John Hall runs Cactus Country a second generation family business based in Strathmerton, Victoria. The business has grown exponentially over the last couple of years and John talks openly about how the family tackled all the challenges that came with growth.
Show Notes
Cactus Country https://www.cactuscountry.com.au/ was inspired by John's dad who while traveling in England saw the Chelsea flower show.
When he came back to Australia, he came back with the vision of tourism being something that would eventuate in Australia.
Everybody told him it would not work, especially given we are three hours north of Melbourne in the middle of nowhere. Everyone said 'you are mad'. So he was always on the back foot in a sense but got to prove everybody wrong. Probably in hindsight made him even more determined because I think he loves the challenge. He started with a quarter acre and bought a large collection from South Australia and traveled the world in the 50s collecting cacti and succulents, bringing them back to Australia at a time where there were no restrictions on what you could bring in.
John described the last few years at Cactus Country as "nuts". In the episode John talks about;
- The transformation from a cacti farm to a large tourism-based destinations business
- The day to day challenges of finding staff to run the business
- How the business managed and thrived during Covid19
- How they used social media and PR so successfully
- How they diversified their revenue streams
- The opportunities for collaborating with other businesses to the benefit of both businesses and the local economy and region https://richglenoliveoil.com/ and @Cafe3641
- The opportunities in social media for regional businesses @murrayfarmgatetrail
- The dynamics of working in a family business
- Succession planning and transitioning from one generation to the next
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