Scaling Up, Scaling Down: A Host’s Odyssey from 0 to 600 and Back to 300 Units (Ep 585)

In a recent conversation with Syed, I had the privilege of diving into the captivating narrative of his journey within the dynamic world of short-term rentals. From humble beginnings in 2018 to evolving into a powerhouse with over 300 units, Syed's story is a rollercoaster ride teeming with invaluable insights and experiences.

Our conversation unveiled the pivotal moments that have shaped Syed's trajectory. The year 2021 marked a significant milestone as he reached 200 units, generating an impressive $7 million in revenue, and securing a remarkable $1.5 million in profit.

The subsequent year, the tide turned post-COVID, ushering in unprecedented demand while also highlighting the challenges of managing seasonal fluctuations that could impact cash flow. This juxtaposition of soaring summers and challenging winters showcased the volatile nature inherent in the short-term rental industry.

A standout lesson from Syed's narrative is the immeasurable value of partnerships. He emphasized the pivotal role of his collaborations with landlords, which not only ensured a consistent supply of properties but also stood as a testament to the symbiotic nature of these relationships. These partnerships have not only been pivotal in maintaining a consistent supply but also in fortifying his business against uncertainties.

During our conversation, SyedBNB underscored the importance of cultivating a robust team. With over 100 employees, half of them stationed in the Philippines, his decentralized workforce efficiently manages diverse aspects of the business. This approach thrives on the foundation of loyalty, above-market compensation, and fostering an environment of growth and learning.

As Syed looks ahead, his vision is one of stability and longevity. Embracing the ever-fluctuating tides of the short-term rental landscape, he has found his equilibrium, orchestrating a business that encompasses 300 units and $10 million in revenue. Beyond business, his engaging personal brand on Instagram offers an intimate glimpse into his daily life, business strategies, and his evident passion for luxury cars.

For those seeking inspiration and an insider's perspective into the exhilarating world of short-term rentals, @SyedBNB Instagram presents a valuable avenue. Through his updates, followers can glean insights, anticipate challenges, and celebrate victories as he continues navigating the ever-exciting, occasionally turbulent realm of short-term rentals. (Contact Info: To learn more, connect with Syed on Instagram and stay tuned for future podcasts and updates.)

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Syed BNB (@syedbnb) • Instagram photos and videos

Jasper Ribbers:
What's up everybody. Welcome to podcast 585. Today my guest is Syed. He's a friend of mine. He used to be in our Mastermind last time he spoke on the podcast is three years ago. It was actually, I was just looking it up. It was episode 342 published on July 6th, 2020. So we came right

@SyedBNB:
Two.

Jasper Ribbers:
out of COVID. It's been three years since Syed and I talked. So I'm super excited to have you back on the show Syed.

@SyedBNB:
Well Jasper, I'm super excited to be back on. It's amazing how many podcasts you have done so far and since I last talked to you. But three years have gone by and a lot of stuff has happened with me and my business. So I'm looking forward to talk to you about it and catching up a little bit. And I hope people go back and listen to the original podcast because I did recently. It's got a refresher of what I was talking about. And you know, it was some good gems in there. So. which still is good as of today. So I highly recommend to go back and listen to that one as well.

Jasper Ribbers:
Yeah, 100%. There was a lot of learning lessons in there.

@SyedBNB:
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
And I think a good place to start today is kind of doing a quick recap of what we talked about. Because you just came out of COVID. Essentially, you lost all the units. There was a lot of stuff going on. So why don't you take us back to the very start of your STR journey back in 2018?

@SyedBNB:
Sure. So I started my business back in 2018. I came from corporate America. I ended up getting a unit, seeing the opportunity in Airbnb during that time. I was getting two times rent and then summertime came and I got three times rent and like the light bulb went off and I said I wanted more units. So long story short is I tried the management type business and it didn't work out. And then I found an opportunity in the rental arbitrage business. And I partnered with the landlord that I was like persistent on for like six months, begging him for units. And finally he said yes. He gave me two units at that time. And then a month later, I asked him for four more than six more than eight more than, you know, I kept going until I had 35 units with him. He was like a big landlord in my market in the Midwest and he had about a thousand units. So he had more than 100 units vacant and in given time. So. All of a sudden I had a pretty substantial business at like 40 something units. And then I said, well, hey, I don't wanna put all my eggs in one basket, so I started reaching out to his colleagues or competitors in my markets. And because I had a good reputation with one landlord, the other ones were more accepting of me much quicker than me like begging them for six months. And then I started scaling up with other landlords during that time. And finally… It was March of 2020 is when I scaled up to 180 units. And just taking it back a couple months before that, I had maybe like 130 units at that time. And I started scaling up significantly because I knew like we were in our slow season and even the landlords were in their slow season. So they had a lot of vacancy available and they were just giving me units. So I took on a whole bunch of debt. I hope open like. seven, eight, nine, 10 credit cards at that time. And I bought furniture and furniture and I just added so many units during like the winter months of the slow season for me. At the same time I was taking losses from my actual regular business, but I said, as long as I get to March, I'll be able to get in my spring season, spring break and start making money again. And right when like spring break happened is when they announced like all flights were. being canceled and Airbnb ended up refunding everybody all their money. And I'm here with like a $400,000 rent payment coming up in a few days. And I had no more money, you know.

