Cake! magazine by Australian Cake Decorating Network May 2019 Cake! Magazine | Page 34

MORE INFORMATION You were very young when you opened your first storefront. How did this opportunity arise? I was working really hard building my small cake business from home, and had a lot of success with online sales. I built up a big customer base, and was stocking cafes around the local area. I saved enough money selling cupcakes from home that I invested in equipment to do pop up stores in shopping centres. These stores were crazy busy, to the point where our whole house was turned into a commercial bakery. I knew something had to change, so I set up my first store in our local area of Point Cook when I was 19. Tell us more about your business. How many staff do you employ, and how many stores do you have now? We currently sit at approximately 20 staff members, split between two stores. We are currently working on some new pop up stores which is exciting! What was the most surprising thing about building a rapidly growing business? How overwhelming it can be! It definitely has been hard getting used to such a busy and fast-paced life at a young age, but I now have a lot of systems in place to ensure I can cope with the pressure. What are the pros and cons of having storefronts? Storefronts are obviously a very expensive exercise in the beginning, but it was the change I needed as it gets to a point where you just can’t have a big production in your own home any longer. The best feeling is being able to walk away from it at night time, and get work/life balance back. Storefronts can do really well if you have an established name in your area, but not all locations are good ones. When you have a storefront, this will open a lot of opportunities for retail sales, and big companies with corporate orders as it looks a lot more professional and is easily accessible. It definitely is hard work, but if you have a passion for what you’re doing, the customers will see this and want to support you in your journey. Who inspires you? I get inspiration from all around, and I don’t think I have one particular idol. My grandma is definitely a huge motivator for me to keep pursuing my dreams, as I know she would love to be in the kitchen with me now. What advice can you give for anyone wanting to open a cake shop? Work really hard to have the funds up front, so you can open your shop debt free. I find a lot of people put themselves under financial pressure in the early stages, and this can cause really bad problems later on. Be creative, try to do something different and always research for months before making a big decision. What is your favourite thing to bake? I love to make cheesecake! We don’t sell cheesecake in our stores as we are busy focusing on our mini cupcakes daily and custom cakes, but I love to eat and make all different types of cheesecakes. What is your favourite thing to bake?\ We have so many things in the works at the moment, but we are focusing on popping up in some new locations in Melbourne soon. You never know where we will be next! www.facebook.com/cakecreationsbykate