Matt Landau
  • Founder, VRMB

6 Ways To Burn Out

After running my vacation rental business for 7 years, I burned out.

The fun, excitement, and focus from my "start-up" days had faded.

I was no longer passionate about the hospitality, which we always considered our greatest virtue.

And after coming to grips with that fact, I sold the business.

Part of me attributed the "burn out" to simply working 24/7 for 7 years. Gene Marks, author of The Small Business Desk Reference, says the average lifespan of a small business is about eight and a half years. And managing vacation rentals is really hard. So that seems like about right.

But another part of me wonders if "burn out" is really the right term. What we're really talking about here is the longevity of your business.

How long can it last with you at the helm?

To explore further, I've brainstormed some activities that can detract from our passion reserves.
  1. Solving problems with trial and error: for some problems in this new industry there is no solution yet, in which case you have to figure it out yourself. But in most instances, other vacation rental professionals have already figured out any given conundrum. And so not taking advantage of their experience looks like energy unnecessarily spent.
  2. Resisting software for redundant tasks: doing the same task over and over again is like death by a million papercuts: unless you really enjoy (like therapeutically) the redundant tasks, be willing to let a software do it for you. Fortunately, there is amazing and inexpensive technology available for most of these tasks.
  3. Not delegating (aka. doing everything yourself): This is the easiest trap for an independent VR pro because only you know how to do things best. It's therefore a sacrifice to hire someone else (even if your processes and talent rock).
  4. Being too dependent on any one entity: feeling helpless is exhausting. And if you have all your eggs in one basket (product, service, organization, demographic) the stress of that basket being thrown under the bus has a real cost on your peace of mind.
  5. Being illegal: OK so we weren't illegal, but we *were* unregulated (it was before the city had defined short term rentals). So the daunting nature of building our business on unstable ground, knowing we could be shut down over night, that took its toll.
  6. Finding something else (more) exciting: Small business owners are fueled by passion, which is a limited resource. For me, the "passion project" became Esperanza (a gang intervention program) where I spent most of my time and energy. This isn't good or bad. Just a new channeling of precious passion.
What are some additional activities that grind away at your hospitality?

If you have used a tool to solve any one of them, please share below.

I'd like to think that this thread can extend the lifespan or longevity of our businesses significantly.
 
I really appreciate this message because it hits really close to home for us small business owners. It is also a great reminder of how to avoid burnout by being a little less resistant to the natural evolution that come with growing a business and being a little more willing to embrace new phases (technology, hiring, CHANGE).

I'll do my best to brainstorm and see if you've missed anything here, but the list looks pretty comprehensive.
 
Item 5 - hits home!!! we had to shut down our Paris apartment 18mths ago since the city found me. They have taken me to court and I face a possible €50K+ fine - still pending. Meanwhile with the covid crisis we cant even get over to France so we have an empty apartment with fixed expenses. Being burned out is close as I try to maintain the rest of our business in Nice [which is on lock down]. Why do I keep going? The fun of learning new marketing skills - mostly social media based. It keeps me off the street and has its moment of fun and success.
 
After running my vacation rental business for 7 years, I burned out.

The fun, excitement, and focus from my "start-up" days had faded.

I was no longer passionate about the hospitality, which we always considered our greatest virtue.

And after coming to grips with that fact, I sold the business.

Part of me attributed the "burn out" to simply working 24/7 for 7 years. Gene Marks, author of The Small Business Desk Reference, says the average lifespan of a small business is about eight and a half years. And managing vacation rentals is really hard. So that seems like about right.

But another part of me wonders if "burn out" is really the right term. What we're really talking about here is the longevity of your business.

How long can it last with you at the helm?

To explore further, I've brainstormed some activities that can detract from our passion reserves.
  1. Solving problems with trial and error: for some problems in this new industry there is no solution yet, in which case you have to figure it out yourself. But in most instances, other vacation rental professionals have already figured out any given conundrum. And so not taking advantage of their experience looks like energy unnecessarily spent.
  2. Resisting software for redundant tasks: doing the same task over and over again is like death by a million papercuts: unless you really enjoy (like therapeutically) the redundant tasks, be willing to let a software do it for you. Fortunately, there is amazing and inexpensive technology available for most of these tasks.
  3. Not delegating (aka. doing everything yourself): This is the easiest trap for an independent VR pro because only you know how to do things best. It's therefore a sacrifice to hire someone else (even if your processes and talent rock).
  4. Being too dependent on any one entity: feeling helpless is exhausting. And if you have all your eggs in one basket (product, service, organization, demographic) the stress of that basket being thrown under the bus has a real cost on your peace of mind.
  5. Being illegal: OK so we weren't illegal, but we *were* unregulated (it was before the city had defined short term rentals). So the daunting nature of building our business on unstable ground, knowing we could be shut down over night, that took its toll.
  6. Finding something else (more) exciting: Small business owners are fueled by passion, which is a limited resource. For me, the "passion project" became Esperanza (a gang intervention program) where I spent most of my time and energy. This isn't good or bad. Just a new channeling of precious passion.
What are some additional activities that grind away at your hospitality?

If you have used a tool to solve any one of them, please share below.

