How I make it work: the brownie business
Nosing around in one self-employed woman's business to steal her tips
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Ooof, I don’t know about you, but the past week has been an uphill climb for me. A combination of sleepless nights, uncertainties about this new ‘road map’ malarky, and some unsociable working hours doing events/radio in the evenings and mornings have left me out of sync. It sounds a bit silly to say I’m looking forward to one of my own events, but honestly I really need this Q&A on how to stay motivated when the world is chaos more than anyone! Hope to see some of you there on March 16th (and don’t forget, it’s free for Full Time patrons). I’m also hosting another free coffee hang out for International Women’s Day - more details below.
One of my favourite things to do when I’m struggling is chat to other self-employed women, who know exactly how I’m feeling (it’s why I love the accountability sessions so much). This week I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to Chinelo Awa, who runs one of my favourite businesses - tapping her for her top tips on how she’s grown her company, and her plans for world domination! I’m sure you’ll find her as inspiring as I do…
How I make it work: the cake and brownie business
Out of Office delves into the nitty-gritty of one self-employed woman’s business – including money, motivation and their top tips for other freelance workers
Chinelo Awa started Good Cake Day – a business combining mail order brownies, bespoke buttercream cakes, and a cake-decorating academy – as a side-hustle in 2016. Its ethos is simple: Good Cake Day is all about making people feel special, and everything from the pretty tins and hand-written messages make that clear. (As someone who has previously bought brownies from her, I can whole-heartedly recommend them!)
I caught up with Chinelo to find out how she made the jump from law to baking, why her business saved her life, and why Good Cake Day has had its best year ever, despite the pandemic.
My career actually began in law
I moved to England from Nigeria at 18 to study law, and I took an MBus in Global Business Analysis. My mum wanted me to be a lawyer but I was always more interested in business – I was a weird kid, I used to watch the US Apprentice and my dream was to work for Donald Trump (that sounds so bad now!)
I eventually went to law school and started working as a paralegal, but eventually I got an itch. My cousin started a charity, and I thought she was amazing, while another friend started her own business. I didn’t have anything I was passionate about, and I wanted that. I also wanted flexibility as I want to have kids one day. I liked cake, and I knew I had good ideas, so it was a case of ‘I guess we’re starting a cake business!’
My business saved me
I was on a work visa so I couldn’t set up a business for two years. I spent those two years learning to make cake! I started learning cake decoration – most courses were too expensive, so I did some online classes and discovered YouTube as a learning resource.
I started running my business as a side-hustle when I was allowed to, in December 2016. Following a series of live events, by 2018, I was living with my aunt, uncle and cousin’s family. I’d go to work from 8.30am – 5.30pm, with an hour-and-a-half commute.I’d either bake before work, or wait for them to have dinner and bake from 9pm, often as late as 2am, before working again.
I had never eaten a brownie before I made one!
I once got this email – it looked so dodgy – from someone who claimed to be a governess for a Royal family in Dubai. She asked for a cake, and said ‘do you do brownies?’ I said ‘yes, of course’, although I didn’t. The invoice was over £500, and I thought there was no way it would get paid, but it was. So I started offering brownies.
My business saved me
My mum passed away on Christmas Eve in 2018, having been ill in 2017, so I went back to Nigeria for a couple of months. I had no reason to live, and I couldn’t see the point of anything. Good Cake Day saved me.
There was a guy in Australia who I wanted to go and learn from, but I couldn’t afford it, so I created Good Cake Day Masterclasses. People paid to learn from him, so that I could also learn from him! Obviously it was learning by osmosis as I couldn’t take part in the class, but I picked up lots of tips. I decided to take this masterclass model to Nigeria last year – and I sold out three classes, for 64 students. I thought I’d hit the jackpot…and then, Covid.
I was still feeling very low, and struggling to see the point of anything. Then I got a note from a customer who had ordered a tin. She said: ‘thank you so much for putting a smile on my boyfriend’s face.’ He was a doctor, and that note lit this thing inside me. I hadn’t really connected the dots before, but actually my slogan is ‘feel special’ – I realised I really could make a difference to people, and make them feel better.
The Covid impact
At the start of lockdown I was averaging two to three brownie tin orders every couple of weeks, so it was nowhere near my bread and butter. But after lockdown, with shops closing it started to gain some traction. Then, when there was a resurgence in the Black Lives Matter movement, things blew up. I started having lots of engagement and getting noticed by influencers. I quit my job in September, so I’m now full time on GCD.
The growth was organic, but I started adapting. I joined Lightbulb on Facebook and started following #journorequests on Twitter to try and get press – I’ve been featured in Stylist, The Evening Standard, The Guardian, lots of places.
The highs and lows of self-employment
The biggest challenge is not having someone to bounce ideas off. Since working for myself I’ve started wanting a relationship more – I want someone in my corner, to listen to my woes and highs.
On the other hand, I am someone who takes risks. For my recent Valentine’s campaign [to raise money for breakfasts for underprivileged school children] I had the idea on the Monday, and started the campaign the following Monday. As a self-employed person it’s terrifying, but you can be flexible and spontaneous – I didn’t have to wait for anyone’s permission.
We need to talk about money more
I didn’t get a loan when I started, because I didn’t really know it was an option – I probably would have. That’s why I think it’s important we talk about money.
Mine comes from – in a normal year – 50/50 cakes and classes. Currently it’s more like 30% decorated cakes, 20% online masterclasses and the GCD Academy, and 50% from the brownies, especially in the run up to Christmas. My next goal is pushing my brownie line into shops, and eventually creating an international brand.
My tips for other self-employed women
For anyone having doubts about their business… just do it (Nike had the right idea!) As a woman, society tends to dictate what you can and cannot do, but a lot of what I’ve achieved has been when I’ve said yes, even though I was petrified. Of course there’s a caveat, which is learning your limits. I make cakes, so if someone asked me to develop an app I couldn’t. But if something is within your remit or you can learn – say yes. If I hadn’t said yes to that brownie order, I wouldn’t be where I am.
Make mistakes. Whatever you’re trying to do, you won’t find your diamond without mistakes. I’ve done stupid things – I used to make fondant cake even though I hate them, and I almost ruined a wedding cake. I was so embarrassed by it. It tasted great but it was messy and I had to refund it. It taught me not to make them! I focused on buttercream, which led me to become really good at those.
Give yourself time. Instagram makes us feel ‘so-and-so is doing so-and-so, and I’m not’. It’s easy to get into a rut. But anyone who is half-decent will tell you that when they started in whatever they’re doing, they were crap. There was a time in history when Usain Bolt had to learn to walk – and now he’s the fastest man alive. It takes time – I surrender myself to that reality. My target is to sell 500,000 brownies in a year, but that won’t be within the next five years, so I have my humble targets for now. When you break big dreams into miniscule targets, it takes away the stress. Having a business teaches you the ability to do one thing at a time – I’m learning patience.
Thanks so much to Chinelo for sharing her experiences with such honesty (and for creating, frankly, the world’s best brownies).
Let’s hang out, please! How about a coffee morning chat to celebrate International Women’s Day on Monday, 8th March? Open to all. Free tickets here.
Newsletter shout out: if you’re thinking about having a complete career change, or are curious about the process, you’ll love Pivot newsletter. It’s free and run by fellow journalist Rachel Murray,
Next week marks 25 weeks of Out Of Office, which feels significant somehow. I’d love to hear from you if there are any topics you’d love to see covered in the newsletter. And just in general, I love to hear from people because my Mondays are extremely boring and I relish distraction.