Small Business Spotlight: Maze of Maize
They decided to plant it with maize and then created a maze in the crop, which local families could come and enjoy over six weeks during the summer. We caught up with Siân on running her own business….
PayPal: What have been your greatest successes?
Siân Wildeboer: My favourite thing about the business is all the people I get to meet. Our greatest success has always been the huge amount of positive feedback and visitors coming back again and again. We’ve already had more visits in the last couple of weeks than the whole of last year, many of whom said they had been waiting for us to re-open. We now have a great local following, and it’s lovely to feel we are contributing to the local community. We’ve hosted an engagement party, a child’s 5th birthday and days out with the local college and Rainbow groups – all of which have come about organically through good feedback and word of mouth.
PP: What advice would you give to other small businesses and those thinking of taking the plunge and creating a start-up?
SW: Do it! The daunting bit is actually before you start. Once you have overcome the fear and taken the plunge it’s a lot less scary than you think. It is hard work, but if you never try you’ll never know.
PP: When did you start using PayPal Here?
SW: We’re a small business and only trading for around six weeks a year. Being so seasonal means it’s just not cost effective for us to go to the bank to sign up for a card reader. With
PayPal Here we can take card payments on the go. It’s so user friendly, and the instant email confirmation put your mind at ease that the payment has been taken.
PP: Has PayPal Here helped your business?
SW: As our visitors recognise and trust the PayPal brand they are happy to use the machine, and they love that the can still pay by card in the middle of a field! We use the app on our iPad, which is very user friendly and easy to update when we add different items for sale.
Imogen Howat