Investing in an AirBnB property in Nairobi Kenya isn’t something you just wake up to.
There are many factors to take consider before you start an AirBnB business in Nairobi.
What's Covered in This Article
What can YOU do?
Obviously, the best way is to do your homework and figure out what and create an AirBnB business and management plan for your property in Kenya. And this has to happen way before you think of opening the door to your first AirBnB customer.
Developing a feasible AirBnB business plan for your rental property in Kenya will help you determine both potential risks that could negatively impact your AirBnB business in Kenya, as well as any potential opportunities that you could take advantage of to increase the odds of your business’ success.
In this free AirBnB Business Plan tailored to property in Kenya, we include the top success factors your AirBnB business plan needs to include if you want your home rental business in Kenya to succeed.
AirBnB Business in Kenya: Tip #1
Create your business plan before you buy start the AirBnB business, so you can honestly judge if it is worth taking the risk and making the investment.
AirBnB Business in Kenya: Tip #2
Talk to those who have walked the AirBnB business journey before and have succeeded in their own AirBnB businesses in Kenya.
Sample AirBnB Business Plan Kenya
Executive Summary
AirBnB Location
- Is it in Malindi, Lamu Mombasa, Sori, etc? by the coast? beach?
- Is it in the CBD?
- Is it on Ngong Road – a short ten-minute walk from the major tech hubs in Nairobi
- Is in Kilimani area – a walking distance to many eateries and shopping malls
- Is it on Lang’ata Road or Namanga or Karen or Naivasha or Tsavo, etc. near local tourist attractions?
- Is it in Kisumu? Nyamira? Nyahururu? Seme? etc, in the countryside?
What is it?
- Is it a serviced apartment in Kilimani suited to digital nomad?
- Is it a family holiday home in Malindi?
- Is it a one bedroom apartment in the CBD, suited to business travelers?
- Is it a large, beach cottage in Diani or Malindi?
- Is it a two-bedroom apartment near JKIA or Wilson Airport in Embakasi, Imara Daima or Syokimau suited to the weary traveler on a long stopover?
Who is it for?
- Families with small children?
- Couples on a honeymoon?
- Large groups of friends?
- Business travelers on a conference?
- Digital nomads on workation?
- Travelers on transit
When is the best time to stay at my AirBnB?
- Is it during the Kenyan school holidays?
- Is it during the European and North America summer holidays?
- Is it perfect all year round?
- Is it more suitable mid-week for business travelers attending conferences and meetings in the CBD?
Why is this property available?
- Is this an extra room in your house you’re renting out just to make some side income?
- Is this an extra property you own and are looking better ways to put it into use?
- Is this your main source of income?
AirBnB Property Analysis
Here, you basically explain the Unique Value Proposition (UVP) of your new AirBnB property in Kenya.
UVP is the unique benefit of your AirBnB offering. That is, the unique way in which you solve your target customer’s problems; or improve their current situation. This is what sets you apart from the competition. The competition here includes everyone else currently solving the problem for your customer.
Your UVP must answer the following questions: What is it, for whom and how is it useful?
In short, what I’m saying is that finding the UVP for your AirBnB business in Kenya is much easier than it sounds.
All you have to do is ask yourself how much more different and better will you deliver than the other AirBnBs out there?
Let’s give it a try:
Is my AirBnB property different and better because of location?
- Is it an ocean front villa by the white sandy beaches of Mombasa, Malindi, Lamu, Sori, Kisumu etc, like this
- Is it close to matatu stands or bus stops?
- Is it in the middle of nowhere in a serene, natural environment like this and really offers the chance for guests to get away from it all and escape the crowds? Check out Olomayiana Bush Camp or Kichaka Glamping, both in Bisil, for example.
- Does your proposed AirBnB property have a view like Pumzika-tu, a quiet family retreat in Kwale where elephants wonder through your garden, and monkeys sip from your pool.
Is the price of your AirBnB better than that of the competition?
- Is your AirBnB the cheapest accommodation around?
- Do you offer the best value for money at that price?
- Do you give discounted prices at certain times of the year? Do you have Black Friday deals like what Jumia Kenya is currently offering?
Is your AirBnB type different or better than the others?
- Like this renovated old school bus, that has been revamped into a cozy and distinct Airbnb home tucked away in the serene beautiful suburbs of Karen.
- Or this Tree House at Ngong House in Karen.
- A penthouse apartment overlooking Ngong Forest perhaps?
- Or your AirBnB has some history like this ” Constant Gardener movie” home in Rosslyn, Nairobi, which was used as the home and garden of ‘The Constant Gardener’ 2005 drama thriller film starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz who won an Oscar for her role.
The options are endless!
AirBnB Business in Kenya: Industry Analysis
If you want to be successful in the AirBnB business in Kenya, you’ll need to have an in depth understanding of what the landscape of the industry in Kenya looks like in terms of current trends and expectations.
