The business of lockdown: Littleuns Cakes & Bakes

An excerpt is now published in Salad Days Magazine

In March/April 2020, a second pandemic struck. Sales of flour in the UK went up by 92% and supermarket shelves were stripped bare of this elusive powder. My village had a secret hookup from a supplier who has links to a local mill, the location will remain undisclosed, due to the likelihood that we will enter a second wave shortly. Instagram was inundated with images of the nation's Banana cakes. Everyone and their mum turned into Mary Berry, in a bid to stave off their isolation boredom, not knowing then, that the pandemic would continue for months upon months. This online display died out shortly and those crazy cats instead started bingeing Netflix and completing Joe Wicks workouts. 

However, for many, isolation forced people to diversify and create new businesses with the rise in online sales- up to 50% higher than pre-pandemic figures- amid high-street lockdowns. Food and drink consumption also rose significantly during this time. Tara Geraghty, like many others, decided to take advantage of this increase and after having been furloughed at the end of March, decided to fundraise for the NHS by selling a few cakes around her village. Excited by their popularity, she launched Littleuns Cakes & Bakes (Littleuns) in May 2020, a UK postal bakery business operating out of her home kitchen in Bishops Stortford.

Feeling like Sir Alan Sugar looking over his potential apprentice's business plans, minus any successful business knowhow- kind of like Donald Trump on the US version of the same show and in office- I sat down with Tara (virtually, because I respect social distancing rules and have probably taken these several steps too far by only leaving my house twice since lockdown, aside from daily walks...) to discuss Littleuns and how she launched a new enterprise whilst in the middle of a pandemic.     

First things first, why the name Littleuns? 

I was really struggling to come up with names, and didn’t want to simply call it ‘Tara’s Bakery’ or something along those lines, as I wanted to make it more of a brand. I was discussing name ideas with my family, and my brother actually came up with Littleuns so I can take no credit for it! I was very tiny as a baby, so ‘Littleun’ was my nickname growing up and it just stuck. As soon as my brother suggested it, I was sold and here we are today!

Who is eligible to purchase your bakes? Are there any restrictions? 

The business started off as a local bakery, however my website and postal menu now means that anyone from the UK is eligible to order some delicious baked goods to their own front door! 

In terms of restrictions, the most frequent thing I get asked about is Allergens. I can’t tell you how many times that word comes up in my daily vocabulary! Having lived with a flatmate with a severe nut allergy, I am very conscious about allergens. It was this experience that inspired me to make my bakery primarily nut free, and also pushed me into expanding my gluten free and vegan range, so that there is something for everyone! I also have a very extensive list of every single ingredient I use in any of my cakes to ensure that my customers know exactly what is in their bakes. DM me for details! 

As a new business, how did you build a customer base? 

Now that’s the hard part! 

I am so lucky to have such a wide supportive network of friends and family, and they all really helped me kick-start my business. 

To develop a broader client base, I reached out to the wider community via local Facebook groups and pages. I had already connected with my village’s group, as step one of establishing Littleuns was a simple bake sale (all with contactless home deliveries – to ensure Covid-safety), whereby I sold a variety of cupcakes and larger cakes in aid of raising money for NHS charities.  

This then prompted me to take baking a little more seriously, which then transpired into now having my own business!

How did you work out your pricing? How do you ensure that you are making a profit? 

This was something I had absolutely no clue about at first – and might be why I’ve only recently stopped making a loss on my cakes! 

With little to no business experience, I went into this project with limited knowledge or research. I only wanted to bake cakes! Once the orders started piling in, I realised that I was spending way more than I was taking in, so I started to make endless spreadsheets to work out where all of this money was going.

So you have the basic ingredient costs, but when you are adding the equivalent of  three chocolate bars into one brownie order – they start to add up. Then there are the costs of packaging and delivery; I wanted to make my orders pretty as well as delicious! I also offer free Hermes postage on all of my online menu, and have to buy custom postage boxes, so they are the exact size of the brownie slabs (to protect them as much as possible during transit!) On top of that, when you factor in additional business running costs, insurance, and my time; there’s not a whole lot left over!

I also donate a percentage of every cake I sell to CHIPS. CHIPS are an amazing local charity and they have a special place in my heart, as I used to work for them a few years ago. CHIPS offer play and social opportunities for children with additional needs, living in East Hertfordshire and the Borough of Broxbourne. When I started my business, I wanted to use it as an opportunity to do some good and raise some money and awareness for an incredible charity, so please do check them out!

