Meet Greg from Bottled Baking
If you are not so good at baking then we need to have a chat about the amazing @thebottledbakingco
We started buying in from Greg after we met a few @topdrawerlondon shows ago and taste tested some of the, ‘Fabulous Unicorn Cake’, at the stand (one of the ongoing hardships you have to ‘endure’ 😆) and the rest is history, we have been buying in from them ever since and they make such great gifts! They are today’s #meetthemaker, are featured on our blog and Greg will tell us a little bit more about his amazing business!
We started buying in from Greg after we met a few @topdrawerlondon shows ago and taste tested some of the, ‘Fabulous Unicorn Cake’, at the stand (one of the ongoing hardships you have to ‘endure’ 😆) and the rest is history, we have been buying in from them ever since and they make such great gifts! They are today’s #meetthemaker, are featured on our blog and Greg will tell us a little bit more about his amazing business!
Please can you tell us a little bit about you and your brand?
I started the business 6 years ago as a way to bake with my then 2 year old. I didn't like the flavour of many of the boxed kits you can get, so decided to bake from scratch with him. Layering the ingredients in a bottle meant we could talk about what was in there and, more importantly for him, get to the mixing stage more quickly if I prepped the mix in advance. We're still a very small team and creating fun flavours for the whole family is still at the heart of what we do now.
Please can you tell us about your inspiration for your business?
My son. That's where it all began! That and sand art from the seaside.
What is the ethos behind your brand?
We want to make fun, extremely tasty and beautiful products and baking experiences using locally sourced ingredients and packaging. And we want to work with retailers and partners across the land to encourage customers to come back to the high street to shop, supporting small businesses like ours and many of the stores they are in to thrive.
What is the most enjoyable thing about your business?
Creating the new flavours, we're never short of baked goods in our office!
What are your top tips for anyone wanting to start their own creative business?
Just give it a go, you never know what might happen. I started the business with no real plan, and no money either, other than enough for a small amount of bottles and enough labelling to make 60 bottles. I've reinvested all funds that we took for a few years, by not taking a wage at all and working from my kitchen/garage for as long as possible to reduce the outgoings. I did also keep my full time job going for 4 years on the side too which enabled me to do that. But it did reduce the risk and allow us to get to where we are now.
How do you get yourself out of any creative slumps?
It's so easy to get sucked in to the day to day working of the business and not be able to be creative at all. Which is something I really dislike! So now I've tried, and am still trying, to delegate tasks to others where possible to free me up to be creative. That's not always possible, and when it isn't I'll try to work from home for a day or block out an afternoon where I'm phone/laptop free to focus on other (more exciting) things.
What songs feature most on your playlist for when you are working?
Oh wow, I'm a pop junkie. That and dance music. Basically, Kylie, Madonna, Pink, Steps... yep.. I'm sooo cool! ha
What do you like doing in your downtime away from your business?
Cycling, running, movies, cooking meals and spending time with the family (and our pooch)
What is next for your business?
We've a long list of potential new products I'm working on. One is a totally new concept to the market, but is a while off launching, and others may launch sooner. We're also recruiting some more staff at the moment, so the team is growing! We're about to launch a product with Aardman Animations. We've got two brand new mixes for Christmas. One has taken me 3 years to be able to make! So I'm excited to be able to share that with you in the coming months (yep Christmas already)