We’re Ben and Hollie, a couple from the UK now living in Dubai with our miniature dachshund, Richmond. A few years ago we were both in full-time jobs we didn’t enjoy, living for the weekend and wondering where life was heading. We always wanted to get into property, but saving up for a deposit felt like it would take years.

In 2020, while we were both on furlough, Hollie started managing holiday cottages for local owners. That grew into a management business, and the money from it let us try rent-to-rent, where you rent a property from a landlord and run it as an Airbnb. It didn’t go smoothly at first. We lost money in the early months before we got it right, but we did, and it grew into a portfolio. You can see that business at The Yorkshire Hosts.

What we learned along the way is that it’s the systems that give you freedom, not the Airbnbs. We spent years building and systemising our business, and a lot of time and money on mistakes along the way. Once we’d perfected the system, with cleaners, automations and a team in place, the business ran without us. That’s what allowed us to move to Dubai, a dream of ours for eight years.

People kept asking how we did it, so in 2024 we started the Ben & Hollie Academy. We’ve since shared our systems and knowledge with our mentees, and many have gone on to build their own in a matter of months. We’ve now helped over 100 people get started, many of them alongside full-time jobs, just like we were.