Jasper Ribbers:
Oh my god,

@SyedBNB:
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
it sounds so stressful.

@SyedBNB:
So to keep going is, you know, I had the back my back against the wall. You know, our industry got hit first with like the covid restrictions right away. Like our industry got affected. So I ended up going to my landlords and giving them a few options. I had about like 10 landlords at the time with 180 units. And I told them, like, listen, here's a situation. I'll give you three options. One is we get on like a revenue share and we'll see how COVID goes and we'll split on the revenue that comes in. Number two is you allow me to remove my furniture from the units and walk away from like the lease. Or number three is I continue to stay and I don't pay and you could sue me for like whatever I have, you know? So like three or four landlords told me to get up. They said, take your stuff and leave. Three or four landlords said, we're not COVID charity. We're not gonna let you leave. We're gonna sue you. You better pay every single dollar. And then the two of my most important landlords that I had like 90 units with said, okay, let's take it month by month. Let's go on a revenue share and then see how it goes. Eventually those three landlords that wanted to fight me for the rent realized… how bad COVID was going to be to the economy. They ended up settling with me with either like, I was giving payments like two months of rent to get out. I was giving up my furniture or whatever the case is. And they were, finally I was like out of those units as well. So I went from 180 back down to 90 units with no more rent expense. So the two landlords with 90 units kept me in business. and allowed me to continue to pay my employees to continue to run the business and pay them some money versus the rent money. And they kind of kept me alive during the pandemic. So yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
Yeah, I think this is kind of like where we left off, right? When we did the podcast three years ago. So there was a lot of learning lessons in that. Like one thing, and we don't have to go through that part in again now because everybody can just listen to, again, it's episode 342, highly recommend. Check it out. Lessons learned there are still applicable in the world today. But one thing I do wanna go back to is, because it sounds terrifying. It sounds so terrifying to have 180 units of all these leases and you went into that to buy the furniture and all this stuff and suddenly like, boom, that famous day. Was it March 15th or

@SyedBNB:
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
something, March 15th when the Airbnb announced that famous day, the

@SyedBNB:
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
shockwave that was sent through the SDR world and everyone panicked. But in your case, how did you deal mentally with that shock, with the stress that came from that?

@SyedBNB:
So a few things, now looking back at it, I kind of surprised myself how I handled it. You know, when I was listening to that podcast, again, I was getting like goosebumps thinking like, whoa, I went through some like crazy stuff back then. So it's like, when I reflect back on it, it's like, I don't know if I'd be able to get so lucky next time around if something drastic can happen like this. It's easy to like be okay now, because I've gone through it. Like I had this like criteria of I need like these 10 things to happen and I could still stay in business. I got to think of what the 10 things were again, but I remember those like 10 things hit perfectly. And because of those 10 things hit, I was still able to be in business. But then going back in time, it happened so fast and so abruptly where it didn't even allow me to like spend time to feel bad about the situation that was going on. It was almost like fight or flight, ready to go. My back is against the wall, I have nothing to lose. This is done with. That was in my mind. The bandaid was ripped off. It was not like a slow death. It was like, this is it. So I was like, if I lose everything, it is what it is. I tried this. I need to figure out my next thing in life, maybe get a job or something. For me, I myself, I feel like I'm resilient. I can handle large amount of stress more than other people can. And I have this like competitiveness, this alphaness in me that like no matter what I'm going to figure it out. So like it's a combination of like 10, 20 different things that I think allowed me to get to where I am now, you know, with the business. But I like during that time, I don't even think about a day that I felt like, oh, okay, I feel bad. I feel sad. I feel depressed about the situation. It was not like that. All right, let's figure it out. Let's start going to landlord's offices. Let's start coming up in negotiation. Let's start talking to lawyers. Let's start seeing what assets I have. It was like almost like a math problem that I was trying to solve versus it being like emotional, like I can't do this. What, why me and all that stuff. I didn't think of it like that at all. So that's kind of my mindset on it.

Jasper Ribbers:
That's impressive, man, because I'm just thinking, like, you know, I get that your mindset is competitive and you want to thrive and you want to get stuff done. But like, how do you control like, there must be some anxiety that comes up though. I'm wondering if, were you doing any like meditation or like breath work or things like that or were you able to just kind of manage

@SyedBNB:
Yeah,

Jasper Ribbers:
it?

@SyedBNB:
so like, so I've gone through like problems in my life in the past and the way I'm able to like forget about the problems is was like through sports, you know, that's like my thing

Jasper Ribbers:
Mm.

@SyedBNB:
going to the gym playing basketball with your friends, like the best things in life don't cost a dollar, right? So just hanging with my friends and playing video games, going to play basketball. Like it doesn't matter if you're a millionaire or you're homeless. When you're in the court playing against somebody else, it's just fun, you know, competitiveness like that. So I definitely use that as a coping mechanism when I go through trauma and stress and problems. Cause like you just forget everything. I'm good at finding ways to distract myself in other things. Also I had kids, you know, so it's not like I could go home and show them that like, oh. like daddy is not feeling well or not happy. It's like you go home and you got to change that diaper and you got to take them to the park and you got to smile in front of their face, you know? Even though you're, if you're like dying inside, I still, I'm going to be able to show face in front of them. So for me, it's like the way I deal with problems is I distract myself and then I also like laugh about it. And it's weird that I have to use that as coping mechanisms but that's kind of what works for me, you know?

