![\"\"](\"http:\/\/turo.com\/blog\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/08\/IMG_0375_Full-scaled-e1628109337324.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhile Toka comes from a hard working immigrant family, he grew up in Toronto community housing and does not come from money. Nevertheless, he refused to let that get in his way. He enrolled in driving school and scraped together the money to start competing and winning in series like the Super Production Challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the environment I come from, there are a lot of ceilings. The majority of them are self-inflicted ceilings, because of social norms. So my main goal is if I can inspire my friends, they can inspire their own friends, and it\u2019s gonna be a chain reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Racing onto Turo in a \u201chumble\u201d Nissan Micra S<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
When it came to earning money to cover the costs of racing, Toka was committed. He worked several jobs, including time in a fine foods market and as a finance manager, to raise funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI get my motivation and persistence from racing. Every day that I don\u2019t work hard, is a day that I\u2019m potentially losing money, which is a day I\u2019m potentially losing seat time. That\u2019s enough motivation to get me going and do my work. My persistence also comes from racing because in racing, the fastest driver is not always the winner. In racing, consistency is the winner. I have to be fast, consistent, and disciplined not only on the track but also off the track. I\u2019ve just incorporated that racing habit into my everyday lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2019, he heard about Turo from fellow host Elan S<\/a>. After seeing that Elan had more than six cars listed and was managing them while working full time<\/a>, he figured Turo would be a good way to get some business experience while making a little money on the side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe main motivation was that it was a good business experience. Something I can learn, like school. That\u2019s how I was looking at it. Like free education or getting paid to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was already located downtown near Billy Bishop Airport and Union Station, which would make it easy for guests to meet him. He started by listing his own car, a Nissan Micra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was a very humble car. It was a 2019 Nissan Micra S. I think it was the second-cheapest new car you could get at the time. It had manual locks \u2014 you actually had to lock each individual door \u2014 and roll up windows. Pure base model. I got it shipped from Mexico, straight from the manufacturing line. I was like, \u2018I don\u2019t know how well this is going to do on Turo, so I\u2019ll just put it on as a learning experience.\u2019 To my surprise, it was booming. I had to schedule days off, because if I didn\u2019t the car would be gone all week, all month. I was very surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the summer wound down, he was cautioned that business might slow down during the fall, but the colder temperatures barely put a dent in his bookings. Encouraged by his success and eager to become a diverse host, he listed a 2017 BMW 328d M Sport and watched as his bookings spiked during the Christmas season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the bookings rolled in, Toka started putting more time into developing his Turo listings. He decided he\u2019d commit to it for a year to really see if it was a worthwhile way to make side income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe main motivation was the entrepreneurial side of it. I want to be diverse with a lot of businesses. I was making decent money from Turo, so I started putting more time into it. Now, I\u2019ve developed a routine where I optimize. I put in the littlest amount of time and maximize my profits, so I can focus on my main goal and make easy money on the side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It worked out. Each car started paying for its own monthly payment, parking, and maintenance. When COVID hit, he streamlined his cleaning process and threw wipes and sanitizer into his cars, so his guests would feel comfortable. Over time, his new guests turned into regulars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou want to make sure you\u2019re always in communication with the guest. You don\u2019t ever want to leave them in the dark, because a lot of the time they rely on you to know what\u2019s going on, especially when you get a first-time guest. They have no idea what they\u2019re doing. So always be communicative towards the guest as well as being very responsive. If you can reply within a minute, they love that and it provides more confidence for them. The majority of my clients now are repeat customers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His advice for other Turo hosts is to focus on customer service especially by taking advantage of features like automated texts and to focus on streamlining as often as possible, so you can maximize your time without compromising on safety or customer service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All of this effort has allowed him to save up a decent amount of money that he says he sets aside as a buffer for car payments if he ever hits a bump in the road on Turo. So far, he hasn\u2019t needed to dive into it. Instead, he\u2019s grown to calling his host earnings his \u201copportunity fund\u201d for his racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLet\u2019s say there\u2019s a race team in America. They\u2019ve been seeing my videos, they\u2019ve been seeing me on Turo\u2019s blog, and they say, \u2018Toka, we\u2019d like you to come out to San Francisco to test drive this car, and let\u2019s see how you do\u2019. That means I can get a plane ticket to San Francisco, get a hotel, get race car insurance because if it goes bad I\u2019m not going to be able to afford the car. Now I\u2019m in a position where I can say, \u201cYes, I\u2019ll be there next week.\u201d I\u2019ve got available funds, I\u2019m there. If I impress them, they might give me a full ride for the whole season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toka\u2019s been able to apply many of the skills learned through racing to his car sharing business. One of the most useful skills he\u2019s developed is resilience, which allows him to take risks like joining Turo and adding more cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m 23. I can bounce back from anything. Worst-case scenario, I just liquidate and start from scratch, but that\u2019s not even a bad case cause I\u2019ll have capital at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nDeveloping his entrepreneurial side on Turo<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nTaking lessons from the marketplace to the track<\/h4>\n\n\n\n