Start an RV Rental Business Using Other Peoples RV's with Garr Russell

0:01Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire. Brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with great shows like the Goal Digger Podcast. Today, we'll be breaking down how to start an RV rental business using other people's RVs. To drop these value bombs, I brought Gar Russell into EO Fire Studios. Gar is a serial entrepreneur who started his first business in the fifth grade. He has gone on to start, scale, and sell several businesses, authored three books, and spent five years traveling the country as a full-time RVer with his wife and four kids.

0:39And today, Fire Nation, we'll talk about Gar's aha moment that led him into this business. We'll talk about, are you really able to do what this title says? And then we'll talk about next steps if somebody listening was interested in this opportunity and so much more, Fire Nation, when we get back from thanking our sponsors. Online Marketing Made Easy podcast, hosted by Amy Porterfield, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with a focus on online business, including digital courses, list building content, and more. Online Marketing Made Easy breaks down big ideas and strategies into actionable step-by-step processes.

1:14A recent episode that will help you get more results with a whole lot less stress is on four ways to avoid burnout. Listen to Online Marketing Made Easy wherever you get your podcasts. Leveraging fractional staffing might just be the key to unlocking growth for you and your business. Get started today with an exclusive offer from Belay. Download their latest resource, The Power of Productivity, for free. Just text FIRE to 55123. That's F-I-R-E to 55123 to get started. Gar, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with.

1:55Hey, what's up, Fire Nation? it's really how much time we actually spend like reading, studying, learning, growing our mindset. You know, all those things that to us as entrepreneurs, we know are so important, but maybe to the regular world out there that they think, man, you got your head buried in a book so much, or you're doing podcasts or videos, you know, why do you need all that kind of stuff? Just go work really hard for 15 hours a day. And that brings success. Fire Nation, that's why we talk about working smarter, not just harder. Here at Entrepreneurs on Fire, and that's why you listening to these episodes is allowing you to do just that.

2:34Like, who would have thought about starting an RV business using other people's RVs? Hello, we don't always come up with these ideas ourselves. We can leverage other people's ideas. And I want to start off with the elephant in the room, Gar. What the heck are you talking about? Starting an RV rental business using other people's RVs? Tell me more. Yeah, man. I call it OPRV or another term I like to say is real estate. There's a lot of us entrepreneurs that naturally flow into real estate as a passive investment. That's what happened with me as a real estate investor and owning some other businesses.

3:15I bought my wife in RV for a 10-year wedding anniversary, and she wasn't wanting to be camping. She was headed home while I just checked us into a campground for a week, and that kind of went from there. Oops, now I have this RV payment, and I started renting my RV, and I thought, well, heck, why not OP RV as well? And here we are. I want to kind of get specific because I think people really need to understand what it looks like. So talk about the aha moments that you had. I want you to expound upon what you just shared. And then give us some real world examples of the first couple times you went to OPRV, to another person's RV and said, hey, bro, or hey, lady, this is my idea.

4:02Let's do this. Talk us through those things. As soon as I listed my RV online, literally within hours, I had bookings. And so my entrepreneurial your brain instantly went towards, all right, now I need to buy a bunch of RVs. Two hours earlier, I'm thinking, why the heck did I buy an RV? Two hours later, I'm thinking, all right, now I need to buy a bunch more. And really, I call it my God idea. All of a sudden, it hit me like, wait, OPRV. You drive by storage units and people's driveways and wherever else, and there's RVs just sitting everywhere. So I instantly went to kind of my beta testing, reached out to some friends and family members and shared the idea.

4:45And instantly people are like, yep, yep, yep. My sister-in-law, she was my only no. She's like, yeah, someone's not sleeping in the bed of my camper. No thanks. So that was my first no. And it really just, it's spiraled from there. Wait a second. Are you telling me that you didn't just give up after your first no? Oh, heck no. No, I thought that was a great point. And that's still today. I mean, We literally have 21 locations across the country now, and that's typically your objection. The person either says, yeah, this is freaking amazing. My RV's sitting around doing nothing, just like my timeshare.