What effect has the pandemic had on you and the business?

The business was definitely at its busiest in its first month or so. I think this was partially due to the novelty and excitement of it being new. However, I also think Littleuns was more appealing during lockdown when people couldn’t go out as much and it wasn’t as easy to access to such sweet treats.

Where do you see Littleuns going? 

I’m really hoping to push the ‘postal bakes’ element of the business. I offer brownie slabs and unique cake treat boxes, all of which can be posted to anywhere in the UK. 

I think the pandemic has encouraged us all to think of new ways of staying in touch with distanced loved ones, and I don’t think there’s a better way of showing someone you care, than sending them a big slab of chocolate brownie! 

Focussing on my postal menu also means the business is location independent, which I hope will make it a sustainable business once I return to work. 

Furloughed at the beginning of the pandemic, both Tara and I work in the theatre industry (we met at University, studying, yes, you've guessed it: theatre.) That industry has yet to recover and we've both had our furlough extended until the end of October. However, Tara has been informed that once she returns in November, this will be on a part-time basis until theatres can officially reopen to pre-Covid capacity. This will therefore incur not only a reduction in hours, but also in salary (I'm not yet sure what my situation will be). 

Thankfully for Tara, she has Littleuns, which hopefully by then will have grown to supplement her earnings, but for others in similar situations, this is not the case. Tara also moved back to her childhood home when the pandemic struck, moving out of her London flat early last month. So for her, rent is currently not an issue, but again for those facing a potential reduction of income- for instance some people are only earning 20% of their pre-pandemic salary (depending on how many days they then work in a week)- it will be. The Covid-19 pandemic will have lasting impacts on life as we know it. The 'new normal' will be difficult for many. 

For this reason, as lockdown restrictions ease, support for small businesses must be ongoing. The UK is now in the grips of its third recession in three decades. Fuelling the economy in any way is reason enough to lend our support for small proprietors, if one can. I certainly will be, and am starting with Littleuns.

Follow Littleuns Cakes & Bakes on Instagram.                

"I ain't sayin' she a gold digger": Hugh Hefner, Sugar Babies and Marrying Up

In May 2020, gossip columns began reporting on Crystal Hefner's (nee Harris) new romance with aerospace engineer, Nathan Levi, after a number of perfectly timed paparazzi pictures emerged. For context, Crystal married the magazine mogul Hugh Hefner in 2012 and the couple were married for 5 years, before Hugh's 'sudden' death at the ripe old age of 91. 

Despite several of these publications reporting the recent pictures positively- ignoring the fact that the public comment sections were less so- it can't be denied that in 2012, when news of the Hefner's New Years matrimony went live, Crystal was vilified by the press. She was denounced as a Gold Digger. 

The term Gold Digger was popularised by Kayne West in his 2009 classic of the same name. In case the musical lyricism evades you, the first part of the chorus repeats "Now, I ain't sayin' she a gold digger, (When I'm in need) But she ain't messin' with no broke n******". Kayne, makes a good point. No women would be "messin" with a man unable to provide for the four kids Kayne later details. Children are expensive, even for a woman blessed with an ass like Jennifer Lopez (again refer to Ye's lyrics.) Do you not think that ensuring your partner can provide child support for a theoretical child once the relationship reaches a natural end, a point the song bemoans, is all that bad a thing? 

Returning to Crystal's plight, I myself looking back, realise the amount of judgement that I had towards her and probably still do for women marrying men far older than them. But with time and a questioning mind, I'm asking myself and indeed you; was the vilification of Crystal in the media for marrying a man three times her age justified?  

Let's say for arguments sake that Crystal was a Gold Digger. Crystal began her time at the Playboy mansion as one of Hugh's many 'girlfriends'. She would have had to bide her time to elude the competition. Crystal was 26 years of age when she married Hefner- a positively old hag compared to some of Hugh's past flames. Hugh was 86. The term Gold Digger suggests a mercenary nature. A con of sorts. By using her feminine wiles, like every Eve before her, assets lauded especially by a man in Hefner's line of work, Crystal was able to dupe Hugh and sift through his gold lined pockets. 

Except the legendary ladies man and model didn't boast an extraordinary sex life, according to Crystal. Instead the couple enjoyed boardgames, in particular Uno. Hugh like many an ageing artist, was relegated to a collector- happy to deal, display and assess the view. 

