more personal or like you would.

[00:22:16] Liam: Yeah, I absolutely love, love, love that. That is, that's the number one thing at the moment is having something which will speed things up, but not losing your, your tone.

[00:22:26] Liam: And, and, and they're so good at copying your tone or your kind of brand within your business these days that I don't know why people wouldn't use it. So, uh, I absolutely love that. And as you say, Price Labs for dynamic pricing, Onares, fantastic PMS, and, uh, It's good to see that you've got all the tech there.

[00:22:44] Liam: So if you could tell yourself something back a year, two years ago, what would that be, what would be the one bit of advice which you'd go to, you know, if, um, if I could go back, talk to myself, I just wish I'd have known. What would it be?

[00:23:00] Chad: Yeah. Uh, there's a few things for sure, but I would honestly wish, like, I know I'm still young, but I wish I would have started sooner.

[00:23:09] Chad: Like I had a lot of, uh, like I was on the fence for a while about Airbnb and just the whole short term rental thing. But if I realized, like, if I would have started when I initially thought about it, I would be, you know, where I'm at today, maybe like two years ago. So I would say the main thing is just like getting your foot in the door and getting started because.

[00:23:31] Chad: That will be able to like the return on the time and the feedback that you'll get in that period will be able to put you miles ahead of, uh, you know, you know, like that old, uh, I think it's a Chinese proverb, you know, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best day is today. So like, if you're thinking about it, just, just, just do it.

[00:23:51] Chad: Like, and you'll never know if you really like it, if it's a good fit, if you don't actually just get started and start gaining that feedback, because that's, what's really going to accelerate your growth.

[00:24:02] Liam: I 100 percent agree. And I wanted to, um, to plug your, your business and the website. First of all, if you can just tell us why people come to the area, what, what is, um, what, what is the reason that people do come and stay?

[00:24:17] Liam: And then let us know where to go and look at your website. And we'll just briefly chat about that calculator as well.

[00:24:23] Chad: Yeah, for sure. So like the main draw to our area is, uh, mostly it's like a major. It's just a metro market. It's nothing spectacular. It's not a vacation geared destination. So even like if someone's like, Oh, like, well, this work in my city, there's tools to see like some of the demand.

[00:24:42] Chad: And you'd probably be pretty surprised with some of the major metro markets, even though it's not a vacation geared destination, how many families will come there for different, uh, events, conferences, festivals, or, you know, just visiting. They're different friends and family in the area, so that's probably some of the major draws the friends and family and the medical medical visits as well, because we have some of the best hospitals and health care in in our city, so that's a huge one, and, uh, the website is, uh, eco escape.

[00:25:18] Chad: We, uh, unfortunately weren't able to get the dot com with eco escapes, but it's a eco escape dot com and yeah, it was. We're still happy we were able to get the com domain and, uh, working with an amazing team like, uh, the guys at Boostly to help make an amazing website and the calculator.

[00:25:37] Liam: Well, uh, first of all, the, the domain is great.

[00:25:40] Liam: Uh, you know, I, I think on the introduction I said echo, but it is, is eco, isn't it? It just depends. Uh, so ecosleep. com and, uh, we, we do have some, uh, US listeners who will be going, no, it is echo. And I'm like, yeah, I

[00:25:53] Chad: think it's. Depending on the region you're in, for sure. Cause I hear, I hear it both all the time.

[00:25:58] Liam: Exactly. I mean, I call it eco escape, but it's great domain. First of all, really powerful domain. Um, and one of the things that I really like, which, um, as I said, led us to kind of chat on here is the fact that, uh, one of the, uh, segments you've got on there or one of the menu options is a calculator. So it allows your, um, potential clients or whoever in the area to go onto your website.

[00:26:21] Liam: put in purchase prices, put in, uh, furniture costs and really get an idea of, of monthly costs and, and an idea of whether to go forward with, with that kind of purchase. Um, where did the inspiration come from for that idea?

Website Calculator & Lead Generation Strategies

[00:26:36] Chad: Uh, well, I would say a lot of it was my experience as a investor and a lot of the, there are a lot of calculators online that, you know, calculate.

[00:26:44] Chad: long term rentals, but there was nothing really specific to short term rentals. So I thought that this would be really beneficial and also like a great lead generation tool for potential management clients or someone who's just thinking about getting, getting started. It's a great resource and it's a great option to help drive traffic to your, to your website.

[00:27:06] Liam: I love the idea of being able to get people on a call and actually share the screen and you're using your own website to show it live. Do you know, Hey, what, what, what are you thinking of this purchase price? And, and. Where you're able to, uh, to go through things with them, which, which is cool. So, um, yeah, this has been really cool, Chad.

[00:27:23] Liam: I, I, I think the, um, uh, you know, the, the thing that I'm getting from this is first of all, start as early as possible. Cause you know, that really pays dividends in, in the long run. Um, I'm getting the sense of do as much as you can and test things out, you know, because you only know by doing, you know, if, if you didn't put the first room on Airbnb, you wouldn't, wouldn't now be in charge of a management company and in a growing management company, which is, uh, serving the community.

[00:27:53] Liam: Well, is there anything else you want to cover before we bring it to a close?

[00:27:57] Chad: Uh, you know, like I, uh, really enjoy the conversation, so I feel like we could talk forever. So, uh, yeah, I would say that. Yeah, that's a good way to summarize everything and, you know, just to get started and to gain that feedback because the The best thing that we found is, or that I found personally is, you really gain the most knowledge and understanding of something once you actually get started and have skin in the game yourself.

[00:28:22] Chad: And it's also great for, you know, if you're pitching a management client and you're like, Oh, I would do this and this and they're like, Oh, like, why? Well, you're like, well, I actually have done it at my own property and we've achieved this level of results or this ADR and you have the metrics to back it.

[00:28:38] Chad: So yeah, like I think that's a really powerful component if you're looking to, you know, use that model to scale your management business.

[00:28:45] Liam: Yeah, definitely. And I think like you say, people will go. At the end of the day, if you've got two people who come to you and one of them has got experience of doing it and one hasn't, you're going to go with the one who says, you know, like I've literally done this myself.

[00:28:57] Liam: So I know the journey you're going on. I've invested in real estate and, um, you, you only know that from, from getting started, which is amazing. So Chad, thank you so much, uh, for, for coming on the Boostly Behind the Host podcast and for sharing your journey. I've, uh, I really enjoyed this and, and, uh, you've inspired me to.

[00:29:16] Liam: keep doing what I'm doing, but also to nudge my little boy to get into this as early as possible as well. And hopefully others will do the same listening to this. And thank you too, for listening to this on the Boostly podcast. If you do want to go and check out the visual of this, you can go to YouTube, type in Boostly, you'll find us there.

[00:29:34] Liam: If you want more direct bookings, then as Chad mentioned on this podcast, Mark Simpson is our founder. He's got a bestselling book called the book direct playbook. Go and check it out. It's as cheap as he could possibly make it on Amazon or wherever you go and buy your, your audio books or wherever from, uh, go and get it and it'll really help you.

[00:29:52] Liam: It gives you the, the entire process on, on how to get more direct bookings. Thanks very much for watching or listening and we'll see you on the next one.