I'd like to think that this thread can extend the lifespan or longevity of our businesses significantly.
There are a few things that make me, at times, want to put the SPIT back into hoSPITality.

It seems as though every vendor that arises in the industry touts "More reservations", buy my product and see "More Revenue". What they are actually doing is taking yet another slice of the pie, so to speak. Vendors seem to have all these great ideas, for another percentage of sales. Sales that we have busted butt to get through our efforts at marketing, website development, SEO, etc. The salespeople for these vendors are very good at what they do. When it gets to the development stage? Not so much on delivery. I don't mind paying for these services, if they actually deliver as promised. Many times, a contract is signed, and even if they have not held up their end of the deal, the PM is held hostage by the contract.

My second rant is the guests holding us hostage with bad reviews. "If you don't give me 50% off because the hot tub quit working, I am leaving you a bad review and slam you all over social media." As long as I get it in writing, I gently remind them that what they just did is called extortion. Sometimes, not so gently.

I would really like to use the phrase, "We take the SPIT out of hoSPITality", so many of our comments remain in the walls of the office.
 
My challenges...
  1. Lack of resources: Being unable to find/hire reliable trades/suppliers because they simply don't exist in a foreign market. A cultural thing... (Not delegating? First you better have someone you can delegate to!)
  2. Exhaustion: Carrying the weight of the world can wear you down, especially when there is no one to help with the load. (How many of us take real vacations? Maintenance trips to the property don't cut it!)
 
I started my business (like most of VR) 10 years ago as a side job with 5 properties. The portfolio grew to 12 properties. It turned in to a full-time job and a 24/7 job with a portfolio growing even more (20 STR properties). I was burning out an need to start hiring first a full time cleaner than "guest relations" one year later, covid appear, and tourism in Lisbon died ( and it's still dead).

During the first lockdown, I started looking at my numbers from the beginning, not just the total revenue but mainly the yearly profit. I realized more than 12-14 STR (I have a mixture of urban /beach) made me a huge jump in costs.

During the summer, we had some guests. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep the "guest relations" only the cleaner and I re-started to inspect the properties before check-ins, meet the guests... I wasn't doing this for 3/4 years. I realize I missed this kind of work and felt the passion for hospitality again.

Before writing this, I checked my Airbnb account and realised that in a year with the tourism dead in Lisbon, I had 49 bookings from Airbnb, and I'm Airbnb Super host for 4 quarters in a row with an average rating of 4.9. (This is not an easy task when you have 20 different STR in one Airbnb account because if you have just 1 guest or property with a problem, your overall rating goes down). Also, during this year, I win the VRBO premium partner award.

Captura de ecrã 2021-03-17 230231.jpg

I asked myself these questions: how much money do I need? What costs I really need to have? What properties I want/need to keep as STR?

I changed some properties to mid-term and long-term, so now I manage a mixture of long-term / mid-term /short-term/urban/ beach properties around Lisbon.

I invested in code locks and technology (super strong PMS), and for me, LESS short term properties it's MORE passion and more available time!
 
Speaking from a property manager perspective I think it's really important to keep outsourcing parts of yourself as your business grows. Last year I hit a wall and had no enthusiasm. I literally turned up at my office one day, sat down and felt so drained I packed my bag and went straight home. I realised it was because I wasn't doing the kind of work that I enjoyed doing. I had been enjoying the work but I had become bored if it. It was time to slice off another chunk so I gave up doing sales by training a new staff member. This freed up 50% of my time. Then I decided to slice off pricing analysis as I wasn't devoting enough time to it. I also realised that dealing with owners was stressing the crap out of me so I also offloaded that too. Now I am working 80% on marketing and growing the business faster than ever before. More importantly I have a great work/life balance (I work 4 days a week) and my stress levels have plummeted!
 
What they are actually doing is taking yet another slice of the pie, so to speak. Vendors seem to have all these great ideas, for another percentage of sales. Sales that we have busted butt to get through our efforts at marketing, website development, SEO, etc...
Lee Lee, this subject came up in another thread this week and I am STRONGLY opposed to giving any vendor a percentage of sales for their service or product. My sales have grown as a result of 14 years of blood, sweat and tears, and I am not rewarding a vendor for my efforts.
 
Item 5 - hits home!!! we had to shut down our Paris apartment 18mths ago since the city found me. They have taken me to court and I face a possible €50K+ fine - still pending. Meanwhile with the covid crisis we cant even get over to France so we have an empty apartment with fixed expenses. Being burned out is close as I try to maintain the rest of our business in Nice [which is on lock down]. Why do I keep going? The fun of learning new marketing skills - mostly social media based. It keeps me off the street and has its moment of fun and success.
Oh I am so sorry about your Paris apartment. When I can get to France you will hear from me.
 
It was time to slice off another chunk so I gave up doing sales by training a new staff member. This freed up 50% of my time.
It strikes me because you've built the bottom and leaped to the top, come back down to assign responsibilities to the minutia that's in the middle. Put another way, LSI 1 up and LSI 4 down instead of LSI 1, 2, 3, and then 4. This is very helpful information for VRMBs course frameworks. Thanks for sharing!
 
