- Marleen and her husband, Daniel, reveal they’d been looking for ways to beat the cost-of-living crunch
- They’d already rented out a granny flat under their house to help them earn a bit extra
- When Marleen’s keen eye clocked an unexpected money-making opportunity, she jumped
- Here, Marleen Galligan, 42, from Brisbane, Qld, shares her side hustle story
Sitting on the sofa, scrolling through my phone, something caught my eye.
“This looks interesting…” I said, showing my husband Daniel. “It’s like Airbnb for your pool.”
It was an ad for a company called Swimply, where people could list their pool or backyard and others could rent it by the hour.
It was August 2023, and Daniel worked as an engineer, while I’m a product manager.
With a keen eye for a side hustle, we had recently started renting out our granny flat under the house to earn a bit of extra income.
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“Typical Dutch,” Daniel teased me, but I didn’t mind because he was right!
I’m from Holland originally and the Dutch are well known to never miss an opportunity to make a bit of extra money.
“Let’s try it,” I said. “It might really help people.”
Years before, we had lived in a house opposite a public pool.
When our son Jim was five in 2016, he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in the pituitary gland, and had to undergo a year of chemo.
He wasn’t allowed to swim in public pools because his immune system was compromised. Thankfully, he beat the cancer and went into remission.
After that, we saved up and had a pool put in at our house and I never took that privilege for granted.
I decided to list our pool on the app.
Our very first customer was a man with his eight-year-old daughter, who was neurodiverse and couldn’t handle the crowds at public pools or the beach.
The man rented our pool for an hour and they had a great time splashing about.
“Thank you, that was just what we’ve been looking for,” the father told me afterwards.
After that, it just took off and I rented it to families and couples.
For a while, a man rented it for a naked swim before work.
In fact, I’ve booked it to several nudists and I always pull the blinds closed to give them privacy.
The pool area has plenty of seating, and I threw in noodles and floaties.
They accessed the pool themselves and there’s a bathroom and shower in the annex.
Soon, I had people booking it for pool parties.
That summer, we had around 40 people come for a man’s 40th. They hired it for eight hours.
The neighbours complained about that one so I’m now more selective about who I rent it to.
If my kids, Jim, 14, and Yona, 11, want to use it on a certain weekend I make sure I don’t take bookings.
I have very high standards and after every booking, I go in and clean up.
That’s why I get so many five-star reviews.
Since I started renting it I’ve made $5500.
If we’re ever in at the deep end financially, it’s nice to know our backyard pool can help.
Create a listing for free.
Set your price, upload a few photos, determine your rules and availability and Swimply will make your listing live and ready to go.
Accept reservations when you want.
Guests will find your pool and request to book it by the hour. You can chat with guests, read their reviews and ensure you are comfortable with every reservation before accepting.
Get paid quickly.
Once approved, Guests are charged upfront through Swimply’s secure payment system. Stripe directly deposits your earnings after each booking, minus our service fee.
How to host on Swimply:
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