Ep 16 Sarah Neal F anf F Youtube

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Sara Ferrer: [00:00:00] Hello, everyone. Welcome to our episode of Fearless and Flawed. We have a good one for you today. My name is Sara from saraferrerco. com and I am here with my lovely co host. 

Serena Reynolds: Hi, I’m Serena. Um, I’m from Conceptive. I’m in England, London, and today’s guest is somebody that’s very rare because both me and Sara have met her in person.

Serena Reynolds: Not at the same time either. So this is, this is a real treat. We can’t wait to get in. Her name is Sarah Neal. She is the founder and creator for Instacake Cards, a company that combines greeting cards with all the ingredients needed to make a celebration cake in minutes. Did I mention she’s a fellow Brit?

Serena Reynolds: Um, she’s based now in Canada and And has developed a passion for baking at the age of six. And now I’m going to hand you [00:01:00] over to Sarah. And so Sarah, where did it all start? When did you, when did you come up with this brilliant idea to combine cards and cakes together? 

Sarah Neal: Oh, well, first of all, hi ladies. And it’s lovely to get you both together.

Sarah Neal: It’s just, you know, it’s wonderful to have both of you, uh, meeting you together. Which is the first time to have both. Anyway, um, when do we start? Um, I started about, oh, say six years ago, actually. It’s, um, so I had this idea that I wouldn’t, I wanted to send a cake in the mail to my friends and family because, as you can see, I’m British and I’m living in Canada, and I wanted to send a cake to friends back in the UK.

Sarah Neal: And when I looked at the cost, uh, it was really expensive to send a cake. And also they got crashed. I did one Christmas slot and some cakes and it got really, really expensive. But the idea is, you know, planted a little seed in my mind and I went, Oh, what if, but what if, if you could send a, you know, a cake at somewhere and then, then I went, Hmm, but what about if it’s for [00:02:00] a special occasion, like a birthday, so if it’s going to be a birthday, what do you have with a birthday?

Sarah Neal: You have a card. And then I went, okay, so that we could put a cake in a car, but how on earth do you do that? And then that was the, so once the seed has that, then it was like the next few years, just think it took quite a while to figure out like each, each, um, component. And if I could put. You know, a baking case in there.

Sarah Neal: Well, how would I do it? I want to make it foldable. So we had to spend time making a foldable baking case. And then we thought, well, how, what kind of cake mixture? Because I saw these mud cakes, but a lot of them you had to add oil or egg. And I went, you don’t want to send a gift to somebody that you have to add egg and oil.

Sarah Neal: That’s just a pain. So then I looked and made my own formula. And, and then I went, well, you know, then you’re going to add water because you don’t want to have, is to say, to, to mix it. And I said to my, one of my sons said, Oh, you’re going to put four tablespoons of water in. And he said, well, which one’s the tablespoon?

Sarah Neal: I went, okay, now we have another problem. [00:03:00] So then I thought, well, how do I get a tablespoon into this card? This card is only, you know, one and a half inches. I then had a work moment and went, what about made a flat one and you could fold it and that becomes a measuring spoon. And then I went, well, if I have that, then if you have a cake, you need frosting.

Sarah Neal: And if you have frosting, you need sprinkles. And if you have sprinkles, you got And then, ba dum. And that’s how it all started. And then I just wouldn’t let it go. So it was one of those things that kept in my mind. So I said, well, I’d try it. Let’s, let’s give it a go. And then we, so we did. But it is a combination of my, what I’ve been working in.

Sarah Neal: You know, I worked in the food industry. I’ve been baking since I was six. I did, I did, I was a big cake decorator. I loved baking, decorating cakes. I actually worked, I did a food degree in Glasgow. So I, it’s not just like, oh, you know, there’s a lot of combinations. So people say, so it’s basically, you know, it’s probably 30 years of working and [00:04:00] thinking and seeing things that came together to put it together.

Sarah Neal: So that’s how I would say it wasn’t just an overnight thing. It was a combination of many things to get it sorted. 

Sara Ferrer: It almost sounds like so that, so thank you for kind of explaining that. Cause I had had two thoughts at first one, where’s the baking, you know, uh, uh, savviness coming from. Cause this is, this is not just baking a cake and sending it out to your neighbor.

Sara Ferrer: This is the cake components in the card, understanding, you know, how to. How to ensure that it tastes good. So there has to be that baking background, but then there seems like a lot of engineering here. Things have to fit, things have to fit together, make sense. So it’s a very logical, technical products in the, in the experience of fun.

Sara Ferrer: So where does. That background come from of really making sure that all these components unfold and fit into this essentially this little card was that [00:05:00] all you was that a team was that, you know, maybe a partner that came into the scene or was it just Sarah wearing all the hats. 

Sarah Neal: Uh, it was me and my husband, so I, I was given this little baking case by somebody.

Sarah Neal: Uh, I had a supplier that, you know, like these proper baking, you see these paper baking cases that you can buy in Lakeland and these stores and Spain, you probably buy, you know that they come out the cardboard and you can put them in the oven. And I, so I was given one of these small ones and, um, I said to my husband, Oh, if it could only crush it and put it inside the card.

Sarah Neal: My husband did the design and how to fold it and then we sent it to the manufacturer saying well How do we do this on a bigger scale? So there was a lot of I had, you know I came up with the idea and then luckily my husband could figure it out And then we sent it so and the other things were I like problem solving I think that’s I I love that’s my favorite [00:06:00] part is coming up with ideas.

Sarah Neal: I you know, i’m always Coming up with another business idea because it’s just seeing a, you know, like it’s solution to a problem. I love that That’s my favorite bit and starting a company It’s not running a company for sure and I wish I could just sit in a lab all day designing new ideas If I could do that, I’ll be the happiest person 

Serena Reynolds: So what don’t you like about running a company then?

Sarah Neal: I think the hardest bit is that you’ve got to it’s lots of things especially when you’re small your small business Is that you’ve got to finance the money. Well, I’m not a financial person. You’ve got to manage people. Well, I’m not the, you know, I’m, I’m a more like, I like to think and go off and do my thing.

Sarah Neal: So I’ve got people that want, you know, structure. So I, um, and you have to, yeah, as managing people, I think it’s the hardest bit. And especially in this day, the world keeps throwing things up and problems, you know, like nothing, you just can’t get on with business this day. There’s always something that’s another [00:07:00] problem.

Sarah Neal: That’s the bit I don’t like about business. However, there’s some good bits. You know, when you get a good sale in and you go to the trade shows, you meet your customer. That’s, that’s the nice bit. And that’s the fun bit. And that’s how I met, you know, obviously I met Eustera. And that’s how we saw, that was the, that’s the fun, that’s the bit I’d like to do.

