Welcome to Cupcake Central's first storefront!

Hi Everyone! May I introduce you to our first Cupcake Central storefront located Shop 7/672 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn VIC, Australia!

Yes, I know I've been MIA for a while here and I did promise I would do my best to update you all during the process of opening up the shop. And I thought about it many times, to update my blog but I honestly have been too exhausted. To give you an insight on my typical day for the last 3 weeks - I wake up at 4am (sleep in till 5am on weekends) bake for about 8 hours, running around manically trying to serve if a rush period occurs, then clean up, then try to do orders online, as well as manage everything else such as custom orders, scheduling, stock ordering etc.

PHEW! Then I get home at about 9 or 10pm and sleep for about 5-6 hours and do it all again. It sounds crazy I know....but the thing about it all is...I LOVE IT. Yes, it does get extremely tiring but when I feel like I'm so exhausted that I can't do it anymore, I remind myself that I am truly living my dream.
Can you believe it was only a short year ago when I set out on my journey alone to bake cupcakes for a living?


And now here I am, in my own, my very own cupcake store! And...

It's turned out more fantastic that I could ever imagine it to be.


Not only do we have the most amazing custom cupcake display that is taller than I am.

But we have some pretty awesome cupcake packaging as well. Custom designed and made in Australia.


My brother, Will is a great Barista and makes a mean soy latte (Bonsoy of course!) His latte's at 6.30am keeps me baking away until almost Midday. We've also been so so lucky to have been able to hire a fantastic Pastry Chef, Andy. Without him, I'd truly be a wreck in the kitchen. Boyfriend's that know nothing about baking should stay out of the kitchen or else you'll likely turn in to Gordon Ramsay. Anyway you can check out Andy's fantastic work here: http://andyfantastic.tmweb.com.au/


And here is my partner, boyfriend and biggest supporter, Tin. He's the one who's encouraged me, believed in me and stood by me. A lot of credit goes out to him for our first storefront because he's the one who's managed the project along the way, designed the most intricate details of our store, put so much thought about how it should look and feel, researched endlessly on the coffee, managed the finances, fixed problems and so much more. Even though we may bicker from time to time and have pet peeves with each other, at the end of the day, together our strengths and weaknesses complement each other and we're able to achieve so much more than one person could ever manage. Together, we will be moving this Company that is Cupcake Central to many more exciting places.

We hope that we're able to meet each and every one of you, if we haven't yet. We would love for you to see how we were able to hatch this dream and for all those people that are thinking about pursuing your own passion and impossible dream, stop thinking and just go for it. There's no such thing as failure, only progress. When I first set out to go out and do this, I had no idea how I would do it, yet here I am now. The little steps along the way may feel like forever but if you just keep going, you will get there. Believe in it, and you can do now wrong.

Although I'm living the dream now, there are so many more things I have to learn. To run a profitable and successful business takes a lot more than just knowing how to bake a good cupcake. But that's the challenge I'm prepared to take on. For me, it's never been about becoming a millionaire that made me want to set forth on this entrepreneurial journey but more so the idea of doing something positive in the world. Everyday I'm able to put smiles on people's faces. And I hope to be able to put smiles on faces in other ways too in future, in more philanthropic ways.

Well, I hope you enjoyed taking a look at some of the photos. As we get more processes in place & staff in the shop, it'll give me some more 'me' time again and I will update you all with some more news.

Go on and hatch that dream!

"I--think--I--can, I--think--I--can" to "I thought I could, I thought I could."

A few weeks ago on a Friday night, I decided to organise a Taste Testing event for some of my VIP'ers to taste some of my new cupcake flavours. I mainly organised this for one reason, because I am lazy. Yes, I am too lazy to bake all these new flavours that I have floating around my head. This is because after all the baking I do during the week for my cupcake orders, during my downtime I would rather sleep, go on youtube, read blogs and basically procrastinate. So I thought this would be a good way to motivate me to getting all the new cupcake flavours created.

I initially only wanted a small gathering of about 10 people, including some of my best cupcake fans, then realised perhaps I need to get some more objective feedback from others that weren't cupcake lovers to see what they thought. About 40 people turned up on the night and the whole bar was filled with people that came for cupcakes. Even a few people I hadn't met in person and only through Twitter, Blogger and Facebook came along. It was awesome and... it was also a little hectic. I was not prepared enough to ensure everyone was catered to and the venue was also quite dark being it was a bar/lounge so it was hard for my guests to identify the cupcakes. I really wished I was better prepared and ran the event more smoothly by making it easier for everyone to taste test the cupcakes, instead of having 20 people crowded around a large communal table trying to get a taste test. [Note to self, make sure grand opening day and week is planned well in advance.]

So here are the new cupcake flavours. Instead of re-writing everything, I've cut and pasted my notes on each cupcake from my Flickr and Facebook page.

