Over the past few blogs I have given a very brief overview of the past year for Ridiculously Rich and myself. If you have stumbled into this blog and not caught up on the recent events, let me give you a brief overview. Last year was incredible. From winning the Apprentice to taking on 50 amazing brand Ambassadors, it was a year to remember and one I am incredibly proud of. There was however a lot learned and a lot I plan to work on this year. We have now outgrown the bakery we started with, the brand has been a little neglected and is very ready for a little TLC, and people now love our products so much, they have been repeatedly asking for one particular product, it has re-sparked my enthusiasm to create something new!
Now we have covered the last year, I am very excited to share with you over the next few days what I have taken from this experience, and plans I have for the future! Not only has the business changed and grown, but so has my mind-set. After a year of very hard work the penny dropped on a few things with myself, how I have been desperately searching for where I now belong in my business. As a business grows and you get people around you who are, and I hate to say it, far more capable than yourself, it is a really common thing to start feeling a bit lost. This year this definitely happened to me. After reflecting on the last year, I have finally re-discovered my place and realised exactly where I need to be.
Let’s start with the first exciting change for Ridiculously Rich!
New Bakery
For the full story on our bakery journey, you can read my previous Journey Blog, but a mini re-cap; after winning the Apprentice, I needed to find a bakery to help take over the production that was a little too much for my tiny kitchen. Very soon, I found the perfect one. It was just like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, but unfortunately it wasn’t quite the right time for them and so we made our home in a large new bakery in South Wales. This bakery was great and we learned so much with them to do with production, dispatching and general business but we rapidly grew and needed to find another space.
A little while ago, I was approached several times by someone from the original bakery I had visited, to meet up and re-discuss the possibility of moving there. I dismissed it for a while, but after the forth time it seemed rude to not to meet for a chat. Things were now becoming a little more of a stretch in our current bakery and we had started deliberating what we would do if orders suddenly rocketed! So armed with Stacey, we made our way to North Wales to “have a chat”, I was met with the same impression as when I first encountered this bakery, their knowledge of all things sweet is undeniable, they are such a close and friendly team, and their energy for this business was infectious. A week later I received a box of samples at my door. They had re-created our cakes, with no training from myself and had managed to make them them exactly as I do! A letter was sent with the samples explaining that they knew a few needed work, but they took the recipes we had shown them and decided to have a go, as well as explaining how their own business had grown, how they had a new section of bakery available and envisaged Ridiculously Rich filling the space.
I made the decision there and then that a move was right for Ridiculously Rich. And so began the process of perfecting recipes, getting a contract in place, planning a move and the beginnings of new product development (more on this to follow!) my word these things always take so much longer than expected! But to cut a long story short and spare you all the behind the scenes details, our first announcement is we have a new home in North Wales! This bakery have over 10 years experience, their team are just like a little family, and they are so motivated by quality and taste; the same core values we love at Ridiculously Rich! We are sure that the drive, culture and love of baking will make us the perfect duo, we are so excited for the 1st step in our new journey and will share everything with you!