Jasper Ribbers:
Yeah, yeah, I hear you, man. I hear you. I mean, I do the same with sports for sure. There's nothing more. I love going on bike rides, especially here. I moved to North County, north of San Diego, and there's a lot of hills here. So just

@SyedBNB:
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
jumping on the bike and climbing a hill and just dying from exhaustion, that really helps you forget about the other troubles that are going on. So awesome, man. Well, let's continue the… the story of way. So last time we spoke, you were in that spot, you kind of recapped it. So what happened after that? How did your journey continue?

@SyedBNB:
Yeah, so when I switched to a revenue management, there was like a revenue management agreement with my landlords, we were sharing the revenue that was coming in. And during the time… the demand in short-term rentals was not as bad as it was with hotels. Hotels suffer significantly from like 70% occupancy down to like 10% occupancy. When short-term rentals ended up decreasing, but not as bad because the market thought that short-term rentals were cleaner because there was less traffic coming in and out from international, national people from different cities that had like COVID surges and stuff. So the Airbnb market, the leisure market, my units weren't as bad as it could have been. And that's kind of what we were figuring out in the first few months of the pandemic. One is like we reduced our prices significantly because now I don't have to pay rent, right? And I just had to make some money to be able to give to the landlord to show I'm doing something. So, you know, I was able to get them occupied at around like 75, 80% on super low rates. But that, you know, people were booking still. There was like people, there was reasons why, like, you know, they had like marital problems, they were coming in for work, they had to do different things for them to book an Airbnb. So for one is I was able to get it booked up, make some money, pay my landlords. They were happy with the situation. They didn't say, all right, this is not working out. I need to rent it out to other long-term tenants. We could still keep you. So. One, they kept me in business, those two landlords, with those 90 units. And then something like super special, once in a lifetime opportunity came to me. And that's kind of what I want to tell about next, is there was a lot. Well, one, in my market, the supply decreased about 50%. So there was a few things that happened in my market where there was a big regulation change. and COVID at the same time. So all of a sudden from like 7,000 units, 6,000 units ended up going down to 3,500 units, which is a significant once in a lifetime drop. So that was one thing that was huge for me. Second, there was competitors, big time national competitors that went bankrupt during the pandemic. One being like Stay Alfred and another being Domeo. And these were like hundred million dollar companies at that time. They were doing like crazy revenues. I was able to see their financials and see like their crazy losses too. Like that they were, because they were VC back. They, you know, were losing. They exchanged like profitability for growth. You know, they were in like a growth mode. But anyways, when they went bankrupt, there was like a liquidation of their FF&E. So like their furniture and equipment. And the opportunity came to me that They're taking in offers. And then I gave like some crazy lowball offer in the beginning of the pandemic. Even if they accepted my offer, I wasn't going to go through with it because I had nothing to do. I didn't know where I was going to be, but I just gave some lowball offer. I gave the offer of like $250 per apartment when it would cost like about $10,000 of furniture per apartment for me. So this was like pennies on the dollar. And then like five, six months in the pandemic. I don't know what it was, like July, August. I got a response back that they accepted my offer.

Jasper Ribbers:
Thanks

@SyedBNB:
So

Jasper Ribbers:
for watching!

@SyedBNB:
now I cleared up all the problems I had from COVID. My landlords were happy with me. Summertime COVID on 2020 wasn't that bad. And all of a sudden I'm getting this opportunity of furniture from Stay Alfred at pennies on the dollar. So basically. I went to my landlord and I said, listen, do you have more units that you allow me to come in and lease or revenue share? Sorry, not lease, I didn't want to lease at that time. And he was dealing with a less of a demand of long-term tenants. So he had a lot of vacancy and he ended up saying, yes, yeah, we could put you in for more revenue share type apartments. And I said, okay, great. So then I went into the transaction with Day Alfred. I bought eventually 150 apartments with the furniture. I started having like four warehouses all around the country. I was going to Dallas, Atlanta, Minnesota, Ohio, like Nashville, I think. And I started taking all the furniture out of state-offered buildings and putting them into warehouses. And all of a sudden my landlord's giving me a supply of units on a revenue share. So it was like perfect match made in heaven, right? Like it was

Jasper Ribbers:
Thanks

@SyedBNB:
like,

Jasper Ribbers:
for watching.

@SyedBNB:
um, units that I didn't have to pay rent for and furniture that was cheap as heck, you know? Um, it wasn't, it didn't end up being $250 per unit after my costs associated with like moving and trucking and warehousing, it ended up being like a thousand, a thousand five hundred. but still like 10%, 15% of what it would cost brand new. But it was like crazy, because it was like I had to create a logistics trucking warehousing company overnight. Like I literally had to Google, like how can I rent a truck? Where can I get a warehouse? How can I find movers? And all of a sudden I started Googling, started calling. And then I found Uber trucks, I found some warehouses and some deals I was making all over the country. And then I was going to Facebook groups to find movers and I'm sending my resources to different, like I'm sending my people out to different cities. And I'm like, whatever it costs, figure it out. Let's get that stuff back to our warehouses. So literally overnight built up a logistics company and started moving all this furniture. And now scaling. and putting this furniture into apartments that I didn't have to guarantee rent for. So that was like once in a lifetime opportunity. Me buying 150 apartments worth of furniture, say it's like a million dollars, $1.5 million dollars worth of furniture, and I probably spent $150,000 on it.

