Working in the Wild: Running a Small Business in Remote Scotland

It is no mystery that Scotland is a country of remote wilderness, mountains, lochs, and few people. Isolated communities are scattered miles from towns, allowing new ways of life to emerge. Running a remote business out in the countryside where people are few and far between poses an incredible adventure and a challenging livelihood. How do the small business owners of Scotland’s remote villages balance adventure, community, family, and a successful business?

Dalavich Shop and Wild Rowan Cafe sits peacefully on the banks of Loch Awe. Set against a backdrop of forestry, water, mountains, and treacherous roads, the Cafe is at least an hour from any major town or shop. However, they always succeed in providing a welcome haven for many cyclists, lost tourists, and adventurous holidaymakers throughout the summer. But what challenges does being so remote present and why is it worth it?

A chat with Martin and Caroline

Brig had a chat with Martin and Caroline, who have tirelessly run the community shop, cafe, and now pizzeria for the last two years – alongside raising their young son. 

“The location of the shop is central to what was once a forestry village and is now an absolutely thriving multi-cultural village with residents very involved in keeping the village healthy, happy and maintained and tourists keeping it busy and vibrant,” Caroline told us, setting the scene of the family’s remote business. She moved on to describe some of the key challenges they face. 

“It’s pretty hard when you run out of things. Our customers expect us to be stocked as we are the only shopping option for a long way,” Caroline explained.

“We are situated 28 miles outside our nearest small town […] this is generally a three or four-hour round trip before unloading at the shop.” 

Caroline then mentioned that they have to take their young son with them, as child care in such a remote location is also severely limited. Once entertainment, food, unloading, pricing, and restocking have been completed, a whole day has passed.

Location, location, location

Weather poses a significant issue to the family and the business. Being set on the west coast of Scotland does not guarantee much sunshine…at all.

“We’ve had to close due to flooding making the shop inaccessible, power cuts caused by storm damage and this year we lost 30 per cent of our footfall due to a landslide which left our main through road closed on one side for five months.”

“Staffing is also hard out here,

“We are beyond lucky to have made some amazing connections within Dalavich and surrounding villages and have a small team of local staff.”

Unique options have been explored by Martin and Caroline to staff their cafe and shop, such as using the popular travel site Worldpackers. In exchange for food and accommodation, couples from all around the world come and work five days a week for around two months. This creative solution came with equal pros and cons;

“We have met incredible people whose friendship we will treasure forever. But training new staff every eight weeks and constantly responding to different people and personalities within our café and our home has been tiring.”

What makes it worth the effort?

“We love our customers and we love hosting!”

“Seeing happy smiling faces at our café is 100% the best bit. A spectacular-looking hot chocolate that gets an “Oooooh”, serving a warm wholesome meal, providing entertainment, connecting with people from all over the world in a way you can only connect in a tiny village in the middle of the woods. This is all part of the magic that happens at the Wild Rowan Café.”

Caroline moved on to tell us about the strength and support in such a small community. 

“We are very about community spirit and bringing people together to have fun,

“We will be forever grateful to our lovely neighbours who would pick us up 20 litres of milk on their way home from work because we had a rush on hot chocolates, or who’d grab us a cabbage for coleslaw the next day and saved us three hours out our evening!”

Caroline concluded the interview with a statement that will strike true with many small business owners. 

“To keep small rural businesses alive in 2024?  It takes a village.”

Featured Image Credit: Loch Awe National Park

Journalism student at the University of Stirling. I like writing about happy stories 🙂