5:25I'd love it. Sign me up. Or it's the other response. Yeah, I just don't know if I want someone sleeping in my bed. No, thanks. I'll pass. Now, what did it look like when you actually started getting traction? Give us a first couple of success stories, what that looked like. Well, one of the first thing that pops to mind when you said that is the negative side of it. So I started, I had five acres, my house, everything. So I started like piling my yard with RVs. So that was, you know, I first started getting traction. I've got all these RVs sitting in my yard, which I'm charging storage on. And that was cool.

6:01But then all of a sudden I got a notice from the city that I had a zoning violation. Oh, no. So that was kind of my first real big like, all right, we got to figure this out. So then we moved to a commercial lot and we started offering storage and propane and repairs and all that. And I thought, all right, because I had done this with a credit counseling company that I owned. I created a business in a box and I thought, all right, I think I could do that with this as well. And so I just went into some Facebook groups where people were hanging out that were renting their RVs on some of the peer to peer platforms, kind of like the Airbnbs of this industry.

6:32and started sharing some of my ideas and tips and tricks. And next thing you know, some guy in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where I live said, hey, I'll start a branch for you. You know, what does that look like? And the rest was history. Now, what did that look like? So talk through the process, because I think a lot of people within Fire Nation, they come up with these ideas because they walk out the door every day. They listen, they learn, they see problems, they identify solutions that they can provide to these problems. but then they don't really know what the next process is to start.

7:05So for our listeners today, I want to hear you taking action through this to make it a reality. You know, really what it comes down to is documenting your journey, right? So it's, all right, this situation just happened. How am I going to handle it? Write it down. All right, it caused this need. Okay, is there a software solution for that? How do I track that now? I've got 10 situations like this and I've got to follow up on these situations. I've got to, you know, track these insurance claims for damages. Okay, so now I need a good CRM. Now, all right, now we're at this new level. Now I need to hire my first employee, right?

7:42I need somebody that's on the phones for me handling situations, inquiries. And yeah, so really it's documenting. So then you can sit and look back, right? It's almost like a business journal. You're saying, oh, okay, look at this situation that I just spent four hours on today. That's something I could pay someone else to do. My time is better spent here. And kind of reflecting at your day, you know, okay, what were my big gains for the day? All right, where were my loss? All right, now I can actually, those losses, that's something I can take and learn from. And I need to find a software or system or solution.

8:15I need to map that out. So next time it happens, I'm not scrambling to put together the process. I have an email template, you know, or I have a workflow chart that I took some time. That's, you know, right, as entrepreneurs, a lot of times it's just we're rushing through the day. Where, Matt, if we actually would have taken a situation and took three hours to really mapped it out and put together a nice solution and have it all written out where you could hand that off to somebody and they could take care of that problem next time it happens, well, now you're actually putting systems and processes in place to where you can start to scale and grow.

8:49Fire Nation, this is a lot of great advice about how you can start your process. You know, what is your excitement? What is your passion? What is your knowledge and area of expertise? how can you provide real solutions to real problems in this world and then build upon that? I mean, did Gar go from zero to where he is today overnight? No, he went step by step by step. I mean, he was storing RVs on his home lot and then he had to move to a commercial lot. Now he's looking at repairs. Now he's asking questions to RV owners. He's learning what they want, what they don't want. And then he's providing more solutions that's then leading him to these different opportunities.

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10:40Maybe you've taken a few steps towards this goal by automating tasks with AI or finally nailing down a morning routine that gives you energy to crush your day. While these things definitely help, the best way to increase efficiency and productivity is to work on what you're best at and delegate the rest. Belay has been helping entrepreneurs increase productivity and scale their businesses for over a decade. Leveraging fractional staffing might just be the key to unlocking growth for you and your business. Belay has the help you need in so many areas, including virtual assistants, bookkeepers, social media managers, and more.

