Cake Bar and Palisserie Manager and proprietor notes that passion and hard work are essential for any business to grow and flourish. “I remember our humble beginnings, trading in two cakes every week,” recalls Mohammed Patel who is Cake Bar and Palisserie Manager and proprietor.
Accordingly, Mr. Patel has called on people, especially youths, to innovatively develop their hobbies into businesses that can help sustain their lives as opposed to relying on government for employment.
Like many other seasoned entrepreneurs, Mr. Patel notes that passion and hard work are essential for any business to grow and flourish.
However, Mr. Patel, who runs the Cake Bar with his wife Haseana Pandor, is quick to note that it is from hard work and passion for baking that they established their cake business.
“It is a passion that my wife has… while she was at school she used to bake cakes during her free time. After completing school, she started to make cakes at home as a hobby and later as a business to make some extra money,” he said.
Mr. Patel further explains that as the business grew their confidence in baking yielded.
He noted that through the 'grape vine', the news about the quality of their cakes spread and many people became aware of their business.
“We started by supplying two cafes at Arcades Shopping Mall every week and this continued for some time. It reached a point when we could not cope with the orders and we started thinking of a commercial premise to conduct our business from,” he revealed.
However, Mr. Patel admits that although there are many opportunities in the cake business, it challenging to sustain.
“We survive in this kind of business by staying on top of the game in terms of the latest techniques and trends in the cake artistry and baking industry. If there is anything new on the international market we try to replicate it here,” he said.
“Cakes are something that people use to celebrate happy occasions and nearly every day something is happening, it might be somebody's birthday, anniversary, graduation, or an engagement… there are a lot of business opportunities in the cake industry,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr. Patel revealed that when he and his wife first started the business, they were unable to employ anyone, but today they have an establishment of 22 employees.
He explained that of the 22 employed, six are skilled bakers trained to be self-reliant and capable of setting up their own businesses in case of any eventuality.
Mr. Patel has since called on business proprietors in all sectors of the economy to have a passion for what they do.