Viviana Takes a Leap of Faith to Open Her Airbnb

Name of Business: Casa Hostel Sweet Home
Nature of Business: Hospitality
Location: Colombia

I started my hostel, Casa Hostel Sweet Home, in 2019 when three of my children began serving church missions. Our house, of considerable size, was empty due to their absence. In those days, I was informed about AirBnb, a platform that allowed people from all over the world to stay in rooms. Given the circumstances I found myself in, the idea caught my attention. 

I realized that I had a gold mine, so I started to improve certain things. I started with the bedrooms—painting them and purchasing better beds and new sheets, blankets, and towels. My daughter, my husband, and I moved to the back of my house where there were three other rooms, and we separated the lodging part of our home from our living space. 

As the number of guests increased, I saw the opportunity to start building savings. As soon as I could, I installed bathrooms in each of the four rooms, turning them into rooms with a private bathroom in each room. About two years later, after the pandemic, I bought televisions and desks with comfortable chairs.

In 2023, we made improvements to the rooms in which we lived. We built bathrooms and put in televisions and desks. Finally, we decided to act on faith and moved. We also installed a room in a space in the living room with its respective private bathroom. We currently have eight rooms, each with its own private bathroom, making the entire house available to guests.

Thanks to a friend from church, I signed up for an Academy training class. I never thought that I would get so much out of a course. I learned many strategies to improve and organize my company. I learned that if I work hard and save, I can invest and improve. I also learned to keep organized records.

One of the things I loved about the Academy was the 25 Rules of Thumb. As soon as I read them, I immediately began to put many of them into practice. For instance, I didn’t know how important it was to have separate accounts.

I am grateful for having been able to participate in the Academy Awards that was held a few months ago. The category in which I participated was Expand Now!, and I was fortunate to be awarded second place. 

I have big and clear goals for this year, and I will definitely put everything I learned at the Academy into practice. I am very grateful to God because He gave me the tools and faith necessary to undertake this dream that is getting bigger and bigger. My next goal is to open another hostel in my hometown of Buenos Aires. I am doing the respective research to better understand what I need to achieve it, and I know that with God’s help I will soon be able to announce the new location and share the good results I am sure will be reflected.