In 2013 two friends, Joseph Munns and Anna Bridgen, from Basingstoke, were on their way to work at IBM when they hit on a business idea. “We were talking about meal kits and thought they could be a good idea for baking,” says Munns.
Enlisting another friend, Elaina Mickelburgh, they put together some home-baking kits, filled with all the dry ingredients needed for a particular recipe, and tested them on friends and family. Unanimously positive feedback convinced them to begin selling at local fetes and markets; they used their own savings to fund the ingredients, labels and packaging.
Two years on, they’ve secured a government startup loan, plus £160,000 of funding from experienced investors, and are collaborating with pastry chef Michel Roux Sr on a selection of recipes.
They received the £5,000 startup loan in 2014 and used it to get their first run of labels printed and to get the kits ready for shop shelves. The products soon caught the attention of retailers; Bakedin kits are now sold by 150 stockists, including Selfridges, Harrods, Whole Foods Market and Moonpig.
The company’s annual turnover grew from £10,000 to £50,000 – and as a high-performing startup-loan recipient, Bakedin was invited to organise a stall at Downing Street and to meet David Cameron.
However, with success came a common small-business problem: cashflow. “As we grew, cashflow started to become a real challenge,” says Munns. Bakedin’s customers typically pay them within 30 to 60 days, while they often pay their suppliers upfront. So Munns began looking into investment options.
Fortune struck when he showed a family friend, and experienced investor, his business plan. Munns had been preparing to launch a crowdfunding campaign but the friend asked him to hold off while he passed the business plan around his network of investors. Within two days, Bakedin had been offered £160,000, which they used to fund a factory and hire new staff.
“We have more people helping to sing the praises of the brand,” says Munns. “The first shareholders’ meeting was a month or so ago and that was massively valuable; there was a lot of discussion around people’s ideas.” Munns, who left his day job as a software manager to run the company while his co-founders stepped back to become shareholders, still holds the majority stake.
Roux is a recent addition to Bakedin, introduced by the company’s first investor (and Munns’s family friend). “Michel liked the concept, as our kits are very much about the baking experience and fit his ethos of quality cooking,” says Munns. “He has a reputation as one of the world’s finest pastry chefs, so having him involved in the project has been great for the brand.” Roux assists Bakedin in the development of recipes for the business.
The business’s next plan is to create a Bakedin Baking Club – a subscription service for its baking kits. A campaign on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter to help fund the service reached its £3,000 target within two days.
“The business is growing quicker than I imagined it would,” says Munns. “The goal is for people to recognise us as the premium baking brand.”
Bakedin was shortlisted in the Small Business Showcase competition’s Innovation in Funding category. Find our more about the competition here
