In our segment, Hustle Mtaani, Nairobi Leo sat down with Mwachaze Ogutu, the proprietor behind LC’s Kitchen to understand the secret behind the fast growth of her baking business in the competitive Kenyan market.
LC’s Kitchen is a bakery business that deals with quality cakes. Here is the full interview:
Describe LC’s Kitchen
We are a home-based kitchen. Aiming at providing food at affordable prices. I started by selling food and snacks but I have slowly transitioned into selling cakes. I deliver on order.
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How did you start?
My name is Wanjala Mwachaze Ogutu. I’m a trained Interior Designer. After three years of practicing interior design, I quit my job and that was the birth of LC’s kitchen. I have always been passionate about good and healthy food.
I started by selling food to friends, home cooking services for individuals who are having events like birthdays, baby showers etc. Since 2020 when the pandemic struck, I transitioned into baking cakes as a result of low business in terms food orders. So far, the reception has been great. My cake business is growing steadily.
What challenges have you faced?
The first challenge was pricing. I started by under-pricing my cakes. Before I fully ventured into baking for a living, I used to sell cakes to friends and neighbors at what I came to realise was a loss.
I finally managed to know how to do my pricing after researching and purchasing costing materials. The second challenge was working out the perfect recipes that would give me good quality and yield the correct quantity. I have managed to perfect several recipes that create the bulk of my order while I keep on working on the rest that I desire to sell to my clients.
The cake flavours that I have not perfected, I normally decline the orders for now and refer the customer to someone else. The last challenge would be cake decorating. Being a self-taught baker, I have had to constantly invest in learning on a daily basis in order to improve my decorating skills.
There being so many resources online that one can use to learn, does not guarantee that the learning will be easy. I have had to be intentional about what content to use in order to learn cake decorating and give myself room to learn one skill at a time. This way, I’m able to deliver great quality work.
What lessons have you learned?
I have learned the importance of resilience. This business calls for one to push themselves continuously. For example, achieving a perfect recipe for cake flavour will most probably take around two tries from my personal experience. The second lesson is it is important to consistently do marketing for your business.
Whether you get clients or not, market your business. Someone somewhere will see your work. Still, under consistency, be prepared to keep learning different aspects of the craft since it is dynamic. The last lesson I have learned is to take client feedback positively after every sell. When you get feedback, it helps you to realise your strengths and weakness, thus where to improve.
What does the future hold?
The future is promising. I envision growing my client base to include corporate events and weddings because I believe I have great products to offer. I look forward to venturing into baking for health a conscious population.
Please follow LC’s kitchen social media pages so that you can witness all the leaps they are making in the baking world. They are on twitter: @KitchenLc, Instagram: @lc_kitchen and Facebook: Lc's Kitchen.
You can also reach them on phone through 0736 912 032 or by mail via: [email protected].
