SHÂN'S BUSINESS BOUNCEBACK

Shân Eastwood set up her driver guiding business over eight years ago to provide high-end tours for American and European tourists to Wales. With coronavirus, she’s now offering a companion driver service to support people who are shielding, selfisolating or are vulnerable.

At the beginning of the year she was planning hotels and booking activities for clients, and looking forward to a full season. As coronavirus took hold, tourism became non-existent, and she started again. She’s adjusted her luxury glass-roofed tourer by adding a sneeze guard and a cleaning station for guests. She’s taken the middle row of seats out of operation so guests can only sit in the rear of the vehicle, and she limits her bookings in order to make time for cleaning. She wears PPE and can provide it to guests if asked.

Guests are relieved to find a service that has taken such measures to protect people. There will always be a need to travel, be it to collect shopping or prescriptions, or to attend medical appointments. Being mindful of the devastation that the pandemic has caused, there has been an opportunity to reflect on the local market, build on the service already in place and create new packages to customers when we emerge from the lockdown. At the moment the cards are still in the air for a lot of people, and working dynamically and responding to changes is key.

1

Keep thinking of all the possibilities.

2

Be open to change and just do it.

3

Remember all the lessons you learned when you built your business in the first place. If you did it before, you can do it again.