Tres Leches Cupcake (pronounced Trr-es Le-chay)

A three-milk cupcake that is sweet, sticky and served cold. It is soaked with evaporated milk, condensed milk and whole milk, topped with whipped thickened cream and cinnamon.

Personally, this was one of my favourite cupcakes as it brought me back to my childhood as mum used to bake egg heavy cakes and the condensed milk reminded me of all the Asian desserts she used to make with it. Quite a few people like this cupcake whereas some didn't quite understand how it was supposed to taste as it does have a soggy texture as it is 'basted' in the 3-milks to absorb all that milkiness. It can also be on the sweet side which is offset by the unsweetened whipped cream on top.

Cherry Pistachio Cupcake

Vanilla cake with black cherries and chopped pistachios through the cake, topped with black cherry and cherry brandied frosting with pistachio nuts sprinkled on top.

I love cherry, it is my favourite flavour in the whole wide world. I love fresh cherry flavours and artificial cherry flavours (sadly I LOVE the latter more). If I go on a trip to the U.S again I will buy everything and anything cherry candy flavoured. So I wanted to incorporate one of my favourite flavours with another flavour I have been wanting to use in my cupcake for a long time. So I thought, hey these two flavours could possibly work. And work it did!

This cupcake, along with Salted Caramel scored the highest points on the night. This is definitely on our menu!!

Hostess Cupcake

A chocolate cupcake filled with fresh whipped cream in the centre topped with dark belgian chocolate ganache with a signature Hostess squiggle.

A traditional hostess cupcake has a squiggle on the top, a few didn't like the design however the signature squiggle has a bit of a story. This didn't really win points with many people as it is a bit of a basic flavour.

Lemon Meringue Cupcake

Lemon cake filled with zingy homemade lemon curd, topped with soft meringue that has been slightly toasted.

Mixed reviews with this cupcake, some loved the super sour hit of the lemon curd and others didn't. The cake itself, I would've loved to make it fresh and more moist. Unfortunately I didn't have the time to bake all the cupcake flavours on the one day and this was baked 24 hrs prior and was drier that I would've liked.

Salted Caramel Cupcake

Dark Belgian Chocolate cupcake filled with homemade salted caramel topped with salted caramel frosting and sprinkled with pink sea salt flakes.

I'm more of a salty-foods person, if I really had to choose. It's bad I know, but I love salty salty foods - like olives, anchovies and capers. So I wanted to try mixing salty and sweet in a cupcake and salted caramel was a safer option to go than a bacon maple cupcake.

This went off the charts! Almost everyone I spoke to loved this cupcake and raved about it. I was really surprised and also happy as it was my first time making caramel and I did caramelise it a little bit more to give a slight bitterness to it...I loved it but not sure what others would think.

So this is definitely going on our menu.

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcake

A completely vegan cupcake meaning there is no dairy or egg used in this cupcake at all.

This was a little tricky to balance the cupcake and 'soy' taste. I, myself, can't tolerate too much dairy especially in my lattes so I often enjoy soy lattes. The soy I used wasn't particularly creamy and wished I had used Bonsoy instead. Not many people enjoyed this cupcake, especially if they're Red Velvet fans, as there is no cream cheese frosting on these. It was a vanilla frosting with soy milk.

However, I will still keep refining this recipe as this will definitely be added to our menu to cater for Vegans.

Chocolate Malt Cupcake

Dark chocolate and malt cupcake topped with malted vanilla frosting.

This scored quite averagely, perhaps due to the malt not being dissolved enough when I added it to the frosting. Not one of my favourites either, I didn't like the malted chocolate cupcake base recipe I used and probably needs more refinement.

All in all, it turned out to be a fantastic night with everyone providing us with fantastic critique and feedback that we will use to keep improving our cupcakes and business as a whole.

We also noted that not many people liked our re-branding and new logo but it was hard to explain how it would tie in with the design of our shop without having something to show them. We are really looking to do something different with our Cupcake bakery and set ourselves apart from the rest and even though it will be risky I think it's a risk we need to take to be able to show our own personality, uniqueness and in a way, pave the way to becoming a market leader rather than a market follower. I know I might sound a little precocious at times and perhaps a little over optimistic. I certainly don't mean to sound arrogant but I think for our goals to manifest, we need to have this sort of optimism and positive outlook to be able to even start achieving them. Sort of like the old childhood story of The Little Engine That Could. Hopefully one day I will be able to say "I thought I could, I thought I could".

Planning, Building and Everything in between

I cannot believe how quickly time is passing and although progress is being made, I feel we are still so so far from the end result of opening up a storefront. We are hoping to open in 6 weeks which sounds like a long time to get a shop built but there is much to do. Here are a couple photos of how our shop currently looks like... it's bare, empty and not very pretty.

