They met on Tinder after they have been 19. Now, they’re married and run a cake enterprise that brings in over $650,000 a yr

When Kai Yang Chan and Jiayi Zhuo matched on Tinder at age 19, neither of them anticipated that it might result in marriage. Six years later, not solely have they tied the knot — they’re additionally enterprise companions.

“I downloaded Tinder as a result of I used to be very bored in class, so I used to be simply [swiping] by means of throughout class,” mentioned Zhuo. “Each of us — we did not count on that we might get collectively,” she mentioned.

“Persona sensible, we’re fairly totally different,” she mentioned, including that whereas she is extra introverted, her husband is the lifetime of the celebration.

At present, Chan and Zhuo run Singapore-based bakery CakeInspiration. Their enterprise introduced in over 850,000 Singapore {dollars} (about $650,000) in 2024, and is on monitor to surpass $775,000 in income this yr, based on documentation reviewed by CNBC Make It.

The corporate is thought for its customized cake designs, and its clientele consists of household workplaces, hospitals and even international celebrities.

CakeInspiration initially started as a home-based bakery in 2010, run by Zhuo’s mother and father.

“My mother and father truly began [the business] once I was 9,” mentioned Zhuo. “I used to be by no means very studious, however I actually like being fingers on. So I prefer to bake, I like to bounce. I prefer to create all these little fairly issues,” she mentioned. From the early days of the enterprise, she typically helped with designing desserts.

Then, when the pandemic hit, gross sales stalled and the enterprise started to burn by means of money to remain afloat. Along with her mother and father considering retirement, Zhuo knew it was time for her to step in.

“I [felt] that it is a waste to simply let it go. I [saw] my mother and father work like 16 hours a day rising up, so … I [didn’t] need the enterprise to get shut down,” she mentioned.

In 2020, Zhuo formally joined her guardian’s enterprise and expanded the corporate’s product vary. She finally launched two new manufacturers — Eggyi.Co, which sells bento desserts, or mini, single-serving sized desserts focused at Gen-Z, and Petissier which sells customised desserts for pets.

The introduction of those two manufacturers finally helped to avoid wasting the household’s enterprise by means of Covid, mentioned Zhuo. At present, their costs vary from about $100 to $10,000 per order, and so they have a employees of about 14 individuals throughout two kitchens — one for human desserts, and one for pet desserts.

Just like Zhuo, Chan’s passions lied exterior of lecturers rising up.

“I wasn’t actually essentially the most studious particular person, [but] I at all times cherished the concept of entrepreneurship and doing our personal factor,” mentioned Chan. “Since I used to be 16, I did my very own little startups, promoting no matter. [I sold] sneakers, I would purchase them, clear them up and promote them. You realize, no matter that may make cash, I am going to do it,” he mentioned.

In 2022, he determined to hitch his spouse within the household enterprise full-time. He launched a brand new technique: reasonably than solely promoting on to particular person shoppers (B2C), he prompt attempting to promote to different companies (B2B) to create a extra constant income.

As well as, he was centered on constructing the corporate’s manufacturers on-line. Together with working to construct a presence throughout social media platforms, Chan began focusing on celebrities and influencers who got here into city.

In June, three Korean-American content material creators — sisters Evelyn, Erica and Emily Ha — have been in Singapore for a magnificence retailer pop-up occasion. When Chan found they have been on the town, he noticed a possibility to shock them with a cake.

“It is truly fairly loopy, as a result of they have been in Singapore for this magnificence retailer pop-up… They posted a narrative of them in a lodge, and I assumed: ‘Hey, this seems actually acquainted. I do know [which] lodge that is,'” he mentioned. “So I simply ready a cake after which we simply zoomed all the way down to the lodge.”

Chan and his crew rapidly made a customized cake for the sisters and timed the supply to coincide with the tip of the Ha sisters’ occasion. “After all, after the pop-up, you must return to [the hotel to] change, proper? Yeah. So [that’s when I] went there,” he mentioned.

By likelihood, his timing was good. Simply as he arrived on the lodge entrance with the cake in hand, he bumped into the sisters — and managed to hand-deliver the shock. One of many Ha sisters later shared a video of the cake to social media, which finally reached over 500,000 views.

This interplay kicked off the corporate’s movie star advertising technique. To this point, CakeInspiration has additionally delivered customized desserts to Okay-Pop band BlackPink’s Lisa, Russell Simmons, G-Dragon and extra.

Regardless of common recommendation to keep away from working together with your associate, for Chan and Zhuo, working collectively as a pair has truly been a giant benefit. Whereas Chan is finest at partnerships, advertising and something external-facing, Zhuo is finest at managing day-to-day operations and all issues inner.

“We do not have conflicts about work as a result of our roles are very outlined … So often I do not inform her run issues inside, and she or he does not actually inform me run issues exterior. I suppose we belief one another to satisfy our roles to the perfect of our skills,” mentioned Chan.

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