Cowal
Cabins
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Meet the
Team Our team members have all personally invested into this business and contributed towards getting the business off the
ground. However, once opened the lodges will be managed by
who resides in the local area.
Manager & Head of Marketing
Research & Development
Research & Development
Market Research & Sales
Interior Designer & Financial Advisor
Finance Manager & Property Developer
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About Us
Manager & Head of Marketing
 Experience working with Air BnB properties and cleaning them.
 Experience running companies social media platforms.
 In the age bracket for our target market so understands the wants/ desires.
Research and Development
 HND in admin and IT.
 Experience completing administrative tasks and duties for well known companies.
 Strong communications skills (oral and written).
Research and Development
 Management and Analysis Skills in Economics.
 Experience in Marketing and Communications.
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About Us
Research & Sales
 Experience in Communication and Marketing.
 Creative skills to develop logo and website.
Interior Designer & Financial Advisor
 Experience in retail and retail environments.
 Qualifications in Events Management.
 Strong creative qualities.
Finance Manager & Property Developer
 Experience in Excel and Accounting.
 Topography and computer-aided design skills.
 Experience with public and safety during Covid 19.
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What do we
do? Cowal Cabins are a plot of luxury log cabins with hot tubs which can sleep a maximum of 8 people.
We offer a variety of different sized cabins, some
which can sleep a maximum of 4 people, and some
which can sleep up to 8 people.
Each log cabin has their own private hot tub with
gazebo and fencing for privacy.
We also provide free parking, free Wi-Fi and a full
equipped kitchen and bathroom to accommodate our
customers.
Upon request, our customer can purchase food
hampers, birthday balloons, prosecco and chocolate
strawberries at an additional cost.
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Where to find
us : Cowal Cabins is based in Dunoon which is the main town
on the Cowal peninsula in the south of Argyll and Bute,
Scotland.
Our cabins will be built on a plot in Sandbank which is a 5
minute car journey into the main town centre. However,
there are local shops and takeaways a short walk away
from our site.
To get to Dunoon you can drive round by road which takes
2 hours from Glasgow. However, a quicker route is getting
the ferry at Gourock which is 45 minutes from Glasgow and
then 20 minutes on the boat.
Customers travelling on public transport can get the train or
bus to Gourock Station which links in with the Argyll Ferries
timetable and goes straight to Dunoon town centre.
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Why Cowal
Cabins? Here at Cowal Cabins we believe there is a lot of potential for Dunoon to be one of the up and coming tourist hotspots for
Scotland. With many new and exciting things coming to the
area such as ‘The Dunoon Project’, Cowal Cabins would like
to offer our tourists a unique accommodation for their stay.
Our manager resides in the local area so knows Dunoon
extremely well. She states “I see a lot of the hotels and bed
and breakfasts in our town failing, and this can only been
down to the increase of Air BnBs in the area. People
nowadays prefer to have private self-catered
accommodation. Which is where we come in”.
Whilst we are aware of our competitors, Air BnB and Hunters
Quay Holiday Village, we believe there is a gap in the market
for Cowal Cabins as we differ from the target market of
Hunters Quay and offer something new and exciting
compared to the Air BnB accommodations.
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Why Argyll?
Appendix 6 shows the survey results from our target market
for “What would attract you to particular holiday destinations
in Scotland?”.
Nature & Beauty Spots – 75%
Argyll is the home of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs
National Park, along with numerous scenic walks such as
Benmore Botanical Garden, Loch Fyne and Morag’s Fairy
Glen. Dunoon is a small town on the peninsula full of hills,
glens and lochs.
Attractions – 52.5%
There is plenty to do in Dunoon and surrounding areas,
and regular bus services to get you to and from these
attractions. Some of which include; Studio Cinema,
Ardentinny Beach, Portavadie Spa & Outdoor Pools.
Uniqueness – 35%
Our hot tubs are our main focal point as very few
accommodations provide this amenity. In addition, we are
going to paint each log cabin a different bright colour and
our garden space will be full of fairy lights and other
‘Instagrammable’ features.
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The Land
The View
The Parking
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The Plot
Each plot has a
private garden,
decking and hot tub
area which will be
enclosed with
fencing for privacy.
