{"id":236669,"date":"2019-05-30T00:02:16","date_gmt":"2019-05-29T14:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=236669"},"modified":"2020-07-20T09:21:24","modified_gmt":"2020-07-19T23:21:24","slug":"small-business-can-be-a-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/05\/30\/small-business-can-be-a-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Small Business Can Be A Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jenna Sanders, from Kenilworth Country Bakery, with BIEDO CEO Kristy Frahm and THAT donut<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

May 29, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Social media has put the icing on the cake for Kenilworth Country Bakery, a small business that has been operating for less than three years but now has an international reputation.<\/p>\n

The story of the phenomenal growth of the business in a town with less than 600 residents was shared at a Small Business Week function hosted by BIEDO in Murgon on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

Jenna Sanders, the brains behind the growth, spoke to an audience of about 40 local businesspeople at Murgon Town Hall.<\/p>\n

And she brought along some of the goodies from her bakery to share with the crowd.<\/p>\n

Jenna said when her family bought the bakery two-and-a-half years ago, it was run down and had just 80 followers on Facebook.<\/p>\n

It now has almost 24,000 followers and people drive three hours from Brisbane just to experience what the business has to offer.<\/p>\n

Jenna said she began looking for something unique which would make people want to drive out, something that would make them want to come back again and again.<\/p>\n

“I was trying to find that one thing that would set us apart and get people through the door,” she said.<\/p>\n

She hit upon the idea of the 1kg donut … a cream donut that the business offers as a challenge to visitors.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you finish it in one sitting, you’ll get your name on a plaque on the wall.<\/p>\n

The idea came accidentally after the business was asked if they could make a\u00a0large doughnut for a birthday cake.<\/p>\n

Jenna then took a photo of a local farmer with one of the donuts, and was stunned when the snapshot went viral on social media.<\/p>\n

A second photo reached 2.8 million people and was shared 36,000 times, she said.<\/p>\n

The calls then started coming in from media organisations, and the business was featured on Channel 7’s Sunrise.<\/p>\n

It was even publicised overseas, with reports translated into Japanese.<\/p>\n

A second product, a donut coffee cup, also went viral.\u00a0 This creation featured a\u00a0donut lined with Nutella and filled with a shot of espresso coffee.<\/p>\n

Jenna initially just watched what other people were doing on social media and joined women’s entrepreneur groups to get ideas.<\/p>\n

She also spent $10,000 on a social media course, learning about algorithms, when and how to post and the importance of hashtags.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The business now regularly posts on Instagram (6200 followers) as well as Facebook, and shoots videos as well as sharing photographs.<\/p>\n

However, Jenna also makes sure the positive vibes extend from cyberspace into the real world, offering visitors a fun experience when they hit the shop.<\/p>\n

Her father, Jeff, said the business was trying to “create an event” for visitors.<\/p>\n

The Small Business Week event was put on as a partnership between\u00a0BIEDO and the South Burnett, North Burnett, Cherbourg and Gympie councils as well as the Bundaberg Business Enterprise Centre.<\/p>\n

Other guest speakers on the night were Amanda Wenck, from Truth Designs at Gayndah; Felicity Dascombe, from Pursers Travel;\u00a0Goomeri Project administrator Dev Adhikary; and Cherbourg Council economic development officer Sean Nicholson.<\/p>\n