Getting the ball rolling...

I'm just trying to find some job vacancies at the moment for any baking type job... it's hard to find specifically what i want since i'm really just interested in becoming a self-employed baker, one of those that makes cakes to order from home... so i dont really want to sweat away in a kitchen with all those stations, with an order for 60 million eclairs to be finished in half an hour. i thought i'd throw myself into a few training courses after uni- but for the sake of this module, i'm going to poke my nose into any successful business and hopefully get a few pieces of valuable advice out of them!

Fallen Angel Bakery
So far i've contacted Fallen Angel Bakery, based in Harbourne and Solihull. This bakery is interesting as it was opened up by a student whom studied a course at University College of Birmingham and went straight for the business and managed to do really well (very jealous)...

  That's a little screenshot there of the contact form on the site. (Just to prove I actually did it :P).. I'm now just waiting for a reply...

Here's what i said:

"Hi there,

I'm a 3rd year BCU student and an aspiring baker. I'm interested in gaining some experience or further knowledge in the field so that I can become a self-employed baker in the future.

I would fully appreciate any advice you would be able to offer me about successfully entering this industry, or any work experience available. I'm still an amateur baker so any help would be valuable to me :)

Thank you!"

Blue Door Bakery
Next, i was going to attack Blue Door Bakery, which is based in Worcestershire. Now, the interesting thing about this bakery is that not only do they sell cakes AND offer workshops on how to create and decorate different cupcakes, but actually offer a workshop on how to start your very own CUPCAKE BUSINESS (£125 should i invest?...) obviously, i dont just want to specialise in cupcakes, but im sure all the information is easily adaptable. I was going to contact them on advice on starting my own business, but i thought that might be just A BIT cheeky, considering they already run a class, and they might be able to tell that im sneaky pikey.

Here's a screenshot of the site:
(hmmm... maybe i could offer to redesign their website in return for advice)

I also left a comment on their blog, there was a post about what she wished she knew before starting a cake business- it hasnt scared me off. It was mainly about hand cream, comfy shoes and spreadsheets. She actually also mentioned that she was spending more time trying to figure out how to make a website- so maybe my bargain may be well received!! I did kind of slide that in the end of my comment... something like "as an animation student, i know how making websites can be. *wink wink nudge nudge*"

Well not quite that.

Honey 'n' Love Bakery
Also based in the Midlands, i've emailed this lady/bakery (i dont know if it's just one lady, the homepage seems to suggest so) with the same thing i said to the Fallen Angel Bakery... i'm thinking i should probably offer the same bargain of a new website for some work/advice: