For individuals who love to celebrate every occasion with a beautiful cake, Zaynab Adetipe- Salaam, creative director of HeartyKrafts Cakes, has just what you need.
Zynab creates beautiful cakes without artificial seasoning, preservatives, alcohol, and other additives for clients that want to celebrate their birthdays, weddings, and graduations or mark special occasions in their lives.
The computer analyst-turned-entrepreneur was inspired by HeartyKrafts Cakes in 2016 owing to her passion for baking quality cakes.
“For me, it was more of the content of the cake and dessert than the decorations because I am someone who pays attention to what I eat and feed my family and people around me,” she says.
“I really wouldn’t mind how much it will cost to bake a cake with quality and healthier supplies,” she states
She started baking as a hobby but later commercialise it when she was unable to return to paid employment after taking a break to nurse her children.
“All along, I wasn’t planning to make money from baking because I was planning to return to paid employment,” she says.
“But my family relocated to another part of Lagos which made it more difficult to transport myself to work. I began looking at other options,” she notes.
The young entrepreneur took up training in baking and decoration to enhance her skills despite having a mother who is a professional baker and trained abroad.
Since its establishment, HeartyKrafts Cakes has emerged as one of the leading cake and confectionery firms in the Lagos metropolitan.
The business now has its workspace away from its founder’s home and has diversified into other arms of businesses.
“Last year March we moved from my kitchen to a dedicated workplace built just at the front of my home,” she says.
“As we speak we are currently looking into moving to a bigger place as we expand our customer base and also be closer to prospecting trainees and interns,” she explains.
HeartyKrafts now has a packaging box line where it makes bespoke handmade boxes for gifting and personal brand packaging.
Similarly, it has a training arm that trains individuals in cake making, confessionary, and creativity.
The entrepreneur currently has four full-time employees.
She has leveraged social media platforms to grow her business, especially amid the pandemic.
Responding to questions on how she was able to stand out from an already saturated market, she says her ability to constantly sell only fresh cakes and pastries without artificial seasoning made her products stand out from others.
“There are lots of people concerned about their health and our products are perfect for them.”
“We adopt an easy baking style to ensure our prices are affordable,” she adds.
In evaluating the catering and confectionary industry, she says that the industry has what it takes to tackle the high unemployment rate in the country owing to its multiplier effect.
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Speaking on the challenges confronting the business, she says the huge infrastructural gaps remain a major problem for her business.
She adds that the lack of quality control in the baking industry is also another major challenge.
“The Nigerian system lacks quality control; we constantly have to deal with less quality and unhealthy options at higher rates.”
Zaynab urges the government to bridge the country’s huge infrastructural gaps.
On her advice to other entrepreneurs, she says “be ready to volunteer, intern to learn their chosen skills properly.”
“Start from wherever you are and with whatever you have at hand. Be persistent, pray, and do not panic if things don’t work as planned. Try again,” she advised.
“Be patient, good things take time to happen,” she adds.
