Two sisters who made ₦1 billion through shortleting

The story of two sisters who earned over ₦1 billion from Shortlet  

Bisola Animashaun, at just 21 years old, started a business called Gasurgently, which focused on delivering cooking gas in Abuja.

Her goal was to make it a household name there, but she faced tough economic challenges.High logistics costs kept cutting into her profits, and after three years of struggling with every delivery, she decided to stop the business.

In one of her interviews, she shared, "People think the story starts when things work.

Mine started when they didn’t."  

She explained that Gasurgently wasn’t a failure—it taught her essential business skills like customer service, logistics, and how to handle uncertainty.

Today, Bisola and her sister, Bukola Animashaun, run one of the largest luxury shortlet operations in Abuja and Lagos as equal partners.Bukola manages the Lagos market, while Bisola handles Abuja and the brand's marketing and digital platforms.Together, they have a portfolio that generates ₦1 billion in bookings, has hosted over 10,000 guests, and manages more than 1,000 shortlet apartments in both cities over the past five years, without any outside investment.

They noticed a gap between traditional yearly rentals and regular hotels, especially in the fragmented short-term rental market filled with fake agencies.

They focused on catering to diaspora visitors, young professionals, and business travelers who wanted flexible, furnished accommodations.

Their brand first started through Instagram DMs or visits to their website, luxuryshortlets.com.

It marked its fifth birthday in July 2026.

Managing a portfolio of that size without any external funding is a huge accomplishment for a property management and advisory business.

The sisters worked together to create a highly efficient digital system that turns Instagram inquiries into WhatsApp consultations, which then guide users to their booking website.

Their biggest strength was strict verification.

They built trust with landlords by thoroughly checking guests and providing honest reports on property yields.

Their prices range from ₦150,000 to ₦250,000 per night for a standard two-bedroom unit in prime locations like Ikoyi, Victoria Island, and Lekki Phase 1, with rates reaching up to ₦1,000,000 per night.

Instead of enjoying their profits by living a luxurious life, the sisters find joy in funding international research trips to study hospitality markets in places like Dubai, South Africa, Kenya, and Thailand.

They are using these insights to launch a new, bigger platform called Stay Afrik, with the goal of scaling their model across the entire continent.