LAUNCHING a business in a rural location can be idyllic; fantastic quality of life, stunning scenery, and high staff loyalty. But it also brings about a unique set of additional challenges to a start-up business.

The list includes distance from markets, fewer job opportunities, a sparse population and customer base, poor broadband and limited availability of development sites. Staff might be more loyal when you manage to attract them, but they might have transport difficulties, particularly during bad weather, or “the norm” as we like to call it in Scotland.

Kirsty Lunn founded Molke, a manufacturer of breastfeeding-friendly underwear, after the birth of her first child when she couldn’t find pretty bras with decent support.

Lunn is based in Perthshire, and the remote location has given her a number of headaches, such as finding trained seamstresses.

“The decline of the textile industry in Scotland has meant there are far fewer experienced machinists locally now,” she says. Not to be deterred, she’s going to train them herself, so is currently looking at apprentice schemes.

Getting a decent broadband connection is even more of an issue. “Internet in rural areas in Perthshire is shocking,” Lunn says. “And when you are an online business it can really have an impact.”

Despite the lack of a strong, reliable broadband connection, Lunn’s business has been nominated in the Best Use of Social Media category at this week’s inaugural Business Women Scotland Awards, run in association with Women’s Enterprise Scotland.

“Unfortunately the internet speed isn’t something we can change ourselves, and we love where we’re based so moving isn’t an option. We have the best connection we can have and it’s workable now,” she says stoically.

But Molke’s location will also impact on her ability to expand. “Ultimately we will run out of room where we are and will be faced with the decision of where we go next. We are hopeful we can stay out of industrial estates for a long while yet though.”

Lunn says rural entrepreneurs would benefit from more support for new and growing businesses, and that rural businesses are often forgotten about or not considered. “That’s a great shame,” she says. “More focus on training and the development of skills would be great instead of having everything in the cities.

“We are so fortunate to have GrowBiz [a community-based enterprise support service] in rural Perthshire. Without the incredible – and free – support they offered us we could never have got to our current situation.”

Her advice to others thinking of setting up in a rural location is: “Check out what support there is around you. Peer-to-peer support is great and can often be found online if you can’t find any other business owners around. There are also free advisory services such as GrowBiz or Business Gateway. Staying rural is fab. We have such a wonderful network locally and I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Michelle Rodger is a communications consultant