 good entrepreneurship morning to you it's Tuesday can you imagine already the week is already on the move and it's about time we delve into some of the businesses and some of the careers and some of the moves that the young people are making out here to put food on the table and also to do something for themselves so today on one in the morning of entrepreneurship Tuesday my name is Hilda Mabibi we are opened on a sweet tooth we have a lady with us here in studio who specializes in pastries and making up beautiful cakes and all the sweets and the chocolate it's even come with one hell for demonstration I can really smell the sugar from where I am it looks really good so it's about time I introduce you to Ziki's Kekari. Lina please introduce yourself and say good morning. Good morning my name is Ziki I am the proprietor at Ziki's Kekari that is an online bakery that deals with cakes and cupcakes at the moment. Okay so the Kekari business is what we want we're going to talk about yes especially today so please make sure you interact with us on Twitter we are at Y254 channel the hashtag is why in the morning hashtag entrepreneurship Tuesday on Facebook we are at Y254 on Instagram at Y254 underscore channel and on YouTube we are at Y254 channel just in case you miss any of the valuable insight here on DSTV channel 376 so it's about time we get to know Ziki's Kekari. Where did your passion for pastries and sweetness come from? It came from my mom and my sister my mom used to bake for us at home and then she taught us how to bake so we had cake at home all the time and with the time I learned I started to want cake for myself so I was taught and then I started practicing and I'd bake for my friends go to school with cake yeah so it kind of started as a hobby yes yes it did so why did you decide you wanted to take your business online about social media or the internet that caught your attention and so it is an opportunity to grow your business initially I think it was just easier to go online than to open a shop and go into all those formalities because we we grew up knowing social media rather we as in we are used to it so when I started the business it was faster you know though you're told to start with what you have instead of saying I'll start next year when I have money to open a shop I have a phone that has internet and I have friends so you tell your friends tell your friends to tell friends and yeah that's how it started. So where do you do all the baking from? Just asking. Where do you get all your resources? Because you know this is this is a combination of very many sweet things. Yes. I'd like to know how where do you get your finances and you get your capital to get your resources and where do you do this cake as much as you're not physically located somewhere on the outside. What am I doing at home? I do it at home where okay I have two homes I mean Nairobi and in Kitui so and I mean Nairobi my sister is also a baker and she has space dedicated to baking so that's why we bake and then in Kitui my parents have given me a space for my bakery. In terms of the resources when I started a lot of the money came from my parents they were very supportive and they still are and then with time as I have come to run the business I get money from the business and then I plow it back in. Okay oh so you're able to give back it's like it's like a small loan like now you're able to give back slowly. I have actually paid all my loans not that the business is running itself. Okay all right all right so now let's reverse let's go where let's go back before before when you were when you were busy discovering your hobby in baking and stuff who was Linda? Who was Ziki before that? What were you doing? What were you studying? What were you about? Where did you go to school? Sorry. I was in University of Nairobi studying quantity surveying. Quantity surveying? Yes. Goodness. So up until third year I was very sure I was going to be a QS and it's it came from my dad being an architect so I actually wanted to be an architect but he was like you're not fit for that in a nice way and I wasn't so he was offended. I was offended but he steered me in the right direction him and my mom and they led me to QS which was a better fit for me. So in third year when I went to for my internship it was so hard. It was very like I was really straining to to work. I actually went for two weeks and then I took a one-week break and then I went back for one and a half weeks and I was like I'm sorry I can't. You decided no this is not for you? Yeah and then at that time there was a kick at a fair that was being advertised and they had this thing called kick at Baker's Club. So my friends kept forwarding me those posts and I was like let me check it out. So I went there and it came at the right time. I went and there were these workshops and the industry big wigs were coming to talk to us and train us about where to go and what to do. So it I eased into the baking industry very easily because I had the passion and then there was all this know-how that I was given. Yeah that's how it started. I like that in fact I feel like I want to dwell on that. You had this passion and then you had this know-how and then and then you got this know-how from networking with the people that you had gone to meet at that particular kick at. So this thing is just go put yourself out there. Yes carry your passion meet people. And then now when you started your business you are able to take over. It was able to go through. Okay so let's talk about some of the first few clients you got. Tell me how you felt the