Turo: If I Knew Then What I Know Now
I began building a fleet of vehicles to host on Turo in 2018.
I began with one vehicle that I already owned. It was a 2015 Scion TC. The first trip was booked in January of 2018 and it was the first time I ever made real money apart from a W2 job. My whole life I knew I was supposed to be a business owner, not an employee, so I was immediately hooked.
I very quickly built a fleet of 20 vehicles. I leased 12 more brand new cars and SUVs. I paid cash for two others. And I had five vehicles sent to me by other people to manage for them and share the earnings. All of this happened over the course of about 15 months.
When I calculate all of the lease payments, cash purchases, insurance, registration, repairs, and maintenance over the four years I owned the business , I invested close to $200,000 in my Turo fleet. Remember that number. It will be very important later in this article.
The Good News
Thankfully, unlike a shocking percentage of Turo hosts, I was profitable each year. My profit margins ran about 30%, give or take, which is pretty good in the car rental industry. I wasn’t living large and building wealth or a business that could be sold at a multiple or handed down to someone else, but I loved the fact that I was finally able to ditch the W2 job and be a full-time business owner with about the same standard of living as I enjoyed with my $165k annual income from my corporate job.
I also had the opportunity to spend four years learning how to manage my own business well, instead of someone else’s.
And, best of all for me, running my own successful carshare business then led to opening my own coaching practice which turned into another six-figure income stream. I had known for many years that coaching and teaching were the things I was really meant to do, and I ended up enjoying that more than the actual vehicle rental business.
When I shuttered my Turo business and sold my vehicles, I ended up actually making money on every single vehicle I sold, so I had a very good exit thanks to the timing of the pre-owned vehicle price surge that created equity I wasn’t expecting.
The Frustration Factor
Running a solo, independent carshare business can be extremely frustrating and eventually the frustration factor caught up with me.
My cars, and revenue, were periodically and unexpectedly idled by factory recalls. The payments and insurance premiums kept coming.
I endured over 90 incidents when my vehicles were damaged. Many of those were minor, and quickly repaired. Some were major accidents which took the vehicles out of commission for weeks, or a month or more. The payments and insurance premiums kept coming. Two of my vehicles were totaled. Thankfully, Turo took very good care of me in those situations, but still very frustrating.
There were a dozen or so times when my vehicles were impounded by the police and I had to spend hours navigating the retrieval process, a couple of times in cities that were hours away from me.
At times I would have to strap on my 9mm and repossess my vehicles from renters who didn’t want to return them, with those repos sometimes involving high-speed chases across the city and face-to-face confrontations in dangerous Detroit neighborhoods, almost always happening late at night, with police not willing to get involved because it was a “civil matter.”
Many, many times my vehicles would come back trashed, filled with cigarette butts and smoke or reeking with the smell of weed, stains all over the upholstery, sometimes with vomit in the floorboards and bottles of urine under the seats and occasionally other bodily fluids drizzled across the back seats. Oh…and prom glitter that lasts forever.
My patience with and toleration of humanity took a serious hit!
And then there were the ever-changing Turo terms of service, sometimes resulting in lower profit margins from each trip.
And, as someone who absolutely abhors winter, washing, cleaning, and prepping vehicles for each rental in sub-zero temps, wind, snow and ice, began to diminish my will to live.
What I Know Now
In 2023 my life and work took a significant turn and I discovered that there are hundreds and hundreds of other businesses I could have invested that money into, even HALF of the $200k I spent on my vehicle rental business, that would have generated far, far more annual profit allowing me to build real semi-passive wealth with much less frustration.
I shuttered my Turo fleet and sold all of my vehicles. I even ended my Turo coaching practice, The CarShare Academy, and began focusing all of my time and energy on helping men and women make the dream of business ownership a reality, with real, high-revenue, high-margin, long-term sustainable businesses as franchise owners with established and highly reputable brands. After weeks of training and Federal Trade Commission compliance certification, Quantum Franchise Group was born in June, 2023 and today we are a team of eleven people with seven regional offices/consultants around the country, a franchise attorney, and a funding expert.
I still see posts in my Facebook feed from Turo hosts adding vehicles to their fleet, or bemoaning the frustrations they’re facing, and every time I see those posts, I want to shout to them that there is so much more they could do with that money that would be so much more profitable, sustainable, and enjoyable.
What I Would Do Instead
If I could go back to 2018, knowing what I know now, I would invest $50k to $100k into one of the businesses I’m going to share with you below, instead of beginning a carshare business. I would repeat that process every year or so, re-investing a portion of the profits from each business into the next, and put a manager in place to run each business.