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Lee Lee, this subject came up in another thread this week and I am STRONGLY opposed to giving any vendor a percentage of sales for their service or product. My sales have grown as a result of 14 years of blood, sweat and tears, and I am not rewarding a vendor for my efforts.

And I strongly agree with this sentiment! (Vendors take note...) If I sign up for a service, say software, I am getting the exact same package that any other customer is. I don't see any reason why I should have to pay more money to use it, just because I may be using it more than someone else who isn't as successful as I am. What I do with it is a function of my own level of activity and success. That isn't supposed to be a source of revenue for a supplier to me. And the interesting thing is, I often experience myself as being a 'super' user of a product or software package, so I'm the guy providing all of the high-end testing, research, suggestions, input into product development, and customer consultation that these companies often pay for. But instead they want to punish me for being great at what I do.

What the people who do this don't realize is that it is a philosophy born of greed. They will say otherwise, that they are just being compensated in proportion to the value of their contribution, and instead what they are doing is actually discounting what they are providing for smaller users.

But two things show the fallacy of this position. First of all, what is the cap? At what point are you being overpaid? Did you set a maximum that you'll be paid for your work? Or are you content to rake in more money long after you've been fairly compensated?

The other great tool for analyzing things is to take it out of context. Does a different setting show the weakness in the approach?

"How much is this wheelbarrow?"

"For you, $300."

"But the sign says $50!"

"That's the price for that guy over there. But you're a much better gardener than he is, so I'm going to charge you more."

A wheelbarrow is a wheelbarrow is a wheelbarrow. It cost the same to produce, no matter who is using it. The price may be able to come down if you sell more and volume reduces production costs. But the cost of producing the wheelbarrow doesn't go up if I'm pushing it around my yard more.

(Sorry if this is wandering off topic, but Rick made a great point to consider!)
 
In December when my best friend Pluto died, I just put the breaks on business after realizing that I'd been spending too much time on business and not enough time on personal things.
The level of success and achievement of Inner Circle members have inspired me to really hustle to do EVERYTHING better. With that comes stress and Burnout. I was fed up with being held hostage by OTA Reviews. I was fed up with short, 3 day bookings. Pete and repeat.
So in December I decided to shut down bookings for 2 months to let my creative juices flow and focus on completing my web site. I extended my minimum stay and decided to reconsider monthly stays.
Now I feel lighter, and i just had my first direct booking for a month.
My problem: OTA dependent. My solution: more time for creativity( web site) and a stronger focus on LSI.
 
I find that creating protocols and processes have worked really well for me. So if in the future I need to hire an assistant or someone to take over the day to day stuff I will easily be able to create video tutorials on every case scenario. - Loom Video is one of my faves for training employees quickly. One and done for other employees to follow in the future. Game Changer!
 
There's a ton of great information in this thread.

For me, I can rattle off excuses for why I burnt out. In hindsight, I can pin it down to one key driver: the increased difficulty of generating new leads. What I refer to as "The Battery of a Business."



At my former company,
  • We didn't adapt fast enough and take advantage of new marketing channels that could give us the edge.
  • We got stuck in a pattern and didn't try new ways of doing things.
  • We created a very steep gradient in the onboarding process and overlooked the value of give-it-a-go-type clients.
The pattern. My pattern. Applying more elbow grease to solve problems.

Beating burnout [for me] has been about recognizing the importance of testing.

For example, at VRMB, we've allocated a budget to test new ideas. Every month, we launch dozens of tests. We have no attachment to the outcome.

The goal is to test, everything!

I don't get burned out anymore because a rapid iteration process does the heavy lifting for me.

In other words, I don't need to solve problems, I need to run more tests.
 
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There's a ton of great information in this thread. For me, I can riddle off excuses for why I burnt out. In hindsight, facing the music, I can pin it down to a single key driver: the inability to generate new subscribers. What I like to refer to as "The Battery of a Business." I guess this is why the listing sites work so hard to prevent you from recharging your list?!
^^^ POWER POST ^^^^
 
Matt Landau Matt Landau I read, "Dear Jan, this post is for you."

I can proudly say that I have doubled the life expectancy of a small business........its 16 years now since I first started to vacation rent. Several factors have contributed to my loss of passion:
  1. new municipal regulations that don't make business sense. We are now legal but can legally only rent 120 nights.......but our advertising and other costs are still the same. I have adjusted my new outlook to viewing the rentals as an income helper versus a money maker......
  2. lack of quality labour especially housekeepers.
  3. knowing I will collect social security in October 2021 removes the need to expand and push the business to make an income.
I am hoping that just managing my own property will lessen the stress load and fuel my desire to host once again.
 

Tim Cook and Jeff Bezos Use This Simple Technique to Get More Done Than the Rest of Us​

You can get more done if you stop trying to do everything. From Inc.​

"Your job, as a leader, is to ask yourself whether the things you're doing are things that only you can do. Often they are. In that case, by all means, keep doing them.

If they aren't, you and your business will benefit as soon as you find someone else who can do them. Even if you can't find someone, it's still often the case that your business will be better off if you let go of the rest, even if that means it just won't get done.
Find the very best people you can for any given job. Then, give them the resources, encouragement, and accountability to be even better. Then focus on doing the things that only you can do for your business. It's that simple."
 
