Must Love Chickens: from a basement suite into a destination getaway with an 84% occupancy rate by the second year.

When you are launching a small business it the branding is just as important (if not more) than it is for a big business. This does not mean you have to spend a lot of money, but you need to spend some money and spend it wisely. 

The Covid 19 pandemic hit the world at the beginning of 2019. I lost my primary client (about 75% or more of my income) within the first few months. Given the situation there was no way to recover by getting new business at the time. I was also in a bad position because I was in the middle of my own rebrand. As a widowed, single parent and the sole breadwinner I had to pivot, and fast. 

I decided to launch an AirBnB because I wanted something that was flexible and would allow me to work on building my other businesses.

I knew I had to make it unique and enticing because where I live is far from a destination area (in fact many friends questioned what I was thinking when I moved my son and I here). Due to travel restrictions we would have to draw guests who live in cities within a 90 minute drive (such as Vancouver) which meant we would be competing with popular destinations like Whistler and Squamish.

I have spent the last decade trying to inspire more people to grow their own food and now have a small farm where I grow food and raise a few chickens, ducks and goats. I am very aware of the importance of people reconnecting with where their food comes from and decided to make this the core of my brand. I came up with the name "Must Love Chickens”. 

I then sourced a historical chicken etching from a breed standards catalogue that was in the public domain and made adjustments to it to make sure it would reproduce the way I wanted it to. 

But a brand is more than just the logo, it is the overall experience for the user, so the collateral and what people could expect from staying here would be equally important. I wanted the experience to be restful so I avoided going overboard, instead opting for a clean, modern farmhouse aesthetic. I bought all the furniture and rugs second hand, refinishing when needed. I added a few “chicken” items (including a very funky chicken teapot) to the decor that I mostly sourced from auctions and thrift shops. My entire cost for the suite and furnishings was around $30k (which was well below average market cost). 

Taking my own time into consideration, the branding portion came in around the $6,500 mark. Of this about $1,500 were hard costs. I spent $140 on a pair of custom rubber stamps which could be used for multiple applications such as egg cartons. 

To facilitate experiences with the farm animals I bought kraft coffee bags, filled them with feed and stamped them with either the Must Love Chickens chicken icon or a goat depending on what kind of feed was inside.

Guests also receive a custom made post card which I will mail for them if they fill it out. The rooster on the card is reminiscent of the rooster on the kitchen floor. We have sent postcards to numerous places including the Netherlands and the UK.

I designed custom Must Love Chickens tea towels to complete the suite which guests can also buy as a keepsake.

Well, we had a few big branches to get rid of and Christmas was on the way, so it was a no brainer to create these handmade, rustic ornaments for the Christmas Tree in the suite. We also gave them to guests who stayed over the holidays.

I started at $85/night plus a cleaning fee which was higher than most of the AirBnBs in the area, but less than what I felt the suite should be valued at, and gradually raised the pricing. The point was to get as many reviews as possible in the early days. We achieved a 4.9/5 rating, which we have maintained, giving us Superhost status which means our listing is given priority for views.

Not only has Must Love Chickens AirBnB gone from zero to 84% occupancy in less than two years, we have also raised the price by 25%. Now in year three, YTD gross income is already up over 30% from year two and over 300% from year one.