Sarah Neal: But I don’t want to deal with all the financing and managing people. That’s, that’s my least favorite part. 

Sara Ferrer: Let me add to that. I have had the pleasure of this is where we met. We met at the Atlanta trade show, which for anyone who’s listening, there’s a gift show in Atlanta every year. It’s the winter show in the summer show, and it is one of the, if not the biggest gift show in the country where a lot of small brands will go and they’ll be featured in a showroom.

Sara Ferrer: And Sarah and I were both in, in the same showroom and I was drawn to this booth. Of, I believe it was three lovely ladies there and little retro aprons with their little retro microwave. And they had a long line [00:08:00] of people who were intrigued by this, this new product, this cake and a card. But you know, it’s so easy for a lot of, you know, a lot of our listeners are thinking, okay, that’s amazing.

Sara Ferrer: How cool. But. Even making, how, how did you even make it to the trade show? Because you have the idea, but to get from the concept to the manufacturing, to then selling it to the public or selling it to retailers is a huge step. So before we even get there. How did you even find out that the trade shows existed, that you wanted to take, you know, instant cake cards into it?

Sara Ferrer: Talk us through kind of that journey, building a team. What did it look like? 

Sarah Neal: Well, that’s interesting because we literally, so the funny story to this is that, so I launched it in 2019 in New York, New York now show, because I just wanted to test it out. That was literally, I just want people to say, don’t go, don’t go.

Sarah Neal: It’s not ready yet. And I wasn’t really ready. Um, but I [00:09:00] wanted to test the market to say, well, before I spend any more money, is there a market for this? So I thought, okay, so we went in and we had amazing response. So I went, oh, okay. On the other side, I have another business. So I was working on that and I came back and I, so I was focusing a little bit on that and I didn’t put enough on Instacake.

Sarah Neal: And then in, in 2020, I went, okay, Sarah, I’ve got to put a little bit more time in there, but we’ve got to take this more seriously. So I took my first employee. March 16, when we literally went into full lockdown. So for the first two years, basically, um, you know, we were in lockdown. We didn’t go anywhere.

Sarah Neal: We did it all online. Um, and we did really well because people were sending cards to their employees because they weren’t, you know, there was June calls and like, we had like one person did like 500 cards, but for, and they all made cakes to bring to a zoom call because it was the company’s, uh, anniversary.

Sarah Neal: [00:10:00] So we did really, you know, all things considering we did, it was just me and, uh, my husband and, uh, Brianna. Who you met, it was just me and Brianna in Atlanta. And, um, but she’s got the great personality, so she probably makes up for another two people. So, but then we went, oh, but we can’t just rely on online, we need to, you know, this is doing so well.

Sarah Neal: So I started looking for trade shows, and especially in Canada. But we could not think was opening in Canada because they were still, you know, they were still on this COVID thing that they wouldn’t let anything open and the first trade show to open was Atlanta. It was the first trade show we could go to.

Sarah Neal: We didn’t really know much about it, to be honest. How we heard about it, I don’t know. So, but the funny thing is we had to have COVID shots, so we had to have them done 24 hours before we left. You couldn’t find anybody around here, because we were flying out Monday morning. You can find the first person that would do it, it was, oh my god, the effort to get to this show.

Sarah Neal: Was unbelievable, because we didn’t, we, if we had come back and [00:11:00] positive, we couldn’t fly. Oh, we’re lucky enough I had some taste, um, testing kit sent from England, because I couldn’t get any in Canada. It, now I think about it, um, it, it was crazy. And then we had to go back, and we had to have tests done, and we couldn’t find anybody to do tests before 24 hours.

Sarah Neal: And, we’re lucky enough they put one on Atlanta, but no one, the Atlanta show had told us. So we had to run literally to before they shut this pest thing so we could catch the flight the next day So we were George so anything after that any show after that is easy because we went through so much for that first show 

Sara Ferrer: Can I just say that I was there front and center.

Sara Ferrer: Our booths were like diagonal from each other. I would have never known that there was so much stress leading up to it based on how spunky, how energetic, how, how in it you were. So, so it begs to ask, what was the result of that first, you know, big, big [00:12:00] trade show was, was it just a flood opened? 

Sarah Neal: It’s the shows haven’t been the same since then.

Sarah Neal: They were just crazy. So yeah, it was a bit of a fault because we thought oh my god, these shows are amazing. They’re all gonna be like this Well, not quite. They’re really slow. I don’t know if it’s our product or but no, I mean I talked to other people It’s just the people would just been pent up for two years not going to trade show They were just ready to spend money.

Sarah Neal: So that was um, but that was good And and then but it was very stressful. I mean it was it’s so stressful especially coming from Canada So we have to fly everything in, we have to make sure everything’s there on time. So doing the business in America, it’s, it’s good because it’s a much bigger population.

Sarah Neal: But it’s really a way more stressful than we have to get things shipped back. Or most of the time we, we have gone through so many microwaves, it’s cheaper for me to walk away and just leave stuff there than have it sent back to Canada. I mean, we normally give it away [00:13:00] to charity. We, we ask people. Or someone buys it, but we have to leave a lot behind.

Sarah Neal: So it costs us quite a lot. And that’s the sad thing. It costs us so much money to do these shares and they’re getting more expensive. 

Sara Ferrer: I mean, you said the first one was spectacular. It was again, even if it was just COVID, maybe if it was a false sense of, you know, longevity, but. Like after the show, you get all these orders, is it mom and pop shows?

Sara Ferrer: Is it big retailers? Are we thinking like bed, bath and beyond the targets? Like just, I think about these two hardworking ladies and your husband’s in the background helping as well, but like, I’m sure the listeners are thinking like, how do you fulfill the orders? Where are you packaging all these orders?

Sara Ferrer: Like, what does the scaling look like? Are you losing your mind? Or are you just like so giddy with excitement that the hours are just flying by? 

Sarah Neal: At the beginning, obviously, it’s all exciting. Um, yeah, and then we had a very tight team. We had, we had a very small packing room and it’s only, it was myself, Brianna, [00:14:00] and another lady packed, two other packers, and my husband.

Sarah Neal: So we’ve had it very small and it’s still pretty small. It was all started from our garage. So we were making stuff in our garage. We were hand packing some of all the frosting and sealing and things. So, yeah. And then we got an Anna, then we managed to get commercial kitchen and move it to there. Last year, we moved them to a bigger premises.

Sarah Neal: It’s evolving. And you just deal with what I was, I mean, I remember we just like one of them, Brianna was just surrounded by boxes. We could hardly see her in the office because we had so little room and we weren’t prepared for that, that the volume, we were just not prepared. And we didn’t get any, we got one, um, we got more small mom and pop gift places.

