Working as an engineer in London, England in 2008, 22-year-old Sarah Landstreet came upon a sweet realization — cupcake bakeries were extremely popular across the pond. While she claims she didn’t know much about operating a business let alone being a genius baker, the confident, go-getter decided to move to Northern Ireland to start a cupcake business of her own. At 24, Landstreet had opened Northern Ireland’s first cupcake bakery.
“There was an affinity for North American culture there,” Landstreet said about the choice of location for her business. “My mom’s from Northern Ireland and I had been there before. I looked at it as a smaller, safer place to start than London, England.”
The business was a success, but Landstreet was frustrated with the lack of packaging options for a small operation like hers. She ran the bakery until 2011 before selling it and coming home to London, Ontario for her next adventure, which ultimately took her to the Ivey School of Business at Western University. Working on an MBA with a focus on entrepreneurship, Landstreet thought back to the packaging problem she came across running her business
“In my own experience, finding attractive, branded packaging was very difficult and smaller businesses can’t afford pure custom packaging,” Landstreet said. “I wanted to know if there was a demand for specialized boxes and if it was even possible to manufacture affordable custom-printed packaging.”
The need to find a solution to this problem led the young entrepreneur to start an award-winning business. She surveyed more than 25 bakeries across Canada and their response was overwhelmingly in favour of developing packaging products for small businesses. Landstreet connected with London’s support organizations including BizInc, Brescia University College and her alma mater the Ivey Business School to launch Georgette Packaging in November 2013. The company makes custom-printed packaging in standard sizes, which are designed to be used by many types of small businesses. Landstreet enlisted the help of a manufacturing facility in London and the company is already in its fourth production run: Georgette Packaging now supplies products to 20 clients in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Hawaii.
“I feel very honoured that I can help support manufacturing jobs in my hometown,” Landstreet said. “There is a lot of support for entrepreneurs in London. People help you to connect with the right groups.”
Landstreet is ready to take Georgette Packaging to the next level and is working on a new project with a business-to-consumer focus. Recently, Georgette Packaging was declared the winner in the start-up Business category at the 2014 Venture London business competition on June 4.
“I was nervous going into it because all the finalists were such strong contenders. It was an honour to be part of the group,” Landstreet said. “But, it was great to win. It was perfect!”
Georgette Packaging won $5,000 in cash and more than $10,000 in services that businesses need to start and grow including legal and accounting services, web design consultations and business support from the London Economic Development Corporation (LEDC.)
“These are invaluable resources that were a luxury before, but now I can use the help from various experts to really grow my business,” Landstreet said.
Venture London business competition was established by the LEDC, Small Business Centre, TechAlliance and Western Research Parks, four of London’s economic development partners. The competition is a way to celebrate and support new businesses that contribute to the entrepreneurial spirit that exists in our city. The competition is open to businesses in their developmental stages and those that have been in operation for less than three years. This year more than $50,000 in cash and prizes were awarded to the winners. Game development company Big Viking Games took home the award in the Existing Business category at Venture London on June 4.
To find out more about Sarah Landstreet and Georgette Packaging visit http://www.georgettepackaging.com/