11:09Stop wasting time on tedious tasks that are better done by someone else. Delegate with Belay and watch your productivity soar. To help get you started, Belay is exclusively offering Fire Nation their latest resource, The Power of Productivity for Free. It's full of practical tips and tools to help you increase your productivity and make the most of your time to grow your business. Text FIRE to 55123. That's F-I-R-E to 55123 to get started. So Gar, you started your first business in the fifth grade. You started, scaled, and sold multiple businesses. You've authored three books. Talk to us about your most recent book.

11:53What is it all about? Why did you write this book? Yeah. So my most recent book is called My Real Estate Story. And really what it is, it's kind of a reflection on my entrepreneurial journey. Like you said, I started my first business in fifth grade. I actually went to my dad. I had a business plan. I said, dad, I need $500. I'm going to get some mowers. And then these kids are going to push them around for me. You know, and my dad actually laughed at me. So I can remember all the way back to 12 years old. I'm 45 now. I can picture my dad perfectly sitting on the couch laughing at me saying, what are you talking about?

12:31He actually called me lazy. And what I realized now in hindsight, as I'm writing this book is my dad was an employee. He wasn't an entrepreneur. So he didn't think the way that I thought. And so this book is just a combination of stories, right, about the entrepreneurial journey. It talks about being a entrepreneur. You know, there's so many people that are in that nine to five grind. And like you said, you come up with ideas, you see needs around you, you have a vision for a product or a service, but you don't know like, okay, what's my next step? You know, what do I do with this? You're a entrepreneur.

13:06So there's encouraging stories in there about practical steps that you can take to kind of dip your toe into the entrepreneurial lifestyle and what it looks like. And yeah, it's just a bunch of my ups and downs and failures and successes. We love to share all of our successes, but you and I both know as entrepreneurs, the failures most times are what actually grow us stronger to prepare us to have the successes. If we don't have the failures, you know, we're just not going to prepare properly to have success or deal with things as they come about in life. See, Fire Nation, what I really want you to realize is the truth in what Gar is sharing right here, right now.

13:48And by the way, when he talks about his book, he's not pulling an Elmer Fudd impression about a wascally wabbit. He's talking about his wheel estate journey, the actual wheels on the RV. So I just wanted to kind of make that clear as we're going forward here. And Gar, what if there are some people within Fire Nation today, and they're saying something like this to themselves, hey, I'm an entrepreneur. I do maybe have experience in rentals, but I know nothing about RVs. What would you say to those individuals specifically? Yeah. So if that's you and you're interested in this sort of opportunity, all the information is up.

14:28And that's one of the cool things about, So, man, when we became a franchise, what a process. Oh, my gosh. You know, you got the FTC and you got all these legal documents, all this stuff. Man, we really had to go through and it took us over a year to create training systems and processes and videos and checklists and, you know, really prove our formula. And that's the cool thing about a franchise opportunity, you know, especially here in the United States. It's very heavy regulated. There's a lot of oversight. You have to report franchises opening and closing and failing and all these kind of things.

15:01So it puts a lot of pressure on me as the founder to make sure that I have the perfect solution in place. And so that's the cool thing. If you're entrepreneurial minded and gifted and you get rentals and stuff like that and you want to apply that into this industry, we've got everything in place. You know, like one of my mentors says is, you know, find somebody that's five years ahead of you and then follow them. You know, everybody needs a coach. Everybody needs, you know, someone that they can follow that's X amount of years ahead of them in success or X amount of money ahead of them in success.

15:39And so that's what we've done. You know, we created this system. We call it the Fireside Fast Track Framework. And we plug people in. actually one of our most recent franchisees that just signed up with us i call him a kid i hate it i called him a kid the other day on the phone i apologize because he's not a kid he's 20 20 years old to me it's you know it just seems like a kid but anyway he's still in college he's 20 years old in tennessee his parents helped him he launched a franchise with us and he's a couple months in and he's crushing it you know he's following the system right he's following you know one of our sings is do what Gar says.

16:15He's doing what I tell him. He's following the system. And he's got the grit and the determination of an entrepreneur. And he's crushing it. I think he's got like 12 RVs already in his fleet. And he's, yeah, he's doing it, man. That's why I love franchises because they are proven models, Fire Nation, of people who have gone through, had the experience, gained the experience, made the mistakes, learned from the mistakes, documented the processes, created the systems and the tools and the automations. And now it's you coming in, having grit, willing to work hard, but having a system that is proven, it kind of takes away that one aspect that can be so scary as an entrepreneur of, man, is this even something that people want?

