Mentor shares business recipe to make cake shop a success

Some people scoffed when Trish Rodwell said she was setting up business in the small rural town of Woodville – but they obviously didn’t realise how far people would travel for cheesecake.

The trained patisserie chef started Yummy Mummy’s Cheesecakes two years ago as a small business that she hoped might require three days work a week.

Now, the 28-year-old mother of three and her mechanical engineer husband Alastair are each working 40-hour weeks scheduled around the needs of their children, baking 50,000 cheesecakes a year.

“So much for the part-time job,” Trish laughs.

The business grew quickly and there was little time for reflection. From the time she was just a few days old, their third child Abigail slept on a shelf below a workbench while Trish worked.

With the couple absorbed in daily production tasks, Trish recognised the need for a sounding board. Her bank suggested consulting a volunteer mentor from Business Mentors New Zealand. The service, partly funded by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, is free apart from a one-off registration fee.

“Because I’d never had a business, there were a lot of things the mentor could give me advice on - things I hadn’t even thought of.”

The mentor suggested a website, branding for packaging, more advertising. Trish says while she and Alastair had focused on baking great cheesecakes, the mentor showed them how to make time for the finishing touches which would give the business longevity and strength in the market.

“Sometimes you need someone who’s not in it to see what you could do better,” Trish says.

The shop is now open Wednesday to Sunday, selling single serves for $6.50. Yummy Mummy’s has become a popular stop for busloads of travelers passing through the town; just as Trish knew they would when she studied traffic flow data before choosing a shop site.

She says mentoring brought fresh ideas into the business and expanded her knowledge base. Now Trish is keen to return the favour, starting with a mentoring role alongside food technology students at a local high school.

“I hope I’m that successful that I’d be able to pass my knowledge on.”

www.businessmentor.org.nz