Joseph Woodbury had his future planned out. With a prestigious job lined up at Bain & Company after college, he was on the fast track to a secure, high-paying career. That all changed when his co-founder came to him with a simple yet groundbreaking idea born from a personal frustration: Why pay a fortune for a commercial storage unit miles away when there are empty garages, sheds, and driveways in every neighborhood? Joseph decided to turn down his corporate job and risk it all on this new venture, a choice that would lead to the creation of a revolutionary platform in the sharing economy.
That simple idea evolved into Neighbor.com, the "Airbnb of self-storage," a tech startup that has now expanded to all 50 states. The platform connects people who need storage with those who have extra space, creating a powerful stream of passive income for hosts. From the average homeowner earning thousands a year by renting out an empty garage to a middle school teacher making an extra $30,000 annually from her loft, Neighbor.com is turning underutilized property into a cash-flowing asset. Some hosts are even scaling their operations into seven-figure earnings, proving that your unused space holds incredible financial potential.
In this episode, Joseph Woodbury joins Ryan Atkinson to break down the business growth model that’s disrupting the $40 billion storage industry. Listen in to discover how to audit your own home for profitable spaces, the secrets to building a successful marketplace from scratch, and the strategies to generate thousands in truly passive income. If you're looking for your next entrepreneurship idea or a new way to build wealth, this interview will show you how to find opportunities right in your own backyard.
Takeaways:
- The company was founded after a co-founder's poor experience with traditional storage, inspiring Joseph Woodberry to turn down a prestigious corporate job at Bain & Company to launch the startup from college.
- As the "Airbnb of self-storage," the platform enables hosts to earn truly passive income by renting out their unused space, requiring only about 30 minutes of management per month on average.
- Hosts can generate substantial revenue, with earnings ranging from thousands of dollars annually for a simple driveway to over $120,000 a year for those who optimize larger properties.
- The platform allows for the monetization of almost any space imaginable, from residential garages and lots to larger commercial properties and even the parking lots of churches.
- Neighbor.com builds trust by being a safer alternative to traditional facilities—with much lower break-in rates in residential areas—and by backing it up with a $1M host guarantee and up to $50k in renter protection.
- A constant focus for the business is solving the "chicken-and-egg problem" of acquiring enough local hosts (supply) to satisfy the demand from renters in every new market.
- Joseph's key advice is to build a business around a problem you are passionate about, viewing the startup journey itself as an invaluable experience that makes you more hirable, not less.
- A key feature is the "Smart Pricing" tool, which uses machine learning to automatically adjust listing prices to help hosts maximize their income with minimal effort.- The company's growth was accelerated by the cultural shift created by pioneers like Airbnb and Uber, which made consumers comfortable with peer-to-peer business models.
- Despite being active in all 50 states, the company's biggest remaining obstacle to future growth is widespread brand awareness, which takes years of word-of-mouth to build.
Tags: Tech Startup, Tech Ventures, Entrepreneurship, Passive Income, Business Growth, Neighbor.com
Resources:
Start Your Business Today: links.upflip.com/43YNzum
Connect with Joseph : https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephwoodbury
The UpFlip Podcast