Do you know how much you’re making on every Airbnb? If not, it’s probably less than you think.
I have seen several service companies (including cleaning companies) go out of business because they failed to take inventory of all their costs. If costs are rising faster than revenues, your business is going downhill.
This is why we do job costing with each of our Airbnb properties. Job costing is a simple spreadsheet that tracks every dollar in and every dollar out for each property. This ensures that we are hitting our profit goals and have a clear vision of where we are headed.
I know a solar company in my town that did $80M in revenue in 2024. By 2025, they were bankrupt and closed down the business. Why? Because they didn’t do job costing. They assumed all revenue was good and didn’t stop to think if every job was worth it.
Before long, they were taking on jobs where they were actually losing money. The same thing can happen with your cleaning business if you’re not watching carefully.
Watching costs and assigning transactions to each property is an incredible tool you can use to raise prices regularly and consistently. In our business, when we have properties that fall below our 55% gross profit target, it’s a signal that we need to raise prices.
Doing this ensures that you’ll never be out of business if you keep your customers and cleaners happy.
If you’d like the template we use, submit this form and I’ll send it to you!
This week in the community
On Thursday, the squad got together to discuss how to get more Airbnb clients by spending $0 in marketing.
Here are some free methods that actually work:
Rank on Google for "Airbnb cleaning [your town]." Most of our competition is residential cleaners who don't even know this search term exists. Great opportunity to rank #1 on Google.
Facebook groups — use the ACA framework. Acknowledge the host's listing, Compliment something specific (the bedspread, the view, whatever), then Ask a question like "who does your cleaning?" Build trust first. Don't spam.
Converse with 10 hosts a day. That single habit is how I got to ~50 properties without spending a dollar on ads. You're not trying to close them today. You're trying to be the first name they think of when their current cleaner flakes.
Show up in groups as the helpful person, not the salesperson. Post "did you know" tips for hosts (e.g., use white sheets so you can bleach out oil stains, bump prices around big local events). Become a reliable source of knowledge.
This Thursday’s call is all about attracting, sourcing, and hiring the best cleaners for your business. Join the community (for free) here and be there for the call
Until next time!
Logan