Jasper Ribbers:
Wow.

@SyedBNB:
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
That must have been really, really fun, like trying to get all this furniture back to your market from all these different places.

@SyedBNB:
Yeah, at the time, I didn't know, I knew I was buying excess. I was like, even if I can't get enough apartments, I'll just junk the furniture. But it's worth the risk. Right. But now looking back, I wish I bought more, right, because I ended up using all that stuff. And I had opportunities of like this one Nashville building that had 150 apartments with the furniture. And I regret not pulling the trigger on that one. And then we could still talk about the stay off stuff. But like, later on I'm going to get into a similar thing happened to Domeo and they had furniture too. But the cost of their furniture, like the market changed, like every single month the market was changing. So no more $250 worth of per unit ended up. So Domeo's liquidation, it was like more difficult to find out where their stuff was, what they had. I just knew that they had nice stuff. So I ended up giving like this one crazy offer. of $50,000 worth of $50,000 and I didn't know exactly how many apartments with the furniture was in like one of these warehouses. And I bought a site unseen and I'm like, all right, I just want the deal because I could gamble on this. Now, my one gamble on the stay Alfred hit. If I lose 50,000, not a big deal. But also the Domeo furniture was solid, decent, good furniture. It was probably around 50 apartments worth of furniture. So… Again, that's probably maybe like, you know, $400 to $500,000 worth of furniture that I paid $50,000 for and my all-in cost is probably around $100,000, you know. So you know, I got some value from buying furniture all over the country.

Jasper Ribbers:
And you had enough units to use that furniture, or did you have to store it for a while?

@SyedBNB:
store it for way too long. So like, I had stored like three, four warehouses. Over time, you start reducing the warehouse houses, I was getting some good deals with my warehousing, it was like month to month on the stuff. And eventually, like it took me like more than a year and a half to like maybe almost two years to be able to get through all the furniture. And it came to a point where I was warehousing junk. And I'm like, wait, my cost to like warehouse stuff is like too much. I need to literally like junk the remainder stuff and get out of my lease for this. And which I regret now because I need that warehouse space and I ended up getting a bunch of small storage units ended up costing me more than the cost of that warehouse. So I go, you know, you can't be right about everything, you know, so, but yeah, so yeah, took me some time, a lot of time.

Jasper Ribbers:
So this all happens in the summer of 2020, right?

@SyedBNB:
It trickled into 2021.

Jasper Ribbers:
Right.

@SyedBNB:
Yeah. So back to the furniture. So it was like a perfect storm for me at that time. I had my landlords having trouble finding tenants. Me having all this furniture, me putting this furniture into my landlord's units slowly as vacancies came up. And then me not having to guarantee rent. and the supply is low in my market. And 2021, like I saw the supply low and starting to add back, but I had a feeling that like there was gonna be like really good pent up demand in that summer of 2021. And all of a sudden I'm scaling up units. And finally it was like March of 2021, my landlord said like, all right, listen, we can't do this revenue share anymore. We have to go to like leases. If you can't pay the lease, then you got to be out of my units. And then basically they took me out of my slow winter season. So I didn't have my crazy losses in my winter. And then all of a sudden I have more units than I ever had in my life and pent up demand and low supply. So I had like a once in a lifetime year in 2021, um, with like, you know, $7 million with the revenue, like more than a million, $1.5 million with the profit and, um, it was just a crazy year in 2021.

Jasper Ribbers:
Wow,

@SyedBNB:
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
what a roller coaster.

@SyedBNB:
So it's like, it's like, you know, I made money, then lost everything. Then, you know, like 2020 was a net zero year after all my expenses. And then all of a sudden, I made record $1.5 million worth of profit in the next year, which essentially could have been like what I was going to make in 2020 and what I would have made in 2021. So, yeah, I took a hit, but then I ended up recouping all those losses that I would have probably made. I ended up doing good, you know?

Jasper Ribbers:
And one thing that we talked about during COVID is that travel is going to shift. It's right. Like people were, instead of flying, people were looking for places nearby to stay. And we saw like the demand in sort of secondary markets and remote markets be really strong. And I always felt like the urban markets weren't performing as well, but you're saying that your market did very good actually after shortly after

@SyedBNB:
They

Jasper Ribbers:
COVID.

@SyedBNB:
did, every market had a story, right? And yes, those like Joshua Tree type markets, yeah, they were doing amazing because everybody, those remote type markets were doing amazing because everybody wanted to get away from the cities. But my market had a unique situation too, where from 7,000 units went down to 3,500. So the demand didn't go back to what it was 2019. But because of the supply being much less, it ended up my rates being like higher than what I had in 2019. And now I had more units than I ever had. So it ended up being like a perfect storm of different things that happened to me during that year of one, like COVID happening, bankruptcies, FF&E, cut all the supply, regulations, landlords being motivated, me having this like forecasted vision of exactly this was happening. And me putting on like this gamble that like, okay, I'm going to like take this big gamble, put all this money in, put all these units in, and it's going to hit, you know, and it definitely did hit in 2021. And also 2022 was a different story, but it was also an amazing year.