We have 5 cabins
which accommodate
a maximum of 4
people and 2 cabins
which accommodate
a maximum of 8
people.
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The
Market
Our Target Market
Our target market will be young couples and groups of
friends in the 18-30 age range. We believe that this
demographic are more likely to book weekends away and
look for trendy and modern accommodation.
Market Research
We first realised there was a gap in the market for this type
of accommodation when one of our team members were
looking to book a weekend away with her friends. When
looking on Air BnB at accommodation with hot tubs in
Scotland, the options went from 300+ down to 10. Based on
this experience and realising that there were not a lot of
suitable options for young people, we created a survey and
sent it out to people aged 18-30 to gather their opinions, and
unsurprisingly they felt the same.
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Survey
Results
 87.5% of 18-30 year olds said they would choose a Hot Tub
Lodge as there accommodation. (See Appendix 1).
 65% of 18-30 year olds said they are very likely to book
somewhere with a Hot Tub, (See Appendix 2).
 77.5% of 18-30 year olds said they would book a Hot Tub
Lodge with their partner, and 75% of people said they would
book to go with their friends. (See Appendix 3).
This primary research demonstrates a trend in the market with
regards to young people and accommodation. We believe we
can attract many customers to Cowal Cabins as we provide a
unique accommodation which is on trend and ‘Instagrammable”.
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Marketing
Plan Whilst the business is starting out we are going to promote
Cowal Cabins from our social media platforms. We believe
this is the best way to interact with our target market.
“Of all age groups, 18- to 29-year-olds drive the most social
media consumption — 88% percent of 18- to 29-year-olds
indicated using some form of social media”. (Tran, 2018).
Facebook and Instagram pages (See Appendix 7) will allow
us to interact with our followers, and to gain a large
following we will be offering a free nights stay in our cabins
to influencers in exchange for a promoted post on their
feed.
We will also develop our own website and feature on pages
such as Visit Scotland and Wild About Argyll.
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Marketing
Channels

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Marketing the
Cabins We believe we can market Cowal Cabins to be ‘the place to
go’ amongst the younger generation. We aim to do this but
making the cabins ‘Instagram friendly’ which makes them
appealing to our target market.
There are numerous articles online titled ‘Worlds most
Instagrammable Air BnBs’ or ‘Top 10 Quirkiest Air BnBs’.
These articles get multiple views and tags from readers,
creating free promotion for said Air BnB. (See Appendix 8).
This is why we believe that being ‘Instagrammable’ will be
an attraction for some customers.
We will also be promoting to our target market via social
media influencers. “55% of fashion shoppers have made a
purchase based on an Instagram creator’s post”. (Newburry,
2021).
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Consumer
Behaviour Research conducted by (Travel Weekly, 2020) presented us
with statistics for future holidays in the UK for 2020. We
believe these figures will increase due to the pandemic. (See
Appendix 4).
 41% of people said a domestic holiday (UK) is very likely,
which is a 6% increase on the year before.
 63% of the adults looking to book a UK holiday were aged
16-24 and 67% of them were aged 25-34.
 71% of adults also said they were looking to book a UK
holiday up north, this is a 6% increase form the year before
and is also the highest sought after UK destination
compared to the rest of the Britain.
The statistics show the increasing demand for a UK holiday
from consumers.
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Competit
ion Our main competitor is Hunters Quay Holiday Village as
they also offer hot tub lodges. However, our target market
is significantly different theirs and we also promote more
advantages to convince people to choose Cowal Cabins
instead. For example, we can offer a serene location,
whereas they have over 100 lodges full of families with
kids. Cowal Cabins also has corner stores and takeaways a
2-minute walk away, we also have a bus stop right outside.
We believe these will work in our favour when people are
deciding between the two.
We are also in competition with Air Bnbs and Hotels but
analysis of the competition has determined how we can
attract customers using our strengths and building on the
competitions weaknesses.
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Competition
Evaluation

Air BnB
Hotel

Hunters
Quay
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Pricing
Strategy After analysing the competitions pricing and assessing the
survey results, we have decided to opt for competitive pricing
to start out with.
Since we believe we offer more for your money compares to
Air BnB, we are going to charge more than our competitors.
