Her Biz March 2022 Winner
Healthy food, healthy life: owner of nutritious food outlet Oatmeals Kizzy Barton wins £500 to launch from the Her Biz programme
Rich and creamy, served with every type of topping you can imagine – with Oatmeals, Kizzy Barton aims to bring on-trend and affordable overnight oat pots to the people of Kent.
Kizzy won £500 towards her start-up costs for Oatmeals after completing the Her Biz workshop programme and submitting her winning business plan to the Her Biz competition, which is open to all ladies taking part.
The Her Biz programme, which is delivered by Let’s Do Business Group and supported by NatWest Bank, aims to increase entrepreneurship, and break down the barriers between women and business by supporting more people to follow their career aspirations. Delivered virtually over Zoom by our two expert business coaches Lisa and Helena, the programme has been a long running success since it started three years ago.
Thinking ‘Oat’ of the box
73% of people say that they plan to eat and drink healthier as a result of the COVID19 pandemic, and Kizzy intends to harness the power of this renewed healthy food movement with Oatmeals.
A core part of Oatmeals’ offering will be overnight oats – an easy, wholesome and healthy alternative to what’s currently on offer at al-fresco food outlets in the area. The dish is a sought after niche product that’s in high demand in the market, and Oatmeals will be the first outlet of its kind for the Maidstone and Kent area, giving a competitive advantage to and already ahead-of-the-curve idea.
“We will have food that is well sourced, nutrient rich, and that will leave people feeling satisfied and energised.
In our case, flavour will not trump health but will be equally as important thus we will use dairy free alternatives, nuts, unrefined sugar and natural sweetness, fresh and dried fruit.”
The goal is to start out as a mobile café, enabling Oatmeals the flexibility of placement and to gauge out areas that will take to the idea. As a mobile café, Oatmeals will be able to benefit from being able to attend local festivals and markets if they wish, which as it gains popularity will aid in getting its name out there to new customers, with a more permanent base in an empty lot to allow for outside seating and create a café atmosphere.
Also on the menu alongside the mouth-watering overnight oat pots will be nutritious oat-based pancake stacks offering with a variety of toppings from nuts, dairy free cream and edible flowers, and oat cookies to add to the theme of the café. Kizzy also plans to offer on trend specialty drinks and lattes to Oatmeals’ customers to set herself apart from the competition.
Getting Kizzy and Oatmeals ready to launch
In preparation to launch Oatmeals’, Kizzy attended the Her Biz start up business workshops, which aim to support aspiring female entrepreneurs in Kent and East Sussex with their dreams of starting a business.
The workshop programme, which is funded by Natwest, is delivered in 4 x 2.5 hour sessions over four weeks by expert business coaches at Let’s Do Business Group, and teaches vital skills such as marketing, sales, book-keeping and more to enables participants to get off to the best start possible when gearing up to launch their business idea.
The Her Biz programme was very informative, the content was relevant, easy to understand and the resources were excellent to tap into. The programme helped to build my confidence to pursue my business idea and allay any fears that I might have had moving forward. I was able to use the material to facilitate my business plans and to harness new skills that will undoubtedly be beneficial for the future of the business
If you are thinking of starting your own business and would like more information on our Start Up programmes ‘Ready for Business’ and ‘Her Biz’, visit our events page for details on our next start dates.
