He went on to make six figures in six months and over $300,000 his first year leasing and listing properties on Airbnb. He is now gone on to teach thousands of people from 38 different countries around the world how to build their own 6 to 7 figure Airbnb business.
Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Sure thing. Honestly, it all just started as a side hustle that I began with Airbnb. I started with a spare room in my apartment. Like a lot of people I knew Airbnb could be a cool side gig, it wasn’t until later that I learned it could be a highly lucrative scalable business.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your company?
The most interesting story that happened to me was when I approached my first owner and pitched them on the idea of working with me. It was a bit unusual since I didn’t want to live in the unit, and I had to help them overcome their objections about letting me turn their apartment into an Airbnb listing. But once I got the first owner on board I was able to become profitable in the very first month.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The funniest thing that ever happened to me was listing my second property on the site before I officially even had keys to the unit. I knew my lease wasn’t starting for nearly a month so I put the property up on Airbnb. Immediately I started getting bookings (reservations). I ended up getting enough bookings to be profitable even before the owner had given me the keys. It was a little bit crazy but I was pumped that I had essentially guaranteed my success with that unit. Now it’s something that I do as a rule on every place I get.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
My company is called BNB Formula. Essentially I teach people the same 7 steps I use to create listings on Airbnb. What makes us different is that we are the only education available that teaches people how to scale an Airbnb business. According to Forbes magazine there are now over 100 people that are making seven figures a year with Airbnb and there are actually thousands that are making over six figures or multiple six figures (many of whom are my students!) It’s quite simply the single greatest opportunity today for the average person to immediately start making cash flow. I know of no other business that you can start today and become profitable in month one.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
The number one tip that I would give is to make sure you outsource as much of the day to day as possible. You don’t want to get into this business to clean properties or manage your guests’ needs yourself. You want to be the owner of the business, not the operator. I teach people how to not create a job for themselves. If you can work a few hours a week, you can create a consistent source of income in your life - and that to me is winning.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Yes, I have to give credit to one person in particular. That is the guy that gave me the idea to start with! I was actually on a flight one day and a gentleman sat down next to me. He appeared to be very successful and we struck up a conversation. As we started talking he seems to have a lot of interest in what I was doing with home sharing. I couldn’t figure out why he was asking so many questions and showing so much interest in me, because at the time I was just like anybody else using Airbnb, all I had was my spare room in my apartment listed on the site.
But by the end of the conversation, he looked at me and said - “you know you’re sitting on a huge opportunity here! I would recommend that when you get home you go find some properties that you can lease and list on the site.”
That one idea change my entire life. Within just a few months I had quit my full-time salaried job and was living off of Airbnb units and getting to travel the world while managing them. So I have to thank him for helping me at that moment.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I like to think I have! I have helped so many people to be able to either replace their income or to find a new source of income in their lives. That includes people as young as teenagers who are looking to start their first business all the way to people in their 80s that were looking for retirement income and found it through this model. I’m thankful to have helped people from 38 countries around the world do exactly what I’ve done...very few of them with any prior experience. It’s very fulfilling and humbling.
Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that was relevant to you in your life?
Yes, I would say my very favorite quote and the most likely favorite person is Tony Robbins. One of his quotes is “It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped” I truly believe that. Nothing happens in life until a decision is made. And I think the better we get at making very specific concrete decisions the more success and happiness we have in life. To be intentional with what we choose is the path to the most personal power.
What are your "5 things I wish someone told me before I started my company" and why? Please share a story or example for each.
The five things I wish somebody had told me before I got started in this business are number one: That I didn’t need to go into debt in order to earn income from real estate. That was a game changer.
Number two was that you don’t have to go to work for money. You can earn income that is not trading your time for dollars. That is a big distinction that I learned.
The third thing I wish someone had told me early in life is that you should always model successful people that have gone before you. If you can find somebody who is already on the path that you want to be on it’s much easier to follow them than to blaze your own trail.
The number four thing I wish somebody had told me is that having money does not make one rich or wealthy. You also need the time to enjoy it. If you are burning yourself out with work and making a high income it’s not the same as making a high income and also having plenty of time to do other things that you’re passionate about in life. To me, the true wealth is time plus money - or more specifically time plus cash flow.
And the final thing that I wish somebody had told me before I started in business is that your habits will determine your eventual destination in life. It’s not enough to have willpower because in time your energy and you will, drain away. But if you develop very strong habits in your life those success habits will get you to where you need to go much faster and with a lot less effort. I make it a conscious effort to continually develop the habits of successful people that I am looking to model.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
My big idea would be to be an evangelist for what some call conscious capitalism. Capitalism has lately become somewhat of a bad word. It’s fallen out of favor with many in our culture. But I am unapologetically in support of what capitalism can do - when it’s done correctly. For me, that means people who have financial success not only teach others how to do the same for themselves but that they also use their wealth to make the world a much better place.
I believe that a job can best be done by entrepreneurs. So my vision would be to inspire other entrepreneurs to think beyond just their own success. My biggest inspiration would be Bill and Melinda Gates who have decided to spend the rest of their life in philanthropy and tackling the world’s biggest problems. They are a perfect example of what I am talking about.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
The best way to find me on social media is to follow by searching for @bpagester or search for @bnbformula on any of the social platforms.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Thank you so much I appreciate the opportunity!
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