2025: Subletting Business Is Getting Tough
The main thing for a subletter is keeping the cost of acquiring units low—negotiating as low a rent as possible with the landlord. Ideally, the place can be handed to a tenant without any extra renovation, so your cash flow isn't delayed. Then there's the local job market: it needs to be strong enough to generate consistent demand and keep vacancies low, which stabilizes cash flow. As long as you keep securing good new units, your cash flow stays healthy. When the employment climate is good, subletters can make over 500,000 RMB a month easily; now, with the downturn, even 200,000 RMB a year is hard to come by. Those who manage cash poorly end up relying on loans just to get by.
Another sign the industry is deteriorating is the sudden appearance of "gurus" selling courses. Whenever a business model starts making those who already know how to do it rich by teaching others, that's usually a signal the underlying profitability is fading—they're just harvesting beginners at that point.