Create An International Business From Your Second Home

Owning a second home can be a wonderful way to enjoy breaks away on a whim. But often we find that we’re just not using it the way we thought we would. Our holiday home often stays empty for months at a time. Bricks and mortar are often a good investment. But you could be missing out on valuable income.

Renting out your second home can be the start of a great business for you. Is it in a desirable location regularly populated by tourists? You could be making thousands per week in peak time lettings. And there is no need to restrict yourself to local tourists and holidaymakers either. If the area is popular with foreign tourists, then advertise your property in their home territory.

Your first stop should be the tourist information office in the area close to your second home. They will be able to give you valuable information and statistics about tourists to the area. They may also give you some competitor insight. Some areas are desperate to reach out to the holiday season trade. You may be eligible for a grant or subsidy to help you with marketing.

Photo from Flickr

Look to social media as your first port of call for marketing. Make a YouTube video detailing the home and what’s on offer. Post photos to Flickr and Instagram of each of the rooms. Find a good translator to help you post in each of the countries that may provide you with customers. Why not create your own website to promote the house and to enable customers to make bookings?

There may be several tourist fairs each year that you could attend. These are ideal for reaching other agents that would be able to handle bookings for your property. You might even want to travel overseas to the countries that are most likely to provide your customers. As you pick up bookings, try using a service like Baydonhill FX to provide currency exchange services for your new business. It enables customers to pay you in advance in their home currency.

Once your website is up and running, you could look to a web developer to help you republish the pages in each of the languages you are looking to use. You’ll need a live currency converter working on the site too, so your prices are up to date at all times. You might even choose to produce an app that will enable bookings and provide local information about the area.

Once your business starts to pick up, you could invest in other properties that will be suitable for holiday lets. Never ignore the foreign tourist to each area, as they are a valuable source of income. Eventually, you may choose to work in affiliation with other businesses in the area like tour guides and restaurants. These might be other areas you choose to invest in as an entrepreneur.

Make the most of your holiday home by making it work harder for you. Holiday lets can be quite a lucrative business. See what you can make of yours today.