However, we are going to undercut Hunters Quay’s prices as
we believe we can attract more customers to choose our self
catering accommodation as we offer a quieter, more private
environment at a lower price.
Hunters Quay Holiday Village (One night stay
for 4 people) = £130 per night.
Self-Catering Accommodation on Air BnB (One
night stay for 4 people) = £106 per night.
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Pricing
Strategy Appendix 5 shows how much our target market would be
willing to spend on a weekend away. This is £200-300
for a weekend away, which equates to roughly £100/150
per night. Therefore, in order to compete with our
competitors, we will be introducing our cabins at £120
per night. Since our cabins can sleep 4 people, the
price would be as little as £30 each.
We will also consider adapting a demand orientated
pricing which allows us to increase or decrease our
prices depending on the demand. For example, we
would offer the cabins at a lower price during the week
and at a higher price during school holidays and
weekends.
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Sales
Process Our customers can book our accommodation via
our website or by self-catering accommodation
services such as Air BnB and Argyll Self Catering.
We decided to appear on the platform because it
has a very high visibility and an important notoriety;
it will be an excellent way to make us known by our
future customers. It is an excellent opportunity to
get a lot of bookings and to launch our short-term
rentals on the slopes of long-term success. In
addition, customers will leave comments on our
properties, which will build our reputation little by
little.
We will take a deposit per booking which will be
refunded once the cabin has been inspected after their
stay. Terms and Conditions can be seen in Appendix (9).
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Sales Process
Our customers can find us on our website:
www.cowalcabins.com and book their stay. The site is
presented in the following way. (See Appendix 10).
Lodges & Rates – What lodges we have available, what dates
are available and our prices.
Activities – What to do in the area, where to eat, transport
services available and their timetables.
About Us – Who we are and what we do. What Cowal Cabins
offer to customers.
Contact – Phone number and email available to answer any
queries or take bookings.
We also have a ‘Book Now’ feature available on the website
and on Facebook as it’s a quick and efficient way for customers
to secure a booking.
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Sources of
Funding
£20,000 from each investor (team member),
creating a total of £120,000.
£300,000 loan from the bank, subject to 4%
interest and paid back over 48 months.
Total – £420,000
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Year 1 Sales
Forecast
To predict our sales over the year, we made an estimate on
the occupancy of our cabins for each months. We predict
summer months will be busier than the winter months.
In order to obtain the estimated monthly sales (w/o VAT) in
£, The total occupancy will be multiple per the Price Cabin
without VAT. This will be calculated automatically by the
Price with VAT and the VAT rate, being these to
data needed to input on the Excel. (See Appendix 11)
After the Calculations, we obtained £ 174,240 as the Total
Estimated Sales for the Year.
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Running
Costs
On the Purchase Forecast, we have calculated the
different purchases and costs, hot tub products,
Cleaning services and electricity. All of them are
variable, depending of the hired days. (See
Appendix 12).
Total Costs per year:
Cleaning Products = £8712
Cleaners = £55,756.80
Cabins = £10,303.08
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Start Up
Costs
We have assessed the costs associated with
starting the business. For example, the land, the
cabins, the furniture, insurance etc. (See Appendix
13)
The company will sign a loan at 4% of interest and
payback in 48 months. During the running of the
financial year, the cashflow closing balance was
positive despite some negative monthly net cash
flows, finalizing the year with a closing balance of
£95,121.
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To figure out our Break Even (See Appendix 14), we took our
overheads + drawings / gross profit. This provided us with the
following figures;
£150,158 = Break even cash sum per year
£12,513 = Break even cash sum per month
£3,128 = Break even cash sum per week
£626 = Break even cash sum per day
Essentially, we would need to have 5 out of 9 cabins booked per
night. (Or 2 larger cabins and 1 small cabin).
Break Even
Analysis
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The Project Profit & Loss Account provides
a loss for the first year of £41,584. (See
Appendix 15).
The Project Balance Sheet foresees a Net
Assets of £306,339, being square with the
Equity & Liability. (See Appendix 15).