Jasper Ribbers:
Yeah, take us through what happened after that. So how many units were you up to in the summer of 2021 and then what's happened since then? Because we still have two years to go until

@SyedBNB:
Yeah,

Jasper Ribbers:
now.

@SyedBNB:
yeah. So yeah, so 2021 in the summer, like I would have to look at my data, but I probably have 200 plus units during that time. And so again, I had like $7, $7 million with the revenue and like $1.5 million with the profit. Then 2022, I knew that it was going to be even more demand than it was going to be in… 2021 because in 2022 is when all the restrictions like went away in like May, like no more mass, no more COVID didn't exist anymore like you know and all of a sudden like it was like you were free to go out and about. So during that time again, I ended this time, this time I had to guarantee rent so I did have losses in like my winter months. So my cash was like, you know, up and down like a roller coaster, but I still had a big reserve. I had bought some real estate during that time. So I used some of my money. But so like then 2022 happened and the supply is coming back, but not back to 2019 levels. Still that regulation kept that restrict that increase of supply down. Right. And COVID scaring everybody kept supply down. It's up from that $3,500 unit count, but it's still less than 2019. But now even the demand in 2022 is more than 2021, the summer demand. So it was like crazy rates, crazy numbers happening. The city was like lively, vibing. So much money was pouring in. And I thought I was like the biggest genius, you know, I thought I was like, okay, hey, You know, I'm taking I took like a million dollar gamble and I hit a million dollar gamble, you know, I have my friends like, like they were they're always on like, like sports betting and like they bet like two, three hundred five hundred dollars. And they get so excited from like, if they were if they win. But like I was in my in my mind, like no one could relate. Right. But I was like, man, I took like a I bet like two hundred fifty thousand dollars with the bankruptcy stuff. And I made a million dollars because of that hit, you know, like that's a big gamble, you know. And. I was really proud of myself, but so that was like that summer of 2022. But then all of a sudden, because there was so much demand that summer in my markets, there was fatigue of traveling to my market. Everybody had rushed in, rates were high, and all of a sudden my winter was worse than I could have ever even imagined. You know? my summer was the best I could ever imagine. Now my winter was the worst I could ever imagine. So it

Jasper Ribbers:
Thank

@SyedBNB:
ended

Jasper Ribbers:
you.

@SyedBNB:
up like 2021 was better than 2022 after the craziness of like the ups and downs. And I was taking losses in November, 350,000. December loss of 350,000. January loss, 400,000. February loss, 300,000. And all of a sudden, all of my cash reserves I had saved up. Luckily, I didn't spend it. I wanted to buy real estate, but then like interest rates were rising, prices of real estate were rising, so it kind of kept me from not buying anything. Because if I did buy something, I would have to liquidate all that because I had no more money. I was taking so much losses during my winter time that I was in a deficit. I was a cash flow negative at some point and during the winter time, where I was putting things back on my credit cards, deferring rents five days so I could recoup like, you know, five days worth of Airbnb money. and like paying the rents, putting my utilities on my credit cards, and hoping to get back into this winter and into the springtime, just like back when I was dealing with,

Jasper Ribbers:
Thanks for watching!

@SyedBNB:
you know, March of 2022. It's like the same cycle, but different story now, you know?

Jasper Ribbers:
Thank you very much.

@SyedBNB:
It's just like I know it's going to happen, but I just keep putting myself in the same situation. Luckily, I was able to get out of my slow winter. And now I'm in my summer season and my summer season is nowhere near what 2022 or 2021 is. Like my demand or my ref par is down around 20-25% from the previous years, which makes sense to me because that pent up demand was a once-in-a-lifetime type opportunity and that's never going to happen again. And my markets, I believe that the hotel industry is doing a lot better than what they were doing in the past. People are shifting back into hotels. There's a lot of drama on social media, on Reddit, like Airbnb is bad, Airbnb bust, Airbnb is not good, and hotels are better. Like that cleaning fee thing, and you got to do a bunch of chores. So a lot of stuff in the media is making people not feel as comfortable to go to Airbnbs. They're going… in my opinion, back to hotels and their occupancy for hotels are increasing. So my demand is less this year than it was last year. So for me, my confidence levels, every single few months changes or every month

Jasper Ribbers:
Thanks

@SyedBNB:
it changes.

Jasper Ribbers:
for

@SyedBNB:
You

Jasper Ribbers:
watching.

@SyedBNB:
know, like one year, one summer, I think I'm like the smartest guy in the world. Then it's like, oh, shoot, I have no more money. I need to like… Sell cars and sell my assets and sell different things. I have a lot of expensive cars so I was ready to sell my cars, you know to be able to put back in my business and Then it's like okay this summer is back and I'm still in business It's doing good. But what if the winter coming up is gonna be bad? So it's like this roller coaster of like Like life that I have in my business I'm never like set in stone where I know like alright, I'm doing good and I don't have anything to worry about I always feel like something's over my shoulder looking at me, ready to take me down. And so

Jasper Ribbers:
Thanks for watching!