Sarah Neal: That’s where we sort of do well in, you know, we’ve had some big people, but from just the demands of these big stores, I haven’t chased those at all because there’s so dem, we had one and it nearly killed us financially because they were so bad to deal with. I’m not [00:15:00] going to mention any names. Um, but it was a big company and I said, then I’ve been put off because.

Sarah Neal: They make money on fining you for being late for certain things not doing and yet They’re the ones that cause the problem. So Be careful. That’s the one be very careful the big what guys they look great. Oh, yeah They give you a massive input. 

Serena Reynolds: They also push down your prices, don’t they? They try and push down your your unit price and when you’re a small startup That’s not always a viable route.

Sarah Neal: Well, it depends, but, but, but they, what they do is, uh, they then ding you. So they ding you for maybe charging to be, it’s coming to their warehouse. They then ding you if you’re one day late. They then ding you if it’s something labels. It was, they gave us the labels and then they dinged us for that. And then there’s a, so be, that, be, you know, that’s the one [00:16:00] thing.

Sarah Neal: So now we’re very wary of any big box. You know, I have to see. Uh, a lot of, you know, have a lot of discussion before I would enter to a big, uh, bookstore again, ever again, because, and they didn’t pay us for almost, they put the order in May and they didn’t pay us till December. I had to write a letter to the CEO, say what they had done.

Sarah Neal: And that’s when I got paid. And this is a mega, I got lucky. I managed to find, and I said, you’re killing it, small businesses, because. We’re not a multimillion. We’re not making in China. We are a small company. Do you realize and they were holding on to our money? Seven months, about seven months about holding onto that money.

Sarah Neal: Cause he said, yeah, it was a long time. 

Sara Ferrer: Thank you for sharing that because a fallacy that allows small businesses have is I can’t wait to get that target PO. I can’t wait to get that newest champion. I can’t wait to go from zero [00:17:00] stores to 700 stores overnight. And I always say from my own experience too, and Serena and I, when we worked on Zoe Cocoa, we were very much in the same exact.

Sara Ferrer: Wagon as you would showing up to these trade shows and you almost wait for that. Oh, there’s the order for there. There’s the buyer from so and so huge, you know, big box store. Then you start to talk to people in the industry and your story what you’re saying and we don’t even need to name names but your story is not unique in the sense that You know, you want to be on that big box shelf.

Sara Ferrer: You’re going to be dinged a hundred times. Oh, and by the way, do you have 20, 000 worth of samples to distribute, to be on that big box shelf? So, so what I’m hearing from you is bigger is not necessarily better, especially in the beginning, 

Sarah Neal: pick your, you know, customers wisely. It’s better to take. Your time make sure you like and they’re who you know, sometimes they’re the most loyal They’re the ones that keep coming back.

Sarah Neal: These guys will come in one [00:18:00] time Um, i’m not saying not for everybody I think you can have a basic product that you have made in china and you can knock it out then that’s fine But we were you know, we’re hand packed. So i’ve learned to lean into our premium side of things. That’s who we are that’s who we’re going to go to the smaller gift store and they they’re the ones that Support us.

Sarah Neal: So we’re going to support them. It’s funny how you’re exactly how we first thought. No, I, I, someone’s come to me and then I went, no, no, I’m not interested. I’d rather go slower and take my time because literally it’s, um, nearly crushed us. 

Serena Reynolds: I think it’s that, it’s that excitement, isn’t it? That the big box store wants you.

Serena Reynolds: So, you know, get swept up in all their legals. I mean, they, they’ve got the money for the, for the contracts, the teams, the, the, everything else. You’re just the small Joe on your own, just trying to make ends meet [00:19:00] this, you know, I mean, nine months to be paid is, it’s phenomenal. I mean, that cost is on you all that time.

Sarah Neal: We, when we first started, we had Instagram come after us. I literally started, I was just, I hadn’t made it like 5, 000, 10, 000. They came after me. Because they have lawyers going through all the trademarks. So I’d registered my business and they had, they sent lawyers from Canada to me, Instagram saying, you, um, Cannot use that name because it’s got Insta and also you like it now.

Sarah Neal: Yes, I would agree on the logo sign So someone had the the original logo. It kind of looked like the Instagram the insta So we had to change that and I agreed to that so I had to then pay pay for a lawyer Many thousands legs that I mean I was tiny I like I was really and I was in Canada and pop a little fun.

Sarah Neal: What it was I felt Really bitter to, you know, like they could go over to [00:20:00] support companies. But anyway, cause once again, these lawyers are paid to go and find these companies. And then, um, but lucky enough, just at that time, I think Instacart just started and I went, okay, so how come Instacart can have the name and I can’t, or there’s Instabox.

Sarah Neal: And I, I got a whole load of things of Insta and I said, so I won that case that they couldn’t take my name away. I got so petty of them. 

Serena Reynolds: So let’s talk about your name. Let’s talk about your name. Instacake. Let’s describe the cake, Sarah. And the level of detail that has gone into this is phenomenal. 

Sara Ferrer: But it is one of those things to be fair that, like, you can tell someone, oh, it’s a cake and a card, and they might get it, they might not, but then the level of detail that you walk us through the process, and then we have to also ask, does it taste good?

Sarah Neal: So, okay, so there’s one of our cards. So this is our double chocolate, so we put [00:21:00] real double chocolate chips in this and all you need to do is add 4 tablespoons of water, so you get your nice little bit of that and it comes with a really cute envelope too, a cute sprinkled envelope that comes with it, that took me the most design, I had to fight, oh my god, I can’t believe how long that took us to design that, then you open it up, oh yeah, and then, ta da, adorable packaging, it’s like a sprinkle card box.

Sarah Neal: Go And then obviously you’re right, it’s just a traditional birthday card and obviously how to make it. And then this is where the, goes about that thick. And then when you open it up, 

Sara Ferrer: it’s about a half an inch thick, but for those people who are listening, I just want to kind of walk through it. So it’s about a half an inch thick envelope.

Sara Ferrer: Uh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. So, so cute. Compact. 

Sarah Neal: Yep. And then, uh, it’s about 4. 35 to send in the US. 

Serena Reynolds: So you pull, you’ve pulled out the contents [00:22:00] from the bottom of the pack, from the card. The card has a box attached to it and you’ve pulled out the contents. Now let’s share the contents with everyone. 

Sarah Neal: There’s cake mixture, and this, oh, well we should really talk about the frosting, that took a lot, a lot to get sorted.

Sarah Neal: We could not find anybody to manufacture this for us. So in the end we had had a big machine bought and made for us in order to make the frosting. 

Sara Ferrer: Because you were holding this little tiny pack of frosting and you’re telling me that that was a true labor of love. 

Sarah Neal: We would do like, we would literally hand pumping each one and sealing it at the beginning.

