Business: Meals for Squeals
Based: Bristol
Website: www.mealsforsqueals.co.uk
I’m a mum of twins, and while I was on maternity leave I realised that what I really wanted to do was to run a cookery school. I wanted to use my experience as a cook and everything I had learned while weaning two babies to teach other parents to make healthy, homemade baby food.
My problem was I had no budget to hire premises, so would need to operate Meals for Squeals from my home in Bristol. I adapted my kitchen so it could easily accommodate six students at a time. I also got builders to move a couple of walls upstairs to create an office. As my kitchen still has to operate as a busy family kitchen when I’m not teaching, I have separate cupboards and fridges for cookery school equipment and ingredients so I can quickly change the kitchen between its two uses.
For larger groups that I can’t accommodate at home, I’ve teamed up with a local secondary school so I can teach at their home economics kitchen during the evenings.
Running a business from home with clients visiting throughout the week does put extra pressures on the household. For example, it means the house must always be tidy and presentable, and I’ve depersonalised my kitchen somewhat. But parents also like the fact that they’re coming to the house of a real parent who does have children’s paraphernalia around and pictures on the walls.
Jackie Novels is the cookery school director at Meals for Squeals.