For the industry analysis, you will need to look beyond AirBnB and at the industry at large, which includes self-hosted properties, other platforms, etc.
This essentially involves looking at other vacation rental providers in Kenya and and assessing them.
Following are some sample questions that will help you understand the industry you’re looking to get into:
What do AirBnBs in my proposed location charge per night?
- Would you classify it as budget, luxury, cheap, etc?
- What is the price range? Less than $70 per night? Or Is it more than $200 per night?
- Consider the value your potential competitors are charging, vis a vis the value they are providing. This will help you in your pricing strategy.
To do this, simply log on to AirBnB, and at the top left side, under search, enter the location of your proposed location.
AirBnB will populate, in a map format, the properties in that location, together with the price per night.
Check out this one I did with Namanga.
Who is their target customer?
- Do they target couples looking for a romantic honeymoon destination in Kenya
- Are they girlfriends looking for a weekend getaway less than an hour from Nairobi?
- Hustlers looking for a quiet break away from the hustle and bustle of the daily grind?
- Do they target groups of travelers who need large, but basic accommodation?
- Or is it digital nomads on a workation in Nairobi?
- Or even the business traveler on a business trip to Kenya?
Are they luxury properties or more basic accommodations?
- Are they upscale apartment rentals in the most expensive parts of town targeting a certain caliber of clientele?
- Or are they simple, modest properties that even backpackers can afford?
- Do the rentals tend to lean towards one end of the accommodation spectrum, leaving a gap in the market? In my personal analysis for instance, I have noted a shortage of clean, comfortable, budget accommodation around our National Park areas.
Do they provide Breakfast or are they self-catering accommodations?
- Are they all simply AirBnB rentals?
- Do they offer complimentary breakfast?
- Or do they offer both a comfortable bed and a sumptuous breakfast and/or kitchen facility?
What online platforms/websites do they use to list their accommodations?
- Are they all on AirBnB, Booking.com, etc.?
- Do they collaborate with Kenya Tourism Board?
- Do they have their own personal property website?
- Is there some other fast-growing AirBnB property listing and booking website which you know about but your competitors aren’t using?
AirBnB Business in Kenya: Customer Analysis
Guests to your potential AirBnB property are going to be the source of your AirBnB business income.
That’s why it’s so important that you understand them in as much detail as possible so you can effectively and efficiently meet their needs.
For example, I started operating my Eva’s BnB in the year 2012, it was two solve a problem I used to encounter every time I landed at JKIA on either a flight on the wee hours of the morning. I’d find tons of travelers dolled at various corners of the JKIA departure corridors. And if you’ve been to JKIA, it’s not one of those airports you want to get stuck at for a long time.
So as I started talking to these travelers, I realized that most of them were passengers connecting on KQ flights to various destinations across Africa.
KQ, for the life of me, I have never understood why you mistreat your clients with such long layovers.
Anyhow, I digress.
Well, I noticed at the time, there were only 3 main accommodation options to choose from: Panari Hotel, Eka Hotel, and Ole Sereni, and a few other boutique hotels in Syokimau area.
Unfortunately, for most passengers on transit, these options were rather pricey. And once you include the Kenya visa fee of $50, we’re talking of quite some amount.
Anyway, so I immediately noted a gap here and since I already had an unoccupied property in Embakasi, I immediately opted to list it on AirBnB.
Right off the bat therefore, my target customer would be that traveler on a long or short layover at JKIA, and is looking for affordable accommodation that is also close to JKIA.
AirBnB Business in Kenya: Competitive Analysis
Conducting a competitive analysis for your AirBnB business in Kenya involves identifying your direct competitors, analyzing their business, to better understand your chances of survival in the space.
The main difference between a competitive analysis and an industry analysis is that for the competitive analysis, you’re going to narrow down from the industry and focus on your immediate competitors.
For example, if your AirBnB is a penthouse apartment in Kilimani area overlooking Ngong Forest, your direct competitors would be other accommodation providers in Kilimani area.
With a competitive analysis, your goal is to find out all the reasons why a potential guest would book the next property over your, then you figure out ways to make your property more attractive.
This may be in terms of offering the cheapest price per night, if everyone else is charging an arm and a leg per night.
It could also be in terms of accommodation standards. For example, Kenyatta Avenue, all the way to Jakaya Kikwete road, is lined up with high end hotels – the likes of Serena, PanAfrica, Heron Court, etc, but Manyatta Backpackers, and probably YWCA Parkview Suites are the only backpacker hostel accommodation available in or near Nairobi CBD.
Other factors to consider include whether your competitors offer services such as airport transfers or pick-up?
Find out if it is complimentary or paid for?
