Kai Yang Chan (left) and JiaYi Zhou (proper) run Singapore-based bakery Cake Inspiration.
Courtesy of Cake Inspiration
When Kai Yang Chan and Jiayi Zhuo matched on Tinder at age 19, neither of them anticipated that it could result in marriage. Six years later, not solely have they tied the knot — they’re additionally enterprise companions.
“I downloaded Tinder as a result of I used to be very bored in class, so I used to be simply [swiping] via throughout class,” mentioned Zhuo. “Each of us — we did not anticipate that we might get collectively,” she mentioned.
“Persona sensible, we’re fairly totally different,” she mentioned, including that whereas she is extra introverted, her husband is the lifetime of the celebration.
Right now, Chan and Zhuo run Singapore-based bakery CakeInspiration. Their enterprise introduced in over 850,000 Singapore {dollars} (about $650,000) in 2024, and is on monitor to surpass $775,000 in income this yr, in keeping with documentation reviewed by CNBC Make It.
The corporate is understood for its customized cake designs, and its clientele consists of household workplaces, hospitals and even international celebrities.
A household affair
CakeInspiration initially started as a home-based bakery in 2010, run by Zhuo’s dad and mom.
“My dad and mom really began [the business] after I was 9,” mentioned Zhuo. “I used to be by no means very studious, however I actually like being palms on. So I wish to bake, I like to bounce. I wish to create all these little fairly issues,” she mentioned. From the early days of the enterprise, she usually helped with designing desserts.
Then, when the pandemic hit, gross sales stalled and the enterprise started to burn via money to remain afloat. Together with her dad and mom considering retirement, Zhuo knew it was time for her to step in.
Courtesy of CakeInspiration
“I [felt] that it is a waste to simply let it go. I [saw] my dad and mom work like 16 hours a day rising up, so … I [didn’t] need the enterprise to get shut down,” she mentioned.
In 2020, Zhuo formally joined her mother or father’s enterprise and expanded the corporate’s product vary. She ultimately launched two new manufacturers — Eggyi.Co, which sells bento desserts, or mini, single-serving sized desserts focused at Gen-Z, and Petissier which sells customised desserts for pets.
The introduction of those two manufacturers finally helped to avoid wasting the household’s enterprise via Covid, mentioned Zhuo. Right now, their costs vary from about $100 to $10,000 per order, and so they have a workers of about 14 folks throughout two kitchens — one for human desserts, and one for pet desserts.
Taking pictures for the celebs
Just like Zhuo, Chan’s passions lied outdoors of lecturers rising up.
“I wasn’t actually essentially the most studious particular person, [but] I all the time cherished the concept of entrepreneurship and doing our personal factor,” mentioned Chan. “Since I used to be 16, I did my very own little startups, promoting no matter. [I sold] sneakers, I would purchase them, clear them up and promote them. You understand, no matter that may make cash, I will do it,” he mentioned.
In 2022, he determined to affix his spouse within the household enterprise full-time. He launched a brand new technique: relatively than solely promoting on to particular person shoppers (B2C), he prompt attempting to promote to different companies (B2B) to create a extra constant income.
As well as, he was centered on constructing the corporate’s manufacturers on-line. Together with working to construct a presence throughout social media platforms, Chan began concentrating on celebrities and influencers who got here into city.
A customized made cake for social media influencers, the Ha Sisters, by CakeInspiration.
Courtesy of CakeInspiration
In June, three Korean-American content material creators — sisters Evelyn, Erica and Emily Ha — have been in Singapore for a magnificence retailer pop-up occasion. When Chan found they have been on the town, he noticed a chance to shock them with a cake.
“It is really fairly loopy, as a result of they have been in Singapore for this magnificence retailer pop-up… They posted a narrative of them in a lodge, and I assumed: ‘Hey, this seems to be actually acquainted. I do know [which] lodge that is,'” he mentioned. “So I simply ready a cake after which we simply zoomed right down to the lodge.”
Chan and his group shortly made a customized cake for the sisters and timed the supply to coincide with the tip of the Ha sisters’ occasion. “In fact, after the pop-up, it’s a must to return to [the hotel to] change, proper? Yeah. So [that’s when I] went there,” he mentioned.
By likelihood, his timing was good. Simply as he arrived on the lodge entrance with the cake in hand, he bumped into the sisters — and managed to hand-deliver the shock. One of many Ha sisters later shared a video of the cake to social media, which finally reached over 500,000 views.
This interplay kicked off the corporate’s movie star advertising and marketing technique. To this point, CakeInspiration has additionally delivered customized desserts to Okay-Pop band BlackPink’s Lisa, Russell Simmons, G-Dragon and extra.
Regardless of fashionable recommendation to keep away from working together with your accomplice, for Chan and Zhuo, working collectively as a pair has really been a giant benefit. Whereas Chan is greatest at partnerships, advertising and marketing and something external-facing, Zhuo is greatest at managing day-to-day operations and all issues inside.
“We do not have conflicts about work as a result of our roles are very outlined … So normally I do not inform her find out how to run issues inside, and he or she does not actually inform me find out how to run issues outdoors. I suppose we belief one another to satisfy our roles to the most effective of our talents,” mentioned Chan.
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