Our shop will have 3 levels, yes 3 levels however it's more like a loft style shop rather than 3 proper levels. It's very unique and we fell in love with it the first time we saw the place.

A lot of time has been spent on the design and planning to ensure that we get everything right, remember that rule carpenters use "Measure twice, cut once"? It's a good rule to stick by if you don't want to make costly mistakes. We have been lucky enough to find an interior shopfitter designer and consultant to project manage our shop fitout. We actually got his contact through a few friends that recommended him and this is where we've found that our networking skills come in very handy. Most of the people we are currently working with on our project, such as Accountants, Interior Designers, Shopfitters have all come through word-of-mouth referrals from people we know running their own businesses, friends or colleagues. I have found that working with trusted referrals will give you the confidence you need that they will do the best job possible for you and also helps to develop a strong working relationship. It's a bit risky when you pick a name out of the YellowPages and hoping for the best - if you don't do your homework and trust the first person you come across they could potentially screw you over or even worsre waste your time!

So if you're looking to open up a shop one day, it's a good idea to start taking note when you meet people if you could possibly acquire their services in future. And it works both ways, you should also provide your details to them and let them know about your business or future business. I never leave the house without my business cards because more often than not, it's an opportunity for me to advertise my business. You'll find that a lot of people will find your business venture interesting and want to know more about it - if you are passionate about it enough! If you don't sell your business, then who will?

Mr.Cupcake is still amazed at how many orders and referrals I get simply through the means of the Internet as well. My (slight) addiction to Facebook, Twitter and Blogs is another way I advertise my business. And yes, there is a right and wrong way to use those means to advertise your business. Spamming does NOT work. But creating energy from informing people of what you're up to from time to time will help keep your business in their mind so when there is an opportunity for them to use your products or services, they will instantly remember you. I am no marketing expert but that's how it works for me anyhow.

A 60th Birthday Cupcake Tower on a cruise boat by the Yarra.
Flavours are Vanilla Vanilla and Chocolate Mint.

I also watched Office Space last night after not watching it for years and what an eye opener that was...in between the fits of laughter. I could remember going to work with lack of motivation, not really enjoying staring at the computer all day and daydreaming. What would you do if you had a million dollars? If I had a million dollars (which isn't all the much to live off these days) I would still want to run my cupcake business. Also ask yourself this... if you got laid off today, what would you do? I would highly recommend you all to take a break and watch this clip. I got teary watching it, because it is basically my story.

My younger brother got laid off a week ago and he's made a brave move and decided that he'll take part of our venture and be one of the shareholders of our Company. He's developed a passion for coffee over the years and will become Cupcake Central's dedicated Barista and I have faith that he will be an awesome Barista. As we're focusing on high quality of everything that is offered in our shop - our coffee will also need the care, knowledge, skill and dedication just like our cupcakes.

I also took a look at my blog followers today and I'm up to 49 followers (not sure how many follow via other RSS feeds too) but I'm so stunned that I have so many blog readers out there! A very warm welcome to my new blog readers, hopefully you'll find my upcoming posts interesting and useful.

Hopefully I can post up some photos of the progress of our shop soon, our designers have come up with something amazing, fresh and new to represent what our business will represent. There will be no pink frills, shabby chic, grandma cupcake shop here. It'll be a shop that even the guys will want to pop into to get their cupcake fix.

Is following your dream enough to make a business successful?

It's been a couple of weeks and I feel like an engine going full steam ahead. In between all the orders, I've been organising a lot of meetings, planning, brainstorming and reading. After all the excitement died down a little, reality settled in and hit me...this is a huge step I'm taking. This is no longer going to be just an online bake-at-home business. There is more risk involved and more specifically, financial risk. I'm not so naive as to think that a business will survive simply on my 'dream', a dream simply put will not bring your business into the green. This is reality and is going to require me to think like an entrepreneur.

So what is an entrepreneur exactly? Is it a person that comes up with ideas and is a risk taker? Or someone that goes against the odds and takes action? My latest favourite book is "The E-Myth Revisited" by Michael E. Gerber. I've had it for about two months now but it wasn't until last night that I started reading it properly and once I started it, I was consumed in the words. Everything applied to me, how I felt, how I envisioned the business would need to be run and it answered some of my questions. I finally put the book down at 2AM as I had an early morning cupcake delivery and I can't wait to finish it.

The "E-Myth", as quoted from the book, means "the entrepreneurial myth: the myth that most people who start small businesses are entrepreneurs" and "the fatal assumption that an individual who understands the technical work of a business can successfully run a business that does that technical work". Technical work in my business means 'baking cupcakes'. Yes I know how to bake a cupcake and from what I hear my customers say, I do it well. But becoming a successful business owner relies on a lot more than just the technical work, otherwise we would all be business owners.