You can also look at the range of amenities your competitors offer. Do they have WiFi? Is it free or paid for? Do they provide a washing machine or at least some basic laundry service. What about luxury amenities such as a swimming pool, gymn, sauna, children play area, etc.
To serve my potential customer better than the competition, I went where they were already being served.
I simply went on Booking.com and started checking out existing properties’ past customer reviews. So whatever the customers complained about, I made sure to work on it in my AirBnB,whatever they raved about, I made sure to include it in mine.
So for instance, if you check out this review from a customer who visited 67 airport hotel in February 2017, I got to figure out some of my potential customers’ needs, fears, and wants.
The review title: “An excellent well run hotel not too far from the airport” validated my assumptions that there was need for accommodation near the airport. At the time, the Hiltons, Four Seasons, etc inside the airport were non-existent.
Digging further into this review, the customer is complaining about the hotel being difficult to find, and even stating the fact that they missed their flight because of underestimating how long it’d take to get to the airport, despite being close.
Anyone with local knowledge about Nairobi knows that time to destination in this city is not determined by distance, but by factors such as intensity of the traffic jams, whether is raining or not, or whether Obama is in Kenya or not.
Last but not least, this customer raved about the availability of refreshments and meals during the day.
Therefore, I took advantage of my local knowledge, and for my AirBnB, I made sure to provide complimentary airport pick up and drop off services so my customers don’t get lost looking for my AirBnB in a city like Nairobi with a zero address system. Thank you Google Maps! You saved our a**es!!!!
I also stocked the house with complimentary bites and drinks since I learned that it was important to travelers after a long trip.
See what I mean? This is just one example. If you conduct the same analysis for more customers on the same property and even other properties, you will come up with many more ways to top your competitors.
AirBnB Business in Kenya: Operations Plan
Quite simply, an AirBnB operations plan is a step by step process of how you are going to operate your new business on a daily basis.
It involves things like checking in guests, cleaning up after they leave, airport pick up and drop off, keeping track of inventory, dealing with bookings and customer complaints, handling accounting and the filing of KRA returns, responding to guest questions, etc.
You also need to figure out issues such as who will provide for you internet? Taxi services? etc
What kind and color of linen such as towels, bed sheets, etc will you use?
Where will you purchase your AirBnB linen in Kenya?
I found Gikomba to have very high quality white bed linen and at very affordable prices.
Personally, I prefer white linen for AirBnB property for 5 main reasons:
- White linen is an assurance to guests that the property is clean and hygienic.
- White just looks and feels super clean – you can’t hide stains on white!
- White linen also gives the impression of luxury—even if the AirBnB itself is in a rather shady area like mine which used to be in Embakasi Village… sigh!
- White linen are more hygienic as can be bleached
- White linen can easily be washed with other white dirty laundry without any colors bleeding.
Some key questions you need to ask yourself include:
Whether you’re going to hire help or not?
If you’re busy and don’t have too much time to manage your listing, you may need to consider AirBnB’s co-host facility to your listing.
A co-host is someone who helps you take care of your AirBnB facility and guests in exchange for a percentage of income earned from the property.
The advantage of listing your property with AirBnB over other platforms, especially if you’re a busy host is that Airbnb allows you to add up to three co-hosts per listing.
How to add a co-host on AirBnB:
- Go to Manage Listings on airbnb.com
- Select “Edit” on the listing you want to edit
- Hover your mouse on the right side of the page and select “Co-hosts”
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page, click “invite friends”, and enter their e-mail address. They will get a notification on the same.
Kindly note that the AirBnB option of hosts selecting a co-host from the AirBnB marketplace was discontinued effective July 2018.
If you are new to AirBnB and friends and family are not an option, feel free to contact us at EvaMtalii.
Whether you want help with cleaning between guest check outs, or with responding to guest emails or complaints– our team has a substantial amount of experience in the AirBnB business in Nairobi which means we are well placed to meet your AirBnB hosting needs – as well as those of your guests.
We are available for co-hosting services in Nairobi (State House Avenue, Dennis Pritt, Kileleshwa, or Riverside areas).
AirBnB Business in Kenya: Marketing Plan
This involves the tactics you will use to advertise your AirBnB to get bookings – both online and offline.
This is where the customer analysis you did earlier on will really come in handy.
If you know who your potential customer is, then its easier targeting them as you know where to find them and what type of marketing will be most effective.
In my case for instance, other than sharing the link to my AirBnB property on various social media platforms, I made business cards that I would hand over wherever I went – including at the airport!
Another option is to create a stand alone website for your property using hosting platforms such as BlueHost.
Some people also take advantage of Google Ads and such like advertising providers.
In my experience thought, the most effective kind of advertising was word-of-mouth from satisfied customers. This was both offline in the form of customer feedback and reviews, as well as offline.
AirBnB Business in Kenya: Distributions Plan
Websites like AirBnB, Booking.com, etc are referred to as OTAs (Online Travel Agency), who act as the middleman between you and your customer.
