Often times, most young people find it difficult to decide on what they want to do and how they intend to actualise their dreams. In this edition of Community Life, 24 year-old Olubukola Albert, tells us how Home Economics, a subject she enjoyed during her secondary school days helped her identify her passion and how she has been able to turn it into a money-making venture.
Since when have you been baking?
I started right after secondary school, my home economics teacher then use to invite us to assist her whenever she had large order, we will go, so I picked the interest from there and I haven’t looked back ever since, it’s a passion that I turned into a profitable venture and I know for a fact that I couldn’t have found fulfilment in anything else like I do with baking, I knew what I wanted to do with my life and I was deliberate about it.
It’s good to identify things that you can do with ease, it comes easy when it’s a passion and you have friends and family that can support you and cheer you on when things are not going your way.
For those who want to toe this path, how much funds will they require?
Without equipment for a standard pastry shop you will need a capital of N50, 000 with equipment N150, 000, with that you are good to go, then your hygiene is one thing you cannot afford to compromise for any reason, and give your clients something extra, take for instance if they order for 200 pieces meat-pies you can add few addition for them, they will do free adverts for you, referrals is the wind beneath the wings of any business, so to thrive you need to give them values for their money, give them a reason to come back that way, you will get a break through in your business.
Finding a good location is the most important, so one need to put that into consideration when looking for a work space, with a good location, whatever challenge you may encounter is halfway solved
What are the challenges in this business?
At times, sales are just dull and you can’t sell snacks that are not fresh, that singular act can ruin your brand, so when sales are slow it can be depressing, but one have to be strong and forge ahead.
I sell drinks too,
During celebrations like valentine, Christmas, etc. how do you cope with orders so you don’t get confused?
Laughs, mixed feelings, one maybe smiling to the bank, satisfying the customers is the most crucial thing as one have to put a lot of this into consideration. So, what I do is to exhaust questions about what your preferences are and I document it, so that I don’t get orders mixed up, because I’m usually very busy.
For instance, when suddenly a relationship crumbles during Valentine and one of the couples had earlier booked for a cake with the partners name written something like Ayoola: the love of my life (because some like to give it a personal touch) maybe along the line there is a quarrel, which of course the baker isn’t aware, when you deliver the cake, they tend to take it personal with you, you know, it’s easy to transfer that aggression to innocent vendors like us, as if we ought to know that you and your boyfriend or girlfriend are no longer together (laughs)
And then again, at times, it’s like people are scared of being alone during any holiday or celebration, so there is always this last minute rush, there are times that I have had to bake on Valentine’s Day in order not to disappoint my clients. So the last minute rush is always something that I always brace up for every year. Somehow, I always get by.
