Justine Bates - Jus Bakes

Justine Bates - Jus Bakes

Justine Bates - Jus Bakes

Many women have a passion for baking and that is just what helped Justine start off her cake design and creation business. Justine started the Leicester Business Women programme in October 2011 and went onto start her business straight after in November 2011, which since Christmas also incorporates corporate buffets, and is now contacting all local businesses to offer them her corporate buffets.

Justine was off work for a long period of time and was finally diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. As with many people who have been working full time and suddenly find themselves at home, she had lots of time to think about what she was doing and realised that she didn’t enjoy her job working in finance. So she began thinking about starting her own business but didn’t know where or how to begin this.

Justine had made some cupcakes for my niece’s birthday and the comments from family members were “if you can make cup cakes like that, why are you working in finance?” The following year she made cupcakes for a friend’s school reunion and she was so thrilled, she said, “you should do this for a living”. To which Justine replied, “yes, I’d like too!”

Following this, Justine went onto change her job and managed to secure a part-time post, giving her some time to begin planning her business as well a steady income.

And the best thing about having her own business for Justine is, “the flexibility it gives me to work at my best times during the day. I have been so much happier now I’m doing a job that I really enjoy and am able to control my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome much better.”

She goes onto say, “It would have been de-motivating without the support of Leicester Business Women; we were guided through the whole process and given lots of support along the way.”

Due to Justine’s health, she is sometimes frustrated that she cannot do as much as she used to as quickly as before, but the great thing is that she is doing something she really enjoys. She has found that she has some fantastic support around her, from my husband, consultant, GP and occupational therapist in moving forward with her business, and all agree that, “it has improved my health and made me a much happier person.”

To date, Justine has attended the training programme and one to one appointments, “I have had tremendous support and couldn’t have done it without Leicester Business Women. The workshops were amazing and so brilliantly delivered they were fun to do and very informative. Lou has an amazing way of delivering her message and some of her sayings are still with me every day. Jim taught me more useful finance information in one workshop than I had learnt whilst I was studying for accounting. I have told a lot of people this too!”

Justine has found the Leicester Business Women programme and support extremely useful and without the support of Leicester Business Women, she says, “I wouldn’t be running Jus Bakes. I’d still be thinking I wish I could do that.”

If you are looking to set up a cake business, here are some key tips that have helped Justine:

Finally a few words from Justine

1. 1.      Even though it seems really daunting – go for it, you won’t regret it.
2. 2.      Ask for help – people are willing to give it
3. 3.      Take as much as you can from the Leicester Business Women programme – they really are excellent!!!