Ignite my Entrepreneurial Journey

Help me IGNITE my business by taking part in the Curtin Growth Ignition Program. 

On the surface, my product may just be a delicious cookie, a baked treat like any other. To me each cookie I produce is a representation of my resilience amidst unemployment; my strength to build something from nothing; my determination to make a difference and to turn a negative experience into a positive; my dedication to bring joy and happiness to everyone who has a cookie and to also provide opportunities for those who have limited options in life.

Help me grow and ignite my cookie empire!

The Ignition program is a one week intensive entrepreneurship course. Attending this program would allow me to learn and meet the best entrepreneurs and enable me to strategically commercialise and scale my business - Baked by Erica (BBE). 

BBE is now 7 months old and the market feedback has been really positive. However, with any new business there is still A LOT to learn and a lot of challenges. Taking part in the Ignition program will ensure I am best prepared for what comes next and have a better understanding of the whole business spectrum. Having a great product is a good start but excellent business acumen will aide BBE 's growth and future path. 

Since its launch, BBE has traded at 17 markets and the online store has been generating regular sales. Given the pace at which BBE is growing, and feedback from regular customers and retailers, I believe there is significant room for growth in both the online sales and with wholesale opportunities into cafes and grocers.  

Being a small start up business, funding oftens limits opportunities for trade at bigger events and expos and attending intensive training programs such as Curtin Growth Ignition. The current approach is to use what the business is earning to book future stalls and purchase promotional and marketing materials. Activities which require significant outlay are often impossible to attend or require longer term planning and saving for BBE to attend.

Aside from bringing joy and happiness to those who enjoy the baked treats I create, I also want to give back to a small farming community in the Philippines, where I grew up until I was 18 years old. Successfully growing my business means being able to help others. Although just a solo and at home enterprise at the moment, I have big long term plans and goals for BBE.

And this is why I am asking for your help. Funding is limited, but at the moment I have a chance to take part in this intensive entrepreneur program.  The Curtin Ignition Program would provide me with invaluable knowledge on how to go forward in growing BBE. Learning from experienced entrepreneurs would allow me to positively nurture, grow and scale my business. Having a great product helps in ensuring the business succeeds but having the right systems, process, guidance and the opportunity to learn how to properly commercialise and distribute a product ensures a solid foundation and path for growth and a bigger, more exciting future for BBE.

I truly appreciate any funding assistance you can offer. Once, the business is more established and financially stable, there will be cookies for all those who have helped me reach my goal. 

Please leave your contact details so I can stay in touch and keep you posted on BBE's exciting growth. By helping me reach my goal, you are now part of the BBE story... and not only do I see a bright future ahead for us, I also see lots of cookies, lots of yummy baked treats!