Craig this is so spot on. I think it’s the training process that a lot of people struggle with. Any lessons in hindsight on how to best hire and train someone new in any given department?
I think developing assets is an important step. Also promoting from within (if the person has the right mojo) is also easier than bringing someone in fresh. I had decided that I needed to step away from sales but I also knew that they needed a framework to operate within. I'm a process guy so I'd already developed a prospect database, pitch pack and a sleek brochure. It was just a case then of taking them through each of those and getting them comfortable with the delivery. Same for pricing - we already had a pricing database and a method of review, it was just a case of articulating that. I'd also recommend getting down on paper (to a procedural level) what it is that you want to outsource - you'll be surprised how much you actually do when you break it down step by step. I was lucky in that one of my customer service staff stepped up and said that they'd love to do the sales job. Inadvertently now that I've stepped out of sales the new owners don't know me and therefore I don't get weighed down by owner escalations.

There is a certain degree of discomfort when stepping away from work that you are used to doing - a feeling of guilt that no-one can do it better than you and that you are letting your business down somehow. You have to hold your breath and push through this. I felt this discomfort when I gave over my properties to my team to manage for the first time. I did it again when I gave up sales. Then again when I gave up pricing. I will feel it again when I give up the next thing...I don't know what that is yet, but I know that each time I give up the next piece of work I'm one more step higher up the mountain!
 
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I think developing assets is an important step. Also promoting from within (if the person has the right mojo) is also easier than bringing someone in fresh. I had decided that I needed to step away from sales but I also knew that they needed a framework to operate within. I'm a process guy so I'd already developed a prospect database, pitch pack and a sleek brochure. It was just a case then of taking them through each of those and getting them comfortable with the delivery. Same for pricing - we already had a pricing database and a method of review, it was just a case of articulating that. I'd also recommend getting down on paper (to a procedural level) what it is that you want to outsource - you'll be surprised how much you actually do when you break it down step by step. I was lucky in that one of my customer service staff stepped up and said that they'd love to do the sales job. Inadvertently now that I've stepped out of sales the new owners don't know me and therefore I don't get weighed down by owner escalations.

There is a certain degree of discomfort when stepping away from work that you are used to doing - a feeling of guilt that no-one can do it better than you and that you are letting your business down somehow. You have to hold your breath and push through this. I felt this discomfort when I gave over my properties to my team to manage for the first time. I did it again when I gave up sales. Then again when I gave up pricing. I will feel it again when I give up the next thing...I don't know what that is yet, but I know that each time I give up the next piece of work I'm one more step higher up the mountain!
So well put! Jed Jed take note of Craig Craig here -- a perfect example of the 'accelerator mindset'
 
I ran my vacation rental company for just over 8 years then not only burnt out but had a heart attack to match. Sold out to a guest that was moving to Victoria BC and then went to do just the bookings for two years. Got totally dissatisfied with how things were going so left in January 2020 and started over from scratch, hopefully with everything that I have learnt over the past ten years.

Now happy to say after my first year I am again just over 20 properties under management and staff went from 7 down to just three and we are thriving, happy and best of all healthy. I love the interaction with both my owners and my guests, they seem to become great friends quite readily.

Thank you to the VRMB community for helping to re-kindle my enthusiasm for this wonderful business we have. By following and using lots of ideas I have picked up here, my load is much lighter, more modern and not a "drag" but rather a pleasure to get up in the morning and see who I can help today.
 
I have been watching this thread all week. I'm so burned out it is not even funny. Then tomorrow I'll be ok. Then the day after that, I'll be so done with this again.

Part of my issue is that I feel as though I am everybody's punching bag. Rather than excited to be traveling again, we've had a ton of guests this February and March that are super-critical and demanding. Last year at this time I was in a foreign country, unable to come home, and every morning I had to wake up to more cancellations and either outright refunds from Airbnb or demands for refunds from other guests. I spent the first 6 hours of every day responding to negative comments and threats. Fast forward a year and I'm being berated because a cleaner finished late, or because I can't do an early check-in even though they asked for it months in advance or because the "something" is not working (blender, dishwasher, AC), or because a smoke detector "went off" - you get the picture.

I didn't want to come on here and vomit, but something has got to give. There's no bringing someone up from the ranks because we're a small two-person company. I also don't know how to offload parts of the responsibility to anyone else, because who is going to have the same responsiveness if it is just a part-time hourly gig for them? And everyone is busy. In our St Pete area, it's a 10 day advance notice to get an electrician out. We pay pretty prices for our plumbers because they can usually get there in a day or two, and they have (some) emergency service. Need a service call for an appliance? 10-11 days also, though one made an exception for me last week because I'm a good customer. And on the other side of it, are the guests and their reactions to something going wrong. Instead of understanding that there is always a "first time" that something stops working, apparently I should have known anyway that the blender was about to go out, that the dryer drum in a one month-old new dryer was going to stop turning, or that the string was going to come off the ceiling fan and they'd be unable to turn off the fan.

I'm not really sure what I'm looking for here. Commiseration? Samples of pithy guest responses? Appliance failure prediction sensors? Speed pills for the cleaners so they can get a 4-5 hour job done in 2 in case a guest actually shows up early?

