Buying for Brand (Then Growing 4x)

We'll get there. So, Matt, how many units did you have personally when you took an interest in getting into the space as a provider, service provider, business owner?

We had five units and everything we were doing was to think about how to differentiate them in a time and a moment when it felt like and there still is a ton of supply. You know, in Covid, you saw investors rush into this space, you know, looking for, you know, quick opportunities with short term rentals or vacation rentals.

And it was great. I mean, the immediate buy in that we were ha. That we had from brands gave me even more reason to, to believe that there was just a whole new wave of activity that was happening in this space that felt very different from what those first 10 years of Airbnb looked like.

I have to say, Matt, it is funny because the brandification of the, of the, of the units to rent on Airbnb is a departure from what Airbnb itself has historically touted. And maybe they don't do this anymore. Maybe this is like 10 years ago.

But remember the original thing was stay with a local person and have a hyperlocal experience because, you know, you interact with the owner, that's going away. That's going away.

It is and it isn't. And I think that there are some parallels here, you know, across other service industries in terms of what we see within like this short term rental property management space, which is there is a premium placed on authenticity and local market expertise.

And so as we've built, built our business, we have absolutely thought about how our name resonates, you know, how we're perceived in new markets that we want to go into as we, you know, further build this multi market business. And I think, you know, whether you're building in the, in the property management space or you're building an H. Vac or roofing or whatever service business you're in, you…

How do we retain that authenticity and how do we, you know, not be perceived as this, you know, you know, large national behemoth that comes in and, you know, changes the nature of, you know, a certain area and yeah, what I always felt about the business, the Red Cottage business, when we did buy it, was that it one. I mean it had that kind of authenticity. It had that goodwill built in.

People did recognize it. It was in an area that had very little competition. And when we went to value it, I mean it was.

Those were the metrics that were as important, if not more so than the, than the trailing twelve financials. I mean, we were looking at this business feeling like the portfolio was second to none and the name was geographically agnostic. I mean, you know, it wasn't Red Cottage of the Hudson Valley.

It was, it was a name that all allowed us to build this multi market business while still retaining a lot of that authenticity that you are sort of needing to have.