Most adults, particularly those with a family to look after, know how time-consuming making meals can be — shopping, prepping and cooking can seem to take an eternity, particularly when you also have to find time to do your actual job. And on top of the hours slaving away over a hot stove, creating good food can also be expensive.
But some people are ahead of the game and have incorporated their time spent in the kitchen into a business, preparing food for sale or, in our increasingly digital world, showing others how to cook through online video classes.
Jolene Cox is one of them. She lives in Dublin with her husband, Damien, and daughter Lily Mae, and was running a cooking programme for parents in south Dublin when the pandemic struck and all her bookings were cancelled.
So, having previously run cookery camps for children during the school holidays, she decided to move her business online and set up some fun and easy-to-follow classes for budding young chefs from her own kitchen.
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“My cooking club puts a strong emphasis on getting kids into the kitchen to teach them lifelong skills and also that healthy eating can be fun,” she says. “It is designed to bring families of all ages together to interact and be part of an inclusive cooking community with step-by-step tutorials, printable recipes, in-store shopping budget tips, personalised weekly meal planners and recipes which convert into shopping lists with just one click. We also have Kids in the Kitchen tutorials, which are hosted by my daughter and mini chef Lily-Mae and have a focus on peer-led learning in a fun and accessible environment.”
The founder of One Yummy Mummy: Family Cooking Club says there was very little upheaval needed to set up her business from home, and the fact that she is teaching others how to cook in their own kitchen means working in a similar space to her students is beneficial.
“I have just a regular, standard kitchen, which works really well, as this is a home-from-home environment for our club members. We are a family cooking club so there is no better place than a real-life family kitchen,” she says. “Also, it is extremely easy for Lily Mae and me to work as we know where everything is — so it’s the same for our members who are working from their own familiar environment, which is a bonus. Also, it means we are a totally accessible, welcoming community, with very few barriers to becoming a member.”
Setting up her business from home couldn’t have been easier, with very little adaptation needed. “When I started the classes, there were no structural changes required,” she says. “We just needed to get extra lighting for winter, some hand-held cameras, more tabletop hobs and a mic. And when it comes to health and safety, I develop every recipe for our class with children in mind, so it has to be safe and age-appropriate. As my own eight-year-old cooks along with me, this is a great confidence boost for the kids. We use utensils like scissors and graters with the younger kids in favour of knives. The kids also learn the importance of safety and hygiene in the kitchen.” Being able to work alongside her daughter is a huge plus point of her job, and Cox says it also makes the classes more child-friendly. But she would encourage anyone else who is thinking of doing something similar to do some planning in advance and be prepared for hard work.
“I think the main benefit is that I am able to work with my daughter as all our kids’ classes are child-led by Lily Mae,” she says. “Research shows that children learn more from their peers. This is because they are relaxed around other children and ready to have fun, and I’m always at hand for expert advice. Another advantage to working from my own kitchen is that there are less overheads as we don’t have to rent a space, so we can pass this saving on to our members by keeping our fees at €10 per month.
“My advice to anyone thinking of setting up a business from home would be to research the market first. Understanding the need (or demand), and also knowing that you can provide a solution it, is key. Also, whether it is chocolate making or jam, knowing your unique selling point inside out is crucial. Making a hobby or passion into a viable business is not only hard work and involves long hours, but you have to be sure that there is a market out there for it. But, although it is definitely a rollercoaster, it’s your own roller coaster.”
Bake yourself better
Lynsey Bleakley agrees. She lives in Co Down with her husband, James, and daughter Yazmin, where she runs luxury bakehouse Bumble & Goose, delivering brownies and personalised biscuits across Ireland and the UK. Having previously worked as a nurse looking after new mothers and babies, she decided to quit as, after suffering a number of miscarriages, she felt unable to work with babies any more.
So, while in the process of recovering and healing, she started baking as a means of coping with her grief. Although she initially gave cakes and brownies away to friends and family, her husband suggested that maybe she could try selling them. After getting some advice from the local council, they invested their savings in renovating part of the house to incorporate the new business, and once it was approved by the authorities, she began to sell her baked goods online.
“We spoke to environmental health [officials] before we did anything, and they told us the specification we need for a five-star rating,” she says. “This included a separate hand-washing sink, tiled walls, fully washable surfaces, food-safety plans and allergen training.
“Our local council was very helpful and guided me on everything I needed for compliance, including food labelling and food hygiene rating. I completed training on allergens and food safety as well as food hygiene and I took out public liability insurance. We also sought advice from Building Control about the construction and design of the bakehouse.
“The initial baking kitchen was built by my husband for just me and was 3m x 3m, but it rapidly became too small, so we expanded. Then not long after we developed our website and shipping solutions, with custom shipping and gift boxes, when Covid arrived. I thought we were going to have to close down but then we got the okay to keep trading, and shortly after this the website took off on a huge scale and I started sending my produce all over Ireland and also to the UK.”
Bleakley says that although there was a lot of work involved in setting up the business, it is really worthwhile and the operation has grown from just her running the whole show to a team of nine people. In fact, to accommodate the expansion, the family moved house in order to have enough room for production.
“I absolutely love running my business from home, as it gives me a huge amount of flexibility to manage my workload and my day as I need,” she says. “The business has grown enormously since opening, and we moved house (and the in-house bakery with it) a year ago as we needed a bigger space to accommodate our growing team. Continuing to be based at home was really important to me as it has massively improved my quality of life, and having our team based there too is an added benefit. My daughter and her boyfriend both work for me; my father and my father-in-law are my delivery drivers; and my mum helps out in the bakery, too, so it’s a real family business.
“My advice for anyone thinking of doing the same would be to weigh up how they feel about being at home all the time, as it won’t be for everyone. And if they think it could work, then seek professional advice before getting started, that way you reduce the risk of costly building mistakes. I also found it helpful to speak with environmental health at the outset, as a good working relationship with them is vital for the safety and success of your business. But, although you can expect to work long hours to get your business off the ground, when you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work.”
