Saturday, October 20, 2012

New beginnings and my second successful sugarcraft show

As I write, I am sitting in a local internet cafe, simply because I have no internet in my new home.  Since I last wrote there have been some momentous changes in my life.  In a nutshell I have bought a house in Finland, moved and am in the process of starting up my own cake business!

Needless to say it has been a hectic few months.  My husband and I did the impossible and in only 6 weeks found and purchased our dream home in a sleepy, seaside town just outside the capital city of Finland.  The next step was rather unorthodox; instead of moving the whole family to Finland, we found a new, smaller home for my hubby in Germany and I moved here to Finland on my own.  The reasons for this are all very pragmatic.  Simply stated, somebody has to pay the bills while I start my new venture, so my hubby decided it was wiser for him not to quit his day job quite yet.  In time we will be reunited, but for now we are doing the long distance option.

On route to Finland I stopped off at Hamburg for the weekend to attend, and compete in the Hamburg Tortenshow.  I didn't really know what to expect as I had heard this show is very much smaller than the shows at Birmingham and Telford in England.  With all the hassle of moving I was left with only 3,5 days to prepare my competition piece.  The schedule stated that I had to prepare a floral arrangement with a minimum of 4 different kinds of flowers and a minimum of three of each.  This meant at least 12 flowers and foliage to boot!

Having set up my flowers at the competition site, I took a quick survey of the other flowers and figured I was around middle of the group in standard, so I'd be lucky to get silver.  Imagine my surprise when I won not only gold, but best in class!!!!!

So it was in high spirits that I continued my journey to Finland by ship.  Having rained steadily since I arrived last Wednesday I have effectively been brought back down to earth.  My days have been spent unpacking boxes, cleaning my new home and trying to make sense of all the chaos.

Then it is time to start cutting through all the red tape to start the cake business.  First step is to take....and pass the hygiene exam so that I can work legally with food.  Next step is to complete my business plan so that I can apply for a start up grant.  Then it's time to register the company and apply for a business loan.  Last, but not necessarily final step is to find premises from where I can bake, as it is not possible to bake from home commercially in this country.

Lots of things to consider, much to do, but it's all very exciting!  Watch this page for future developments!


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