Five questions for… Mark Sheath, Jengers Craft Bakery

published 22 December 2017

875-5Q-634 — Mark Sheath of Jengers Craft Bakery

What does your firm do?

We are a family-owned retail and wholesale bakery business. We are very well known locally for our delicious doughnuts, which are made from scratch, and filled with lashings of jam. Our unique selling point is locally baked food, baked with passion, combined with fantastic customer service. We use traditional baking methods and age-old recipes handed down from generation to generation.

What's been your greatest achievement so far?

Being chosen as one of Small Business Saturday's Small Biz 100, a group of exciting small businesses to keep an eye on.

What has been your biggest challenge?

In the early days, I worked every hour of every day to grow the business and dedicated the time to drive the business forward. However, as the business grew, I ended up being further from the bench. But the buck stops with me at the end of the day you have to do whatever is required, even after a 20-hour shift at Christmas to make sure all your customers have the correct orders.

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What are your plans for hitting your targets this year?

We have recently taken on an apprentice, as we feel it is extremely important to continue training the next generation. I work closely with the team and expect commitment and a hard-working approach to achieve our goals.

What's the one piece of advice you'd give fellow entrepreneurs?

Attention to detail is key in any business particularly a food business and the paperwork is a very time-consuming job. We work with a fantastic bookkeeper and accountant who both have skills that I do not naturally excel in. If you surround yourself with a great team, anything is possible.