Pictured above: Kate Mitchell and two year old daughter
Jasmin Mitchell-Southan with the fruits of her success
A young Shropshire mum changed her business life while on
maternity leave and has launched her own catering company.
26-year-old Kate Mitchell decided to make a big change in her
life by starting 'The Wenlock Buffet Company' helped by Business
Link West Midlands (BLWM).
Having worked for others in catering since her teens, she saw an
opportunity to work for herself while spending more time with her
new family.
Kate, who lives with her partner and two-year-old daughter,
launched the business in September 2008 and hasn't looked back
since.
She said: "I have always loved cooking and I previously worked
in a kitchen preparing food for events. When I left to go on
maternity leave, I decided not to go back but to take the plunge
and see if I could do it myself.
"It was a bit of a risk moving from full time employment, but I
wanted the chance to see my daughter grow up and working from home
has allowed that."
Whilst on maternity leave, Kate looked at buying a small
café in the local area but knew that it wasn't the right
opportunity for her, so she sat tight and enjoyed the first six
months being a full-time mum.
When the idea came to her for the company, she worked part-time
in a restaurant to gather funds and plan the business before
finally turning it into a reality.
The family allotment also provided inspiration and gave her the
idea to use fresh produce that could be sourced from around the
area offering her customers a taste of Shropshire.
Only nine months in, business is good with a turnover already of
more than £7k and they're gaining a quality reputation, not
only for catering for private functions but also for corporate
events.
She provides buffets for all kinds of events with prices ranging
from £4.55 to £14.95 per person but also offers
tailored menus to fit in with a particular budget or different
occasions.
Kate continued: "Business has been steadily growing and although
people are cutting back they are still willing to splash out on a
special occasion such as a christening, birthday or wedding.
"BLWM really helped me to understand what I needed to do to get
started and outlined how businesses work. It was great to speak
with advisers who had actually been through the process
themselves.
"As I had always worked for other people I had no idea about the
financial side of things or even how to set the business up but
their continued support has been great.
"I'm really looking forward to the future and growing the
company, I would like to invest in a larger van next year and maybe
look to taking on an employee."
Working mainly in Shropshire and using suppliers on her doorstep
Kate also includes seasonal vegetables grown from her own allotment
in the menus.
Business Link adviser Jim Lindsay said: "We worked with Kate to
provide her with support based around set-up, marketing and how to
generally promote her company.
"Being completely new to business she started on the BLWM half
day Awareness and Planning workshop and then moved on to take part
in the more in-depth three day course to give her an insight into
tax, VAT and national insurance issues.
"Via one-to-one contact, we are helping Kate to raise the
profile of her business and move forward an extremely viable
company."