Most of you might already knew that I have a good hand in baking, cupcakes is my specialty ... An engineer by profession, baking is my hobby ... I'm passionate about both, construction makes me excited about the future ... How it's going to be in 10 years, thrilled about learning new things ... New construction methods & new development projects around the country ... Baking made me happy when I deliver good food to people around me ... Amirul will be doped whenever I send him a box of cupcakes, my little brother can finish 10 pieces from a batch I bake ... & of course my tray/tupperware licin bile bawak pegi office ... That will make me happy by end of the day walaupun xtido tunggu the batter to be finish baked ...
I got this idea when I first visit my friend's booth for KL Calling at Rasta TTDI one fine Sunday ... The concept was - extra activity on weekends, which is baking & start being rich ... So I spent 1k ++ of my salary on May on ingredients for hundreds of cupcakes ... That includes the fee I paid to join the weekend bazaar by sohobazaar ... Please do, follow them kalau anda mahu berjinak2 dgn dunia perniagaan ... Reason been - mostly kite bukan lah anak tan sri yg bole campak 20k over Sunday morning chit chat dgn pesanan, "Nah, gi buat modal meniaga ... Bisness elok2, xcukup bagitau" ...
I baked over 200 cupcakes excitedly for my 1st project ... 1st day, syahdu ... Tade org dtg, vendors lain ckp sebab cuti skolah ... Org tade kat KL ... 2nd day xputus harapan lagi, baked another 2batches of carrot cupcakes ... Result - lagi syahdu dr day 1 ... But adik cherry bagi support, quote "Try, try & try again" ... Then I joined another weekend bazaar in June, same jugak end result die ... Syahdu ... Tahap ape kesyahduan itu ?? Modal tapak pun xdpt balik - yes, that's true ... Base on true story, bukan fiction ...
Kalau korang tanye my opinion, I'll say buat research before you jump into anything ... Research the market place, research the organiser ... Do ask vendors ni, how was the crowd ... How much they're willing to spend, some vendors xkisah to share how much they can get over the weekend ... So just ask, you will never know unless u try ... Bukan lah nak kondem organiser, but masing2 jage periuk nasik masing2 ... Kalau awak rugi, that's totally ur problem ... So check ur organiser, bape banyak die punyer followers ... That's very important sebab nak tarik crowd, nak tau how powerful they are in making people come to their event ...
For example, biler dorang buat event carboot sale kat Istana Negara ... Ade Nora Danish bagai turun 'sendiri' jual karipap ... Itu prove organizer tu power bole convinced Nora Danish jual karipap kat event die ... Bukan acah2 promote artis ini dan itu will be there dekat ur event ... Tapi instagram clearly updet artis tersebut kat oversea, & hanya makcik die dtg tunggu booth ... Jgn tipu vendors dan ur followers begitu ... Xbaik ... Confusing people with insufficient information ...
I'm not saying that instagram followers xmembantu ape2, but work the math with me guys ... Example - awak nak beli baju ala2 padini inspired ni online ... Online rm40 + sepuluh ringgit delivery ... Awak duduk sungai buloh ... Tibe2 this weekend vendor tu join bazaar kat The Strand, Kota Damansara ... Sila pilih antara dua jawapan di bawah utk most likely conversation antara anda dan yg tersayang pagi2 buta hari sabtu itu:
A: "B, kite pegi the strand lah ... I nak beli baju yg I tunjuk kat u dlm insta smalam"
B: "Sayang kite pegi Curve je lah senang, I nak beli karipap ikea pastu kite gi tgk wayang" ... Dgn pantas anda jawap ok ...
*B seharus nya panggilan kepada c bf, & sayang itu adalah anda - perempuan literally ~
Paham tak ape yg cuba saya sampai kan ?? Or I lost you in the above paragraph ?? Hehe ... My point is - bazaar bukan lah pilihan ideal utk golongan muda remaja meluangkan masa bersama rakan sebaya di hujung minggu ... It's always cheer me up when I can put together a proper malay sentence dramatically, lol ... Sila relate kepada pesanan saya dlm paragraph ke-empat tadi ... Research your target market ... Location bazaar adalah crucial & credibility organiser anda penting utk draw people to your location xkesah ceruk mana pun ia ...
Penah satu hari ni, sebijik cupcakes pun xjual ... Itu sgt lah menduka cita kan, because it's not about the money ... Tapi anda akan down, sebab penat dtg setup bagai ... Like for me, frust wooo satu mlm tak tido godek cupcakes ... Sebab tu before pegi bazaar, pegi makan nasik lemak kat the village park ... So when I went back tired in the afternoon, ade one thing to cherish by the end of the day ...
I'm broke like hell now, but no regret ... I will never know if I never try, I won't be able to share this with you guys if I'm not willing to take the risk ... Rite now still have the courage to fight, lepas raye ni sambung berjuang ... Tapi expectation will be different, no more trays & boxes of cupcakes ... Each flavor will bake 1batch only ... I'll bait for bigger fish ... Go large on marketing & advertising, not expecting the crowd to buy boxes of cupcakes ... But to order later, bigger amount of course ...
This is my journey, even makan nasik dgn sayur & kentang everyday sebab takut tak cukup duit for chicken or ikan kicap ... Even kene jerit, "brape sen lah untung u buat cupcakes", even people call you riak for having dream ... This is my baby, yg rugi itu saya ... Yang sampai rumah 8pm sebab takde duit nak bayar toll itu saya ... Yg tak servis itu kereta saya, so be it ... I don't mind if u walk away from me now, kalau awak nak ludah muka saya sekali pun ... Saya harap kalau Tuhan mudah kan jalan saya satu hari nanti, & hopefully saya tak lupa dr mana semua tu dtg ...
I'll be sharing my experience from time to time, for you out there - if u're passionate about something, break a leg ... Take the risk, but don't forget to be smart ... A friend I know recently spent 30k on his business, maybe there have to be another 29 months suffering for me ... May Allah bless me thru the way, insyaAllah ...