Sara Ferrer: Wow. Like, like, like not 

Sara Ferrer: wow in like 

Sara Ferrer: a good way, wow in like a, you poor, poor soul. 

Sarah Neal: Yeah, well I think it would have divorced my husband and I if we hadn’t found the alternative machine. So yeah, so because it’s hard to pump, you can get this stuff through liquid and people, Oh, but it, we bought one machine in and it couldn’t do it because it is too thick.[00:23:00] 

Sarah Neal: And it’s not like something, you know, like the gingerbread houses where they put the icing. Well, that goes in warm and then it’s sealed. So this isn’t just like a, a butter frosting that you buy. And then, and then we had to figure out how, so and then I had to have it tested for over a year before I could even start selling because I had to make sure that what the shelf life was on it.

Sarah Neal: That was a very expensive too, but we had to have it kept every month, uh, where the bacteria level. So yeah, it has a really, it has over a year’s shelf life. 

Serena Reynolds: Wow. In this adorable frosting basket. So if you’re like me and you forget to send the cards, you’ve got, you can do it next year. It’s all good. 

Sarah Neal: Each one has their own difficulties, not just one thing.

Sarah Neal: Everything’s had its own difficulty, uh, and yeah, making sure that it gets sealed, that people, uh, and make it look cute. It’s got to look cute as well, because this is a gift to somebody. And then also trying to make the packaging, you know, so that you’ve got a cute package for the cake mix, trying to, we had to get a new machine for that too.[00:24:00] 

Sarah Neal: And then here inside, you can see, this is the, and then you get the sprinkles. So, so we need, so we need to, you know, we hand pack those, feel those hand packs. 

Sara Ferrer: I mean, for, again, for anyone listening, this is just like the gift that keeps giving. You have the little pack of frosting, the little pack of cake mix, the little cute little sprinkles and now she’s pulling out, oh my God, a flat cardboard thing that pops up.

Serena Reynolds: And the sprinkles, the sprinkles match the card. But if you have a unicorn card, you get unicorn sprinkles. If you have little aliens on your card, you’re gonna have little aliens in your sprinkles.

Sarah Neal: I love my alien. We had little, yeah, we got little, uh, UFO sprinkles in that. And then we got the mixing spoon, eating spoon, your mixing I think, this is okay.

Sarah Neal: We only did this, because people go, oh, it’s not good. Well, this was meant to be if you’re in a hotel room and you didn’t have a spoon. You know, just use a regular spoon, it’d be like this. But we also give an eating spoon. When you use the wooden [00:25:00] spoon, because people go, oh, this doesn’t work. Use, you know, this is a little backup in case you’re in a place that you don’t have a spoon.

Sarah Neal: And then this is the mix eating spoon if you need it. Now this is the part of the genius. Is it, well, it’s a, it’s a genius and not. For some people, so here, this is like a flat piece of cardboard that’s got little, uh, folds in it. And then you just fold each corner, and it makes a tablespoon. But what a lot of people do is, sometimes they’re not properly folded where we get.

Sarah Neal: And then they just come like this, and some people just don’t even like that, and that won’t hold the water. And it’s pretty co But, common sense, one thing, when you’re designing a product, a lot of people don’t have common sense these days. That’s our biggest, um, trouble right now is to make sure people got the right amounts of water.

Sarah Neal: We’re even thinking, do we take this out and people put, use a tablespoon? For so many times, people, we watch videos of people making our cake and then just [00:26:00] not putting the right, putting it in the right way, the water. I thought it was quite straightforward, but, so basically So you’ve got the little corners there and there and there.

Sara Ferrer: So it’s like a little measuring cup for your water. So you say, you don’t just tell them how much to put in. You’ve given them a tablespoon card, uh, cut out so that there’s an exact measurement. You’ve given them this piece of paper to fold, to then hold the water in, like you’ve thought not deep about the steps you’ve provided the tools.

Sarah Neal: You could bake it anywhere. You should be able to make it anywhere in the world as long as you’ve got three, uh, four tablespoons of water, four of a water and a microwave. We’ve had them made in hotels. We’ve had them made on ferries, restaurants. Does people go on holiday? Uh, camping? You know, they have it in a, all the, you know, we’ve had them made in all dorms, especially, you know, college dorms.

Sarah Neal: Kids aren’t going to know what a tablespoon or look for a tablespoon are they? My son wouldn’t have a clue. No, exactly. And then it’s cute for little kids. [00:27:00] We’ve had them made, we had a hundred year, a person a hundred years old made one for their own birthday too. And then you get the little cake topper.

Sarah Neal: And you get the balloon, or, uh, sorry, the uh, birthday candle. So you, everybody gets a candle. It folds, and then it pops open. It’s microwave safe, oven safe, and air fryer safe. As we discovered, 

Sara Ferrer: there was a flat piece of cardboard you can fold out and that is the actual vessel, the, the, the, the cup, if you will, that mix everything in, you pop it in the microwave.

Sara Ferrer: So you literally have supplied every single thing. 

Serena Reynolds: And this is something that wasn’t in this card that Sarah’s missed out on. Oh, the hat. Oh yes. Birthday hats. 

Sarah Neal: Yes. Birthday hat now. 

Sara Ferrer: Your cards have now the newer editions have a birthday hat as well. You are a genius there. I mean, that is like, and then we have, 

Sarah Neal: then we have the kits as well.

Sarah Neal: So we’ve got a little mother’s day kit as [00:28:00] well. That way that that were launching. That has everything the same thing and then we’ve got the Christmas ones too. 

Sara Ferrer: So these are more kits now. I’m noticing that a little bit of a packaging different the the are these in addition the original insta cake was more of like a Card like a thick card that had all the components and these are more like it’s 

Sarah Neal: about a car But people then said well, I want to buy my own cars It has a special message or I want to put it as a goodie bag Or I want to put it give it just a bottle of wine or something so you can just add these Great stocking stuffer idea.

Sara Ferrer: What’s the one you’re showing now? It’s a little kit, the hot cocoa one. Is there a hot cocoa one I just saw? 

Sarah Neal: Hot chocolate. Oh, it’s we call it the hot chocolate brownie. It’s a brownie. We make a brand name, we give you little marshmallows, and this one’s got peppermint frost, and this one’s our gluten free one.

Sara Ferrer: What an amazing, like, you know, you know when you’re part of like, you know, you’re working in an office, and everyone’s doing like a little secret Santa, but they say keep it under [00:29:00] ten or fifteen dollars, and so most people Just buy utter shit and then you end up getting a candle that, from the dollar store, that smells like obscure lavender rose scent.

Sara Ferrer: This is what we’ve all needed for those, what do I buy? 

Sarah Neal: And the, well, this is gluten free, but what are the, our gluten free tastes so good. And those people, um, and with the peppermint, I love chocolate and peppermint. So, um, and then we get, we even put a cute little marshmallows on top of it so it looks like a little hot chocolate.