I need an attitude adjustment!
 
I finally put my big panties on!! LOL, but for years we operated in a very scared state. My mom who runs accounting was running the business from her side which is never good. My husband and I are recently taking it over and for the first time I made scary decisions. In the midst of a pandemic where every dollar counts, I decided to kick some people to the curb, home owners that is. I feel a homeowner can make you burn out so fast if they are horrible. It was an awesome experience and it was very giddy after kicking them to the curb. I am making more money and have less headaches. I already have a few more with 2 strikes that I have given my staff permission to fire if they are rude to them. Life is too short to deal with aholes!!! Now renters can also kill ya, about mid way through summer my managers and I are done, we have no sympathy for anything at that point. We have to work hard to care about the person who rented a house because it had a foosball table and its broke and that was the whole reason for their stay and their whole trip is ruined. Uhm walk outside we live in one of the most beautiful areas!! When I go on vacation I go above and beyond to thank staff as I know they hardly get recognized for all they are doing. I love the enneagram test and I am a 7 so I am horrible at details and have 20 ideas a day, so doing the same thing over and over is hard for me. I have been in this family business one way or another for over 30 years. I have left 2 times, and now am stuck(long story) so making sure that once we implement a new idea I step away quickly as my lack of details will kill a project fast. Get to know yourself and what you are good at and make sure you don't micromanage the rest! Hang in there, we need to all have a conference with some margaritas SOOOOON!!!
 
Part of my issue is that I feel as though I am everybody's punching bag. Rather than excited to be traveling again, we've had a ton of guests this February and March that are super-critical and demanding. Fast forward a year and I'm being berated because a cleaner finished late, or because I can't do an early check-in even though they asked for it months in advance or because the "something" is not working (blender, dishwasher, AC), or because a smoke detector "went off" - you get the picture.

I didn't want to come on here and vomit, but something has got to give...

I need an attitude adjustment!

You sound an awful lot like my Property Manager in the Orlando area!

Many PMs have simply quit the business over the past year, as the property owners have discovered that due to sky-high real estate prices, and exchange rates that work in their favor, that they can sell and get out with a profit. So the number of available properties is going down... which is a big win for those of us left behind!

But she says that the business is also changing; that guest's expectations are ridiculous, their demands impossible to meet, and that they show up with a magnifying glass looking for anything and everything they can possibly complain about so they can angle for a big refund. She texts me in such an excited state when she actually meets an appreciative, nice guest! It's kind of sad really...

I'm really surprised by the grief you are experiencing over finding trades who can respond fast enough in the St. Pete's area. (Love the Dali, by the way!) One of the things that I have found to be a great workaround is to join Nextdoor.com People on that site are always sharing details of handymen and trades that they have used and really liked. One of the best things about it is the workers are often located right in the neighbourhood where the people providing recommendations are from, so it's somebody from just a few blocks away, meaning they can often (and will) come on short notice.

It is also a great way to have your ear to the ground about what is going on in the area of your vacation rental if you're not local to it. It was a good way to keep tabs on the ubiquitous 'covid parties' that kept cropping up in the VR areas around Disney World last year, and to get info about the sheriff's responses, etc.

It can also be a place of positive advocacy for vacation rentals and responsible ownership. I have gone on there and assisted local residents by explaining why and how they consistently end up with bad guests in certain homes driving them crazy, and what to do about it. And raised my hand and explained that not all owners are irresponsible jerks who don't care about the neighborhood, in response to derogatory comments that will inevitably pop up.
 
I have been watching this thread all week. I'm so burned out it is not even funny. Then tomorrow I'll be ok. Then the day after that, I'll be so done with this again.

Part of my issue is that I feel as though I am everybody's punching bag. Rather than excited to be traveling again, we've had a ton of guests this February and March that are super-critical and demanding. Last year at this time I was in a foreign country, unable to come home, and every morning I had to wake up to more cancellations and either outright refunds from Airbnb or demands for refunds from other guests. I spent the first 6 hours of every day responding to negative comments and threats. Fast forward a year and I'm being berated because a cleaner finished late, or because I can't do an early check-in even though they asked for it months in advance or because the "something" is not working (blender, dishwasher, AC), or because a smoke detector "went off" - you get the picture.

I didn't want to come on here and vomit, but something has got to give. There's no bringing someone up from the ranks because we're a small two-person company. I also don't know how to offload parts of the responsibility to anyone else, because who is going to have the same responsiveness if it is just a part-time hourly gig for them? And everyone is busy. In our St Pete area, it's a 10 day advance notice to get an electrician out. We pay pretty prices for our plumbers because they can usually get there in a day or two, and they have (some) emergency service. Need a service call for an appliance? 10-11 days also, though one made an exception for me last week because I'm a good customer. And on the other side of it, are the guests and their reactions to something going wrong. Instead of understanding that there is always a "first time" that something stops working, apparently I should have known anyway that the blender was about to go out, that the dryer drum in a one month-old new dryer was going to stop turning, or that the string was going to come off the ceiling fan and they'd be unable to turn off the fan.

I'm not really sure what I'm looking for here. Commiseration? Samples of pithy guest responses? Appliance failure prediction sensors? Speed pills for the cleaners so they can get a 4-5 hour job done in 2 in case a guest actually shows up early?

