Jackie Novels was on maternity leave with twin babies when she came up with the idea of Meals for Squeals. The cookery school, which she runs from her home kitchen, caters for parents who want to feed their children “tasty food that adults want to steal”. Classes range from her “full day puree courses” to “finger foods” – her most popular course, which aims to help babies try a range of textures and flavours.
“I did marketing for an insurance company before, and I spent all my holidays doing cookery courses,” Novels says. “I always thought I’d love to start my own business, but it wasn’t until I was on maternity leave that I started to look at ways I could work around family time as well. I started making recipes for friends’ kids and doing lots of cooking. It all started from there.”
For the first five months, Novels took full advantage of her children’s naps. “When they were young they slept for 12 hours a night so I had lots of work time.” She had no budget to rent premises so decided to operate from her Bristol home. “I adapted my kitchen so it could easily accommodate six students at a time. I also got builders to move 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.” She says that because her house is a welcoming family home, it’s appealing to visitors: “Parents like the fact that they’re coming to the house of a real parent.” And her twins, now two years old, play a key role in the business: “I test all my recipes on them.”
Running a business from home does present its own challenges, however. “The downside is that it does put pressure on the housework,” Novels says. “My house must always be clean and the kitchen has to be depersonalised as it’s a professional space.”
She tries to maximise her work time, but knows that it is important to keep home life and work separate. “If I have a five-minute window, then I use it to do just one thing for the business. In five minutes, I might check the spice cupboard to see if I need to restock.”
Launching a business requires passion and discipline, Novels says. “Looking back, I can’t believe how much I was working. I’d get up at 4am, but it didn’t matter, because I’d want to work.” Her evenings are also focused on the business: “If watching a TV show is more important to you than working on your business, then maybe you’re better off in a nine-to-five job.”
Asked where she’d like Meals for Squeals to be in five years’ time, she says: “I’d love to open some more Meals for Squeals around the country.
“Cooking for babies and toddlers is such an interesting job. Kids are the best critics. If they don’t like something, they just spit it out!”
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