@SyedBNB:
it's stressful. It takes a toll on you. And I'm always

Jasper Ribbers:
Ha ha.

@SyedBNB:
like, because I've gone through some crazy stuff, so I'm always negative about what's going to happen. And I feel like I'm going to get another phone call for something crazy. It's always the next thing. And that's what's part of being an entrepreneur. It's never a smooth ride.

Jasper Ribbers:
Yeah, I hear you. Well, I can't say I've experienced the rollercoaster you have, but I've seen my ups and downs too. So I'm curious, you know that the winter's coming again, right?

@SyedBNB:
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
Is there anything you're doing differently this year than the last couple of years to kind of prevent that,

@SyedBNB:
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
to kind of get through that winter and prevent that negative cash flow?

@SyedBNB:
So this year, like my team has put together some forecasts. Like I always want to forecast out. So right now I forecast it out to Q1 of 2024. So I know what I'm gonna net in the end of this year. And then I know my losses are what are gonna be in the first quarter of next year. So then that gives me the amount of cash reserves that I need to have. And then that allows me to see how much money I have to play with. Like what do I want to do with this extra money? Do I want to buy some real estate? Do I want to grow my business? Do I want to buy another fancy car? You know, that's kind of where my mind is. So in the past, when I thought I was a genius, I was buying all these nice things like luxury items, all this stuff. This year, I'm kind of like taking it easy. Like, I don't know if this winter coming up is going to be as bad as last winter. or things have stabilized a little bit more. But I can't take that gamble of spending all this money to find out what happens later on. So basically I'm complacent. My cash reserves right now is amazing. I love seeing my bank account when I open up my Chase app, but I can't touch that money because I don't know what's going to happen in November, December, January, February.

Jasper Ribbers:
Hmm.

@SyedBNB:
So if what I hope for happens and this winter is not as bad as last winter, then this next year I'm going to take action unless… like something next crazy thing happens. There's always something new that happens, you know? So it's just like this never like secure feeling I have with my money yet, you know? So I don't know if that answers your question.

Jasper Ribbers:
Yeah, yeah,

@SyedBNB:
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
you're gonna be a bit more cautious

@SyedBNB:
Yeah,

Jasper Ribbers:
and keep a bigger reserve essentially, right?

@SyedBNB:
and I have some levers to play. Like I have these cars and these cars are expensive, like a Lamborghini, a Rolls-Royce. I have them and to me, those cars are liquid. Tomorrow, if I wanted to trade it in, I could make my money back. And that's like $500,000 of cash that I can inject back in my business. Obviously it'll hurt. my ego not having those anymore because you know it makes me feel good driving that around but I have to do what I have to do to keep the business alive and if that's the case I will do that you know

Jasper Ribbers:
Did you put those out on Turo?

@SyedBNB:
No, I don't. I'm against that. I'll never do that. Because because like my strategy is like the cars don't depreciate much. But the maintenance on it is expensive. So if I do rent it out on Turo, then somebody on Turo might end up giving me a twenty thousand dollar expense from the maintenance side. So I don't want to make money on it because I don't want to spend any money on the maintenance or any body damage. So like

Jasper Ribbers:
Mm-hmm.

@SyedBNB:
when I buy these cars, they've depreciated so much already. Like the Rolls Royce. It's like, you know, a $400,000 car that I got for 185. It's not gonna depreciate much more. I might lose

Jasper Ribbers:
Sure.

@SyedBNB:
like five, 10,000 on it. And that's, I could lose that much. I'm not worried about that any day, you know? So

Jasper Ribbers:
Yeah.

@SyedBNB:
for me, those cars are like liquid little savings accounts.

Jasper Ribbers:
Got it. Let's see, there's a lot that we went through.

@SyedBNB:
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
I was gonna say like, what are the like the, for you, like the major learning lessons of going through this extreme roller coaster? Like you started in 2018 and you know, you're five years into this business now. And I mean, you've experienced more than, I think most short-term rental hosts have probably experienced in their entire short-term rental career. So like, what are the main takeaways for you?

@SyedBNB:
So a few things is, one, I like being in regulated markets. Like I like being in a market where it's not easy for other people to join that market. So that allows you to, you know, not have to deal with supply issues. Like I've here in some markets in like, you know, Texas or Florida or Arizona, where I hear on like on the news, like Airbnb bus where You know, the Super Bowl ended up not being as good as people thought it was going to be. Austin, ref powers are down. One person says 10 percent, other person says 50 percent, you know. So I like being in markets that there's a supply constraint due to regulations. So that's one thing. Number two is like partnerships. The reason why I'm still in business right now is because of the partnership I have with some of my landlords. And this one landlord I have such a good relationship with. You know, one guy I have 180 units with. And if you, if we have a third podcast, like in a couple of years from now, hopefully I have 250 with him, you know? And, um, I will, that guy is like my favorite guy in the world. He, you know, he's my livelihood. He keeps me in business and, uh, my reputation with him is like everything. So I'm going to do everything I can to make sure I give him every single dollar. Um, I don't cause problems with, with his units, with his team. and I want to make sure I keep a good relationship. So I've gone through many landlords and if you could keep a few for a long period of time, you could have a good substantial business. Number three is like, you know, I rely on my team for everything. I have a pretty substantial team now. You know, I have maybe a hundred people in my business now helping me run the business, but 50% of them are in the Philippines. My whole backend work is in the Philippines. And my leadership is in the Philippines as well. Like I have finance team, pricing team, marketing team, operations team, HR. I have, you know, IT in the Philippines managing my entire business. And then over here in my local markets, I have like cleaners, runners, maintenance, handymen, and like a one property general manager that runs the show. So, like, I think those three are like huge takeaways. for me to run a successful business.

