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Creating an inclusive customer experience: Interview with The House of Honey

Embarking on a journey towards creating a business that is inclusive and accessible for people with disability has significant benefits. This is something that Kim and Leigh at The House of Honey, a Swan Valley-based cafe and meadery, are well aware of! We recently sat down with them to learn how a focus on inclusion and accessibility has expanded their customer base, boosted brand image, and transformed their business for the better.

 

What motivated you to make your business more accessible and inclusive?

After a conversation with Tourism Council WA, they suggested we create an accessibility guide on our website to help people with disability assess whether our business could accommodate their needs if they were to visit.

They also provided us with a list of several things we could implement in the business to improve access for people with disability. Looking at the list, we realised we could actually do many of the things they recommended!

We started with the small and simple things. It was incredible to see how a few minor changes could drastically improve the experience for our visitors living with disability. We also recognised that this was a market we hadn’t paid much attention to.

We started to feel increasingly passionate about improving our venue and tourism experience giving people with disability informed choices to visit us regardless of their physical limitations, disability or age. From taking baby steps, it has cascaded into this whole new journey where we are not only implementing changes that are good for our business, but we’re also making a change in our community.

 

What specific changes did you implement to enhance accessibility/inclusivity? 

To start, we created a project plan and did various audits. We broke down the audits in an Excel sheet with the easy changes at the top and the hard things at the bottom. From there, we worked down the list!

Some of the changes included adding an Accessibility tab on the website. By using photos, we wanted to showcase to visitors what they can expect when coming to us. As we couldn’t get a photographer in quickly enough, we used our mobile phones and took photos of everything from the accessible parking bay to when you walk up the driveway and through the doors – almost planning out the journey in a way. From a previous workshop, we knew that for someone using a wheelchair or other mobility aids, it’s extremely useful to help determine if we can accommodate their needs. So, even though mobile photos might not have looked as good as professional photos, we thought that saying something is better than saying nothing.

“…saying something is better than saying nothing.”

We updated menus with a bigger font and more contrasting colours. We added more signs around the premises and improved existing ones. We also updated the toilet seats to be safer. Additionally, when we built our new alfresco cafe area with a timber deck, we made sure to have a lot of flat surfaces and variations of seating heights and railings. 

Room with shelves on either side. The shelves are stocked full of glass jars with labels in different colours. The aisle is broad leaving enough space for customer using mobility aid.

Orange sign with different languages written in white.

 

What are some easy steps other businesses can take that don’t take too many resources (time and money)? 

Look at what you already have! You might have a lot of open, flat spaces in your business venue or perhaps your menus have a clear big font? Make an inventory of what you already have and start communicating about it via social media channels and newsletters. Tell your local shire or other organisations that have a disability focus. You might already be an excellent business for people with disability to visit – they just don’t know about you.

Also, educating yourself to help break down unconscious biases and attitudinal barriers is an effective way to get started and keep you motivated. But our best advice is just to get going! Start small, it doesn’t have to be perfect!

 

What do you wish you would have known at the start of your journey?

We thought it would be a big project to make our business more inclusive and accessible. But when you break it down, it’s not. There are so many simple and effective ways to increase accessibility and inclusion in your business – and the ripple effects can be enormous! 

Throughout the journey, we’ve learnt that it’s not necessarily about making big changes – such as installing a new door or a ramp – but small changes can also have a significant impact. Additionally, it’s equally important to talk about what you already have! By being better at communicating about it, you’re helping potential visitors with disability make informed decisions.

 

 

How have your customers responded to these changes?

The feedback has been great! Overall, cafe sales increased by 39%. Between 2023 and 2024, bookings from customers with disability increased on average by 66%. From a business point of view, it’s been invaluable to tap into this new market.

Many of our customers hear of us via word of mouth – many visitors think we’re doing a great thing, and they get behind the cause. This journey has definitely opened up opportunities for us to expand our networks and have conversations that have contributed to positive changes in the business. Our support system in the community has grown stronger – we even got a letter from the Minister for Trade and Tourism congratulating us on our journey!

From a personal perspective, it’s gratifying knowing that you’re having a positive impact on the community and that we’re providing a safe and comfortable space for all people to come and enjoy.

 

Have you noticed an increase in customer diversity since implementing these changes? 

We’ve definitely seen an increase in the diversity of our visitors, from people with disability to families and seniors. It’s been great to see the effects of making our space more accessible, inclusive and accommodating. For example, focusing on having areas with a lot of flat open spaces is great for people using a wheelchair but also for people who use a pram or are injured. By optimising our space for people with disability, we also made a better space for other customer groups.

“Start small, it doesn’t have to be perfect”

Person with dark hair and glasses wearing a green coloured apron is setting up a tasting station. Several small sign with the different tasting samples are standing in front of her on a industrial bench. There are many shelves in the background filled glass jars in different colours.

 

How has inclusivity impacted your workplace culture? 

We’ve seen how our staff have become more mindful and helpful in their interactions with customers, as well as with each other. As a team, we’ve become much stronger.

Additionally, this journey has also highlighted the unique strengths of our team members. It’s wonderful to see our staff stepping up to the challenge; we often see them shine in their roles. One example of this is our language board. As we employ a lot of staff from a range of countries, we’ve put up a sign with the different languages spoken in the business on any given day. Recently, we had a Japanese customer with limited English skills visiting us, who saw the sign and asked for a Japanese-speaking staff member. It ended up with a member of staff running a tasting session entirely in Japanese for four (4) delighted customers! By identifying the strengths that we already have and drawing upon resources from the team, we introduced a very inclusive, free initiative that added value to our customers and emphasised the competence of a team member.

Seeing the positive changes in our staff, where they feel more fulfilled and valued in their roles, has been an unexpected benefit.

 

What benefits have you seen since making these changes?

Firstly, doing the accessibility audits and starting this journey has significantly improved our brand reputation. Our perception in the community has grown stronger, and a lot of our customers hear of us through word-of-mouth. It’s very fulfilling knowing that people have such a good experience, so they want to tell their friends.
Secondly, we feel much more confident, and it’s become second nature to apply an “inclusion lens” to everything we do. Our goal is to make inclusion and disability awareness even more embedded in the business. 

 

What advice would you give other businesses considering becoming more inclusive? 

Just get started! Have an audit done and begin with the easy to implement initiatives so it doesn’t feel overwhelming. You’d be surprised when you realise that most of the time, it’s not about implementing costly initiatives, it’s more about changing your mindset!

Are you interested in learning more about how you can make your business more inclusive of customers with disability? Through the Open Doors Project, we offer inclusive customer experience training to businesses, organisations and individuals. If you want to learn how to better cater to customers with disability, discover our free webinars today or any of our other training options.

 

 

 

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