first time someone ordered for one of your cakes and what was their response? The first person who ordered a cake was actually my brother's friend because he always used to come over and we'd have cake. So when I told him I'm selling cake he's like let me buy one. So I'm like okay. He's like how much? I'm like I don't know. Just give me I don't even remember what I charged him but it was very low and the cake was wasn't pretty. It tasted good. Like I look at that photo now I'm like I don't understand. You've grown a lot. I truly have. But when he sent photos and feedback he's like everyone loved your cake. It's so so good. I'm gonna order another one. It really encouraged me to go on and I used to bake cake for my classmates in university. So I'd take I just take cake to them. So when I start when I went and told them now I'm selling cake. So it was more or less kidogo pro bono. Like you had to do a bit of risk because guys have to taste it. Yeah. So they can also give referrals anyway. And it's good for us. I know people are like yeah a free cake but if a baker is tactical or tactful. It's okay. It's a good time to test your recipes. Like go try out everything and then take two people go like here's free cake. No one will look at our free cake and then they give you feedback and go like this has too much sugar. This doesn't taste too good or try this. So that I got that in university because we were very mean in school and I also used to say like when I when I take cake to school there are some that I used to say. So you actually put yourself through a probation period through an internship period like just a place where you give you make you give your cakes to people. See you bake them in sacrifice. I can see okay now I'm following your journey very well. Okay so now when you decided um when you got your clients and your classmates and they started giving referrals I'm guessing that's what happened. Yes they gave um referrals and what have you and it started to grow. Did your pricing change? What more did you do to to to better your skills because I'm seeing a lot of art in the cake that I'm seeing here. So not that she said your first cake was not as good looking. I'd like to know where you trained yourself to make it look good. Where did you where did you grow? Did you go did you go to did you enroll yourself in us in like the school? Did you learn it on YouTube? Let us know. Yes I attend the University of Google. University of Google. Yeah the YouTube baking school to be specific. When I started there's you know there's so much information in the internet and it's overwhelming because everyone has their own style and you're like oh this looks good this looks good I should try this so at first I did a lot of copying that most most of the time it didn't work for me because that's someone's style so with time you you were told to be inspired by them like you look at a certain style and then you make it yours instead of just going like okay that's the cake that I've seen I like how it looks I'm gonna copy if you can copy fine and good so it just I personally I just I watched a lot I still do I watch a lot of tutorials and I practice and the ones that I can do fine the ones that I can't do I try and twist it Kedogo to see how it can become mine. So you make sure you own it you make it your own flair yes because I was actually going to ask you what would be so different between your cake array and any other cake array I would meet I would find outside online because they can imagine the competition is real over there oh yes yes so please let us know what's so special about Ziggy I I really don't like that question simply many people don't like that question yeah we are all unique just like everyone else I don't I I honestly wouldn't say that I'm special and my cakes are amazing yes my cakes are good and they taste good and they look good but so does another baker so it depends on on what you're looking for personally I I am not those bakers who you're like Ziggy I need this cake done like this exactly like this in most cases I disappoint my clients all the time like it's so hard for me to copy people so I find that if you want something that is more at sea more like it it takes after you yeah leave it to me yeah I'm like yo what's your favorite color what do you like about this and then I try and incorporate that into your cake then I want this cake and I'm like okay I'll try but I always tell people all my clients if they bring me something I can't do I'm sure you've seen those funny videos and photos on facebook for bakers who claim they can't do stuff and they can't so I like personally I like to just make it yours because it's your cake at the end of the day so what I'm hearing is you study your your your client you'll study and then you'll be like okay so based on what I've what I've heard from here let me see what I can whoop up yes but give me my room and my creative space to work interesting so let's talk about your your flavors your favorite flavors um I'm saying which flavor is this even that's here on the table this particular one is a cinnamon coffee sponge cake cinnamon coffee sponge cake yes sounds like so many words I know right yeah break it down let's go it's it's a sponge cake is a cake that has no fat it's just flour sugar eggs that's the difference yeah and then it's you moisten it with simple syrup but now this one is moist and with coffee so it's a cinnamon sponge cake that's moist and with coffee so it's like perfect for breakfast it's like it's like you're just eating cake and drinking tea at the same time I'm so glad you