Scaling Success: Managing 85 Units with Niche Expertise

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Okay everyone, welcome to the Boostly podcast. Today we are going behind the host with another successful and interesting host where you get to hear details of their business. The experiences that they've had can help you within your hospitality business. And today our special guest is Emily Bruce Watt. She is the CEO, Founder, Managing Director of Air Peace of Mind. You can have a look at their website@airpeaceofmind.com and we're going to be talking about how she as a company has scaled up to the number of units. It's quite impressive. I'm going to let her share that in just a moment. We're going to be talking about who her market is and what kind of niche she's in and just about some of the guest experiences and some of the cool stuff around her business. So thank you so much for joining me, Emily. And how are you doing today?

Yeah, really good. Thank you for Having me on your podcast, that's cool.

I'm excited for this. So I know I've kind of sort of drummed it up a little bit, but can you give the listeners an elevator pitch to your business shorts?

So I set my company up in 2016. I saw a kind of gap, a niche in the market. The company is called a Peace of Mind, as you said, and we manage about 85 homes in West London. Our office is based in Chelsea and our homes are range from one bedroom to seven bedroom properties, flats and houses and they range between £250 a night up to two and a half thousand pounds a night.

Wow. And I know there's a lot of people who are going to be listening to this and you know, we've got us listeners, UK listeners, but when we think of London we think, oh, you know, that's, that's quite high end. This, you know, can be a tough market depending on where you are. There's lots of varying qualities of places depending on, you know, sort of what part of London. But you've got 85 so you've got a huge range of experience. Can you, I assume you don't own. I assume these are managed, is that right?

No, yeah, they, I managed them, not in them.

That's cool. That's cool. And who would you say your niche is? What is your, are you after any houses or is there a particular type of house that you.

We're definitely after a particular type and I'd say we are after, after houses that have a certain, certain style and are houses that are loved. So they're loved and they are very much either lived in by the owner or they're a second home or a pieder or you know, the owner lives abroad and when they come to London they like to stay there. And very much with the emphasis of that rather than a sort of holiday let or it's furnished for guests. There's, there's, yeah, it's basically an owner's home. So there's a lot of style, possibly history and a sense of love, a real kind of sense of love of the home and that's, that's really what we, we look for in the homes. And then of course obviously you know, in a certain area and you know most of our homes are near tubes and, and buses and you know, central to, to transport links as well. That's kind of quite key so something.

I really want to dive into. And this for people who are property managers, listening, knowing who your guest is one thing, but knowing who your Home avatar. Who your owner avatar is is another thing and you just mentioned that you're looking particularly for. These are people's actual homes and they live elsewhere even part of the time or all the time. And that is just different. And for, for property managers, I mean certainly I, I look after a few homes like that my hospitality business and it is just so different than the homes which are investable or set up as holiday homes. But for the people listening, can you share why you go for that avatar and what the difference is? And why not go for the holiday homes? What is the benefit of going for the, the kind of homes that you're going for?

I suppose I went for the, the, the homes that are loved and, and owned as opposed to set up for holiday homes for a number of reasons. I guess it's the actual company started off very, very quickly. I grew it very, very quickly and it then became word of mouth. So so each homeowner would then kind of tell their friends and I have never advertised in eight years. So it was a sort of knock on domino effect. But I guess the reason why I went for the sort of loved styled homeowner homes is I actually really loved when I set this up the idea of a guest coming to stay in another person's home as opposed to it set up for a holiday let. And I think going into that slightly further there's an emotion attached to it and I really wanted to understand and deliver a service to the actual owner knowing that I was basically looking after and responsible for one of if not their biggest asset. And so there was this sort of emotional attachment and I felt there was a gap in the market for having that responsibility and very much keeping it niche and boutique. I've never looked to grow it to hundreds of homes. I wanted to deliver a really, really good five star service to both the homeowner and the guest. But with that kind of trust and understanding of what I was getting myself in but, but basically managing someone's biggest asset.

You know, that is an interesting avatar to go on after because I know there's lots of people who are purposely going after investor type homes and, and purposely set up for holiday homes. But I've found for me and my business that the homes which are actually owned by somebody who lives there at least part of the time or it's a loved home as you say, they tend to get much better reviews because they have spent a little bit more on, you know, know the decor on is a loved family home. So instead of getting the most basic furniture and stuff like that. They've got nice, nice things in there. The deck is to the decor, is to their style. And this is something which I say on other podcasts, which is your. The vibe attracts the tribe. So whatever their style is, brings that person in, doesn't it? Is there any drawbacks to go looking after that? Because you mentioned there's lots of motion involved. So do you ever, is there ever the time where there's too much emotion involved for the owners and they're worried about hosting people in their home?

