Hi I’m Ella, I studied Events Management and graduated last year and during my final year I founded Bake Well Being. Bake Well Being has become a mission, to use creative and learning experiences, to help raise awareness and provide support for mental health. So that's what it's become in a nutshell, really. And mainly, when I say creating, I mean through baking, so that has become kind of the core element to get people involved to get people engaged. And then to build on that by providing educational experiences, and hopefully soon coaching. Yeah, all with the aim of just providing more awareness and more support for mental health.
Being part of the Enterprise Challenge was an enjoyable journey
I think the best moment was actually having just pitched to a room of people at the semi finals. And bearing in mind that I never thought in my life, I would ever be pitching anything, because in my mind I'm not like a I'm not an entrepreneur. I'm not a business person. So, the fact that I've like forced myself to do that, and then sat there like good, it's done, it's over. At least I've done that. Never expecting after the pitches that I'd just seen, that I’d get through to the final. And then they said that I was through to the final and my mum just screamed. I mean, she literally screamed, I will remember that moment for a really long time.
Growing my business since the Enterprise Challenge
So, I've been collaborating with universities, charities, and corporate companies. Some of those things have been, you know, like free collaborations to grow my reach and my visibility, and doing online content, such as bake-a-longs. So, I've been doing workshops and webinars on different mental health and wellbeing topics for corporate companies, which has been great because that's where the money is. But yes, I started making a bit of revenue, started doing some treat boxes and things, just trying out different ways of making money and seeing what works and what's best to put my time into. Our van has started being renovated, we're nearly finished with that. So we'll be able to pop up with that in the future. I'm almost on to the second part now of my coaching diploma. So once I have completed that, that will be kind of one of the main streams of revenue for Bake Well Being, with wellness and resilience coaching, one to one group sessions. So, before the end of the year, I'm hopefully going to have the three streams, which will be creating, educating and coaching.
Covid-19 and the impact on business
I was just coming out of uni, and very easily could have followed the status quo, like you go to uni, you do a placement, you get a job. But with that, that first lockdown specifically, I had nothing to do. So I therefore gave all my time all my days, all my energy to working on this. And yeah, I think it was exactly what it needed. Because I wouldn't be here now. Yeah, I think the pandemic has actually given me the time that I needed, but also it's just highlighted the need for what I'm trying to do. Which is sad but true.
Creating further funding opportunities
I did a NatWest ‘Back Her Business’ scheme, which gave away millions of pounds to small businesses being run by women. And that was great. So it was a Crowdfunder scheme, so I crowdfunded £2500 from friends and family, like a JustGiving type thing. And then they matched it, and NatWest gave me £2500 which was perfect, and exactly what I needed to really get it going in terms of the website or the legal fees. I have also applied for the Generator Bursary being supplied by Santander.
Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards
I'm now in the Santander Universities Entrepreneurship awards. Which is an annual competition with all of their 80+ universities that they partner with in the UK. And each university gets to put forward one business to enter a 5-month program with lots of workshops, networking and talks! The finals take place at Wembley in October with the potential to win a £75,000 package of cash grants, business support and more.
I've really enjoyed having the relationship manager who checks in with me and we have regular calls. It's been so great for networking. I've met small businesses all over the country now and I'm learning a lot like weekly in terms of business knowledge. So yes, it's just a perfect programme. You know, even if you don't end up winning any money from the actual programme itself, you gain so much value for your business.
What advice would you give to people who potentially are looking to take part in the Enterprise Challenge in the future?
Just Do It. It is amazing. I was in third year, and I was like, ah, have I got enough time to do this on top of uni but it never did get too much. It was just the right amount for forcing me to spend time on thinking about my business plan and working on that. But also was very well suited to those that are studying, no matter what year they're in. And, yeah, I just think it was absolutely invaluable. Like it was so beneficial in more ways than one the networking and learning from other people at different stages in their business working on your own business. I just say that your business would never be too underdeveloped for this programme. And as I said earlier, I think it's really well suited to people at different stages. So yeah, 100% just do it.
#santanderuniuk