But surely, this line of thinking does a disservice to Hugh? Surely a man who built a magazine empire on the backs and fronts of bunnies, had at least some semblance of common sense and a knack for business, even in his advanced years. You'd think such a man would be able to sniff out manipulation. He was a master at Uno for gods sake...  

It would seem that the pair boasted an unconventional, yet mutually beneficial relationship. Hugh retained his legendary status with his companion Crystal on his arm, and Crystal got to live in the infamous mansion and I presume other benefits, because surely, what's mine is yours? Upon his death, however, his assets were not split 50/50, as I'm sure the media expected. Crystal received a paltry £3 million (before tax) alongside the house she and Hugh had called home, and the rest of Hugh's £32 million fortune, was divided equally amongst Hefner's 4 children. 

I understand that Crystal got more out of the deal than Hugh, but why was she the one denounced in the press? At the time of their marriage, Hugh's own son was old enough to be her father. Perhaps if Hefner had not been a millionaire would the situation be looked upon differently? 

I have an ongoing joke with a friend and colleague of mine about needing a Sugar Daddy to fund our lifestyles. We send meme after meme to one another, laughing at the luck of some college student who has finessed the system and landed a charming lonely older gentleman to fund them through their expensive institution. My friend and I assure ourselves that if we were in the same situation we would simply be going for tea or escorting them to a party... a Rolex would then follow. 

No longer a taboo subject, the business of Sugar Babies (not to be confused by the later 90s and 2000s icons: the Sugarbabes) is frequently discussed online. More often than not, this is in a humorous capacity and even looked upon enviously. There are many screenshots of people DMing more attractive Insta-models for pictures with spoons or other inanimate objects to prove to their foolhardy potential 'Daddies' that they are who they are masquerading as. The internet truly has created more opportunities for people, Bill Gates was right; "It’s wild what’s going on.”          

The wide acceptance online of requiring a Sugar Daddy is interesting. Perhaps this is due to the age of those online contributing to meme culture, largely millennial or generation z, arguably less conservative than our parents and willing to entertain different values. But are they willing or do they need to? Students are a large quota of those applicants making up Sugar Baby sites. They are looking to acquire an additional income on top of their current wage in order to support themselves through the educational system. They are already working standard jobs and these are not enough to fund them. The solution is pandering to an older benefactor, but not for free. This is not the Ellen show.           

 

Why are Sugar Babies now accepted whilst Gold Diggers, with Crystal in these ranks, still being relegated to villainy? Is the issue that the sanctity of marriage is at stake?  

A large reason I'm writing this, is because I've discovered that maybe I'm not so different from Crystal or Kayne's Gold Digger Baby Mama (refer to the song, not Kim!). During the Covid-19 crisis, like a lot of people, I've been thinking about my finances. Without discussing specifics, I work in the commercial theatre industry and although better than the subsidised, I don't make a lot compared to my counterparts of the same age in different sectors. Like many people in my age bracket, I echo a fear about the property market as tangible evidence of a generational divide. I understand that unlike my parents and the boomer generation, it is unlikely that I will own my own house outright or even be able to secure a great mortgage whilst earning the pay I currently do, without help.

 

I've been thinking about my options and as a hypothetical, one that comes to mind is 'marrying up'. I need to team up with someone on a higher wage than I'm on ... far higher. To secure a future, in an ever increasingly expensive economy, I am going to have to entertain all facets of what makes a partner desirable, even if this appears mercenary. One important factor needs to be salary. (Please note I'm not saying that the only reason to marry someone is for their money, but the importance of it needs to be recognised.) This is not a new idea. From time in memoriam, marriages have secured a balance of equity and financial exchange. Marriage has often been bartered for power or financial gain, for example, a bride price or dowry was exchanged to seal the marriage. Crystal Harris' situation is therefore not unique- women have married older men to secure their futures for millennium. Perhaps the issue with Gold Diggers nowadays is the value of gold they seek- maybe if they aimed for lower hitters, they wouldn't be party to such judgement.     

In a world where students require a benefactor to further their future, it is increasingly evident that money is a powerful bargaining tool and a necessary inducement. Relationships continue to be founded on this. We literally cannot afford to judge other women or men for decisions they deem necessary to live their lives, even if their reasons are not always clear to us. Maybe we shouldn't all aim for the Hefner's of the world, but if they are willing, why is it anyone else's business?