Working and enjoying the great outdoors comes naturally to self-employed kayaker Piotr Gudan. He has been running bespoke guided kayak tours around parts of stunning Scottish lochsides and coasts for five years.
Being forced to close due to the coronavirus pandemic has been heartbreaking, but he is already thinking ahead and looking at ways to be ready when he can welcome people back to his Perthshire business.
“When I started my business I was told the first year was the hardest to survive, well that was until a pandemic came along,” said Mr Gudan who runs Perthshire-based Outdoor Explore.
“We have become an established brand in what we do which is offering tours and tuition for kayaking, biking and on foot in our area. We are actively engaged with our customers and there are no barriers to giving them access to what we offer. Over the years I have built up relationships in business and tourism bodies and all of that is helping with the situation we find ourselves in.”
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Mr Gudan, who is currently self-isolating for 14 weeks himself as his young son was suffering from a cold, said: “We have been looking at ways of reducing costs. There are no staff costs as it is just me. Other people who work with me are freelance and are therefore self-employed. I have been able to reduce some of the insurance costs at this time as we are not actively taking people out. We have a rented base in Blairgowrie and the landlord there has been very good to us. So I have been able to significantly reduce costs so we are in a position to survive this.”
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A self-confessed outdoors enthusiast, Mr Gudan has had to reschedule planned booking and is making preparations now so that they are ready to launch when restrictions are lifted.
“This is a very difficult time for me as I am so use to being outdoors, I live and breathe it, and I think many people will have that feeling of wanting to get out when the time is ready. We want to be in a position to offer tours again from day one. This period is giving me time to work on the website and develop some of the tours. Imagine a night sky kayaking tour under the stars or after dark when there is just you and a crackle of noise from a thin layer of ice.
“I think people will want to be outdoors and perhaps look for activities closer to home to begin with. In the meantime people will just have to get their fix from some of the virtual tours on our website. They can enjoy the outdoors that way.”
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