brought it here on Monday morning we are so excited but it's not on my on my menu my menu only has chocolate cakes and fresh fruit cakes fresh fruit cakes yes fresh fruit cakes are a kind of orange cake lemon banana carrot coconut suns and then chocolate cakes um start with my most oh famous that word just put it my best stories of the yes the one that everyone orders is the devil's food cake devil's food cake yes I'd like to know what that contains it's just that it's okay it's not just it is it is okay chocolate cake it's it comes from the technique of how you make it so it's it's very moist and very decadent and doesn't have a lot of chocolate in it even if you're not a chocolate fan I've given that cake to people who don't like chocolate and they like it yeah and then I can red velvet red velvet I like red velvet yes you know chocolate sorry red velvet is a chocolate I know don't be lied to my bakers who give you a vanilla cake with red food color it's not red velvet okay now let's talk about challenges not that you brought each other but there's some counterfeit products in the market um how do you deal with with with selling your cakes in a market where people are also selling their cakes and some are trying to be um corny yeah yeah how do you make sure that you as you don't get yourself caught up in that wholeness uh let me be corny you just have to stay true to yourself if you know what it is you offer people then you need to stick to it because if you're if your objective is money then you're going to sell a k g 4000 shilling such you undercut everyone else to get that that money yes but the things that you're gonna have to put in that cake to make it that price without as in hurting your pocket is gonna be I mean we hear bakers who make frosting with kimbo and such yeah kimbo yeah and that is a fact so um you you have to inform I like to inform my people and like know what you're putting into your body uh know what you want if your if your aim is just to get a cake then fine go get that on 4000 shilling but if you want a memory where you have a beautiful cake you're taking photos you know everything is now social media something that you're gonna show off to people something that you're going to enjoy something that won't hurt your body then you had best do your research and go and get a good cake and most of the time you're gonna get these good cakes from home because I'm not saying other people don't have good cakes I'm just saying with most home because this is more of a passion this is someone who's taking their time to take care of you this is just one cake that they're making instead of someone who's churning out like 50 cakes in a day and they have to sell all those cakes this is someone who's just working on yours but now if we put it that way what what what happens when it comes to your plan for diversification in the next maybe five four years you still want to be online what do you expect for yourself in the next four or five years personally I I have been doing celebration cakes for the past two years and I want to venture into wedding cakes so and I also do want a shopfront just to bring in an extra income for those people who are pitaing town they smell the cake but I like convenience and my goal is to still work from home where I live here and I work from here but I'm close to home so that in case God wills me to have a family I'm not feeling at all I have to go to work and then I'm leaving my children with this person who might cook for us food with Jew word you know those horror stories that we hear you I can have my cake and eat it you can have your cake and eat it good I like what you did there I really did anyway so let's talk about um when usually when I do this interviews I like to hear about your your best and your worst moment especially when it comes to clad relations that I can also know how you deal with it so um I've ever made a cake and you went and and and you did your things and you flared it up and then they told you oh my god no yeah oh it has happened not once not twice it always happens goodness so what do you know but it has happened a number of times so how do you handle it you pray that's my prayer you pray because the first reaction is anger because you're like yo do you know what I put into this cake do you even know I didn't even sleep so I went where to buy what for you and then you're telling me Jew word so it's that's always the first feeling but then you need I humble myself and go like well they didn't like it and you can't change that they didn't like it so you bring yourself down and you first say sorry because they didn't like it and as much as it's mutual I gave you a cake and you gave me money but you are not satisfied so I apologize for those who I can okay sometimes words just go away it's okay but I like to compensate some like if you're like oh ziki this was just I can't I can't with you like okay let me give you like a complimentary box of cupcakes or I will knock off this amount of your next order just to to lose out them because we like to be bimperless words yeah okay so that's an interesting way at least now I've learned that you come down fast yeah you have to eat sometimes because at the end of the day you still need some of these clients and they'll need and they'll make referrals also and so if you overreact they might just say they will still be fine yeah that's very that's very correct so now let's talk about your best one like was there a cake you did and the feedback you got has kept you going for a very long time I don't think I can choose one but the one I remember most