I know that I cannot bake cupcakes forever if I want the business to grow. My dream has grown as my business has grown. I want to run a successful business. My favourite quote from the book thus far is "The purpose of going into business is to get free of a job so you can create jobs for other people". When I read that line, a bell inside of me went "ding!". Sure I do have a passion for baking, but after baking 1000 cupcakes at a time, even your passion can't make you keep wanting to bake. I have never been a person that is a fan of tedious, monotonous tasks. What keeps me going is the opportunity to better myself, to learn, to grow. It's probably why I kept changing jobs every 16 months in my previous career. For me to feel alive, I had to feel like I was learning and creating new experiences for myself.

So back to the question, what is an entrepreneur? It's probably a loaded question that can be likened to "What is love?" There are many interpretations of it so everyone's answer will differ. What I do know is that I have the entrepreneurial personality as I dream, I wonder, I live in the future and I see opportunities and have taken some action. But wait... don't get me wrong. Being a entrepreneur does not automatically mean that you're successfully in running a business or company.

There are things I know I can do extremely well and there are things I completely know I suck at. When it comes to figures, dollar signs, budgeting...let's just say that I'm not completely enthusiastic about it. In fact, I loathe it. My brain likes to turn to mush when it comes to getting all the figures correct and analysing numbers. I mean, I could probably do it, if I put my mind to it, but I just don't like it. Well that's where I've been fortunate for my business partner (and boyfriend). Yes I know what you're thinking.. however! We do complement each other very well and where my skills fall short, I have found that he's quite strong in. We both have been able to create amazing ideas together and although up until this stage I was able to build most of the business up on my own, the next step is where I have needed to put up my hand and yell "I need help!" and that's where my prince cupcake charming has come in. There is no way I could do this on my own. It's just not possible for me to be able to oversee every aspect of this project. So I am so grateful that I have someone by my side that also shares the same vision, passion and beliefs.

As I've said before, I blog to express my thoughts, feelings and experiences. Some of it may sound like rubbish to you and some may assist in giving you a different perspective. I just want to stress that I am not a business guru, I am just a beginner and my blogging is to hopefully give people an insight to how I have got to where I am now..simply by starting with an idea, a dream. There is no doubt going to be many mistakes I will make along the way but each mistake is going to make me grow.

So that's all from me now. I'll keep you all posted as things start to progress. At the moment we're still in the design phase so there's not much to see in the shop but I'll start putting up photos soon enough.

xo

A new chapter for Cupcake Central begins...

It seems to be a bit of a trend to me to write up blog entries after midnight. Perhaps this is the time I feel most inspired to write and also not be interrupted whilst in my train of thought. I have some news to share with you all. I know I don't get many comments on my blog but I do get emails from readers who follow my blog who are going through a similar situation, so I know there are readers out there! And in a way I feel as though you know me, a part of me anyway and so I'm sharing the news here with you.

The next chapter of Cupcake Central has begun. We have found our storefront and we made an offer on the premise to lease the shop and it has been officially approved by the owner today. I feel a little bit nervous, excited, numb and it all does feel a little surreal. I was a little hesitant to let people know at first because it's sort of like... for example, someone's told you that you've 'pretty much' got the job but haven't had that final confirmation yet but you want to tell the whole world so you jump the gun. Then when they get back to you and say that they've found someone more suitable you get extremely disappointed because you had your hopes up and you feel embarrassed because you have already told everyone. I didn't want that to happen to me. But it has been confirmed and the news has finally sunk in and yes, this is going to happen. My dream of owning my cupcake shop is unfolding. Holy....cupcakes!

I have had a lot of support from loved ones, friends and family over the last 9 months and I really could not have done it without them. Sounds very cliche but now I truly understand that meaning. You can put all your effort into building your dream by yourself but with the help of others, you get there a lot faster and for me, I seriously could not have achieved what I have in the past year without them. I feel very very fortunate.

Two weeks ago was a year from when I was made redundant from my IT profession. I was reflecting on that day, how much my life has changed. My life changed because I did something about it and took the risk, however much I am hard on myself for not being more proactive and being less of a procrastinator...I guess I did take that leap which took a lot of guts. Six months of uncertainty, lack of financial security and working on my own. It sure wasn't easy.

I know the next 6 to 12 months are going to be the toughest, I can already foresee the sleepless nights, the stress, Murphy's Law unraveling and many learning curves. But I can also imagine the accomplishments I will be feeling, the lessons I will be learning, the little imprint I will be making with my cupcake shop. It's going to be something different. It's not going to be an ordinary cupcake shop.

I will try to continue to keep updating my blog so I can document the next chapter of my journey. Time to sleep as I need to wake up at 6am to bake. Also one other comment is for all the aspiring bakers out there, make sure that you have a deep, real, fired up passion for baking as it will require lots of physical labour as well as early morning starts. If you don't have that passion, it will be ALL that much harder to drag your perky butt out of bed in the mornings. Just a warning.

Love you all. xo