Zoey McClellan
Zoey owns and runs the Cabins at the Roost in Blairgowrie along with her husband, Steve.
Getting Started
Zoey and Steve met in 2019, just before the pandemic hit and she was made redundant. They decided to build a house and apply for planning for some cabins at the same time on their 14 acre small holding.
Zoey says: “The cabin idea was something I had always wanted to do. We married in December 2020. Four months later we had sold up, and were living in a caravan on site and managing both builds.”
The Enterprise Journey
Zoey is proud of achieving 90% occupancy in their first year of business, and of managing to live in a caravan whilst it was happening! “It has been a crazy few years but we just stuck to the plan and kept going,” she says. "Our guests have given us amazing support and I’m constantly blown away by their lovely feedback.”
As with any business, there’s been things to learn along the way, such as doing enough due diligence on contractors for the cabins. “We wasted considerable resources on the wrong people, but did end up with an amazing team,” explains Zoey.
The cost of living has also impacted the business, with Zoey observing that people are booking shorter stays and more last minute than previously, but she feels they still desire special getaways where they can relax.
“I am acutely aware that people’s budgets are being squeezed and there is a lot of choice out there now for some fantastic rural staycations, so our goal is to provide our guests with the best value experience we can,” says Zoey.
Support Along the Way
Zoey and Steve got help early on, particularly with things they knew they’d struggle with themselves. “A planning specialist told us the project would never happen but our house architect thought otherwise and helped us with the successful planning application. Claire Fleming from Peel Farm was a great adviser at this stage, she has been through it all before.”
Zoey also spoke to GrowBiz for support with social media, web design, marketing and the accounts. She says: “"I approached GrowBiz early on, they quickly helped me find social media and accountancy support, which I believe is a huge part of our success.”
“Alan Garratt from GrowBiz was friendly and responsive and I have found his recommendations to be spot on,” Zoey adds. “The people I have taken on to support me with the business feel like a perfect fit. Thanks to GrowBiz I found Angela Baker, who is now our Social Media Manager and KWG who provide our accountant and booking keeping support.”
Zoey recommends new entrepreneurs follow their example: “If there is an important part of your business that you may struggle with, get help early on. I knew I would procrastinate over the accounts and put it this way I would rather clean a cabin than tackle social media.”
Looking to the Future
Zoey and Steve have two cabins operational, but they have planning permission for two more. They are also working towards net zero goals for the site and plan to invest in more renewable energy sources, which will also help with the rising cost of electricity. Zoey comments: “Our largest cost and contributor is electricity, the cabins have 500 litre luxury spa hot tubs which are costly to run.
“We are in the process of having a renewable assessment done on the whole site to see where we can look at a more sustainable way of running things. This is likely to be in the form of heat exchangers for our hot tubs and a bank of solar PV.”
They are also considering getting more animals on the site, as current guests absolutely love the sheep!
Zoey’s final piece of advice is: “Do what you love and it doesn’t feel like work, just keep going.”