Sarah Neal: And a, and a candy cane. It’s like, yeah, our sales this Christmas have not been so good. And we, and I don’t know why. That’s, that’s, you know, that’s business, isn’t it? You just don’t, you think you’ve got it. I think today, the cost of advertising is so expensive. So the time we do the trade shows, the time we do this, you know, we have no money left to do the social, the big marketing.

Sarah Neal: I think nowadays, that’s You either got to keep it really small or you got to go big. I think I think in [00:30:00] that middle range, it’s the toughest spot to be. I think you either keep small or you have a lot of investors that come in because I think we’re in that really awkward middle of the road space.

Sara Ferrer: Because you are self funded, like, like you were very, like, you were very honest, like, Hey, we haven’t been having a great holiday. And I appreciate that because that’s the reality. How do you deal with these hard times? Cause it’s easy to say, but that’s money that maybe you’re not recouping that you thought you would.

Sara Ferrer: That’s, you know, slow for the next skew that’s going to come out, you know, that you were planning to invest in. So how do you personally. How do you manage mentally, emotionally, uh, you know, maybe physically cause stress, how do, how do you, how do you, do you just keep calm and carry on? Do you have a good, like, you know, do you, do you have a good cry?

Sara Ferrer: Do you just try to, do you try to understand the logic of it or do you just say, Hey, that’s life? Like how do you get through the hard times? 

Sarah Neal: Well, lucky enough. Okay. So I think I got, I had [00:31:00] another business and that went through some issues and this is And I, I put this down to growing pains. We’ve gone literally from a very small company and we, this year we’ve done almost doubled our sales.

Sarah Neal: However, with that came double the costs. So people go, Oh yeah, but you made this. So our costs have gone up exponentially. And we had to find stock and things like that. So how do I get through it mentally is that I’ve done it, I’ve listened to a lot of podcasts. That’s why it’s lovely to go on this because I think listening to the reality and I think, you know, it’s not, you know, you can see all these YouTubers go, Oh, I’ll make 200, you know, 20, 000, 30, 000 GIF salary.

Sarah Neal: That’s not reality. Yes, one or two people might make it, but the majority, I think if you talk to most business owners, that’s, that’s not the reality. Um, and so I’ve got in the back of my mind is that, you know, some of the best companies in the [00:32:00] world nearly went bankrupt because they’ve just gone through, um, hard time and it’s how you pivot, how you, And can you bring it in?

Sarah Neal: Can you bring it in tight to keep the cost down low? Where’s the next money coming from? Why did that happen? That’s my big question because everybody loved our product. What happened? What was that reasoning? We didn’t sell. That’s my, you know. If I didn’t have everybody telling me what a great product was, how they love it.

Sarah Neal: And I had another store the other day just, they went to a third order quickly and they keep selling out. You know, so I know it’s not the product, it must be our marketing message or it’s some, there’s something also, you know, Serena and I’ve been talking about the packaging. Yes, our card is lovely, you know, no one disputes that, it’s very cute, but when you go into a store and you’ve never heard of Instacape, you cannot both or believe how good it tastes or that it does what, you know, you don’t understand, it’s got this, this, this, this, [00:33:00] and I got three seconds to convey that.

Sarah Neal: In my, and I don’t have that, and I think, and if someone’s not there to sell it and tell people it, that’s our biggest, but we’re trying to figure out where do we go from people love, you know, the buyers love it, the people getting it love it, if that middle, that person to buy it, that’s our, we, this is our biggest struggle I would say right now, and you know, if we can solve that, then I think we’re into, you know, into another, you know, we can really grow as a company, but we need to figure this out.

Serena Reynolds: Just to fill everybody into the picture is where I came in. Sarah from Zoe Coco, former Zoe Coco owner, introduced me to Sarah Instacake. So I’ve been working alongside Sarah Instacake, um, to try and help her Come to some kind of graphical resolution to some of the problems that they’re, that they could be facing [00:34:00] as, as a company.

Serena Reynolds: So that’s how, that’s how I come into the picture. 

Sarah Neal: I think, I think anybody who starts a business, I think it’s just, well, you’ve got determination. I think you put so much time and effort in to give up now would be, you know, it would be crazy and you just have to be. Look at your cashflow that’s been, you know, like make, because I’m not a financial person, but it has made me a lot more savvy on, I’ve done loads of cashflow charts recent, I’ve really now reining in, I want costs, I, um, you know, I made my husband do it in a four path and every week I want to know how much cash is coming in, where our sales are, if they’re not coming in, what do we have to do in order to get through that next month?

Sarah Neal: So as a business person, I think, you know. Understanding the money. I didn’t take it seriously enough because we were doing well and like that. But you don’t, you’ve got to plan for when it’s not so good. And I think that is the [00:35:00] big challenge. And I made, I made two big mistakes this year and I bought, well, one of them was putting too much money in, um, in a stock for mother’s day and it didn’t get here in time.

Sarah Neal: For mother’s day, it was, that was, there was production problems. So then money that I’m good for mothers this year, but that money’s tied up. So, and then another company said, you know, they were going to do something. They didn’t do it. I bought in stock. So I’m very stock heavy. So that’s good because none of my, that none of that product goes off yet.

Sarah Neal: Cause we make these on a, um, a weekly to weekly fresh. Everything gets made fresh for each production. Um, so we’re lucky though. I’ve got lots of products, but yet that cashflow is like, I always say cashflow is King and I made a fundamental mistake. I listened to too many people and I should have said no.

Sarah Neal: Um, so sometimes you have to say no. 

Serena Reynolds: Companies [00:36:00] can expand too quickly. That is a reality. 

Sara Ferrer: I think that’s another thing is that seasonal, this is what I’m hearing is that, you know, Valentine’s day, Mother’s day, Easter, things that are themed. Sure. The customer is looking for that theme, but as a, as a manufacturer.

Sara Ferrer: You have to be very clear about ordering just the right amount so that you’re not, you’re not left with something that’s branded Mother’s Day because the minute Mother’s Day is over, nobody wants to buy that, especially if you know. Especially if, literally the day after, you’re done. So, so in this case, you over ordered, but it sounds like you over ordered more of the, like, the, the, the cards and all that.

Sara Ferrer: Not the actual product, the actual food you said is, is made fresh. So I’m hearing, because you said something very interesting. Though that was a mistake you made. You, you made sure to say, well, I guess we’re going to be good for mother’s day next year. 

Sarah Neal: Yes, we are. Well, good. [00:37:00] Well, we’re all set up. I got everything in now.