To a point. I think you've just got to understand it and, and I'm very fortunate in, in the sense that I actually Airbnb, short, let's sometimes say Airbnb, I've got to be careful about that. But I sometimes I used to short let my own home when I started it in order to. I didn't have any investment. So I actually short let my own home and went to live in Notting Hill and rented a bedroom. So I've actually done it as an owner too. And so having that understanding is, I think really, really important in terms of the drawback, I suppose you've just got to be very, very aware that people are more emotional and as you say, they're going to care more and they're going to want that five star service equally though. And I think this is another positive thing. We sometimes have owners going, how are they? How was their first night? You know, know, do they need anything? Can I get them an espresso machine? You know, so there's that and I think that's really, really important. There's that partnership. We are working with the homeowner and I've always said that, you know, I, I've always said to all my homeowners, I'm, I'm super aware of what I'm doing and my responsibilities, as are my team. But I'm also aware that we work as a team and it's a partnership and hopefully I am delivering for you, hosting your beautiful home. And that's my sort of, I, if you like, one of my kind of core fundamentals.

I like that like you say you've, you've lived the experience, you're also creating value for everybody involved and yet absolutely spot on with the owners don't just care about, obviously they, they care about the money, but they don't just care about the money. They care about the experience that somebody's had in their home. Unlike sometimes when it's just an investment, people have got a distance from, you know, really they may see people who come stay just as pound signs. Whereas people who invite people into their home while they're abroad, they want to know that they genuinely had a great time. The things they loved about the home is why they bought it, you know, is part of the reason why the people come to stay would, would enjoy it there too. So it's a really good point.

Yeah, and I was just going to say that also they love hearing about the reviews. They love, they love knowing about what, what the guests loved and we are incredibly fortunate in the, in the percentage of 5 star reviews we get and they love to know, you know, the feedback and there is that sort of wonderful link between the host and the guest and they never meet ever very, very rarely. And yet there's this link between, you know, computer screens, if you like, of we loved your home and please thank them And I love that part of it, I really do. The human element.

And as a, as a tip for people listening, something I do in my hospitality business is if you're getting reviews, share them with the owners. We create WhatsApp groups in my business for the owners and as soon as we've got that review is shared directly with good or bad is shared directly with the owner. And that creates two things. First of all, they get to see the human element, which is exactly what you're saying there. And also it reminds them that you know, day in, day out, we're doing a good job as a, as a management company as well. So.

Yeah, which is cool. I think there's a lot of work that goes behind the scenes in order to create those reviews or receive their reviews. It's quite a sort of, you know, there are often five or six points that you'll marked on and, and as you say, I think it's a really good way of showing the, the host, you know, what you're doing behind the scenes in order to create this wonderful experience.

Now I know obviously you've, you've got these, all these properties, you've got this big management company in London, but it obviously wasn't always like this. What, what did you do before you mentioned 2016 was when you started the company. What did you do before this? How did hospitality bug get you?

Really interesting question because I'm actually by trader lawyer. So many moons ago I was a qualified solicitor and doing very, very different job from this. I then have done various things, I've worked out in a war zone and I've also lived in Africa, so I've done a number, number of things before that this I. To cut a very long story short, I always wanted to set up my own company and I used to have a sort of pad of paper about that thick with ideas and just scribbled down so many ideas. And then I realized there was a gap in the market because when this whole short let sharing economy kind of took place, it was, gosh, it must be. In about 2011, I was in a full time job and I started renting out my home through a company and it was going well, but the percentage they were taking was quite high and, and I thought, you know, I'll do it myself. It was high and also it didn't necessarily the, the way it was done. I didn't, I wanted to, you know, see if I could do it. And so the rentals meant that I could go away on holiday. And it all sounded too good to be true, but I was doing a full time job and it was really hard to juggle and it was actually quite stressful because being away and trying to deal with it and you know, messages and all of that kind of thing, time zones. And I realized that there was a gap to go alone. Set it up. When I say go alone alone, I mean literally I started in a. I rented out my own flat, as I say, moved to Notting Hill, rented out a bedroom and started from a kitchen table. And within three months I had 30 homes. The attraction was huge. Very, very, very quick. I took on three homes and then it was word of mouth and that's what it's been ever since, word of mouth and reputation. So I sort of, yeah, I didn't set out necessarily to be in the hospitality world. However, I do love people and that's, I'm a massive people person. I love people. So it kind of connected in that way. And I remember, I think my second check in, I was talking to the guest for 45 minutes and then I finally said goodbye and that, you know, kind of sealed the deal. I was just like, this is amazing. This is, you know, meeting the most extraordinary, interesting people from all over the world that you'd never otherwise do. So, so that's, that's how it started and then it grew pretty quickly.

