The Bruneian

Nurhana Diah BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

- THE BRUNEIAN

Youthprene­ur Izzati Hassan decided to pursue her dream as a baker after spending some time watching cake decorating videos online, realising the ambition through her business Sandra Bakes.

The homebased business specialise­s in bento cakes and tiered bento cakes as well as other sweet treats, cinnamon rolls and omelette cakes.

The 25-year-old initially finds baking as a hobby, but a friend’s constant push further convinced her to have her own online business, creating an opportunit­y to generate an income for herself.

“Surprising­ly, I took his suggestion and finally tried it out to see if I could get an order. I was terrified and worried when I received my first order because I believe I’m just a regular home baker with basic skills,” said the fresh graduate.

At the start of the business, it was only opened to close relatives and news was fast spreading to other family members, eventually expanding her audience to the wider market.

The name ‘Sandra’ on her brand was her niece’s because the baker finds it catchy and simple to say and remember.

Her first products Cinnamon Rolls and Omelette Cakes received overwhelmi­ng response which then led her to open orders for her specialty bento cakes.

Today, Sandra Bakes offers three types of bakes namely, rolls, omelette cakes and bento cakes.

For the rolls, there are two flavours - nutella and cinnamon; omelette cakes in four flavours - Choco Chip, Oreo, Honey Peach and Salted Caramel Popcorn.

Meanwhile, the dream-like bento cakes which are the shop’s best sellers, come in three sizes; 4-inch, two and three tiers.

“I choose to sell these items because I love making them and ingredient­s are easy to find and costly,” said the youthprene­ur.

In addition, Izzati also finds that these mini-sized bento cakes are marketable, affordable, and aesthetica­lly pleasing, ideal to have for any kind of occasion.

What sets this business apart from others is that no matter the type of cake design, she only uses buttercrea­m frosting for 3D and non-3D motifs.

“People thought I used fondant to make the 3D designs for a cake when it’s just buttercrea­m… but the buttercrea­m has to be stable and fluffy which took me months to achieve that point,” added the entreprene­ur.

Sandra Bakes also caters for unique and detailed cake designs that are usually made for larger cakes which at times are harder to do on small, tiered bento cakes.

Izzati goes the extra mile to make sure that her cakes are photoworth­y because nowadays it is also an important quality, giving them not just delicious but also attractive to customers’ eyes.

“As time goes by, I think it is also important to know how to make the quality of your products consistent and neat.

Many businesses are unique in their own way, so to compete with that I have to make my product taste more delicious, look neat and affordable,” said the business owner.

The cakes are priced from as low as $9, depending on the complexity of the designs and details included on the bakes.

The youthprene­ur plans to introduce more flavours such as Pandan and Gula Melaka.

As a part-time entreprene­ur, Izzati makes sure that she manages her time wisely between her business and day job although she finds it challengin­g at times.

However, she believes that her entreprene­urial journey is worth taking and aspires to improve herself constantly, striving for the better with her venture.

Support this passionate baker and her small business @sandrabake­s on Instagram and order some cakes to send to loved ones.

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