Sarah Neal: So that’s one good thing. And we can really start selling that. Uh, and it’s such a cute product. We’ve been, you know, we’ve brought in some lovely flavors, like Vesti, a sweet lemon with a raspberry frosting. And then we, we branched out and did a, we made our own, um, cake. We make, so it’s sort of up the flavors.

Sarah Neal: I did the flavors and it’s called Mamachino. So it’s a really light, sweet, uh, coffee flavored cake with a latte frosting. And even, and our coffee, but it’s so, so, some people say it’s a bit more caramelly. It’s absolutely delicious. So, and it’s fun because we thought, well, what’s mum’s on mother’s day, you know?

Sarah Neal: And then, and then one of them says, you’re so sweet. And the other one’s got a little, you know, as I said, the other one’s got a little cupcake next to it, holding it. So it’s the flavor. So we do change the flavors and make them different, but yeah, they’re done on a. production basis. You couldn’t get much fresher, 

Sara Ferrer: but you’re basically set for 2025.

Sara Ferrer: I mean, it was really think about this [00:38:00] is like making, you know, making lemonade out of lemons. Yes, it came in late here, but 2025 packaging concept, everything is set. And so it’s, it’s, it’s understanding that sometimes missing the mark for what you thought. Yes. That stinks. Yes. You’re, you were strapped, I’m sure for that holiday season there, but then like, it doesn’t mean everything’s gone completely to waste either.

Sara Ferrer: You’re very resourceful in how can, what can we make of this? Because essentially that is cash sitting in product. Oh, well, cash rich. I mean, product rich. 

Serena Reynolds: Cash and rich would be good. You’re manifesting. Manifesting, I like that. 

Sarah Neal: But, yes, and, um, I think next, you know, we already, uh, also for Christmas, but we have learned one thing.

Sarah Neal: We’re not going to do any more specialized days. We’ve said no more. That’ll be our last title. Except for Christmas. Christmas is pretty good. It’s because you have a lot more build up. Mother’s Day is like a week [00:39:00] before. That’s when people stop buying and especially, you know, kids don’t, you know, dads have to run out.

Sarah Neal: So that’s 48 hours really is Mother’s Day and I’ve learned a lot this year because I, I, you know, I’ve never run and this is people say, you know, people are like, why did you do this? Well, I have never run a big company before. This is the whole thing. I didn’t come with an MBA. I just thought, Oh, I like, this is another thing.

Sarah Neal: I like, Oh, this is a nice, you know, I want to do this. That’s just a tiny part. And so, you know, like you probably know this, it’s a tiny part of the business, isn’t it? So much more. The product is the smallest part, to be honest, of the business. Yeah. 

Sara Ferrer: Yeah. And I think too, like you’ve mentioned before, Hey, I’m not, I’m not a finance person, right?

Sara Ferrer: We all go into business having our strengths. You know, the reason Serena and I work so well together is, you know, yes, I consider myself creative in some aspect, but I don’t have the Serena creative brain. And so it’s understood that you’re going to need people who can [00:40:00] enhance. And certainly, you know, it’s nice to have a bookkeeper once you start scaling because things do become unmanageable and unmanageable bookkeeping means the taxman is going to come knocking and you don’t want that.

Sara Ferrer: But at the same time, it doesn’t mean that you can be blind to finances or blind to creativity. So what it sounds like is you’ve challenged yourself to say, Hey, I’m not a finance person. I don’t have an MBA. But guess what? The best MBA. is doing it. You can read about it. You can do case studies or you can do what Sarah’s doing, which is showing up.

Sara Ferrer: Okay. Thinking that mother’s day was going to be a big hit. It wasn’t. So what’s her takeaway. We’re not doing seasonal stuff, especially when the runway is one week before. But that in, in fact, if you stick it out, like you say you’re doing, you’re not folding, you’re sticking it out, that’ll make 2025 a better year because you have smarter, you can do smarter decision making.

Sara Ferrer: So that’s kind of what I hear is that you’re taking all these things, you’re leaning in, you’re learning, [00:41:00] but you’re also giving yourself grace. This is the first time you’ve ever run. A thriving, growing business, like what, what, what can one expect for one’s from oneself, right? 

Sarah Neal: Yeah. I think, and I think sometimes we get too harsh, you know, it’s, you know, I think that’s the reality is you have to realize that wasn’t my strength that is not so.

Sarah Neal: I’m teaching myself. Obviously I’ve leaned into it and I’m really learning about the financial side and I’ve realized how important it is And I will never let that mistake ever. There’s a few things, you know, that I want if I let that happen again You know, what’s the definition of a madman is to keep doing, you know, the same thing and expecting different results So I think i’ve really really learned and it’s interesting.

Sarah Neal: You can see why so many companies fold You know, normally when we say the second year Well, I don’t think, I think people, a business person have to be more aware of the fourth and the fifth year, because I think more, I bet more companies [00:42:00] after the second, more fold after five, because this is now you’ve changing the dynamics of your company, you’re growing, you’ve got more demand and it’s not so.

Sarah Neal: That’s one thing I think is those hurdles and if you ever listen to a lot of other big companies that seems to be When things start happening, you know, like really things start growing and if you don’t have everything right in place This was what the foundations 

Serena Reynolds: Yeah, I mean, you’ve got the detail down to the sprinkles, literally, to the, to the spoon.

Serena Reynolds: Creativity, inventiveness is definitely not your problem. It’s not a problem for you at all and I, and I know that you’ve got a few other projects always spinning around your head and hopefully one day we’ll have it back on here talking about them. 

Sara Ferrer: Is it still just the three of you? I mean, as we hear about this [00:43:00] scaling and big production runs, is it still you, Brianna and, and your husband or has the team experienced it?

Sarah Neal: Oh, uh, then I have two, um, part-timers and one full-time packer. So yeah, we have three people all together downstairs and that, but there’s still only, um, you know, they’re still pretty small book considering we could do it, you know, I’d love a full-time, you know, um, bookkeeper, but, but we’ve got a good big book, a bookkeeper now, and we could do with somebody, um, with marketing, you know, if we want to bring on new products.

Sarah Neal: I’ve been told I’m not allowed to at the moment. 

Sara Ferrer: Probably because you’re so creative that the truth is, that’s really the, and I know Serena you feel this way because we’ve talked about it, you know, as someone who is creative or someone who has so many good ideas, you simply can’t do all them, especially when cash flow is, is limited.

Sara Ferrer: I mean, if, if, if it was free just to create, produce and test a product, well, heck, Everybody would, [00:44:00] would be doing it, but you gotta, you gotta now balance the books, the cash with the ideas. And then you have to actually probably price out what idea you think is going to bring in the most cash. And it’s a test.

