Co-written by: Alexandra Brothers and Manaar Shahabuddin
Jummy Lasisi is a cell and molecular biology student at Memorial who has been running an online bakery called Jummy’s Treats since April 2021. Jummy is originally from Nigeria, and she and her family have been living in Newfoundland for over six years.
About the business
Jummy’s Treats makes a wide variety of desserts and snacks. In addition to cakes, cupcakes, lunchbox cakes, and chocolate hearts, Jummy also specializes in making several traditional Nigerian treats.
As Jummy explained, her menu is still a work in progress, and she plans on minimizing it eventually. Starting though, she said, “I thought it would be a good idea to do a lot of things at first so I could gain a lot of experience in a bunch of things.”
Though Jummy runs her business and does all the baking herself, she shared that her loved ones have been by her side throughout her business journey.
She said: “My friends and family have been really helpful. […] I feel like support comes in many shapes and forms and I think it’s really important to hear words of encouragement as well; I consider that as help too. But other than that, my boyfriend was a really big help. When I first started I couldn’t drive. So he helped me get deliveries out and clean up after, things like that. So, it’s been really nice to have a support system around you because no one can do anything by themselves.”
Inspiration for Jummy’s Treats
Next, Jummy talked about what pushed her to start her own business.
She explained: “I love baking. I’ve always loved baking since I was little; it’s something I used to do to bond with my older sister. So like, I cook and bake for all the people around me; I never like going to someone’s house without something in hand. So my friends and family pushed me to do it because they said, “You can’t just do all this stuff for free! You can do something special with it too.”
Funding the start-up
Jummy shared her strategy for funding her business in its earliest stages, saying:
“I kind of took advantage of the time that we spent in quarantine. So, we weren’t at school a lot; I was working a lot as well and we had a little bit of supplement coming in as well. So I took that opportunity to save a lot, just to make sure that I could bring my vision to life in a way that I was proud of it.”
The challenges of starting a business
Jummy revealed some of the challenges she faced when she was starting Jummy’s Treats.
She explained, “starting a business takes a lot of time and energy, and money as well […] for example, I put a lot of time and energy into my social media pages. Designing everything takes a lot of time.”
Furthermore, since she has never formally studied baking, she “had to learn all the little things by [herself] through trial and error.”
However, she was able to overcome those challenges by “sit[ting] down and plan[ning] it all out first” before getting started. Though her business is a lot of work, she enjoys doing it. She said, “if you like [your work] and have the passion for it, it doesn’t take too much out of you to do it.”
Another challenge for students running their businesses is figuring out how to balance the time they dedicate to their business with their schoolwork.
When asked how she manages her time, Jummy said, “It’s still a struggle, but it helps that it’s my last semester so I get to put in a lot more time into it when I graduate; I’m really excited about that. But other than that, it’s prioritizing – I need to know when to say no to something and when to say yes to it, and to make sure I have enough time in the day to get everything done.”
Advertising Jummy’s Treats
As mentioned above, Jummy mainly advertises her business through social media. She has an active online presence into which she puts a lot of time and effort.
She said about her social media presence: “At first, I didn’t realize how important it was, but it really is. You can gain an audience in your local vicinity, and also online with people who share the same passion as you and want to see what you’re doing on your page.”
Jummy has also developed an interest in graphic design. She has been teaching herself how to improve her content creation. She customizes her Instagram page to make it stand out and recently started a food blog on Instagram.
Check out Jummy’s social media pages!
Facebook: Jummy’s Treats
Instagram: @jummystreats
Food blog Instagram: @jummyseats
Future ambitions
Jummy plans on someday turning her online business into a physical store. She said that she plans on moving out of the province in order “to gain a little bit of experience in other places” and “build [her] foundation in another place.” Eventually, she plans on returning to Newfoundland to open a branch where she started her business.
Jummy’s advice for student entrepreneurs
“I would say if you have a good business plan, [and] if you know what you want to accomplish, just start now. It doesn’t have to be perfect at the beginning. You can find a way to make your products more cost-effectively until you can find a way that would match your standards and premium quality. So, I think the hardest part is just having the courage to start. A lot of it is very common and it’s very normal for you to have a lot of failures at first, but just don’t let that discourage you. If you really know that it’s your passion and you have a future in mind for it, then I think it’ll work out.”
For students looking for more information on starting their own business, please look at our previous article: Developing business skills at the Memorial Centre for Entrepreneurship.