I need an attitude adjustment!
BSexworth BSexworth really sorry to hear about this. In fact, in the various emails I receive weekly from owners and managers around the world, this has not been something that I've heard yet.

My default "marketing textbook" instinct is to ask whether these people are the same guests you had pre-covid who are now overly demanding (or if it's a new demographic of people) -- the latter certainly representing a different problem. Like literally, is the same repeat guest now being demanding or is it a new generation of first-time guests who simply don't have the right expectations?
 
Wow, this thread really got people going! I am part way into my third year working for a 4+ yr. old management company, and we are definitely still in startup mode. We dream of days when we can afford to hire more staff. The first step is cementing the perfect core team. We all wear several hats. I ran housekeeping for 20 months and now oversee the entire owner pipeline - from BD to current owner relations. I'm loyal because I love enough of my job, the growth potential in our market (Minneapolis) and business is serious, and hope that some day I can wear less hats while taking on more responsibility (we all know this doesn't mean being less busy). Minnestay's owner would eventually like to be absentee, so we can presume we're working toward a self-sustaining model with serious growth and high efficiency, but Matt, your discussion of burnout really got me thinking: What is the goal of most startups? Is it to grow into one of the "giants"? Or to get to a size where the financials really work, as Filipa Filipa mentioned above, and then focus on excellence and quality of life?

Too often we don't define what our larger goals are concerning growth and sustainability. We all know that once your portfolio exceeds a certain range, you're embracing a highly capitalistic "cookie cutter" model, and relations and administration becomes less personal and more (coldly) systematic. Growth and systemization are critical up to a point, but beyond it... Death is a natural part of life, so I don't view closing a business as failure.

I'm curious about owners who have put everything into their business, deserving all the money they could get from a sale, and how they might weigh a sale against the notion that the buyer is probably Vacasa (in what high % of instances)? If giant companies are "sustainable" but also "too big to fail", and they are constantly trying to absorb competition, what does that say about our economy and work culture?

Preventing burnout and increasing sustainability are critical aims if the industry isn't to become only a series of VRM monoliths. Getting pretty meta so I'll stop here, thanks for the thoughtful inspo!
 
Preventing burnout and increasing sustainability are critical aims if the industry isn't to become only a series of VRM monoliths
Could not have said this any better myself. This season of our Unlocked podcast is themed "Magic Zones" aka. the sweet spots in which we achieve 'enough' and create enjoyable lives (as opposed to endlessly chasing 'more.') The root of all this is defining "what is your enough?"

For me, people like Mark Mark or DMartinez DMartinez or LindaLou LindaLou or LynnG LynnG or Sibylle Sibylle are quintessential "vacation rental success" stories.
 
I have been watching this thread all week. I'm so burned out it is not even funny. Then tomorrow I'll be ok. Then the day after that, I'll be so done with this again.

Part of my issue is that I feel as though I am everybody's punching bag. Rather than excited to be traveling again, we've had a ton of guests this February and March that are super-critical and demanding. Last year at this time I was in a foreign country, unable to come home, and every morning I had to wake up to more cancellations and either outright refunds from Airbnb or demands for refunds from other guests. I spent the first 6 hours of every day responding to negative comments and threats. Fast forward a year and I'm being berated because a cleaner finished late, or because I can't do an early check-in even though they asked for it months in advance or because the "something" is not working (blender, dishwasher, AC), or because a smoke detector "went off" - you get the picture.

I didn't want to come on here and vomit, but something has got to give. There's no bringing someone up from the ranks because we're a small two-person company. I also don't know how to offload parts of the responsibility to anyone else, because who is going to have the same responsiveness if it is just a part-time hourly gig for them? And everyone is busy. In our St Pete area, it's a 10 day advance notice to get an electrician out. We pay pretty prices for our plumbers because they can usually get there in a day or two, and they have (some) emergency service. Need a service call for an appliance? 10-11 days also, though one made an exception for me last week because I'm a good customer. And on the other side of it, are the guests and their reactions to something going wrong. Instead of understanding that there is always a "first time" that something stops working, apparently I should have known anyway that the blender was about to go out, that the dryer drum in a one month-old new dryer was going to stop turning, or that the string was going to come off the ceiling fan and they'd be unable to turn off the fan.

I'm not really sure what I'm looking for here. Commiseration? Samples of pithy guest responses? Appliance failure prediction sensors? Speed pills for the cleaners so they can get a 4-5 hour job done in 2 in case a guest actually shows up early?

I need an attitude adjustment!
We have also experienced an onslaught of demanding and nit-picky guests (Orlando by Convention Center). My first thought was that maybe we've let things slide during a dead year but no, these guests have a definite attitude issue. My competitors are all going thru the same thing. Even our super efficient and smiley resort manager has been yelled at by out of control guests several times in the last few weeks.
It must be covid-fatigue syndrome. Perhaps dreaming about a vacation for 10 months creates an unattainable vision of perfection and not being able to check in 3 hours early (because a back2back clean is underway) triggers an avalanche of disappointments - no matter how perfect the VR. I hope it is a short-lived phenomenon.
 
