It’s been exactly one year since Scrumptious by Lucy went live online. I genuinely cannot believe how quickly the business has grown, I cannot thank you enough, without your support it wouldn’t have happened, thank you so much for trusting my business.
So what’s happened in the last year?
After the first three months of being online, I realised there was no way I could continue being a part time teacher. I was teaching in the day and baking in the evenings and very early mornings before heading off to teach. This soon became impossible to mange, so I took the leap of faith and handed in my notice and haven’t looked back since.
I have also been supplying wholesale to local Sheffield businesses and national businesses which has also taken off extremely well.
As of June this year we were able to attend food markets again. My first market was at Sharrow Vale market in Sheffield, which also coincided with one of the hottest days of the year, 30 degree heat and chocolate brownies do not mix we at all. We also attended the Malton monthly market, Sheffield Penistone agricultural show as well as the incredibly popular 3 day event, Channel 5 five on the farm to name but a few a few. I absolutely love food markets and meeting the customers, it is so nice to get out of the kitchen and speak to people who love chocolate brownies.
I have also provided brownies for a number of corporate events, including the UK's best marketing agency Rise at 7 which is based in Sheffield and for the French Connection Autumn collection launch.
I have had so many amazing articles written about my business, which includes the amazing piece in the Sheffield Star plus articles in …………
For a new business it’s so hard to forecast your first year and set any targets because you just don’t know what’s going to happen, however I did try this and I hit my yearly targets in the first quarter, I really can’t thank you enough for trusting in my little business.
I have completed thousands of orders and delivered to every city and every nook and cranny in the UK. I have received online orders from Melbourne and Sydney in Australia, Texas and New York in the USA, Israel, Cyprus, Spain and many other countries from customers who have loved ones living in the UK. I have had orders every single day and each months keeps out growing the previous month. I have had to invest in my business and extend my kitchen for a second time to accommodate the growth.
Before I started online on the 17th October 2020 I sat down and wrote down what Scrumptious by Lucy would stand for, I knew my brownies were amazing, but I know my business needed to be more than just a good product. What was and is as important as a great product, is an amazing customer journey and world class customer service.
My father in law learnt how to build a website and spends 10 hours a day continuing to learn his new “forced” trade and the results evident on the website. I never knew how Google worked and I still don’t, but without my father in law I expect most of you wouldn’t have found the website, he did so much research and found the guys at Digital Boost so helpful.
I treat every single order as if it’s most important order I have ever had, from the moment my computer pings to let me know an order has arrived, until it drops through your letterbox. I do everything I can ensure this happens without any setbacks. Unfortunately once the orders leaves my kitchen I lose full control and I can’t tell you how many hours I spend monitoring every package to make sure it arrives on time, if for whatever reason there is a delay, I am straight on to the couriers who dread my calls, I will ring the customer and tell them about the options which I will have already confirmed with the courier.
All I care about is you get your brownies on time, that they are in perfect condition and they taste amazing, and so far so good, I have had 100 5 star reviews and the 100th 5* review came on the 1st birthday of Scrumptious by Lucy which to be honest, is unbelievable, because I know when I have an amazing meal, service etc I have every intention of writing a review but often forget, so thank you so much for taking the time to do this.
Anyway, I have rambled on for long enough, to cut what could be a very long story short, I cannot thank you enough for supporting my business, I will continue to bake and deliver your beautiful chocolate brownies and blondies and I will do everything I can to make sure I bring you new flavours and ideas.
I have some big plans for my second year of Scrumptious by Lucy, some of which I will share with you very soon, so please keep following me on social media or through my blogs.
Thank you for your support
Lucy x