Well, the passion definitely shows and we're so glad you did as you're able to then share it with, with others on podcasts like Bruce Lee.

If you're struggling on how to get direct bookings and overwhelmed on where to start, then I recommend you go and book call with Boostly and our team right now. We can walk you through exactly what we're offering, how we can help you and give you a portfolio of websites that we have worked with that are matching not only your niche but could be in your location as well. Boostly has helped over 2000 hospitality businesses all over the world increase their direct bookings. And if you are interested then all you need to do is go to Boostly B O O S TLY co UK call and booking an appointment with one of our sales team.

So I'd love to hear about businesses which obviously grow and scale. There's, there's many times both in my business and I'm sure people listening can relate to this which is where there's pressure points, there's challenges we go through. What are some of the challenges that you've gone through since you've grown and how did you go from that one person managing all these properties to I, I assume you've got people to support you now.

I've got a team of six and me and that's a really good question because there becomes a point very, very quickly as I'm sure you know, where you're juggling so many balls and by that I mean it's actually really logistically. So there are kind of two balls as I see it. One is logistics and operational but the second thing is if you're on various platforms to list on various platforms and juggle the logistics manually becomes very, very difficult very quickly. And I've heard stories in the last eight years of yep, you can do up to, you know, 20, 25 but I would actually say if you're going to do it properly and have a sense of, if you like, calm about it and it not being stressful because there are many, many touch points in, in what we do, um, in terms of cleaning linen, you know, timings, check ins, delays, all sorts of things. So I would say I would look at it quite early on and between 10 and 15 that's when I started looking at, and going tech if you like, behind the scenes because essentially as I see it now, it's like the engine of my, of my company. And I remember someone, I'll just say this very quickly but I remember someone saying, you know, you know, you went into hospitality, you know, you've actually set up a tech company and I kind of laughed but it is kind of quite true and I'm definitely not the age of, you know, tech, luckily my team are but you know, you do definitely have to have tech behind you in this, in this industry in order to deliver a great, great service.

This Feels like a great segue to ask what, what tech you use in your business because like you say, it's so important to, as you scale, get these systems and processes to help you. And I'd love to hear what, what tech you've put in your business and how it helps.

Yeah, we. I originally used a different PMS property management software to the one I use today, which was difficult to say the least. And luckily I was able to get out and then five years ago, must be. I took the plunge in using Guesty and I say took the plunge because they're based in Tel Aviv. They were kind of a bit more expensive at the time, but they're brilliant. I'm so glad I did. They are really, really good. I love working with their team. I've been fortunate enough, enough to go out to Tel Aviv to their conference and they're growing massively, as I'm sure you know, they've got lots of, you know, they've done their series A and B, I think. And yeah, that's, that's huge for us in terms of the tech. We also use Rentals United and yeah, we have other software, but I'd say Guesty is the one that I'm, you know, that drives the engine, if you like, drives the machine. So, yeah, I think they're great. I really, yeah, I really, really enjoy working with them. And our account manager in London's brilliant.

We Boostly is partnered with Guesty for website and you know, truthfully, without those guys, they were one of our first partners. You know, they've really. A lot of. Some of the very best websites that we've done over the years are with Guesty. Yeah, there's many that we're partnered with. Just, you know, like anybody, anybody watching this? There's lots that we can go to boostly.co.uk to see these but, you know, we know how professional and how good guest they are. A little bit more, you know, you pay a little bit more for a premium product, but they are a premium product at the end of the day and they're fantastic. They do.

So I couldn't agree more. And actually going back to my first one, it was, it was a lot cheaper but I soon realized, you know, the reason why people say, you know, you get what you pay for and yeah, they're incredibly professional and they're growing all the time with lots of wonderful and exciting new products. So, yeah, I'm, I'm a big fan.

I wanted to just roll it back to. You mentioned you got a team of six people now just going off, off piste of. I know you get some questions that you know we're going to ask, but going off piste, who was your first hire and who is, who was your last hire and not, not person but what kind of roles was your first hire in the company and your most recent sort of hire, you know, the level of properties that you're at now.

So, yeah, really, really interesting question. I actually was really fortunate in when I was working on Peace of Mind at the Kitchen Table in Notting Hill in 2016, bizarrely a girlfriend of mine said, I said, oh, I've set up this company, it's going rather well. It's, it's, you know, it's doing so well that I'm working super, super hard seven days a week. And she said, oh my gosh, I've got just the person for you to come and help you. And so she actually did. This person, Kylie was incredible and she came in and the reason she was so amazing is because she had a wonderful positive attitude and was a joy to work with. But not only that, she'd done what I was doing in Australia. So she knew, she knew about the markets, she knew what she was doing is ducked water. She taught me a lot. You know, I always think everyone teaches everyone stuff. She taught me a lot and she was amazing. Sadly, she had to go. She actually went off to America after, gosh, about nine months. And then my most recent hire, I guess in terms of full time is a full time maintenance and operations person who is on hand pretty much five days a week, sometimes even more. Very, very willing and always fixing everything and going to houses and sorting things out and with a variety of jobs to do and he gets on with it. And that was my sort of, if you like, my luxury hire. I mean it sounds very sort of. I say luxury hire, but what I mean is until it got to a certain point I could outsource it and then it just, it was, it's now a necessity if you like. So those were my first and last.

That's great to hear. And you know what, that's, that's one of the things which, especially for companies that are scaling so the property managers that are listening to this wherever they are in the world are taken experience from that because the hire for maintenance, I mean anything that can go wrong does go wrong at some stage, doesn't it? In, in short term rental and at first we have to contract out. You have, you know, you can't have somebody on hand all the time. You know, you've got to have the trades and you build your contacts, but at that moment where you can hire somebody to do this, it must make things a lot more fluid, a lot easier to sort. So. Yeah, that sounds amazing.

Yeah. And when you outsource it and you say how urgent it is, they unfortunately don't understand the urgency. And, you know, if someone's staying for five days and there's no hot water, it's really serious. It's like a sort of. I always think of it as extraordinary analogy of like being in hospital. It's like an A and E thing, you know, it's urgent, really important and pretty serious. And so having that person, as you say, that can go straight away, is brilliant.

What advice would you give yourself if you could go back to 2016, 2017? What pieces of advice would would you like to tell yourself?

That's a really good question. What would I tell myself? I would probably tell myself that some. Well, no, I mean, I could. No, I'm not. I mean, I. You know, if I'd have known then that there was going to be two years of extraordinary upheaval. No, I think from that, I. I mean, being more. More realistic, you know, it's never a straightforward road, setting up your own company. And I guess particularly hospitality, I think. I think I'd probably say you have to. Which I am, thankfully. I think you have to be quite passionate about what you do to be in hospitality. You have to work unbelievably hard. And also, if you run your own company, you have to anyway and then add on hospitality to that. And also just be aware that it's not smooth sailing. And I guess I say that with COVID in mind, but I'd also say it's an extraordinary journey in the sense that you learn so, so much. I mean, I've Learned more in 8 years. You know, I just. I. You know, it just sometimes bowls me over how much I've learned in terms of. There are so many elements of a company and you're always learning and you're always growing as a person, as a business, as a team. So I guess all of that, if sort of that makes sense.

That does make sense. It speaks to me. I mean, there's going to be entrepreneurial people listening to this. I mean, you mentioned about having the notebook of all the ideas that come up and things like that. I can definitely relate. I'm sure people listening can as well. But especially the growth and the journey that you go on, because you're not just learning hospitality you're not just learning the short term rental and the operation side, but you're actually learning how to run a business as well, aren't you? Because there's the finances around it, there's the growth, there's the team, you know, HR aspects of it. You know, all this stuff that you have to have to do. So it's amazing to, to hear this journey that you've been on.

And I think also. Sorry, just on that. I think also in the service industry, it's a lot more emotional. I know, you know, I was talking about that earlier than if you're putting a product on the shelves.

Yeah.

It's a very, very different mindset. And on top of that, and I know I've already mentioned this, it's someone's pride and joy, biggest asset, there's an emotion attached to it. So I think you have, I definitely felt I had to always have that at the forefront of my mind.