16:58Does this even have the possibility of getting traction with a franchise? You know it does because it's proven people are doing it out there and having great success. Now, can you work hard enough and smart enough and listen, in this case, you know, listen to what Gar says in his situation and make it happen. So with everything that we've talked about here today, Gar, take a step back. What is the one thing that you really want Fire Nation to get from our entire conversation today? You know, the one thing I'd love to encourage everybody on is step into your fear. Step into your fear and figure out, okay, you know, no matter what your journey is, what entrepreneurial avenue you're taking, we have these fears, right, as entrepreneurs of is this going to work?

17:46What if this happens? What if that happens? And that's one of the things I'd love to encourage entrepreneurs on is, hey, step into that fear. Like, take a minute, slow down and explore that thought. Okay, why does that thought bring up fear and really dissect that and then what's going to happen is it's we're going to have these false ideas this false blueprint these situations that happen to us throughout life that are going to be exposed and then we can really figure out okay what's the truth of that situation and then when we figure that truth out in the reality and we get that freedom that just gives us that much more power and energy and encouragement to step forward in whatever we're doing.

18:27Because we know as entrepreneurs, there's a lot of pressure on us, right? It's a lot easier to go to a nine to five and punch the clock and know you've got your paycheck every week. The entrepreneurial journey is a rough one. It's a tough one. But it's the most rewarding, not only financially, you can determine any level, but emotionally, spiritually, your time freedom. There's so many rewards in this journey, but it's overcoming those fears, figuring them out and just pushing, crushing them. You know, entrepreneurship's a lot like a lot of people describe parenthood to me. Now I'm about to experience parenthood, you know, firsthand.

19:05But what a lot of people have told me about parenting is the highs are higher and the lows are lower. And I can tell you having experience running a business as an entrepreneur for 10 years, that is definitely the case as well, Fire Nation. So Gar, if Fire Nation, our listeners today, wanted to connect with you, wanted to learn more from you, wanted to gain experience from your wisdom. What is your call to action for our listeners today? Yeah, if somebody wants to connect with us and learn more about our opportunity, go to firesidervrentalfranchise.com. firesidervrentalfranchise.com. You can find us on there.

19:45We've got a weekly webinar we do. And then we're on all the other social media channels if you want to look us up. Fireside RV Rental or Gar Russell, you'll find us. Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You've been hanging out with GR and JLD today. So keep up that heat. And for links to everything we talked about, visit eofire.com. Type Gar, G-A-R-R in the search bar and the show notes page will pop right up. And Gar, I want to say thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute your brother and we'll catch you on the flip side.

20:22Awesome. Thanks. Glad to hang out with you guys. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Gar for sponsoring today's episode. And Fire Nation, over the last decade, I've interviewed more than 4 ,000 of the world's most successful entrepreneurs, and I've created a revolutionary 17-step roadmap to your financial freedom and fulfillment. I put it all into my first traditionally published book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, personally endorsed by Seth Godin and Gary Vaynerchuk. The Common Path to Uncommon Success is the step-by-step guidance that you need to achieve the lifestyle of your dreams.

20:58Visit UncommonSuccessBook.com and I'll catch you there or on the flip side. Online Marketing Made Easy podcast hosted by Amy Porterfield is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with a focus on online business, including digital courses, list building content, and more. Online Marketing Made Easy breaks down big ideas and strategies into actionable step-by-step processes. A recent episode that will help you get more results with a whole lot less stress is on four ways to avoid burnout. Listen to Online Marketing Made Easy wherever you get your podcasts.

21:32Leveraging fractional staffing might just be the key to unlocking growth for you and your business. Get started today with an exclusive offer from Belay. Download their latest resource, The Power of Productivity, for free, just text FIRE to 55123. That's F-I-R-E to 55123 to get started.