Profit & Loss / Balance
Sheet
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For the year 2, the sales forecast has been modified
by the Occupancy %, as the increase of the business
due to the marketing, however the values shows an
increasing per the high season. The price per Cabin
would be the same as the first year. (See Appendix
16). We foresee an 1% price increase for the hot
tub cleaning products due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
The price and estimation for the Cleaners and
Electricity will be the same, as we do not foresee an
increase on the KWh and the contract with the
cleaners would be the same. (See Appendix 17).
Year 2 Sales
Forecast
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The Cashflow spreadsheet (See Appendix
18) shows that the monthly cash flow will
be improved by the increasing on sales.
The total cashflow, at the end of the
financial year, will be £8,353, having a
closing balance £103,474.
Year 2 Cash Flow
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The projected Profit & Loss Account shows a profit
£23,333. (See Appendix 19).
The projected Balance sheet (See Appendix 19) for the
financial year shows decreasing on the Net Assets due to
the depreciation of the fixed assets, which have a four year
100% amortization for all the assets no applying any
residual value.
Capital & Reserves presents the same capital £120.000,
accounting the retained earning from the previous year
(£41,584) and the foreseen profit for the year 2, £23,333.
After the financial year 4, the company will have paid back
in full the loan, increasing the benefits by £87,000 per
year, allowing to the management to decide about future
investments and make drawings to the shareholders of the
company.
Year 2 Profit & Loss / Balance Sheet
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Contingency Plan
We have assessed the risks we
may encounter and have
developed a contingency plan
(See Appendix 20) to help us
prepare and respond to these
incidents.
This allows us to have options
available should one of these
events take place.
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Appendix
(1)
(2021 UK Holiday Survey, 2021)
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Appendix (2)
(2021 UK Holiday Survey, 2021)
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Appendix (3)
(2021 UK Holiday Survey, 2021)
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Appendix (4)
(Travel Weekly, 2020)
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Appendix (5)
(2021 UK Holiday Survey, 2021)
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Appendix (6)
(2021 UK Holiday Survey, 2021)
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Appendix (7)
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Appendix (8)
(Packham, 2020)
(Wylde, 2019)
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Appendix (9)
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Appendix (10)
www.cowalcabins.com
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Appendix (11)
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Appendix
(12)
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Appendix
(13)
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Appendix (14)
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Appendix (15)
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Appendix (16)
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Appendix (17)
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Appendix (18)
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Appendix (19)
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Appendix (20)
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7. Key Activities
-Providing
accommodation
-Marketing the
cabins to attract
target market
-administration and
managing bookings
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References
Newburry, C., 2021. 44 Instagram Statistics That Matter to Marketers in 2021. [online] Social Media Marketing & Management
Dashboard. Available at: https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-statistics/ [Accessed 18 March 2021].
Travel Weekly, 2020. Forty-seven million reasons to be confident in 2020. Annual Report 2019-202. [online] London: Deloitte.
Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/uk/Documents/consumer-business/deloitte-uk-travel-weekly-insightannual-report-2019-20.pdf [Accessed 12 March 2021].
Tran, K., 2018. Social platforms are most popular among 18- to 29-year-olds. [online] Business Insider. Available at:
https://www.businessinsider.com/social-platforms-are-most-popular-among-18-to-29-year-olds-2018-3?r=US&IR=T [Accessed 13
March 2021].
Surveymonkey.com. 2021. 2021 UK Holiday Survey. [online] Available at:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/analyze/GqMHMbz94YLOHNhpmEG8_2FL7wQo_2BM_2FGCA75jwnyEYjbdCvT8C81315Ct9rw5aupl
N?ut_source=dashboard [Accessed 4 March 2021].
Wylde, K., 2019. 13 Airbnbs With Super Instagrammable Decor Around The World. [online] Bustle. Available at:
https://www.bustle.com/p/13-airbnbs-with-super-instagrammable-decor-around-the-world-16806351 [Accessed 18 March 2021].
Packham, A., 2020. 10 Quirky Airbnb Stays To Give Your UK Staycation An Upgrade. [online] HuffPost UK. Available at:
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/quirky-airbnb-stays-uk_uk_5f59dd1ec5b62874bc189a85 [Accessed 18 March 2021].
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the West of Scotland regarding cheating and plagiarism;
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