KINDERSLEY, Sask. — Saskatchewan entrepreneurs who risked everything to establish businesses in “the middle of nowhere” shared their success stories at the Agrowoman conference held in Kindersley Feb. 2.
The second annual self-improvement conference focused on helping participants set goals and play to their strengths. Rural business operators Barb Wyman, Paul Letkeman and Laurie Besplug told the 150 women how they did that and why.
Wyman operates an English garden and Victoria tea room on the farm near Flaxcombe. The site where she once raised 45,000 flowers for the dried flower market was converted to the Harwell Tea Room in 1995. Based on requests from visitors, it has evolved from ornate flower gardens to include the tea room and gift shop.
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“We took a real risk in the middle of nowhere,” Wyman said.
“I felt if we built it, people would come.”
She bought the Flaxcombe church, moved it to her property and restored it to include local history.
Wyman said it took trial and error to learn the correct way to serve tea. Today, the business sells 41 varieties of imported teas. She is exploring marketing opportunities via the internet.
“As we progress, avenues open up to us.”
She said the tea room is attractive to customers because it is an oasis on the prairie.
“Sometimes I sit and have tea in the garden and am not even aware of the prairie all around me.”
While Wyman built on her expertise in flowers to diversify the farm operation, artist Laurie Besplug chose to create markets for herself and others through a gallery near Madison.
“My business is my passion,” Besplug said.
She built the gallery out of a Catholic church from Brock and a Legion hall from Madison, which she moved to her farm yard 10 years ago.
Today, the Garden Gallery attracts 45,000 visitors each summer and hosts sold-out openings for 300.
It employs five and features the work of western Canadian artists like Rosa Foliacea, whose watercolor flower was displayed in a delicate white matting at the Agrowoman conference.
Besplug said sales compare with those of city galleries. She offers framing, art classes and “a kind of cappuccino bar.”
Her goal is to provide arts education and make art accessible to people of all ages and income levels.
“Everything you do has a little bit of art in it,” she said.
The natural environment is the basis of Paul Letkeman’s business at the Leaning Tree Ranch near Leader. He and wife Vivian enjoy a 15 to 20 percent return on the tours and visits to the guest ranch that has been their home since 1973.
It features a working cattle ranch dating back to 1899 set on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River. It offers campgrounds and cabins and seats 50 in a dining room built from recycled timbers. The couple raise horses, but stopped offering trail rides because of the high cost of
liability insurance.
Letkeman, who also maintains 90 head of cattle and a seed stock operation, said it is difficult to survive just on farming in Saskatchewan. The farmer who once locked his gates to keep out strangers now embraces tourism.
“We think it’s beautiful territory. Why not share it with others?”
He is looking for partners to share the workload, and hopes to do more eco-tours. European tourists who come with “big paycheques” are the prize catch.
All three speakers said they work hard at staff training and believe good, friendly service will keep people coming back and sending their friends.
“We want people to feel welcome,” Besplug said.
Each actively promotes the others and shares the cost of producing promotional materials.
“Because we’re in the middle of nowhere, it helps people to find us,” said Wyman, who looks to a bright future on the farm.
“As the dollar gets tighter, more people travel in Saskatchewan. It’s a great opportunity for business in rural Saskatchewan.”