As a new host, listing your property on an OTA is important especially early on as you’re still making your presence known in the market.
Your distribution plan essentially takes into consideration the platforms on which you’re going to list your property, the inherent costs, and how you’ll receive payment for bookings.
Personally, for AirBnB where the customer is charged upfront upon booking an accommodation, I’ve always used a Payoneer Prepaid Card whereby I get my payment in US$ and can withdraw the funds from many ATMs throughout Kenya, as well as shop at all the major supermarkets with POS machine.
For Booking.com, where customer payments can only be received upon arrival, I got a POS machine for those customers who prefer card payment, but I also accept cash and M-PESA payments.
In very rare occasions, I have accepted PayPal Kenya payments.
AirBnB Business in Kenya: Revenue Management Plan
Revenue management of your AirBnB business in Kenya is much simpler than it sounds.
Its all about managing the income and expenses.
Specifically it includes your target income as well as expected expenses and how you will pay for them. Are you going to use KPLC prepaid meter or postpaid for instance, how will you top up, pay for your Nairobi Water bills, etc.
How will you set accommodation prices? AirBnB for instance has the option of the host to select their own cost per night, or take advantage of AirBnB’s automated smart pricing option.
Another issue to consider is how you want to legally operate your AirBnB. This will affect how you file your KRA returns.
If you’re not incorporated, and are just sub-letting a spare room, I’d suggest that you register your AirBnB with the Kenya Community Based Tourism Network (KCBTN) as a homestay.
Registration and Licensing your AirBnB Business in Kenya
According to the KCBTN website, these are the requirements:
- Individuals or families who own a house of good quality and wish to accommodate paying guests may spare at least ONE (1) room and up to maximum SIX (6) rooms for tourist accommodation in one house.
- The approval for registration and licensing will be given only in those cases where the owner/promoter of the unit along with his/her family is physically residing in the same unit or home environment.
- At least one of the family members should be able to communicate in English.
- Priority for registration and licensing will be only for operational Homestays.
- Once the home stay operator applies for registration, it has to be ready for inspection by the government officials.
- The officials from the Department of Tourism will evaluate the presence of facilities and services against the approved standards guidelines provided for pre qualification for registration and licensing.
- Licenses will be valid for a period of One (1) year from the date of issue and applications for renewal must be submitted at least Three (3) months before the expiry date of the current license.
- All initial applications for the registration and licensing must be complete in all respects, and accompanied a certificate from the Local Authority along with the applicable fee. Incomplete application is liable to be rejected.
- The licensed Homestay units are expected to maintain required standards at all times. The authorized Ministry officials could inspect the same at any time without prior notice.
Recommended License Fees
Classes of Homestays Appropriate License Fee (in Ksh.)
Economy level Homestays 1,000
Standard level Homestays 2,000
Executive Level Homestays 3,000
AirBnB Business in Kenya: Financial Plan
How will you finance your new AirBnB business in Kenya?
Are you going to buy a new property or use of an existing one with everything ready to go. If buying, will it be self-funded or you will take out a bank mortgage?
How will you furnish the property?
For basic furnishing, you will need anything from KES 500,000 to KES 1 million.
A financial plan basically shows how you’re gonna take care of all these initial costs, project income, as well as estimated expenditures.
I suggest you make up a 3-5 year financial forecast.
So, what kind of information makes up a financial plan?
AirBnB Business in Kenya: Key Milestones
Put down, in writing, what your plans and goals are for starting your AirBnB business.
Make sure to include the key milestones that will take you there.
This is the only way you will be able to effectively track if you’re making any progress.
Some key milestones to consider include:
- project monthly rental income
- Number of guests per month? first monht? first quarter? first year?
- Rate of growth for your bookings month on month or year on year? 5%? 20%?
- Number of returning guests? 40%? 10%
AirBnB Business in Kenya: AOB/Appendix
Running an AirBnB business is no joke.
If its busy as it should be, you need to have all necessary information at your finger tips otherwise you risk having things fall through the cracks.
In the appendix of your AirBnB business plan is where these kind of information goes.
This is where all those important details that you will need to keep your AirBnB running smoothly comes in.
Examples include the plumber’s number (I always kept mine on speed dial), the electrician’s contact, your Zuku or Faiba or DSTV support line, your KRA Pin number, receipts of all items bought for your AirBnB business, back up file of your AirBnB bookings and calendar (I used Google Calendar and had a physical calendar at the back of my kitchen door).
Bonus Tips for your AirBnB Listing
- Keep your AirBnB spotless clean.
- What you lack in location (like I did), make up for with excellent customer experience.
- Focus on quality over quantity. A high quality can attract a higher price.
- Be kind and respectful to your guests. They will never forget how you treated them.
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