I Love Cupcakes – Alice Foo

Story by Alice Foo – I Love Cupcakes

*A dream will remain a dream unless you work on it and make it happen*

I was at a lost when my boss, the last person I had been working with for almost 3 years, told me that I won’t be able to move up my career without having a degree. I guess she was just being realistic as we were both living in Singapore, and Singapore has always been a paper-chase country. Not having a paper degree is not a good thing in Singapore.

Ever since then, I felt that I was losing ground on my corporate world career. I did thought of being my own boss … calling the shots, etc, but I had absolutely no idea what I could do and be successful back then.

So, the next thing I did was to get a degree. After graduation, though I enthusiastic in building my career again, there was still not much work satisfaction for me. Then I got married and the baby was on the way. Life in Penang is pretty lay back, and a family can actually get by with a single-income. Nevertheless, being a self-confessed shoppaholic, I needed extra money for my shopping fixes!

My husband did not believe in sending our child to a school at an early age. With no one helping to take care of my little boy, I was forced to be a full-time mother. Fortunately, as my boy grew older, he did not need as much attention as he did as baby. By then, he could play by his own, how wonderful. That was the turning point for me.

Being home bound, I had all the time in my hand. With a little help from technology and internet, I built up both, knowledge and courage. I explored working opportunities online and had full flexibility in taking care of my boy and meeting occasional needs for shopping fixes.

How to look for the right business to venture?
After being a mother, I realised I love to cook and bake. At that point of time, I felt that mastering these areas of interests will be one of the ways to make “my own business” dream, a reality. While surfing the Internet one day, I read about some mothers who left their jobs to start home based businesses. And I thought to myself – Hey! I could do that too!

Armed with a graphic design background, playing with creativity is no longer an issue. I knew then that cake decoration business is the business that I should go into. Furthermore, the work of art is something not easily imitable. Creativity in my artwork will produce the uniqueness that will result in sustainable business. ? Thus, I Love Cupcakes! was born! It is a place where you will find creative and finely crafted cupcakes for all memorable occasions. After all, you only celebrate your birthday once a year or your baby’s full month once in a life time. Don’t all these events deserved to be special?

Always keep in mind that doing something that you know best, like best and do best is the key to your success. One should never ever venture into something half-hearteredly, as it will lead to failure. You have to believe in yourself that the line you have chosen is what you can deliver beyond customer’s expectation.

Keeping cost low with a virtual presence
The good thing about having a home business is that the set up cost is low. There is no rental and no massive A&P programes required. Best of all, you will have the freedom to manage it. Being relatively ‘new’ in Penang (without many friends or colleagues) back then, I realied on the Internet to reach out. And I was glad that satisfied customers began to recommend I Love Cupcakes! to their friends and family. This helped the spread of positive words of mouth and drawing more and more visitors to I Love Cupcakes!

Success don’t come over night
It was tough at the beginning. I had a toddler to care for, housework to complete, and cooking to attend to. To improve my skills, I spent considerable time searching the web for ideas and techniques to craft these little cuties on the cupcakes. They were no easy tasks! Sometimes I had to sacrify sleeps to prepare designs for certain orders. However, all that sacrifices were worth it! I received recognitions from my happy customers.

The biggest challenge so far is purchasing the right ingredients. Most are not widely available locally. At the initial stage, I had to get a friend in the US to help me buy items which I could not find here… even if I did, they are priced exorbitantly high. These items were important for uniqueness and differentiation. In addition, the passion for producing quality products drove me to import most of the things required. As time went by, I realized that imported stuffs were not that critical anymore. What was more important was delivering beyond customers’ expectations and imaginations. For every order, the detailed artwork was time consuming and it required strong passion and commitment. I had to use my fingers to mold the design gently and meticulously myself.

Though I have never attended any baking or cake decorating classes before, I can proudly say that the work I have done so far is highly commendable. In fact, a friend of mine whose hubby is a General Manager of a well known international hotel chain invited me to be one of his pastry chef!

Why home business?
Owning a home-based business means you can have the freedom and flexibility to grow it the way you want it. Personally, I feel that managing my own business has given me the freedom to explore, learn and improve myself at my own pace. The many trials, errors and successes had made me stronger in facing future challenges.

If you are passionate about something and no one gives you the opportunity, then you will have to search for that opportunity yourself. One has to be open to criticism to improve and be recognized. Nothing is ever easy and you just have to believe in yourself. Move forward and make things happen!

Alice Foo – Baker & Cake Decorator
of I Love Cupcakes! Penang, Malaysia