Jasper Ribbers:
Mm-hmm. So on the ground, you have one person that manages all the cleaners and maintenance personnel and everything.

@SyedBNB:
So they, yes, they are the go-to person on the ground, but the people in the Philippines are giving them directions, what to do, where to go, how to do it. But like the face and the voice is from one person coming from here.

Jasper Ribbers:
How do you manage to train all these people? Because like a hundred people, especially half of them being in the Philippines, like what's your system to onboard and train all these people?

@SyedBNB:
So the way it happened is when I started my business, I started it with two virtual assistants. I called them virtual assistants back then. Now I don't, they're my team, they're my employees. So the reason, even though I didn't have enough work for two people, I still hired two people at the time. Reason being one, I didn't know if one was gonna be good or one, it was gonna be bad. Or number two is like if one person leaves, then the other person could train a new person. So essentially that allowed me to never, I had to train the first two people, then never again did I ever have to train anybody ever again. Now it's just whenever somebody gets hired, the people within the company train them. And that's when I started building up my teams. And then when my finance people came in, like I told them what I needed, and then they told me what I needed, and they started doing what I needed, you know? And it's not something that I need to train somebody finance. I can't train somebody how to make a P&L, a balance sheet, forecasting, and expense. They need to know that. I need to just tell them what I need, and then they need to give me advice on what I need. So the operations team trained within and grew. And basically, I would have check-ins every six months or something on this is my vision on how the company should be. how the structure should be, how the manager should be, how the senior manager should be, how the director should be. And you need to start getting all the procedures down and use training methods. And like, we need to hire one person just to train every single person. Like it just ended up being within themselves. I don't ever train anybody. My people have systems in place and managers and leadership that things trickle down. So they have to train them within.

Jasper Ribbers:
And how did you find like, it sounds like you have a great team. Sounds like,

@SyedBNB:
Oh yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
and that's what, you

@SyedBNB:
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
know, I'd say that's probably one of the biggest struggles, you know, in scaling is like finding the right team members. Right. So it sounds like you have a great team with, with actually like, like leaders within the team that train others and that take, you know, the basically like free you up, right. To, to focus on a lot of stuff. So

@SyedBNB:
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
how were you able to find like those people?

@SyedBNB:
So it's just like trial and error. I have people that started with me four or five years ago that are still with me today. I'm paying more than the market pays them in Philippines, which is a lot less than what we pay to anybody local. So if they're getting paid more, they love seeing their growth of the company. And they are just good employees. I'm able to keep them happy. They understand my business. There's no like. surprises every year, you know, like, and if somebody leaves, it's like the next person that gets hired gets trained within, you know, so one is like, I was loyal to them and they're loyal to me and I'm paying them more. And they do a good job. And again, not everybody was good. I had to let go of a lot of people through my time. But the ones that were good helped me grow to what I am today. And even like the one individual that is my operations director. You could call her whatever title you want, but she's the general manager that runs the show in Chicago, but she's actually from Philippines. I brought her in right before COVID, literally a week before COVID happened where they stopped flights. And she was that good that I was like, I'll invest my time and money in the cost for visas and all that stuff to bring her here. I really just wanted to come as like a visitor just to see the Chicago operations, to take it back. and go back to Philippines and run the show. But like COVID happened, she was not allowed to leave back to her country. So her stay ended up being a lot longer. And now she's running the show over here, but has ties to Philippines. And she has now, she got married over here. So ends up being where she has her citizenship and everything. But it goes to show you like, like this one individual has helped me through my onsite operations. She was the one flying to all the different cities for the stay offered furniture. She's the one onboarding these like extra 200 units with all these new people. She's just like a star, right? And all you need is a couple of stars and that'll like, you know, run the show for you. Treat them well and give them the opportunities to help them with their families back at home, with their living situation here and be truthful to them, have good integrity and treat them right, you know. I have a lot of little luncheon learns with my on-site teams. In the Philippines, I have on-site parties where they get together for a day and a half. They have team building and camaraderie stuff. They get to know each other in the Philippines. They're traveling from all the different islands into one place. I treat my people well and they look after me and my business.

Jasper Ribbers:
Awesome, man. I love that. Have you been to the Philippines yourself, by the

@SyedBNB:
Yeah,

Jasper Ribbers:
way?

@SyedBNB:
I really need to and I really want to and I'm going to do it. It's hard for me now because I have my family and my little kids. But yes, my intention is to go to the Philippines and have like a party over there.

