For Kelly, founder of The Manchester Cakehouse, life wasn't always so sweet. After her partner suffered an accident, leaving Kelly as the sole breadwinner, Kelly was then made redundant. After months of job searching – and soul searching – she decided to pursue her passion and start a cake company from home.
Armed with strong self-belief, a creative approach to problem solving and the desire to make people smile, Kelly set about cooking up one of Manchester's most successful small businesses. We got chatting to Kelly recently about secret ingredients and how to keep customers coming back for more.
If you could give some advice to yourself five years ago, what would it be?
Run! Just kidding. Keep on going, no matter how hard it seems.
What’s been your biggest learning curve?
I think it was learning I had to take deposits for cakes, and bigger deposits for larger cakes, in case the customer doesn’t turn up (which some haven’t). That way I could still recoup my losses for materials used.
What was your most unexpected moment?
Being asked to supply a large hotel in Manchester city centre. I’d done a one-off order for them and to my surprise they called a week later asking me to become a supplier for their conference events. I was so chuffed. I think it shows that making an impact through great customer service really works.
What plans do you have for your business?
The dream is to one day have my own tearoom, but I'd also love to get further into the corporate side of things, supplying cakes and treats for all kinds of events.
Meet Kelly
“They're the most competitively priced, and knowing I have a dependable company as my safety net means I can be a little braver with my business.”
Who gave you the best piece of business advice, and what was it?
There are two pieces of advice I have sworn by. The first piece of advice I ever got was from a fellow cake maker. I was asking questions about pricing structures and how they worked them out. As it stood, I wasn’t paying myself anything and was only just breaking even. Their advice led me to completely re-adjust my pricing and now I make healthy profits at the end of each month.
The second bit of advice I received was to stop looking at what your competitors are doing. By focusing on their work, you're distracted from your own and you’ll start to lag behind. Be the business all others are looking at and comparing themselves to.
When did you realise your business was going to work?
I think the exact moment was when I got my first repeat customer. My cake was so good that they remembered it, and me, an entire year later!
How would you like to be remembered as a businessperson?
I would like to be remembered as being great with people, as someone approachable who would go out of their way to make sure you get what you want. More importantly, I want my business to be remembered as having the most delicious cakes. I want people to think about my cakes and smile.
What tips do you have for anyone thinking of starting a business?
Be prepared to work harder than you ever have.
Don’t give up. Just because it’s going a bit slow one month it doesn’t mean your business isn’t going to work out.
Don’t undervalue yourself, or others will feel they can undervalue you. Your time is worth something, remember that.
If things are slowing down, get creative! Start a new ad campaign, do an event or an auction to raise awareness about what you have to offer. The internet is a wonderful place, full of ideas.
Most importantly, have fun! You need to love what you do. If you don’t have passion for your product, how will you make anyone else passionate about it?
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