With summer fast approaching Scottish Bed and Breakfast
The Shepherd’s House’s season is well under way. On the east shore of Loch Lomond in Scotland, Jenny and Chris Townsend offer their guests the experience of sleeping in a woodsman’s cottage or a traditionally-styled shepherd’s hut when they come to stay. We caught up with them about running their own business…
PayPal: What have been your greatest successes?
Jenny Townsend: We’ve literally built out business from the ground up. Our biggest achievement has to be The Shepherd’s Rest, our en-suite shepherd’s hut, which was designed and built to our specification. Fitting everything into the limited space and working out how to provide a full cooked breakfast was a challenge, but our guests always love it!
PP: What advice would you give to other small businesses and those thinking of taking the plunge and creating a start-up?
JT: Whatever you do, do it well and don’t forget the details. Look at what’s out there and successful already and find a twist that makes it yours. We knew Shepherd’s huts are popular in the UK, but there wasn’t one in our area so we were immediately set apart from other local B&Bs. Once we had attracted customers it was the attention to detail, like the enormous hamper we deliver to the hut each morning, which earned us good reviews and repeat visits.
PP: Has PayPal helped your business?
JT: The PayPal brand is the most instantly visible benefit to us. When we produce our
PayPal Here app and card reader to collect our guest’s payment they are intrigued at the concept of a compact card reader working alongside an app on our iPad, but also reassured that the payment is being handled by a recognised brand they trust.
PP: When did you start using PayPal Here and why?
JT: When we first looked at taking cards we were put off by the costs of a long lease on a card reader and a merchant bank account. Then we learned there were low-cost solutions that could be tied to a smartphone or a tablet. We weighed up each one before opting for PayPal Here. Our key concerns were trust and security. From the outset, PayPal Here offered us Chip-and-PIN payment, and we knew our guests would recognise the brand, which we felt was important as we were asking them to connect their credit cards to our own iPad.
PP: How do customers react to PayPal Here?
JT: I really enjoy producing the PayPal Here card reader when guests ask to pay by card, because I know it’s going to get a good
reaction. On a purely practical level, many of our guests visit us as part of a walking holiday on the West Highland Way, and as they leave us to head north towards Fort William it will be another day and a half before their route takes them past a cash machine. They are often very grateful of the chance to pay us by card and save the cash in their pockets for when they really need it.