Sarah Neal: Another thing is that the business is so different this day, the world has changed since, you know, that it’s not. I’m finding it, you know, like with shipping, you never know what the shipping is going to be. There’s like, you know, we’re in Canada right now, we’ve got a big postal strike. So nothing is moving for Christmas, now all the couriers are overwhelmed.

Sarah Neal: So we’re, every year, fiscal, so it’s like, uh, yeah, it’s more exhausting. So, if I was giving any advice, I’d say to anybody Keep it small until you feel really ready and have everything you’d like to grow before you grow because in hindsight, I think we grew too fast. 

Serena Reynolds: So Sarah, if you [00:45:00] could imagine what the future looks for you five years time down the road, what does that look like?

Sarah Neal: Someone’s brought us out and I’m sitting on the beach in Hawaii. Oh, we’re there with you. Or, I’ve got, oh, I’ve got a team running the business. I mean, that’s what I would like. So, yes, I’d like to have a team running. I come in and I could just do the creative side. And then I come in and plan for the year.

Sarah Neal: This is what we’re going to do. This will be fun. Or, um, you know, or I do well, they’ll get bought out by some big company that can run it. And check, because And to be honest, I think this company can really grow. I’ve been talking to, you know, I know this can really grow because how many people in this world have birthdays?

Sarah Neal: You know, there’s one thing we’d never not do. Doesn’t matter how bad the economy is. No one generally forgets people’s birthday. They go, Oh, I can’t afford it. It might buy something cheaper, but no one forgets a birthday. Everybody had somebody with a birthday. And [00:46:00] you know what I mean? It’s just one of those things.

Sarah Neal: So I think it could be so much bigger. And I think it needs now a bigger company that can take it, get the scale of economy down and, and really, cause we’ve got so many inquires from different countries. I think it’s just, it needs somebody now to take it on board and take it and make it go to the next level in the next two or three years.

Sarah Neal: That’s what I would say. 

Serena Reynolds: So at the moment you are based in Canada, you do most of yourselves in America, is that correct? 

Sarah Neal: About 90%. I mean, we’ve had inquires from Britain, South Africa, Australia, um, I, but I haven’t because again, like, well, you know, I haven’t marked it. I got America on my doorstep, you know, 350 million people.

Sarah Neal: Not bad. Is there, it’s not bad for a core audience. I’d like to, obviously I’d love to sell in England. That would, I’d love to come over. So I, maybe I just set up little mini franchises or, you know, something like that. I don’t know. 

Sara Ferrer: That’s [00:47:00] something to think about. I feel like there’s a lot of possibilities here, Sarah.

Sara Ferrer: One thing we like to do on the podcast, because naturally we talk to other really badass women, women in charge, women who are getting things done. We ask our guests, uh, to ask a question for the next interviewee. We have this question from you from Alessandra from our last interview, which is what is one way that another woman has uplifted you?

Sarah Neal: Oh, that’s a really, that’s a fantastic question, isn’t it? Um, I have, okay, I have, well, I have many, and they’re my friends, so when I’m, you know, they’re the ones that keep me going, when I’m, you know, you say, how am I coping, when I’m feeling, they just let me talk, and, and, and, and let me vent, or anything, and they’re the ones that say, you’ve got this.

Sarah Neal: And they literally say, you’ve got this. You can, every day I get, I just got one in a day saying, you’ve got this. You can, you know, this is, you’re good. My friend, Sandra Jones, [00:48:00] she’s been amazing. She’s been with me from the very beginning and the concept. Um, and she’s giving me numerous, I mean, four things.

Sarah Neal: She’s had to listen to me talk about instigate for like four, five years. So she has been phenomenal. So a big thanks. And there’s also to Meredith. Uh, she came to New York with me and she came and helped me do my first trade show. Once again, she’s tasted all my products. When I went on as dragons, then I did dragons and Canada.

Sarah Neal: So that was so much fun. I did that and they, you know, everybody gave a big party. So that was good. Um, and then I have another friend in England, her Alison and Rona. I’ve got numerous, I’ve got lots of friends that just been. Just there, you know, saying you got this. 

Serena Reynolds: So all these slogans saying women don’t support each other, obviously don’t know you.

Sarah Neal: Well I’ve been very, well no, I’ve been [00:49:00] very lucky. No one has ever been negative. Never. I can’t believe it. Always said, do it, you know, they’ve all been so supportive. Not once has anybody been negative. Which is phenomenal. And obviously Brianna’s been, who’s been with me from day one and she’s been a phenomenal strength and help as well.

Sarah Neal: She’s, you know, deal with things that most people would do, you know, awful trade shows that went wrong and had to, you know, do, you know, snow storms coming in and dealing with them. And she’s just dealt with them and got on with it. So a big shout out to. Brianna, my sidekick, or my helper, like, well, she’s my, you know, sales, uh, manager.

Sarah Neal: So more than that, but she’s more than that. She’s been a phenomenal helper and supporter in Insticate too. So I’ve been, in that way, I’ve been very lucky, I can honestly say I’ve been very lucky. 

Serena Reynolds: I think we make our own luck. I’m fairly sure it has a lot to do with who you are, which is why you get that.

Sarah Neal: Well, thank you. [00:50:00] 

Sarah Neal: If you, because if I think if you had negative people around you, it would, that would be so bad, wouldn’t it? 

Sara Ferrer: Yeah. And as, as, as we kind of wrap up here and, and your story is, is so incredible in the ups and downs. And I think this, this note of, we asked you about a woman who’s uplifted you, and I just want to emphasize, you mentioned you rattled off easily about half a dozen women right off the top of your head.

Sara Ferrer: So I think that’s a very interesting little nugget to have. But as we kind of, uh, as we close out this journey, what’s one question you would like to ask? Our next guest, 

Sarah Neal: if there’s one thing you could change from the beginning, what would it be? 

Serena Reynolds: Okay. On the beginning of your business or on the beginning 

Sarah Neal: of the business.

Sarah Neal: Yeah. 

Sarah Neal: You know, like what you know now, what would you do differently 

Sarah Neal: at 

Sarah Neal: the beginning? 

Serena Reynolds: I’ve got a thousand answers coming through my head right now. It’s like a, like a ticker tape of, 

Sara Ferrer: I [00:51:00] hope that’s a good one. It’s a great one. It’s a great one. The question is, you know, like Serena said, that could be a question where someone will answer it in, you know, two minutes or they might take three hours being like, well, where do we begin?

Sara Ferrer: Like, where do we begin? But I think, you know, upon reflection of just everything we’ve talked about in the podcast, Serena and I have done, I think that’s a great question. And also. It’s a question everyone can relate to, right? It’s one of those questions where no one’s going to go, nothing. Oh, no, no, no.

Sara Ferrer: I’m very content. Like if you ask somebody, what would you, what do you regret? You might, you might get the answer like, Oh, I don’t believe in regrets, which is fair. But what would you change? Ooh, people, people be changing. 

