Crofters' Music Bar Arran

We got nominated for an two awards! It's nice to see the hard work of the last few months beginning to pay off. --- Visit our website here: Crofters' Music Bar Facebook: Crofters' on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/croftersmusicbar Twitter: Crofters' on Twitter Insta: Crofters' on Instagram Tripadvisor: Crofters' on Tripadvisor

We got nominated for two awards! Exciting! A huge thank you to everyone that voted for us. It really the world!

As we work on our new website and marketing, we've decided to tell our story and share our journey thus far as we embark on the next chapter. --- Visit our website here: Crofters' Music Bar Facebook: Crofters' on Facebook Twitter: Crofters' on Twitter Insta: Crofters' on Instagram Tripadvisor: Crofters' on Tripadvisor

A brief telling of the Crofters' story.

Ealána was away at a two-day conference about the West Coast Waters 2020 tourism initiative and the role that Crofters is going to play in that. She also got to meet Debbie, brand ambassador for the Isle of Barra Distillers, one of Crofters' suppliers. Two island dwellers enjoying some mainland coffee whilst stranded from home, thanks to storm Ciara! – Visit our website here: Crofters' Music Bar Facebook: Crofters' on Facebook Twitter: Crofters' on Twitter Insta: Crofters' on Instagram

Ealána talks about the #WestCoastWaters initiative.

Cams and Ealána talk about an advertorial in a supplier catalogue that talks of doing what you love, and putting love into what you do. We also get interrupted with a cold call and get onto talking about ad targeting. Oh, and if you're looking for cheaper energy, let us know and we'll give them your number!

Ealána's take on an advertorial in an industry supplier catalogue.

Returning to Arran after media training.

We had some media training with Sarah of Hot Tin Roof, a PR firm working out of Edinburgh. It was a very worthwhile couple of hours in Glasgow and we learned a lot about consolidating our message and how to put the business forward to social and traditional media in the best possible way. – Visit our website at croftersmusicbar.com to see our music schedule and contact info. We're on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram too. You can book a table at our website or with our Facebook widget, or by calling us on 01770 302579.

Ealána puts out a call to industry experts to engage with us at Crofters' and get some dialogue going to help small businesses to share information and do some networking on our podcast.

Calling industry experts for collaboration and engagement.

It's been an interesting week. Ealána's been super busy and it's been a challenging couple of weeks. It shows her grit and determination as a business owner that she got through and not only managed to give the appearance that all was well, but for the restaurant actually to flourish. Making these podcasts gives an incredible insight into the behind-the-scenes work that goes into making a successful night for customers. It's quite inspirational actually, and we hope that that comes through in the podcast, even if it's just a little.  We would dearly love some feedback on what we're doing on our social media and with our podcast. If you have ideas or suggestions, get in touch through our Facebook Page or Twitter.  It would also mean the world to us if you would subscribe to the show if you haven't already and give us a rating on iTunes. And a review would be doubly welcome – two worlds? Why not!  Thanks for your ears, and keep coming back! 

In our first podcast of the year we talked about how Christmas was for us and, in particular, what a superb job our head chef did on new year's eve. He really showed our diners what he's capable of and why he's a two-star Michelin rosette chef.  Cams talked about the social media podcasts he's been listening to and boring his wife with as they drove around Belgium and Luxembourg on their Christmas hols. 

Ealána and Cams talk about social media and the role that it plays in a modern business. We're looking for recommendations of industry related blogs, Instagram feeds and Facebook pages to engage with and learn from. We'll start - Ealána talked about this Kent-based restaurant and how she finds their Instagram feed inspiring:  The Small Holding on Instagram Check out Megan and Innis from their last gig in Crofters' Megan and Innis The branding company we've hired is BrandF Our financial advisers are at The FD Centre And Nicola, our marketing hire runs Almanac Marketing

In today's weekly roundup, Ealana talks about Christmas and what the plans are in Crofters' for the festive season. 

In this week's catch-up, Ealána ponders Maitre'D and other systems for data gathering, stock control, making rotas, point of sale etc. 

Ealána was in Glasgow for two days' of meetings at Donal's rented office space in the Clockwise building. Cams joined them on day 2 and sat in on the meeting with the web designer and the branding team and chatted with Ealána on the Ardrossan train from Glasgow Central. Forgive the ambient noise! This was recorded on Cams's brand new Zoom H3-VR, a nifty little recording device with 360º mics.  We are now approaching Kilwinning. Change here for stations to Ayr, Kilmarnock. 

This week Ealána has Xero on her mind, the new accounting software that she's started using this week under the guidance of Colin from the FD Centre. She's also thinking about what her job title might be when the restructuring comes along. She has many hats! (not actual hats, well, she might have lots of those too; Cams doesn't know). 

Cams and Ealána talk about the PR firm that Crofters' have hired called Hot Tin Roof and then get a bit philosophical about being a manager and the challenges that that brings to the table. 

We're at capacity and have been for a while now. The business model is working and we've had a fantastic summer season. As things wind down into the quieter months, it's time to start working on our growth plans. Ealána and Dónal talk about that here and we'd love it if you would join us in watching the plans take shape. We've been documenting our meetings and making content to share with you and show the kinds of challenges that face a small island business that wants to grow. Watch this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/wzQDwlnl01o

John and Belinda are regular visitors to Crofters'. This is their fifth year of visiting and they were gracious enough to sit down and have a chat with Cams about Crofters' and their love of Arran. Watch this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/lP2AUeizyFo

In this episode Dónal and Ealána break down how the busiest night of the year in Crofters' went and what they learned from the experience. Running a restaurant in a tourist destination is challenging at the best of times, so when the Isle of Arran is rammed to capacity, systems get stress tested and that gives us an opportunity to get a real sense of where the cracks are.

Listen to a conversation been Cams and Dónal as they walk up a hill in Lamlash. This is a candid discussion about what happened during service in Crofters' on highland games night, the busiest weekend in Arran's calendar. This is part one of a story that continued the following day with a video recording in Crofters', so look out for that and hear what was learned from the situation and how it was resolved. 

A frank talk with Dónal and Ealána, the proprietor and general manager of Crofters' Music Bar. This series of talks is going to show just what kind of challenges arise when running a small restaurant in a popular tourist destination and how Dónal and his team have responded to those challenges.  It's taken them six seasons to get to where they are now, but there are still many more challenges to be overcome and I've been invited along to document it all. So if you have an interest in business development and seeing it all unfold live and uncut, subscribe to the channel and engage with us!  Thanks for your time and attention.  Team Crofters'.  Also available on video on YouTube. 

Yay, you found us! Welcome to our new podcast!  Crofters' is launching a new media campaign to help us keep our customers informed, entertained and engaged. We've teamed up with Cams Campbell of cams.photo to create audio and video content to publish across all the social media platforms. We'll be bringing you interviews with musicians, food suppliers, distillers and brewers. We'll be telling you of our renewables ideas and recycling tips. We'll be giving you the inside scoop on what it's like to run a family business in a rural island location, where seasonality is a huge factor and the weather can cause huge disruptions.  We're also planning road trips, to visit distilleries and food suppliers and anything else related to our business. It's an exciting time for us!  This is our sixth season and we're have a wealth of knowledge to share. Please consider subscribing and sharing. If you have ideas for the show or think you have something that's worth sharing with our audience, get in touch through our website at croftersmusicbar.com and we'll see if we can collaborate!