Who Starts A Business During Covid? We Do!
Business start up...
We started Grampian Campervan Hire during Covid, perhaps not ideal timing some may say, but we felt there were opportunities to be exploited, not least a boom in staycations and a lust for travel and exploration after many months of lockdown.
And one year in, we’re delighted to report that is working really well for us, despite the obvious challenges we’ve faced along the way.
We started the business as a way to change our lives. Jan currently spends a lot of time travelling and working overseas, with Covid proving this as more of a challenge than normal. It’s not as exciting or glamourous as some may think – it’s definitely not a holiday! Therefore, we wanted a vast change in lifestyle, so Jan can work from home and spend more time with our family.
Our business inspiration came from having our own campervan, which the kids love. Sleeping in bunk beds, playing on the beach and scooting around campsites, such a simple way to enjoy a good holiday. Further incentive came from living in Scotland, such a beautiful and diverse country with so much history and culture, where you can feel as close to nature as you can get. It made perfect sense to enable others to experience this country and make their own adventures and memories too.
...and growing!
Our rental fleet of campervans grew quickly! We started out offering two VW campervans for hire, but Jan quickly said ‘Let’s Go Big or Go Home!’. So, we purchased three larger Fiat Ducato vans, which are easy to drive, very light and open.
Taking into account the experience we gained from our own campervan trips, we decided to kit the vans out fully with everything needed to make it as easy as possible to hop in and head off to start your own adventure. From plates to a BBQ, headtorch to walking guidebooks, and coffee to a camping set, we’ve included everything so you don’t have to worry about forgetting anything. Our mission is to see couples, families and friends have a great time and come back with big smiles – and of course their four-legged furry friends to come back with waggy tails!
We had never done anything like this before, a totally new business venture and leap of faith. But after the first season, even with the challenges Covid presented to us, we had achieved numerous hires and made a lot of travellers very happy.
Satisfaction
For us, the greatest satisfaction has been to meet so many lovely people and help them explore our beautiful country. From first time campervanners to experienced travellers, we have had a wonderful time meeting people and facilitating their travel dreams. We have even had families book campervans while their family or friends were out enjoying a trip, as they too wanted to have the experience of campervanning! This success and satisfaction have encouraged us to further expand our business. We added a further two campervans. One lovely VW long wheel, so a bit more space than the smaller VW and a bit more luxury, and a Renault Traffic that is in the process of being build.. It will be a sports campervan with storage for bikes and wet gear, and a trendy interior featuring a rock ‘n’ roll bed and pop-up roof. That will bring our current fleet of vans to seven – not back going for one year of business!
Investing
We are also further investing in the business to facilitate growth and success. We are enhancing the facilities, including building a large garage to store the vans, and a larger car park to allow secure parking for customers while they enjoy their time away in their campervan. We're also introducing a new website and online booking system to make it even easier to hire a campervan too.
Thank you!
We would like to thank you, every person who helped us, believed in us and supported us. But most of all we thank all our lovely customers who have hired our campervans. Thank you for your lovely reviews and notes written in the diaries, and lovely words and even some gifts when you came back from your holidays – it makes washing and cleaning the campervans all worthwhile!
We look forward to another year of campervanning and hope to see you again this year.
