When you talk to Ashley Wittig, co-owner of the brand new Bunner's Bakeshop in Toronto's Junction neighbourhood, it seems like her success was written in the stars.
After all, as a child, her first word was cookie.
But we all know that's not the way it works. Launching a successful business is not about fate. It takes innovative thinking, hard work, commitment, and a great communications plan.
Ms. Wittig has all of this, and, in an incredibly short period of time, she and her boyfriend, Kevin MacAllister, have built something great. Their company markets to an underserviced clientele: Bunner's sells only gluten-free, vegan products.
"It started as a pipe dream," she recalls with a laugh.
Until September, 2009, Ms. Wittig had a good job that she enjoyed, but she spent much of her free time baking and perfecting her very specialized recipes.
"I used to bake cookies for work meetings and eventually realized that watching everyone go crazy over my cookies was my favourite part of the meetings," she says.
"So I ended up leaving my job and focused all of my energy on Bunner's."
One month later, she had her first catering job, and last April, she started to sell her goods at a local farmer's market.
"We ended up making more and more stuff every weekend, but we'd still sell out by noon every day," Ms. Wittig says.
By last summer, Bunner's already had a loyal following on various social networking sites, so the two young entrepreneurs decided to take their online marketing one step further: They added their information to Veg.ca, the Toronto Vegetarian Association's food directory.
From there, business really took off.
"We were getting three or four calls a day," Ms. Wittig recalls. "So we asked ourselves, 'What are we doing this for if we're not going to open up a place?' "
On Dec. 11, just a little over a year after Ms.Wittig left her job, she and Mr. MacAllister opened up their retail shop.
"It went gangbusters after that," Ms. Wittig says. "All of a sudden, people were blogging about us like crazy, and blogTO named us the No. 1 best new bakery opened in 2010.
"Each week has been busier than the last. It is really exciting," she adds.
They may be new to running a business, but Ms. Wittig and Mr. MacAllister made some very smart decisions from the outset.
Bunner's has both a strong online and offline presence, participating in social networking and in-person community events.
The shop promotes its products through placement in two other high-end coffee shops, and engages with bloggers and the media alike.
Ms. Wittig also positions herself as a thought leader about vegan and gluten-free cooking and baking – a great benefit to the Bunner's brand.
Above all, the shop is providing a market hungry for good products and service with exactly that, and the co-owners continue to think big every step of the way.
"Our goals for the future are to expand our wholesale business to include health food stores, more cafés, and restaurants," Ms.Wittig says. "We also plan to open a second, smaller location, downtown…making our goods more accessible to other areas of the city and further growing our brand recognition."
Ms. Wittig and Mr. MacAllister are inspiring. It is so important for Canada's young people to continue to push boundaries and innovate in the work they do. Sure, Ms. Wittig might have been nervous to pull the safety net and start her own company, but she didn't let that stop her.
"Even though I was nervous, I always knew it was a great idea," she says. "For anyone opening up a business, I'd say that if you think there is a need for it, and if you're looking around and there's nothing like it, it's probably a good idea. You just need to take that chance."
Special to The Globe and Mail
Mia Pearson is president of the Canadian region for Fleishman-Hillard Canada and its sister company, High Road Communications. She has more than two decades of experience in creating and growing award-winning communications agencies. Her experience spans many sectors, including financial, technology, consumer and lifestyle. She works in partnership with her clients to build brands, mitigate risk and shape communications strategies.