The one question I'd love to ask you is, is there what is kind of some things that you're doing in a peace of mind that is that you go, do you know what? This is our, our trick, this is our tip. This is something which I would recommend for other hosts to, to do to succeed in hospitality. What, what has worked for you really well.

I'd say generally I always think of the guests and the owners as people and never ever, this is my personal thought on this. But never see the property as a commodity. So again, going back to that human element, we've had so many stories of sad stories, happy stories. I've had owners who've received money that have helped helped IVF treatment. I've had guests who have come to stay because they're partners in a hospital in London for cancer. I've had all of that and I guess never lose sight that everyone's got their story and everyone's there for a reason. And I guess connecting to that again at a really human level I think is priceless and is one of the reasons why I stayed boutique. Yeah, I, I, I still go back to this human element and also being accommodating. I think the moment you go to rigid. Yes, you must check out at, you know, we, we used to do same day changeovers. It got too difficult, too stressful, didn't work out. So actually now we don't. Okay, you lose revenue. But it also means people have flexibility of checking in and that already sets them at a great guest experience and you haven't even opened the door to them, you know, so I Guess accommodating, accommodating people's needs is also a big one. So it's all about the individual as opposed to they're just in and out and they're just people, you know, they're just stays and it's all about number of stays. It's, it's. No, it's, there's a much more, there's a story to it if you like and, and use that story and connect with it.

I get that. I completely get that. What does the future look like for your business?

So the future looks like sustainable, sustainable growth. So strong sustainable, sustainable growth. I've always said this from day one. I'm not looking to manage hundreds of homes. I want to manage really beautiful homes that have been loved, that are loved and looked after. But yeah, we've always done that. We had amazing growth pre Covid and yeah, I, I want to continue to do that and to kind of deliver a five star service to both homeowners and guests. That's my, that's my future.

Well, I look forward to, to seeing it. And we're going to be sharing your, how people can follow your business and get in touch in just a moment. But before we do, just to change up a little bit, we're just going to do a couple of fun questions. So which celebrity would you most like to meet and why?

Amal Clooney. Because I think she's extraordinary with what she does, with her knowledge and position and how she, she fights for things that she believes in. I think she's extraordinary and I've heard her speak and she's incredible. So it would be her.

That's a great answer. If you could have any superpower and we're talking the type of thing from, you know, the Marvel movies or something like that. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

I like to fly because I love travel. I'm like a kid in a, in a airport when I go away. I particularly love Africa. So if I could just sort of fly there, I don't know, once a week and fly back, I'd be pretty happy. So yeah, I'd be flying. Definitely flying.

Nice. And just because we're on a roll here, what karaoke song is the karaoke song of choice? If somebody was to force you up.

To sing oh my goodness me greet it Michael Jackson.

Wow.

Didn't expect that actually. I can't believe I just said that. I would not sing that.

Okay, so everybody.

I was more like dancing. No, I'm, I'm Stuck on that one.

If that's the song go to, then we know what, what gets you up dancing then Emily, which is cool. So as, as we reach the end of these, I'd love you to share how I'm gonna throw the mic open. How can we, can we get in touch with the business? Can we follow your business? What links should, should people go to?

So our website address is www.airpeaceomind.com and that's peace as in P E A C E. And then we're also on Instagram, air, peace of mind and Facebook as well. And yeah, if you go onto our website, all of that's there, plus our phone number, email address, all of that kind of thing.

And of course, however you're consuming this piece of media, whether it's podcast, YouTube, that will be somewhere around in the show notes as well. So you'll be able to see the link to the website there. So Emily, that leaves us with the last question, which is what mantra or motto do you like to live by and why?

She who dares wins. Why do I. Because you just gotta go out and get it. And yeah, you've gotta be brave in life and take risks and yeah, I guess that's, that's something I try and do and yeah, I guess I like that.

Otto, brilliant. Thank you so much for that and thank you too for listening in on this Boostly podcast. I hope you picked up some, some tips and some great experience in general. I think what I'm going to take away from this is just the emotional hosting, you know, make sure you're treating people. And the quote I'm going to come away with is everybody does have their story. You know, they're not, you know, just pound signs walking into a house or there's not just an extra house in your portfolio. Everyone's got their story. And thank you for, for sharing this time with us. Emily, thank you for listening to this on the Boostly podcast. I know there's lots of places you can put your attention and we really thank you for putting it with Boostly. That's it for this episode and we'll see you on the next one. Bye for now.

Thank you.