Rent out your backyard... to dogs? (Business Feature #6)

🤔What It Is

SniffSpot is an app that allows you to rent your backyard/outdoor space to dog owners AirBnb style.

💸The Business

Living in an apartment or space without a yard can feel extremely crammed, especially when you have a furry companion. Walking your dog on the street can also feel like a bit of a letdown (they just want to run around!). One solution to these problems is dog parks, but they can be overcrowded and/or dangerous depending on how your dog interacts with other dogs.

Founded in 2018, SniffSpot is a marketplace for dog owners to rent private yards and spaces to let their dogs play freely. Simultaneously, homeowners can make passive income on their yards/spaces by renting them out at fixed hourly rates. Most spaces range anywhere from $5 - $40/hr depending on size, location, and amenities.

On the app itself, you can filter by location, amenity, price, and more features including whether or not the space is fenced in, or even if it has a pool the dog can swim in:

You can check out their general FAQ here if you are interested in learning more on how to become a host.

Now let’s dive into the business details.

🧑‍💻The Model

SniffSpot leverages the attractive AirBnb model of “renting what you own.” However, unlike AirBnb, the level of maintenance required to rent out a yard or open space is minimal. You can take a scroll through the app yourself: a lot of the spaces don’t even appear to be well maintained, yet they have great reviews.

On the other side of the marketplace, SniffSpot takes advantage of the $303 billion pet market, especially in crowded areas such as cities where open spaces are few and far between. Many dog owners are more than willing to spend ~$20 to let their dog have an hour of freedom.

💰Revenue Streams (Expected)

• Host Transaction Fees (Like AirBnb) – Per the policy on their website, SniffSpot usually charges hosts 24.37% per booking plus $0.22. This means if someone paid $10 to use your yard for 1 hour, you would make $7.34 in total earnings. SniffSpot would take $2.66, although a small percentage of that goes to Stripe for their payment processing service.

🔻Potential Expenses (Expected)

• Advertising – SniffSpot is able to leverage their virality and the pets industry to minimize the costs here. SniffSpot has north of 100k followers across Instagram and other social media platforms, and the pet/dog community is typically very boastful of products/services they love like SniffSpot.

• Technology – App development, app maintenance, and hosting costs are just a few.

• Human Capital – The SniffSpot founder mentioned in 2018 he was trying to keep the team lean, and the overall team size is estimated at less than 50 people now.

😎 Customer Appeal

Although this is a marketplace – we are treating the customers as the dog owners

• A safe space for your dog to run and sniff freely.

• The spaces can be used for training your dog.

• Relatively cheap (It’s like you are paying ~$20/hr for peace and quiet with your dog).

👍The Good Stuff

• The AirBnb Model – Fills a need for dog owners and provides a passive income opportunity for home owners.

• Great Pricing – Like we mentioned before, rates usually range from $5 - $40/hr

• Market Size – 65.1 million US households own a dog

👎The Risks

• Location/Opportunity – Those in the suburbs/rural areas with more open spaces may not see a need for such a service, which most likely limits the service to urban areas. That brings us to another point: if you live in a city, how far are you going to need to travel to use the service?

• Liability Concerns – Per the company’s website, all guests must sign a waiver before using SniffSpot, which indemnifies and protects the hosts. All dog owners should read the waiver details and the listing details prior to renting.

🧠 The Op Ed

• It’s a brilliant business, especially if they keep a lean team.

• With inflation causing damage the past two years to wallets, people are looking to make extra money any way they can. This is an opportunity to do so with little effort.

• The dog/pet market is not going away, nor is urbanization.

📚For the Road

• 10 Everyday Items You Can Rent Out To Make Money

• Sniffspot is the Airbnb for dogs. Here's what it's like.

• Airbnb hosts are bracing for an unpredictable summer