Four Weak Hosting Moves

Don't Be Like Michael

Some of you are absolutely amazing.

Since the Spring of 2021 I’ve had the honor of helping over 700 new, aspiring, and growing Turo hosts start, build, and scale their business. Whether it’s through our live group coaching program, one-on-one coaching, online classes, or market research I’ve enjoyed watching many of you make some serious pro moves and you now have a Turo business roaring to life on all cylinders.

I’ve also seen a lot of hosts make some weak moves. Moves that undermine their success, threaten their survival as a host, and diminish their credibility in the host community. I’m going to share with you the top four weak moves that I’ve seen, not just during my time leading the Carshare Academy, but over the last four years of being a host myself.

Weak Move One: Choosing and buying vehicles before understanding the business.

It’s a pretty regular occurrence. An aspiring host jumps into a Facebook group and their first post is, “What cars should I get?” Maybe they saw an ad for Turo. Perhaps a friend or family member started hosting and it looks like a good idea. It could be that they were reeled in by a Youtube or Instagram influencer in a fancy suit, with a Rolex, standing in front of a Maserati waving their government stimulus check in the air after completing their 20th trip, promising quick, easy money. Now they want someone to tell them which vehicles to run out and finance at 19% interest because they have a 640 FICO. But they have no idea how a Turo business even works.

Now, the question about which vehicles one should start with is absolutely the right question to ask. It’s just not the first question. And it’s not a question that should be answered by the uninformed multitudes on Facebook in different cities all across the country. It can only be correctly answered by careful, thorough, and intelligent market research.

There are other questions that need to be asked first. Before acquiring your first vehicle for Turo, you’ll be making pro moves, instead of weak moves, by asking and answering questions like this:

• What is the overall health and suitability of my city for me to launch a Turo business in.

• What are the relationship dynamics between hosts and Turo as business partners and how does that relationship work?

• How will I protect myself and my assets?

• Will the daily rates I can charge for vehicles and typical booking activity in my city allow me to really be profitable?

• What does interaction with guests look like, particularly bad guests?

• What are Turo’s basic vehicle requirements?

Weak Move Two: Starting out financially upside down.

I’m Michael. I’m smart. You’re dumb.

We’ll call him Michael. Michael woke up one morning super excited to get a vehicle and be a Turo host. He was so excited that he didn’t even shower. He just threw on some clothes, drove across town, and signed the paperwork for his brand new 2022 Toyota Camry to add to the other 37 Toyota Camrys on the platform in his city. He checked. He counted. And he thought to himself that since there were 37 Camrys, it must be popular and he’s going to slay it with this play that’s sure to start generating passive income for him in just a few hours.

The deal was done and, with a little Pitbull booming from the sound system, Michael smiled, even did a little car dance, while driving away in his new Camry, ready to get it listed. He doesn’t seem bothered by the fact that his monthly payment is $618. On a Camry. Because he has a 640 FICO and a 19% interest rate. It also doesn’t seem to trouble him that his monthly insurance premium is $110 because he has a few speeding tickets. Oh, and that little fender bender a few months back from when he was texting and driving and rear-ended Harriet Benson as she was on her way to church.

Before any other expenses are factored in, Michael is going to have to generate $728 in earnings, every month, just to cover his payment and insurance. And if he’s on the 75 plan, that means $910, each month, in trip earnings before the split. From a Camry. In a city where Camrys get booked at about $48 daily. Even if he could consistently get booked 30.5 days each month, that’s $1,098 in earnings after the protection plan, $370 above the payment+insurance cost. We haven’t even gotten to the other expenses yet. And he’s not going to be consistently booked 30.5 days each month.

Weak Move Three: Copying someone else’s listing without reading the Terms of Service.

Michael is super pumped to get this bad boy listed and booked. Over a plate of wings he gets to work on his listing. He’s not sure what to write. Really doesn’t know which settings to choose in trip preferences. One thing he is confident about, is he’s going to body slam people who break his rules and hit them with fees that will make their great-grandchildren cry, and that will help him cover that $618 payment. So Michael starts scrolling through the listings from other hosts.

He comes across a real badass who looks to be dominating. He has three vehicles, including a Camry just like his, 28 trips, really cool shades, and his arms confidently crossed in his profile picture. He also has a lot of warnings, in all caps, with a lot of exclamation points, and scary looking emojis in his listing. Michael really loves the $350 smoking fee that he sees. Oh, and the flat $300 per rim for curb rash. Why yes, of course. And that $500 “breach of contract” fee for crossing state lines…oh hell yeah!

Michael can’t be bothered with writing his own listing, or verifying that all of the fees in the listing are compliant with the Terms of Service. He’s a busy man, building his empire. Easy. Copy and paste.

And now Michael has just become the second host with a Camry who has set himself up to be removed from the platform for violating the Terms of Service, and likely have to return his Camry, and watch his 640 FICO drop to about 500.

Weak Move Four: Blaming Turo and calling for a union, a strike, and a boycott.

I’m Michael. I’m Pissed.

Michael’s pissed. His Camry is only getting booked about 9 days a month. It may be because his daily rate is $68, in a market where Camrys go for around $48. But he has to cover his payment. He got a warning from Turo when a guest smoked in his car, he could only charge $250 in the incidentals tool, so he dropped the other $100 in the fuel line, without a receipt, to make up the difference. And then there was the bumper damage claim that was denied after he used the same set of pre-trip photos he uses for every trip because he can’t be bothered to take new ones for each reservation. He’s busy building his empire.

It’s time to take some action. Turo sucks, is evil, and needs to be punished for their dirty deeds done dirt cheap. And Michael is just the guy to take them on, spank them, and make them cry. First, he’s going to organize a union and bring a class action suit against Turo. And he’s pretty sure that with a Facebook post or two, he can get thousands of hosts all across the country to shut down their businesses, turn off their income, and join him in a strike.

Michael is a weak man, who makes weak, lazy moves over and over again and then blames everyone else for the consequences of his own weakness.

You can be successful as a Turo host!

You really can. I have been. Thousands of us are. But those of us who win at this game, are the ones who make pro moves, power moves, informed and strategic moves backed by common sense, an unquestionable set of ethics, and business and market intelligence. We’re also the ones who own it when we make a mistake, accept responsibility when we fuck up, learn from it, and become even more skilled, savvy, and successful.

Don’t be like Michael.