‘I Had Never Had To Invest So Much Money Into A Project Before’
BakeClub founder Anneka Manning reached a career crossroad in her mid 40s. Here she recounts the journey and how fulfilling it was to try something new.
I was made redundant in 2012 after a 25-year career in food publishing across magazines, newspapers and books as an editor, writer, author, consultant and publisher. I loved every moment of it and was fortunate to work with the most amazing, supportive individuals and teams, but questioned if I wanted to stay in food media. So much had changed over this time and the reasons why we were creating recipes and food content had shifted enormously – and quite frankly it didn’t really resonate with me. So, I took time out to reassess and realised that this time was a great opportunity for me to start my own business.
With the help of a business course through Dent – together with my love of baking and experience in print media – I could see a huge gap between a written recipe (how I had been teaching home cooks my whole career) and what a home cook needed in addition to this as personalised guidance to be able to bake with success. About nine months later BakeClub was launched as a face-to-face baking school in Rosebery, Sydney. My retrenchment pay helped finance the time spent working on the concept and getting it set up initially, but I also took a loan to finance the launch and the period leading up to turning a profit. It was particularly scary as I had never had to invest so much money into a project before. It took a different mindset and it took me quite a while to get my head around it.
When we launched, I believed it would take one or two years to be viable. In reality, it took around five years for BakeClub to be turn a good profit and for me to be not only drawing a regular income but being able to regularly pay those who worked at BakeClub. Face-to-face classes naturally have high overheads so it was a constant juggle in those early days with working out how we could deliver quality classes which provided huge value to our students without cutting deep into our profits. These days we offer a range of both online and face-to-face classes and this combination has really helped smooth out the ebbs and flows when it comes to the profit margin in the business (along with an amazing accountant!)
“Make sure you have a passion for what your business is based on because this will carry you through the hard times. ”
The COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 hit us hard. At that stage about 80 per cent of our business was face-to-face classes and workshops, and the prospect of losing that for an unknown amount of time was terrifying. Yes, there were tears while considering if BakeClub would survive. Luckily, we had started delivering online courses about two years prior and had already mapped out a plan for further developing that over the coming three years. Because of this we were not only familiar with how to organise and deliver content virtually, but also ready to write, film, design and compile immediately. We had our next online course ready within two weeks and by the end of 2020 we had completed our three-year plan. COVID was a blessing in disguise and 2020-2021 became our most profitable year to date thanks to our online classes. Delivering classes in this way has so many benefits, including that it allows us to reach more students no matter where they live in the world.
The thing I love most about BakeClub is being in the kitchen with a bunch of students, either face-to-face or virtually. I thrive on the energy and curiosity that they bring to my classes and I love that I have the opportunity to share my passion for and knowledge of baking with them. My signature dish, if I had to choose, would be my lemon tart! I have looked at ways to grow BakeClub but I always come back to the fact that what makes us unique are our small class sizes. Students can have direct access to me, to either ask questions, troubleshoot whatever they are baking at the time, or just for support and guidance. This personalised approach allows me to continue to do what I love the most in the business – to create and to teach.
BakeClub has had a pretty huge impact on family life. Just as I launched it, Paul, my husband, was retrenched from his job and he consequently also started his own business. At this time and with BakeClub not providing regular (if any) income for me for the following three to five years, we decided to sell the family home to release some of the financial pressure. It was a very stressful time but in hindsight I’m grateful that we made the decision early. It meant that we both have been able to pursue our own businesses which has been great long-term. It also meant that we were both home a lot more during our children, Brooke and Ben’s high school years with more flexible work hours, which was really beneficial to us all. Unfortunately, because most of my face-to face classes are on Sunday and we start super early, I’m not great for a big Saturday night so we definitely entertain less than we used to!
Owning and running your own business is challenging and demanding but it’s also incredibly rewarding. It gives me the flexibility (both for the day-to-day to the direction in which I can steer the business) which I wouldn’t have if I was employed somewhere else. I love working with my small but amazing team – all mums, all incredibly clever and such a joy to work with.
My advice to women starting a mid-life venture is:
Make sure you have a passion for what your business is based on because this will carry you through the hard times.
Make sure you do your research before you jump in boots and all (you may be passionate about it, but you need to make sure you have a market for what you are creating).
Remember it is a business not a hobby. This is one huge mistake I made in the first couple of years – I loved doing it so much I didn’t worry too much about the numbers and unfortunately you can’t run a business like that!
Get to know every aspect of your business and how it works but don’t do the stuff you aren’t good at – employ someone who is, so you can concentrate on the stuff you are good at, and enjoy it!