Fifteen years ago we decided to diversify into providing guest accommodation on our family farm, little would we know that the process would not be reaching an end point, but more of an evolving journey full of twist turns and challenges.
Three property conversions later, and we are still only on the cusp of realising our true potential.
Stepping onto the diversification ladder has allowed us to develop more skills than we ever thought possible.
Investing in Green Technologies
Our Green agenda made both good business sense, and at the same time had a fit for us which enabled us to feel good about the business we were growing. Heating our accommodation switching from Oil to Biomass was a big commitment in terms of time, money and infrastructure changes. Solar Pannels enabled us to produce a third of our power consumption. and adding an Electric Vehicle Charge point would equip us for the future.
Meeting Customer Need Ahead of Expectation
Hot Tubs provided additionality to our offering, and we committed to having one for each property.
Then Covid-19 and our decision to invest in our infrastructure yet further, would be a gamble yet a perceived risk worth taking. Balancing the risk of doing nothing would be more detrimental than Equipping our business with future potential beyond Covid-19. To this end, we built a barn and constructed a covered outside dining area.
Income was massively impacted, we provided emergency accommodation, for Foster Children, Key worker accommodation and Sheilding accommodation for a lovely lady from Devon needing to be closer to her family.
Living in a rural location Wifi was our weakness, so investing in 4G technology to provide fast connectivity for our guests required me to become a network engineer with a little help from a very good friend Shaun Russel who I met on a business startup course 15 years ago.
A Growing Passion For A Rural Lifestyle
Watching Jeremy Clarkson In his new series Clarkson’s Farm, provides many examples of the daily challenges of living this rural lifestyle whilst fueling a Nation with an inner desire to seek out a simpler life in the country, truth be told there is nothing simple about living in the country, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
While this article may give you a taste of our journey, living it provides you with an experience second to none, encouragingly I haven’t mentioned sheep or pigs in any part of this article, so for my mental health I am choosing to se this as a positive indicator for success.
For more information on Our Family Farm Stay Visit us at Group Bookings and better still commit some time to staying with us. Thanks for reading Wayne & Sue
