“For 22 years, I was a car sales executive for Audi – and that was really my main job straight after uni. I joined the Pass the Keys franchise because I knew that I wanted to do something different. Although I was employed at Audi, I still had to generate my own leads – so most of the time, it felt as though I was working for myself. I really felt that the training and experience that I had received at Audi had given me the confidence I needed to start my own business.
I came across Pass the Keys as I had a property on the long-let market that I was thinking about short-letting. I had no time to manage it myself, and it wasn’t until I started searching online that I realised there were companies out there that did it all for you – but no one in my area.
I made my enquiry with Pass the Keys, and as soon as I had the Discovery Demo, I realised that this was the perfect opportunity for me – I like property, I like people, and I like holidays! More than anything, there was a massive gap in the market for this kind of service in Shropshire.
I launched my franchise in July 2021. The first property that I managed was a little apartment, and that was a great learning curve for me! This year I have seen significant growth, and I’ve even had to employ someone to help me manage its day to day running as I was starting to find that the hours were relentless!
Having the support of the other partners is great. We have a community chat group, and if there’s a question or problem, someone will always answer it for you. In the early stages, you definitely need that support.
Day to day, I’ll usually have the morning at my desk, and then I will spend the afternoon visiting Hosts or potential Hosts. I’ll generally write a list of tasks – if I have a meeting or appointment I use my calendar or set my alarm.
I currently have a few properties that I’m onboarding, so there’s quite a bit of work involved to make sure that the guest manuals are up to date – the more information you can give guests, the better. I’ll always follow up leads – sending out emails or making phone calls. I also need to schedule cleaners – making sure the right people are in the right place at the right time. At least once a week you need to check you have enough linen for the following week. There’s also always maintenance issues at this time of year – fire alarms going off, batteries needing to be changed.
For a new franchise partner considering this, I would say – you have to be prepared to put the hours in – it’s not a 9-5 job. You can’t be afraid of hard work. It’s quite a people oriented business – you have to be sympathetic to guests and hosts – listen to them and solve their problems if they are upset by something. But when you do, it’s very rewarding.”