Today I would own a portfolio of five businesses, most of them generating $600k to $1 million or more in top line revenue annually with 35% to 60% profit margins.
The Businesses I Would Begin
Business One: Vending
Average Investment: $56,000
I probably would have begun with a vending machine business with the nation’s largest and most highly rated vending company, with a $56k investment and four new, high-tech machines, inventory management software, training, etc. (the equivalent of two new Jeep Compasses or about five decent pre-owned vehicles at the time).
I would have done this as a side hustle alongside my day job, and put 100% of the first year profit into a startup capital fund for the next business.
Business Two: Short-Term Rental Management
Average Investment: $80,000
Average Annual Revenue: $620,115 | Average Annual Net: $127,000*
*According to Item 19 of the Franchise Disclosure Document.
To start business number two, I would have taken about $30,000 from my vending business, added about $50,000 of my own money, and become a franchise owner with the leading AirBnB, VRBO property management company in the United States with a portfolio of properties to manage and a General Manager in place to run the day to day.
Owners with this franchise system generated an average of $620,115 in top line revenue in 2022 with net coming in around $127,000 after paying the GM.
Business Three: Youth Soccer Program
Average Investment: $100,000
Average Annual Revenue: $1.4 Million | Average Annual Net: $514,000
*According to Item 19 of the Franchise Disclosure Document.
By about year three or four I would have taken another $30k from my vending profit, about $30k from my vacation rental profit, added about $40k of my own money, and became a franchise owner with the nation’s largest for-profit youth soccer program.
I’m not a sports guy so, thankfully, this is semi-passive ownership business allowing me to have a GM/Lead Coach in place to run the program. I would be investing in this business because of the outstanding financials and the positive impact that my business would have on young people.
Business Four: Landscape Lighting
Average Investment: $150,000
Average Annual Revenue: $614,809
*According to Item 19 of the Franchise Disclosure Document.
Rolling into year five I would be in an amazing financial position to invest about $150k into a territory with the nation’s leading landscape lighting company providing residential, commercial, and holiday lighting design and installation for affluent homeowners and businesses.
Franchise owners around the country have completed over 150,000 installations since 1995 with several owners generating over $1 million in top line revenue, all for an initial investment between $82k and $184k.
Business Five: Outdoor Living Spaces Design & Construction
Average Investment: $130,000
Average Annual Revenue: $1,843,008
*According to Item 19 of the Franchise Disclosure Document.
Had I begun this whole process in 2018, by now, in 2024, I would be ready to invest in business number five, and have far more investment capital available than needed to become a franchise owner with the nation’s leading outdoor living spaces design and construction company.
I’m also not a construction kind of guy, so thankfully, all drafting and design work is handled by the team at the company headquarters and I can have a GM running the business and supervising the construction crew. I’d probably let my landscape lighting manager run this business as well.
Home service businesses typically have the lowest investment, highest return, and pair very well with other concepts to service the same clients with multiple services. I’d be lining this up alongside my landscape lighting business for cross promotion.
Do You See What I Did Here?
In my “If I Knew Then” scenario, instead of investing $200,000 into a car sharing business with depreciating assets, I would have instead invested about $146,000 of my own money (along with profits from my businesses along the way) and by now would have a portfolio of five businesses with the potential of generating around $4.5 million in top line revenue annually once scaled and performing consistent with average performance across the companies, with an all-in initial investment of around $516,000.
Fun Fact: By the second half of 2025 I will begin the process I just laid out for you after I relocate to a new city and buy a home!
Reasons To Let Me Help You
I’ve only shared five examples with you. My team and I represent a portfolio of over 800 franchises across 37 different industries, including the automotive industry.
There are several reasons to let me guide you through this discovery and due diligence process.
I’m going to make sure you explore only the best franchises. There are many out there to be wary of.
I’m going to get critical information in your hands faster than if you did this on your own, to keep you from wasting time.
I’m going to position you as a high-priority candidate with the franchise system you’re interested in so you get placed on the top of the list of leads and candidates.
I’m going to be your coach and advocate, guiding you through the whole 6 to 8 step award process to make sure everything happens exactly as you need, to make the best decision.
I will connect you with our vetted franchise attorney and funding expert when needed.
When you are awarded your franchise, we’re going to invite you to sail with us FREE aboard our Franchise Family Reunion group cruise, OR we will contribute back to your startup marketing fund.
I’m going to do all of this at no cost to you.
Let’s Begin The Conversation
When you’re ready to begin building a business that’s lucrative, with long-term sustainability, and that can be handed down to your children or sold at a multiple a few years from now if you choose, connect with me here to learn about the process and complete an introduction form.
