Month: September 2025

We have so many things to be grateful for, and believe me when I say that I am. I am grateful to begin a new day, to be loved and to love, to spend time with my family, to have so many God given talents and to make other people happy using those talents.

My little business was started way back in 2005 when we did our first theme party, although I had been baking theme cakes for family and friends that was “just something I was good at”, LOL, little did I know that my passion for it would turn into a business. We did the kiddies theme parties for a few years and when the theme cakes started taking more and more of my time we decided that it would be best to sell the party stuff and do the cakes full time.

The theme cakes and cupcakes got busier and as the years passed and then Covid hit and I had a cake here and there by the customers that were brave enough to celebrate. My husband was retrenched and we joked that he was going to be the driver and do the deliveries, but in all seriousness, it looked like the cakery was going to be our main source of income.

We invested some money in the “junk room” (a room that has many purposes over the years) and purchased another oven (one solely for baking) and by the time the government decided it was time to get back to normal, I had already been supplying to my regular customers and some new one’s.

My dad passed away on the 4th of January 2022 – it was sudden – and it made me think of how fleeting life is, it also made me a little braver, I saw a post in the WhatApp community group from our Ward Councillor about a course for women in business and decided that I would apply for it – and I did (this is something that ordinarily I would think about doing and end up not doing it).

Turns out it was a joint venture between LÓréal and the Whitaker Foundation (Forest Whitaker) to help women who had or wanted to start their own business by teaching them some business basics and at the end of the course you could enter the competition by submitting your business plan, you could be one of the winners – the prize was start-up capital.

I went to the Graduation Ceremony at the Muizenberg Civic Centre, the hall was packed full of women, hundreds and hundreds of us, I did not expect to be one of the lucky ladies, but I was – how awesome is that? We were 50 ladies in total I think, and besides the money, we were given a year of training / mentorship – the prize money had to be used on equipment for your business only, not for personal stuff.

I had lot’s of fun deciding on what I wanted to buy, I already had a running business, with working equipment etc., so now I could get all the extras like a printer for my edible prints, stainless steel counter tops and so much more.

It also forced me to take my business seriously, had to register it, open a business bank account and keep records – all good things, because before, I treated my business like it was a hobby – running at a loss dipping into my own money to buy stock etc., now all purchases are bought and paid for from the business bank account.

And so we come back to my opening statement – I am grateful for everything and everyone in my life, for my past good and bad because it has taught me something, I am excited for the future – new business, new ventures and new experiences – to come.

Till next time, stay blessed

Vanesse