The problem with my thinking on this is that my solution might cause burnout as much as the problem itself as it exists now does in the short term, but I think it’s the only solution that also delivers on the things I value and want to build a business on vs. trying to build a company that just wants to grow and make you lots of money with as little work in the company as possible from myself.

Anyone who has read a post of mine knows they go forever, and I am trying to get better there, so I will try to keep this very simple and say that burnout comes from no longer wanting to achieve the below goals or no longer being able to achieve the below goals because a business is not set up to do so, but you still have a profitable company that you put lots of work into.



The goals for just the basic property management part of this industry are simply to compete, win and innovate. However, they are broken into the two constituencies of Owners and Guests.



Guests

  • Compete – get in front of potential guests who are considering multiple properties and show them your property value proposition
  • Win – be the highest priced, but still best option for your guests on a place to stay for whatever reason they are visiting for if they considered all the other homes in your area of similar size and type
  • Innovate – Problem solve on the things that prevent you from doing 1 or 2


Owners


  • Compete – get in front of the owners you want to manage properties for that need management
  • Win – Be the most sustainably profitable option for owners in your market
  • Innovate – Problem solve on the things that prevent you from doing 1 or 2


The problem with these goals is that they are extremely difficult to actually achieve, and in some cases, impossible if a business isn’t structured to do these things. The good thing about them is that if you are serious about going after those goals, you will constantly be doing number 3 for both constituencies. Don’t overlook that the fundamental concept behind these goals is centered around being competitive against other hosts/managers, and if you are passionate about winning (as I think most here are), you can get tired, or need a vacation or have the feeling of burnout for a little bit, but you’ll never be burnt out because you are in a fight against a whole lot of other people who want to make some money off the same people you are trying to make money off of and that competition is something entrepreneurs live for I think.

With that said, these two constituencies conflict in such complex ways for your business that actually building systems and frameworks that are capable of achieving these goals can be exhausting and after a while, I can see how they would lead to burnout if it became clear you can’t achieve them (so not having achieved these goals yet, I’m still at risk of burnout), but even though its 2 steps forward one step back sometimes, I’m moving forward towards them, so I think I’ll be able to pull through to a stage where owner profitability, which is directly tied to my company profitability, and earning the profitable demand from guests no longer are at such odds as they are early on. Once at that point, man, the ways a business in this space can grow and impact communities are endless….maybe my company is too young for me to not be so idealistic, but that’s the stuff that keeps me from burnout!
 
I'm a one-man show, and I've been riding the burnout roller coast for several years. And yes, it's roller coaster with the highs from fabulous guests and fabulous reviews and referrals, to the lows where a guest tries to extort money and when you don't respond, paints the walls with human feces.

Burn out comes when you just can't walk away for a moment to regather yourself.

Several years ago in San Antonio when we had an inner circle roundtable, I mentioned that I needed a back-up so that I could go on vacation or even take a sick day. Toward that end I've eating that cookie one bite at a time. I've worked and continue to work to outsource individual elements of my business to "experts".

I have a reservation system that allows me to automate a lot of previously manual/paper processes.

I use Zapier to automate some of the gaps.

I have a revenue management company helping me for a small monthly fee with dynamic pricing using all the latest tools and techniques (NOT set it and forget it).

I have a new onsite cleaning company that is excellent, as well as an onsite maintenance manager. They are part of my "staff" yet I only pay them for cleans and maintenance as needed so that I don't have to fund their entire income.

I'm working to automate all of my financial Trust Accounting which is a final step.

When all of this is automated, my role will be more of an "overseer" - perhaps just where it needs to be to either

a) enjoy the experience and reap the benefits, and take a vacation for once, or
b) sell the business and retire.

I'm still a one man show, and my business has been growing, but I'm feeling less of the burnout. Unfortunately, I still need that vacation.

Jenny
 
I think developing assets is an important step. Also promoting from within (if the person has the right mojo) is also easier than bringing someone in fresh. I had decided that I needed to step away from sales but I also knew that they needed a framework to operate within. I'm a process guy so I'd already developed a prospect database, pitch pack and a sleek brochure. It was just a case then of taking them through each of those and getting them comfortable with the delivery. Same for pricing - we already had a pricing database and a method of review, it was just a case of articulating that. I'd also recommend getting down on paper (to a procedural level) what it is that you want to outsource - you'll be surprised how much you actually do when you break it down step by step. I was lucky in that one of my customer service staff stepped up and said that they'd love to do the sales job. Inadvertently now that I've stepped out of sales the new owners don't know me and therefore I don't get weighed down by owner escalations.

There is a certain degree of discomfort when stepping away from work that you are used to doing - a feeling of guilt that no-one can do it better than you and that you are letting your business down somehow. You have to hold your breath and push through this. I felt this discomfort when I gave over my properties to my team to manage for the first time. I did it again when I gave up sales. Then again when I gave up pricing. I will feel it again when I give up the next thing...I don't know what that is yet, but I know that each time I give up the next piece of work I'm one more step higher up the mountain!
Matt Landau Matt Landau Jed Jed just read this old post...as an aside I had to take sales back - wrong person in the role. Was a total disaster. I now have an amazing sales guy and everything is going in the right direction.
 
