We recently connected with Andrew Sparks and have shared our conversation below.

Andrew, appreciate you joining us today. The first dollar your firm earns is always special. We’d love to hear about how you got your first client that wasn’t a friend or family.

Back in 2020 I had started a small rental fleet of vehicles I had listed on the app Turo. My customers consisted mostly of those in need of transportation to visit loved ones during the pandemic. There was one specific customer that really hit me. This customer had traveled to VA due to a death in the family. She was having immense difficulty renting, let alone finding, a rental vehicle for her stay. I accepted her booking and did everything I could to make her experience the best possible. After her rental, she left a heart warming message/review about how important it was to her that I provided her the vehicle and how amazing the experience was. This review is what ignited a passion to help otehrs.

I recently had found out I would be exiting service medically after 11 years in the active duty Army. I wanted to be able to do what I was doing with rental cars, but on a larger scale. I was also currently researching real estate and short term rentals. I was currently living with a real estate investor who was also looking for creative ways to generate revenue during the pandemic. I showed her Airbnb and helped her list a property on it. I also managed it for her and spoke with the guests and did everything i did with my rental fleet. She was able to bring in much more money than the way she was doing it previously, and with much less hassle. I knew this was what i wanted to do. I continued reading everything I could involving short term rentals and listened to every podcast I could.

During the next year and a half I hit it hard, learning everything I could as I transitioned out of the Army to start the next chapter of life. After exiting service, I moved from VA to CO. I spent about 6 months in Colorado before an opportunity came about to move back to my hometown in MN and significanlty cut down my living expenses and start my business. So i took the risk and decided to take the opportunity.

After moving into my new place, I wrote down a goal on a post it note and posted it on my pc monitor. The note read “Acquire my first property by December 2022”. Once I got my computer set up, i went to work. I started up my LLC, created my company name, logo, and all that jazz. My next step was to reach out to potential clients.

I started browsing places like Zillow for proeprties for sale that were fully furnished or properties for rent. I sent out dozens of emails and made phone calls. I either was given a no or never got a response. I then turned to facebook marketplace. I found the perfect property nessled right on the St.Croix river. I fell in love with the place just viewing the pictures. So I reached out to the owner and pitched what I could do for him. He loved what I had to say and he set up an interview. I was so nervous as he would be my first client, and I had very little proof of my ability. The interview went very well and we came to an agreement that day. I worked up a contract and we negotiated and signed it within the next day or two. 6 days, that is all it took. I wrote my goal down and accomplished it in 6 days. To this day, the property is thriving and I have an excellent relationship and friendship with the owner. He actually purchased a second property for me to run for him as well.

I’ve learned so much along the way in this business. I love being able to do something I am passsionate about each and every day. I now have 4 clients with properties in WA, WI, and MO. Each client is also actively working towards aquiring more properties to list on Airbnb for us to co-host/manage for them because of our success. I am truly grateful for the expereinces and opportunites that have come my way and look forward to making an impact on guests and clients lives in the coming years.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We offer services that offer clients to free up much of their time. We handle 100% of guest communications, listing creation and updates, staging properties, hiring and management of cleaners, maintenenace staff, landscapers, snow and pest removal services, etc. We also do market and proeprty analysis for potential properties they may want to invest in to convert into an Airbnb. Or if a client has a current property they want to convert from a long term rental to a short term rental.

We look to build lasting and meaningful relationships with our clients and prefer to have fewer clients that have more properties. We don’t plan on scaling too big because then we will lose sight of the personable aspect of the business and we don’t ever want our clients becoming just a number or outsourcing most of our work to others for our clients. We have over 170+ reviews with an average rating of 5 stars, and we look to continue to provide excellent service and we believe this is only true if you stick to a smaller more intimiate client base.

Our fees range from 10% to 30% depending on how hands free the client wants to be. We believe a good busniess relationship goes 50/50 and both should be happy with any agreement made. We also go above and beyond our scope and do things for our clients without expectation of compensation because we believe that is good business.

We look forward to finding a few more clients to build and grow with and maximize their investments’ performance.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I give a lot of credit to the Short Term Rental Secrets podcast. Michael Sjogren and Emanuel Pani do an amazing job from episode 1 to 160+ explaining the ins and outs of the industry. They give solid actionable content weekly and constantly host guests that also give so much content. I learned so much from them. Bigger Pockets is also an amazing real estate forum, knowledge base, and networking tool.

The most difficult thing in this industry is that it is mostly referal and network based. Opportunites are everywhere, it’s just a matter of who you reach out to or who knows you or what you’re offering.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

We have a solid foundation built on 5 star guest reviews that has really helped build our reputation. Those who have worked with us and for us, always have great things to say. We give value whenever we can and go above and beyond for our guests and clients. That is something soceity as a whole has lost, but we are doing everything we can to ensure we do our part in keeping that alive.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hhhosts.com
• Instagram: hellohospitalityhosts
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HelloHospitalityLLC
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hello-hospitalityllc