Cottage ideas/business

[fourpawswhite]

Good morning

After a difficult few years fertility wise I am reconsidering my future and whether I want to remain in professional career.

I am also a farmers wife and due to MIL retiring we have next door a small, very old fashioned two bedroom cottage. I am forty in a couple of years and am thinking about options for me for a different, not necessarily easier lifestyle.

We are tenant farmers but have access to a lot of land. I have savings.

I am thinking of firstly, doing up cottage to a nice comfortable standard for holiday lets. That would be fairly easy to do and would bring in a low income for me (nobody else in the family wants to do it and it normally stands empty).

I think it needs something else though. We used to have a lot of big families stay, before we took over the bigger cottages ourselves. I have been looking at glamping huts or yurts or things along those lines.

Before I get carried away, what do you actually want from glamping as oppose to from a self catering cottage. I keep thinking more along cottage lines and need to remember the whole point of glamping is that it's not a cottage.

So for example, do you expect linen? Wifi? Fridge and television?

I have a lot of experience in self catering industry, from cleaning to using but none at all with glamping sites.

Do they have indoor showers? Where would you expect to cook?

Ideally I would like two units plus the cottage, the units completely secluded and in very good tourist area albeit by car. Lots of walks locally, cycling etc.

I have started a business plan and looked at the local market where there is a gap.

I suppose where I need help is from those of you who use these types of holidays. What makes it for you? What do you hate? Open to any and all suggestions, however different!!

Many thanks in advance.

Not the question you asked exactly but as tenant farmers how secure is your tenancy and how Brexit proof do you think it is (I.e. if/when subs go)? Are you on an FBT and for how long? I would be wary of ploughing your own savings into someone else's property in terms of any renovations the cottage may need. Be aware that diversifying in this way as tenants may have implications for your landlords, and the 'value' of your tenancy to them (I.e they are no longer just renting you a farm they are now renting you a farm and a tourism business).

As for the 'glamping' we are just starting down this road ourselves (we already have a holiday cottage business on the farm) and we have decided on the shepherds hut route after quite a bit of research and are currently waiting on them being delivered. We are also going to invest in turning a shippon nearby where they will be sited into a small toilet/shower block with the intention that if we wanted to use it to offer a small amount of camping in the future under the 28 day rules alongside the huts we could.

I personally would focus on one project at once, we have been running the cottages for around 6 years and it's only really the last couple of years that it doesn't feel we are still on a very steep learning curve and have felt comfortable branching out. What we offer has evolved over time as guests have given feedback on various things. I wouldn't be over thinking the WiFi/linens stuff until you are actually in the position where you need to make those kind of decisions.

No one has been able to give up their 'day jobs' yet in favour of cottage income, and we have a really high occupancy rate. it's very much an extra to the 'farm' income (although it's run separately for vat purposes) and not a replacement for a regular wage coming in from outside.

Also don't underestimate the impact it has on the day to day the farm business itself. When you have guests things like noisy dogs, silaging, chainsawing, generally using quad bikes before 9am in the morning etc can all be potential problems for people who thought they were coming for a quiet week in the countryside. That's before you even dare to think about the normal farm safety issues.

Thank you so much @Scrowy super help.

I wasn't particularly helpful in my first post really. Farm tenancy side, no issues there at all.

Experience wise, ran three cottages for five years, then we moved into them. So this is a new start so to speak, but have done it before, well that side of it.

It's the huts I am looking at, which most seem to do with the separate toilet block.

I don't think I have explained it very well, but was reading the what would you want from a five start cottage thread, and was thinking what would you want from glamping, if that makes sense? More because it's something I have never personally done very much of. So in an ideal glamping location, what do you want?

Yes the farm health and safety issues are a real test at times. Dogs being a big one. We also cannot take anyone with them as we have 24 here and new ones never go down well.

Your new project sounds exciting, wishing you lots of luck. Mao many things to think about.

We’ve been glamping a few times and our requirements as as follows
No mud
WiFi
Running water in the accommodation (cold is fine)
Heat source ( wood burner fine)
Duvets
Toilet either in the accommodation or just outside
We can take the dog

That’s just us though, a lot of people wouldn’t want all that

Would you consider adding a "farm experience" element to your clamping? Bit if farm set up so kids could feed the chickens, pet a lamb, etc (I know nothing about farming but have seen a few of these type of places get rave reviews). Add in some farm themed play equipment?

Hi - I've got a holiday let cottage managed by an agent. They tell me that top searches are : places near to the sea, with a hot tub, accepts dogs and has an open fire / solid fuel stove. Hope this helps.

Do you have good hacking very near or onsite? If so section off a small paddock or two and you can also market yourself to horse riders.

As for yurts, no idea!

I think you would need to check with your landlord and maybe the local council if there are any restrictions with your business idea first.

Thanks all, some good ideas.

All sorted re legal and planning side. I suppose what I am wondering is what people like. I have booked three nights at different glamping places to see for myself. I think not having been is a mistake. I could write a book on self catering after having the cottage and twenty odd years of holidays. Glamping is unknown territory.

We used to do horse holidays funnily enough but demand not great despite exceptional area for it. Will still retain as option though.

Dogs I need to give more thought to. I holiday with my dogs, and look for a hot tub!! It is a huge positive. However it's the danger aspect. My SIL has fourteen working dogs who run like a pack. Someone wondering in with a male dog would be in danger. Perhaps a restricted dog paddock might work. We have been to places like that before without issue.

Always happy to show people what's going on at lambing time and do a small tour. Had not considered play park but that's a good idea. Will look at insurance for that as well.

In Scottish Borders so what people love has been scenery, cycling, walking, common ridings and festivals. It is walkable to a village and about forty minutes to beach in car. River about ten minutes walk away with good swimming. We are very rural and isolated in winter so it won't be for everyone.

Have had people camp occasionally but looking to offer a bit more.

We had a family who came every year, grandparents, parents and then children. They have well outgrown us. They said they would love to come and have the kids in some kind of glamping with one or two adults and rest in cottage. I suppose that's where I started thinking what could I do here to make this bigger.