A$130-200 per night from a tent !

‘Tentsile’ tree tent

You may have a nice location beside a river or just a nice leafy backyard; both can make good coin on AirBnb if you do them property.
The key is to be unique, super friendly and to have a top quality set up, even if that set up is ‘just’ a tent.

A$20K profit / yr

A$6K outlay for everything including A$1.4K for the tent.

We used some mulch and some gravel we had in the yard.

Total time to set up approx 120 man hours.

I have allowed for a replacement of the tent every year.

345% cash on cash return in the first year.

That’s right, this tent will pay itself off in 3 months!

I am now getting A$135 per night and 50% occupancy, but from my experience with a tiny house in the same location we will nudge that up to over $150/ night and 60% occupancy by the end of our first year giving a profit of A$29K / yr.

Tax: Start a new bank account and take every cent you pay and keep every cent you make in that account. Tell your tax professional to include those totals in your tax return. Get advice from your accountant before starting would be my advice. It will only cost a few hundred dollars and it is money well spent.

Recycled kitchen

A$185 started us off with some recycled Absoe pallet racking to which we added recycled tin cladding and a single sheet of form ply to make our kitchen. We added 12V power from a deep-cycle battery, a bar fridge, a new 2 burner cooker from BCF, A$6 storage containers from Bunnings and used pots, pans and cutlery to complete our kitchen.

Gas powered hot shower

We sourced a hot water system from eBay, a second hand shower rail, a few cut stumps and 4 x A$6 pavers to get us a shower. We placed the shower against the kitchen so that the hot water can also be used to clean dishes in the large enamel bowl sink.

Super cozy bedding

Pro Tip: you MUST have a killer photo of the bed. The bed must look super comfy, inviting and special. The fact that tents have minimal insulation places added weight to the need to look warm as well. We used A$80 inflating single bed matrices from BCF, new quality pillows and cushions, second hand but quality sheets in grey and white, then new machine wash doonas and micro fibre blankets.

Composting toilet

55 Gallon blue food barrels are available in every city. Dig one half into the ground and place a wooden lid on top. If you don’t want to do this, there are plenty of ‘composting toilets’ available to purchase online. Either buy a few extra barrels and once they are half full seal them and wait a few months for them to compost, or empty them into a dedicated compost heap. The gist is that once you do your business in the barrel you put a 1 litre scoop of fine sawdust on top and close the lid. They are odourless and hygienic. I encourage you not to get freaked out at the thought of dealing with human waste. This is the key to glamping without installing huge expensive toilet and shower blocks.

What if you don’t own land ??

Whilst people are prone to talking up the shortage of land, there is so much under-utilised land in Australia.
The spreadsheet tells you all you need to know.
Over 300% cash on cash return leaves profit to share with any landowner you choose to partner with.
Let’s say you share 10% of your profits with your landholder partner, that’s still over A$18K per year net profit from a A$6K investment.
Remember: if the first one works, you can scale up and add more.
If it tanks, you still own everything and can trial another site.

That is how to turn A$6k into a $20K income stream

Download my spreadsheet to investigate the financials of your proposed glamping setup.

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