3.4.6 Place
Where you are located may be a key factor in developing a rural business. For example, Wales is renowned for its high quality artisan ingredients. Getting the products physically to market can be very challenging though, and expensive, hence the premium we often find on these types of Welsh products.
For a tourism business, location is fundamental and is often central to any marketing message. Place matters. For example many tourism businesses do not just rely on natural beauty but create a local package emphasising their localness through the use of local ingredients or traditional products. That place-based value can also be used to sell those local products into global markets, for example, Welsh hillside lamb.
For a knowledge-based business, like Gwenllian’s, place may be less relevant. If you are dependent on infrastructure, like digital connectivity, you may feel that location is immaterial. However, knowledge businesses can also emphasise location. For example, if you were a web designer you might emphasise to local customers that you are nearby, and emphasise to potential customers in other rural areas that you understand the needs of rural businesses.