Entrepreneurship is rapidly growing in Pakistan among the youth, since many don’t like to work under someone else and like being their own boss. There are many success stories in Pakistan and one of them is definitely of Ayesha Adil who runs her own baking business Ayesha’s: We Bake Memories, which was initiated in 2012.
While talking to The Nation, the CEO of the venture, Ayesha Adil said baking was her hobby and she simply wanted this to be her means of earning.
“I am an ACCA by profession, but I did not have much interest in it. I am not a person to do a 9 to 5 job, so I started Ayesha’s,” she recalled.
“Since my young age, my elder brother used to say that Ayesha will start her own business because I was business-minded from the start."
Ms Adil further added that she did face some backlash after switching her profession from being an accountant to a baker, but her family supported her fully.
While sharing her journey, Ms Adil stated she did take some classes but unfortunately, baking chemistry was not taught in those schools.
“Then I started self-study and read numerous books on baking, ordered them from abroad and even read them online. Then I started taking my own classes and that is how it all started.
“The major reason behind the self-study was that in Pakistan baking still runs on specific recipes and is not taken as a proper subject. For example, everybody is using baking powder or other ingredients because they are taught to do this, without knowing the purpose.
“Even the senior chefs, who are doing great work, are doing the same. When asked, they simply reply that they were taught to do this by their teachers. It is not their fault as they are still doing incredible work in their specialties and baking.”
About her early days of business, Ayesha recalled that she did bake before 2012, but following suggestions of her friends and family, she decided to take it up professionally and launched her own Facebook page.
Ayesha revealed that before taking an order, she asks about hobbies, age, gender, qualification, career and interests of the person for whom the cake is being made.
“In making the whole cake, from taking the order to the final product, it roughly takes two to three days, but on urgent orders, it can be prepared in a single day. It all depends on demand,” she explained.
About issues in her field in Pakistan, she mentioned that there is one practice that is a serious concern in our country.
“Despite being highly talented, some Pakistanis use Google images, put their watermark on them and advertise them as their own products. This saddens me a lot because they have so much potential, why use images of someone else’s product? Let’s not forget this is a highly developing industry in Pakistan.”
While discussing the hurdles she faced in establishing her own business, she shared that the major issue was a lack of material in Pakistan as the basic tools, colors and other things related to it were not available in the country when she started it.
“I used to ask my friends and family to bring them from abroad so that I can use them, but now the situation is far better as almost everything related to my business is available in Pakistan. This is another sign of development of this industry in the country.
About the taste and services of her venture, Ayesha Adil said that 90 percent of her customers re-order which she believes is the biggest proof of the quality of her cakes.
“My customers are my strength and they are my real business because their satisfaction is my ultimate goal,” concluded Ayesha Adil.
