Keeping it within the family

I’ve been part of creating a lot websites in my time but they have all tended to be part of bigger corporate organisations I helped to create.

Since owning a Villa in Orlando, in 2009, my wife and I have had to learn the ropes in the villa rental industry and this has led to a new website in my life which is the first one I’ve created that we could potentially pass down to my sons and daughter when we go.

Villa rentals is an age old industry but with the internet to support, the possibilities are endless. We’ve chosen to focus on the Luxury Villa market in popular destinations worldwide with the launch of Kerrie’s new company Exclusive Private Villas. The villa market is booming and there has been meteoric growth with companies such as AirBnb, Homeaway and VRBO. We chose the luxury market as this we felt there was less risk of commoditisation in this space as luxury villa rental is a considered purchase, meaning you need (in most cases) a specialist to help out.

The first step was to think of a destination so we chose the places we like to go to and Disney World Florida is probably where we go the most as our own villa is there. We now have nearly 200 Luxury Villas in Orlando on our site and are branching out to our next destination which is Barbados. We’ve actually stayed in a luxury barbados villa and we can honestly say that with your own chef and cleaner (6 days per week) which is completely the norm, the holiday is totally relaxed.

In just four months, we have already secured over $250,000 worth of bookings and we are close to breaking even but as I know from any business I’ve started, it’s uphill struggle with plenty of risk…but, as always, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of fun along the way too. Follow Kerrie’s story on her Facebook page if you are interested and we are also sharing lots of amazing photos on Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter (@EPVillas).