Airbnb Design - Seeking Input for Market Research

[Jordan Phelan]

Hi BP community! My husband and I own and manage 6 Airbnb’s and have just quit our corporate jobs. I am an architect by trade and we have spent much of the last few years on the grindstone doing renovations, working full time and being the best airbnb hosts we can. We are passionate about short term rentals and spreading our knowledge to others who want to venture down this path as it has afforded us a lot of opportunity and we would love to give back. Now that we are FI (light), we would like to start our own company that aligns our skills with our passion. So the business idea is below, please read and let us know if you think it is something that you and others would be interested in or any input on whether or not there is a market for it.

The company would offer design packages for purchase that help new airbnb owners streamline their design and purchasing process. There would be two types of packages, one for the essentials that every airbnb needs and the other would be design forward packages helping hosts lay out their spaces to a certain design aesthetic. For example, the basics packages would be low cost templates telling owners exactly how many and what products they need to put in their airbnb’s. We have designed and furnished all 6 of our houses and there are thousands of items to consider. The ‘packages’ would include links to products online that you could simply click and add to your shopping cart, saving you tons of time and money from going out and finding each of the physical items in store yourself. Items would include things like spatulas, sheets, soap dispensers and much more.

Please let us know what you think about this concept and any comments or questions that we should consider as we flesh out this business idea.