Jasper Ribbers:
Yeah, let me know. It's one of my favorite countries. I think I've been there like 10 or 15 times or something.

@SyedBNB:
Oh, no way. That's

Jasper Ribbers:
And

@SyedBNB:
awesome.

Jasper Ribbers:
I have a unit there as well,

@SyedBNB:
Oh, no way. Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
which I have never been to because when I bought

@SyedBNB:
Oh.

Jasper Ribbers:
it, COVID happened and

@SyedBNB:
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
the whole thing. But yeah, I'm actually planning to go down there at some point,

@SyedBNB:
What's

Jasper Ribbers:
hopefully

@SyedBNB:
City?

Jasper Ribbers:
this year. So my unit's actually on a tiny little island. Have you heard of Boracay?

@SyedBNB:
No, I haven't no…

Jasper Ribbers:
Boracay is essentially,

@SyedBNB:
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
it's a little island, but it's the number one tourist destination in the Philippines. It's very crowded. And so when I was there, there's another little island right next to it. And I was like, okay, well, this island is going to get overcrowded. So let me get something

@SyedBNB:
Mmm.

Jasper Ribbers:
on the next island. So

@SyedBNB:
Nice.

Jasper Ribbers:
yeah, it's a little island called Carabao Island, but it's

@SyedBNB:
Nice.

Jasper Ribbers:
beautiful. I mean, dude, you're going to love it. I mean, there's like… 700 islands or 7,000 islands. I don't know, but whenever I'm in the Philippines, I feel like you throw a stone and you hit a beautiful beach. It's unbelievable.

@SyedBNB:
Yeah, very

Jasper Ribbers:
Awesome,

@SyedBNB:
cool.

Jasper Ribbers:
dude. Well, let's wrap this up. It was so good to see you again and to

@SyedBNB:
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
hear your story. It's been very inspiring. And the last question for you is, I'm sure we'll do another podcast a few years from now and continue this journey. But where do you see yourself in three years?

@SyedBNB:
So, you know, things change every few months where I'm gonna change my, what I'm saying now might not happen or I might change it again. But I got to this point where there's so much instability of, you know, winter season, busy season, scaling up 50 units, then giving back 50 units because I have gone through problems. I kind of like this 300 unit business and 100 employees. And, you know, $10 million of revenue. This is enough for me in my life, that I'll be happy with. And I don't want the reason to me to lose everything because I took it to 400 units, 500 units, and then something happens to me because of that scale that makes me lose everything. I want long-term sustainability, longevity in my business. I want to continue to just be as is. But if an opportunity comes up in three months, that might change, so I don't know. And then recently, I started my own personal brand. Like I see the value of it already. Like I'm all over social media, like on Instagram telling my stories. One, it's fun, it's like a reflection. It's like my little diary. And I've been making a lot of cool connections from all around the world of people liking my story. And it might motivate me to like, you know, go to Dubai and meet up some of the people that I talk to on Instagram in Dubai, because it's like my dream place, like want to go to right now. And I've been having fun doing my personal brand. And maybe I can monetize off my personal brand at some point, you know, whether it's coaching or mentoring or, you know, courses. So that's kind of where my mindset is now. So It's like keep my business as is and start a personal brand and see where it takes me. If you guys want to hear my story more and like what problems I go through on a daily basis because I always have problems, you could follow me on Instagram at Syed BNB and you could find a lot of my like stuff over there.

Jasper Ribbers:
Awesome. So I just followed you on Instagram, actually. So Sayed Bnb on Instagram. I noticed you're posting quite a bit. So I definitely recommend everybody follow Sayed, because I'm sure you're going to learn a lot from him. And it looks like pretty fun as well, like seeing some of your cars and

@SyedBNB:
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
stuff like that. So

@SyedBNB:
So yeah,

Jasper Ribbers:
yeah, it looks pretty cool.

@SyedBNB:
it's not all seriousness. It's a little fun. It's a little reflection of like the stuff I like. Like, you know, I make jokes and stuff. So it's again, my personal brand is what I want it to become. It's nothing like all formal, just all Airbnb tips. I'll talk about anything, you know.

Jasper Ribbers:
Got it. Awesome, dude. Well, you know, the schedule are in that next podcast, August 2026, and we'll see

@SyedBNB:
Yeah,

Jasper Ribbers:
if that's stable.

@SyedBNB:
put it on my calendar.

Jasper Ribbers:
You know, just keep it up for you in the units. No crazy roller

@SyedBNB:
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
coasters, you

@SyedBNB:
Right.

Jasper Ribbers:
know, no crazy, you know, buying furniture from all around the country, stuff like that. Just steady income, you know, family time. Take it easy. We'll see if that actually is going to happen.

@SyedBNB:
We'll see.

Jasper Ribbers:
All right, man. Thanks so much for jumping on today. And to

@SyedBNB:
It was

Jasper Ribbers:
the

@SyedBNB:
always

Jasper Ribbers:
listeners,

@SyedBNB:
a pleasure.

Jasper Ribbers:
hope…

@SyedBNB:
Yeah.

Jasper Ribbers:
Yeah, yeah, it's been great. And to the listeners, hope you enjoyed this podcast, and we'll be back soon with another one.

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