Anna Veloz and her ‘cake business dream’

Meet Anna Veloz, owner of Little Avery Cakes, which was started roughly three years ago only as a “side business”.

“I’ve always loved baking, and I’ve always admired decorated cakes. I would always be browsing online for cake photos and then saving them on my computer just because I find them really pretty,” Anna recalled.

And so “it was just a matter of time for me to transition from baking simple pastries to cake decorating, because it was something I was really interested in for years.”

Note that Anna did not immediately start to pursue this line of business; she was, mainly, a hobbyist.

But then “I saw an advertisement online for a two-day cake decorating workshop. I realized I had this ‘cake business dream’ for years and that I had been procrastinating for a long time. So I decided to just go for it, sign up for the class, learn the basics and go from there.”

She was already baking for years, so she already have most of the tools and equipment (like the oven) needed for this line of business. But when she actually started treating this as a business, she had to spend approximately P10,000 to P15,000 initial capital for ingredients and additional tools.

That was how Little Avery Cakes came into business.

“I’ve long admired the works of Peggy Porschen. I was also following so many cake blogs (in the past), and would be ogling on their works for hours on end. There are so many amazing cake artists now more than ever, and they all inspire me. Looking at their work, how flawless it looks, the level of craftsmanship – they inspire me to want to be better. There are still so many areas I can improve on, and I wanted to be at that level where my work can be of inspiration to others too,” Anna said.

Looking back, did she ever imagine she would be going into this field?

“Yes!” Anna beamed. “It was something I’ve been interested in for years, that I just put off so many times.”

It helps, of course, that “I finished a degree in Business Management. It is aligned in a way… not specifically to cake decorating, but it still gave me an edge to have a general understanding of what it would take to enter into business.”

And for people who may want to also open their business, what tips can she give?

“Follow your passion. Do something that you’re really interested in, something that you’re good at, or something that you think you can be good at. You can’t just copy the latest trend. When things don’t go the way you expected them to be, the one thing that will keep you going is knowing that this work, this business, is something you really love doing, that you’re here for the long haul. If it’s something that you think you can do for free for the rest of your life, if time and money were not a factor, then you’ve found your calling!” Anna ended.

Visit Little Avery Cakes for more information, call 0908-488-2574, or email littleaverycakes@gmail.com.