recently was a cake I did for my friend his graduation party the beginning of this year and that cake was a huge tiered cake and when it came out of the house it was beautiful and I was I was so happy with that work like I was like yo this one this one you did you did a good job like I parted myself on the back and then when I was delivering it it things fell and like I had supported and everything but something happened to the cake oh no and I didn't know because it was in the back seat so where it's I realized when I got there and they're like yo we can't even wait just take this cake to to the table so I'm like yeah sure fine and there were two so one was his one was his brother's so his is the one that was destroyed so I opened the box destroyed but like they can't move then the cream was like it wasn't cream it okay it was a graduation cup but instead of I usually make it with fondant this time we made it with chocolate but it was too heavy so it just slid off and then fell on the side of the cake and sort of just cut out all the cream and there was no way to hide it I'm so sorry so I realized this when I'm opening the box in front of people and I'm like oh my friend we we can't put this cake like put it put it I'm like no come see it's like no put it and he's there with a team of photographers and they're taking photos of the cake this cake that as in there's no way you can fix it it's like this cake with the chocolate yeah so if there's cream you can't even you can't so you're there trying to turn like no no no just put it and he was so understanding and he's like there's nothing you can do there's nothing you can bring to the table and because your cakes are good and I will always order your cake and I was like you my friend wherever you are hope you're watching if you're not watching thank you thank you fantastic I like that story it's good to hear it's good to hear how people handle the stress and and I'm glad that even your best cake is one that came out of a very tricky situation it means you're a very positive person so let's talk about your pricing how you price your cakes is it on the sides how do you how do you go about pricing or the amount of the other contents how do you go about selecting a price and now and how much do they reach average I price my cakes according to size that's kg for now okay the basis is like a cake with cream and decoration that will be one kg ranges from 2000 to 2300 depending on the flavor but if you have a custom design that's going to vary or if you want different frosting like you want ganache or you want fondant then the price is going to vary how I price my cakes I learned actually from there's a baker who's that teacher it's okay there's gosh the name her name is Maureen she is the founder of Amari Baking Center and the I personally believe that that's the best platform for any baker whether you're starting off or you're trying to figure it out yeah but especially for beginner because because when I started out there's a lot of info out there but it's from the western world so here when you even trying recipes like you find their recipes are different from ours they have too much sugar or they have ingredients that we can't find ready be here so she has like a ton of recipes this is actually a recipe from her and a lot of information she has books how to start a baking business how to price your cake so that's the book I got how to price your cakes and I followed the info and she has courses like yeah so you actually did take initiative to try and educate yourself on how other bakers are doing it okay let's talk about uh as we conclude the segment some of the challenges of online business you know the when it comes to online business is a lot of issues of fraud stars uh scammers how do you know that your clients are legit and also how that whole process of exchanging money making the order delivering the orders how do you make sure that it's legit oh I personally have a lip and a M-pesa tail number so I don't start on an order unless you pay me deposit because that way I don't sit on me in case you don't pick the cake I've done it before and every time I don't take the deposit I'm disappointed so that ensures that I at least can cater for the cost of the cake and then you pay me the half when you get the cake so that way I'm not telling you pay me everything and then pray to god that I'll bring you your cake give me something to make your cake and then now when I bring you cake you can give me the rest okay so that's how you make sure it's okay yes all right so it's about time we conclude this segment but I'd like you to let the fans know your social media handles as well as a parting short what words of advice do you have for somebody who is interested in the pastry and the sweetness industry um parting short let me start with the handles okay uh you can find me on instagram that is zikis kakari zikis underscore kakari and facebook zikis kakari or you can whatsapp us on 0798 33 55 79 for those who want to start a business not even a baking business it's very important that you plan just do your research don't be in a hurry to to start and take off and also give yourself credit don't compare yourself all the time because that's just going to make you feel bad go at your own pace of course make yourself better every day yeah and pray pray do a lot of pray and put yourself before god okay oh god at least you've started that one you got a good note okay so it's about time I fave the way forward by moses but please do not go anywhere and tap and worship tuesday continues shortly my name is hilda wadibi