Serena Reynolds: I can think of a few people that might answer that with a, Oh, nothing. It was perfect.

Serena Reynolds: The Instagram people, the uh, 20 million in three days of starting my business. Let me share with. With you how moments. Yeah. 

Sarah Neal: Well, but also I think another thing is is [00:52:00] when what age you start as well I mean, I was in my late, you know, I was my mid fifties when I started this I mean, I believe it or not, you know, I think I’ve aged by 20 years But um, and I thought it would be a bit fun But I think if you’re starting at early 20s and I think early 30s is the best time to start a business 

Serena Reynolds: At which point was it that you realised that maybe it was a little bit more than a bit of fun?

Serena Reynolds: Was it when you were hiring specialist machinery to pump out your icing into sachets or That’s a bit holidical there. 

Sarah Neal: Well, I think, and Sarah will understand, you know, because she’s in the same kind of field of manufacturing and getting things, is that it happens slowly and it creeps up. Would you agree, Sarah?

Sarah Neal: Because I think you don’t realise it’s happening. 100%. 

Serena Reynolds: But you can’t quit, can you, at that point? All that investment to that point, and that’s going to stop you? A little bit of machinery. [00:53:00] 

Sara Ferrer: You know what? You know what I think it is? It has the potential to, I’ll tell you from my experience, I think what ends up happening at least for me is the first two years you anticipate hard and you go into it and go, I know it’s hard, but I love it so much that how hard can hard be?

Sara Ferrer: It’s like dating, you know, people go, Hey, there’s such a thing as the honeymoon phase and you go, no, no, no, no, no. You don’t understand. This is different. This honeymoon phase is going to last forever. Y’all are having. Y’all are having those real life problems, but somehow I’ve been lucky enough to be passionate enough about this, savvy enough, emotionally equipped, that even when things get hard, I’m ready.

Sara Ferrer: And for the first two years, you go through a bit of a honeymoon phase, which is essential in business because if not, you’d give up on week two. And then I think to Thera’s point, you know, for me at least year three, year four, okay, wait, now it’s still the same problems. Thanks. But now the stakes are [00:54:00] bigger.

Sara Ferrer: Now I’m in more retailers. Now the, the, now the mistakes cost more. Now, again, if we’re relating it to a relationship now, I would prefer to sleep in a separate bedroom now because now you’re really annoying me. 

Serena Reynolds: It’s, it’s not only that, it’s the responsibilities that come with it as well. You know, it’s not just you all of a sudden, you’ve got staff, you have to pay them.

Serena Reynolds: They have families that they’re raising and. That responsibility is, is huge to take on. 

Sarah Neal: And, and that’s not what you kind of, what you did kind of sign up for that. That’s not what, and, and I don’t know what you, when you start a business, you say, surely you’d have seen that. No, you just, that, that part never occurs to you.

Sara Ferrer: Well, it didn’t to me. Yep. But that’s why, that’s why you’re an entrepreneur. I mean, I think that this is the, we’re really hitting the, Where you have to be delusional in all the right ways to start something from nothing because you have to believe that that thing that that is in your [00:55:00] head that you can put in paper that you just spend countless hours, you know, with your husband, trying to figure out how to make these things work.

Sara Ferrer: In the, you know, half inch card box, um, it’s delusional to some degree because other people go, well, well, it might not work and you go, yeah, it might not, but I can figure it out. I will figure it out. 

Serena Reynolds: How many people go, Oh, I’d love to have sent a cake with that card and then just never did anything about it.

Serena Reynolds: Never thought any more about it. That’s just, those are sensible people. They are, they’re sensible people. A thousand ideas a day goes through our heads and that’s what, that’s, I think that’s the entrepreneurial brain, is it not? 

Sara Ferrer: Sarah’s so right though, sensible people, yeah. 

Serena Reynolds: Well 

Serena Reynolds: the question 

Serena Reynolds: is, would you 

Serena Reynolds: change anything?

Serena Reynolds: Would you, would you?

Sarah Neal: Well, the funny thing is I have another business, totally different, totally different, so it’s not like I had [00:56:00] run a business on my husband and I, but it’s just the two of us, and when I went, oh, I can run another business, I’ve done it before, it’s easy, no, like, it’s so difficult, so be very careful, be very wary, that you think you’ve run one business, not all businesses are created equally.

Sara Ferrer: Yep. Yep. And, and, and for people who are listening and go, okay, Sarah, you’ve, you’ve enlightened me on the challenges, the struggles you’ve walked me through with your cake processed and the fresh it’s made every week. Where can people find you? Because as we, we never want to leave without letting people know, where can the average Joe listening get their hands on these delicious Instacakes?

Sarah Neal: Go to our website and you can go on there and it shows loads of stores were sold all across America and Canada. So basically, if you go on our website, we sell in many, like lots of gift stores across America. And we also do it online. So you can go in online and order our products. 

Serena Reynolds: So your domain is [00:57:00] instacakecard.

Serena Reynolds: com. Is that correct? 

Serena Reynolds: I think, you know, really hearing this story, I think now you have a new set of listeners where we’re here watching how you evolve. And if nothing else, 2025 Mother’s Day, buy the damn Instacake card that she overbought this year. Honestly, it’s so simple. 

Serena Reynolds: Just add water. Ping! You could make it for her in the morning for breakfast.

Serena Reynolds: She doesn’t have to do it herself. It’s not a DIY deal. You could do it for her. There you go. 

Sarah Neal: But you know what? My mum’s like little treats. I like little treats in the evening. You know, making yourself a little cup of tea and then you just fancy something a little sweet. This is perfect because they come out nice and warm and then that frosted.

Sarah Neal: A lot of people buy them for dessert. Sometimes people just buy the kits for themselves. And they love, because I even thought of starting a, a range of cakes just for dessert. Because you know, sometimes in the evening you just want a little cake, but you don’t want to fool and ours come out warm. 

Serena Reynolds: You know what we were saying about the entrepreneurial brain.

Serena Reynolds: Here she is selling her [00:58:00] next idea to us. 

Sara Ferrer: Keep, keep that next, keep that next idea for the next podcast episode because we will have you back with Sarah Neal 2. 0, the next visionary item in the kitchen. But we want to thank you for, for really for enlightening us, sharing your authentic journey, the ups, the downs, everywhere in between.

Sara Ferrer: And remember people, it’s a really great tasting cake. So that is a feat in and of itself. But thank you for sharing your stories. I feel like this has been a good crash course and How it’s done, but also the, the uh oh moments that, that are able, yeah, the real moments. So thank you. This was a great, this is a great moment, uh, of, of learning.

Sarah Neal: Yeah. Well, thank you very much for having me on and, uh, speak to you later galadies.