Matt Landau Matt Landau Jed Jed just read this old post...as an aside I had to take sales back - wrong person in the role. Was a total disaster. I now have an amazing sales guy and everything is going in the right direction.
Craig Craig, as the saying goes, "The Lord works in mysterious ways", and if you're not a believer just substitute "the universe"! Thanks for reviving this thread. I needed it. I feel like I've gone through the stages of burnout similar to the stages of grief, for the last 3 years. It's no coincidence that it coincided with the beginning of the pandemic, but I just haven't been the same since. All of the suggestions previously posted by our friends helped me realize what I have to do now; 1) Hire people to do the things that I don't enjoy. 2) Upgrade my website and take advantage of technological advances that are proven and reliable, and 3) Dive back into the part of the business that I enjoy. Fortunately, I was able to build two more Oster Golf Houses in the last 3 years, bringing my total to 7. They are all successful, but I know deep down that they could be doing even better if I were the best version of myself.
 
I don't know that I have burnout, but I recognize that at times I am not as engaged as I could be. Then something exciting, to me, will come along and re-energize me and keep me going. 2022 has been an energizing year - Carhartt shot their spring commercial at Scurlock Farms, a journalist for Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine stayed at the farm in May or June and featured the farm as a fun place to stay in an article she did for the October, 2022 issue on Georgetown TX as a destination city. It made me want to stay, and I live on the farm!

The weekend of October 21 - 22 a movie will be shot at the farm - part of a contest 48 hour film challenge. I am looking forward to that and think it will be a lot of fun.

All of these make good "stories" I tell my guests when I am giving them a tour of the farm in an off-road vehicle. It adds to their feeling of staying in a really special place.

Anytime I find myself getting into a mental slump, I go back through and work on my website and blog posts and that gets me going again.

Because the two vacation rental homes are on my family farm, I either keep them as short-term rentals or go to long-term, and I REALLY don't want to do that! The income is so much less and much more damage is done to the homes with long-term renters.
 
Craig Craig, as the saying goes, "The Lord works in mysterious ways", and if you're not a believer just substitute "the universe"! Thanks for reviving this thread. I needed it. I feel like I've gone through the stages of burnout similar to the stages of grief, for the last 3 years. It's no coincidence that it coincided with the beginning of the pandemic, but I just haven't been the same since. All of the suggestions previously posted by our friends helped me realize what I have to do now; 1) Hire people to do the things that I don't enjoy. 2) Upgrade my website and take advantage of technological advances that are proven and reliable, and 3) Dive back into the part of the business that I enjoy. Fortunately, I was able to build two more Oster Golf Houses in the last 3 years, bringing my total to 7. They are all successful, but I know deep down that they could be doing even better if I were the best version of myself.
Rick, sometimes good enough is good enough. Please don't pressure yourself to do more. We know you strive for excellence, and would never coast. Give yourself permission to devote time to enjoying your life.

The first year I worked as a divemaster at a laid-back resort in the Bahamas--where I lived onsite, dived with guests and ate every meal with them six days a week. I went flat out to make sure every guest had a fantastic experience.

By the end of that first year, I could barely move from exhaustion--and I was only 28! Then a long-timer gave me life-changing advice: "You won't survive if you keep giving 100 percent. Scale back to 70 or 80. The guests won't notice the difference, but you will."

I did and it worked. The guests still enjoyed a fabulous time. Even repeat guests didn't notice any difference. Yet I was no longer exhausted, and actually better at my job.
 
Rick, sometimes good enough is good enough. Please don't pressure yourself to do more. We know you strive for excellence, and would never coast. Give yourself permission to devote time to enjoying your life.

The first year I worked as a divemaster at a laid-back resort in the Bahamas--where I lived onsite, dived with guests and ate every meal with them six days a week. I went flat out to make sure every guest had a fantastic experience.

By the end of that first year, I could barely move from exhaustion--and I was only 28! Then a long-timer gave me life-changing advice: "You won't survive if you keep giving 100 percent. Scale back to 70 or 80. The guests won't notice the difference, but you will."

I did and it worked. The guests still enjoyed a fabulous time. Even repeat guests didn't notice any difference. Yet I was no longer exhausted, and actually better at my job.
Even better, get someone else to do the 70-80%...
 
Rick, sometimes good enough is good enough. Please don't pressure yourself to do more. We know you strive for excellence, and would never coast. Give yourself permission to devote time to enjoying your life.

The first year I worked as a divemaster at a laid-back resort in the Bahamas--where I lived onsite, dived with guests and ate every meal with them six days a week. I went flat out to make sure every guest had a fantastic experience.

By the end of that first year, I could barely move from exhaustion--and I was only 28! Then a long-timer gave me life-changing advice: "You won't survive if you keep giving 100 percent. Scale back to 70 or 80. The guests won't notice the difference, but you will."

I did and it worked. The guests still enjoyed a fabulous time. Even repeat guests didn't notice any difference. Yet I was no longer exhausted, and actually better at my job.
Sorry, I'm just seeing this Sallie Sallie, but I love it! You're absolutely right, my reviews and feedback have not changed, so the only area where my reduced effort has been noticed is in my own head :)
 

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