Cameron Penney
Grade 12 student Sara Jackson recently found a way to take her passion for baking and turn it into her own business.
With the help of the “Summer Company” program, the Grade 12 student at Fort Frances High School has been busy all summer with her company, “Sara’s Cupcakes,” while selling her confections across the district.
“I decided to start my own summer business because I have always loved to bake,” Jackson enthused.
“When I heard about the ‘Summer Company’ program, I thought it was a prefect way to get started and get my business name out into the community,” she reasoned.
Once Jackson heard about the opportunity to run her own business, she knew without a doubt that she would want to bake and sell cupcakes.
“I have always loved baking and have always loved watching shows like ‘Cupcake Wars’ and ‘Cake Boss,’ which helped inspire me,” she noted.
Jackson produces a variety of cupcake creations, such as a vanilla cupcake with strawberry butter cream icing and a carrot cupcake with a cream cheese icing.
“I’ll be selling them individually when I’m downtown at ‘Market Thursdays,’” she explained, adding she also can prepare large batches of cupcakes for people.
While admitting that business had been slow so far this month, Jackson is looking forward to the opportunities she believes will come down the road.
“I’ve had one order since I started at the beginning of July [but] I’m still in the process of getting my business name out to the public,” she said.
“Hopefully that will bring in more orders.”
Before being part of the “Summer Company” program, Jackson had some experience preparing cupcakes for customers.
“I’ve done a big wedding two summers ago, I did about 300 cupcakes,” she recalled.
“I also do them for birthdays and anniversaries.”
Jackson explained that when creating a large batch of cupcakes, it is important that they stay cool in order to preserve the freshness.
“As soon as I’m done baking them, I’ll put them in the fridge,” she noted. “Then I ice them and put them back in the fridge.
“I don’t bake them in advance because I want them to be really fresh,” she added, stressing the importance of setting aside time to ensure the entire batch is prepared well.
Jackson believes that once the summer is over, she will continue to sell cupcakes as a hobby.
But she also is thinking of attending culinary school in the future.
Having the opportunity to run her own business also has allowed Jackson to learn things about entrepreneurship that she wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.
“It’s really good learning how to run a business on my own and learning all about that, and having to have a lot of responsibility to keep up with everything,” she remarked.
“It’s kind of hard because I work [a second job], too, and it’s just hard to find time to do everything,” she conceded.
“Running a business can be very stressful, busy, and time-consuming—but it’s fun, I like it,” Jackson added.
“You get to interact with a lot of people, meet new people, and learn how to handle a business on your own.”
Jackson believes that in order to run a successful business, it’s important to ensure the entrepreneur is doing what they love.
“You have to enjoy what you are doing in order for it to be fun,” she reasoned.
“The fact that I really like baking makes it a lot less stressful because I find fun in doing.
“It’s not like I don’t want to put hours towards it—because I do,” she continued.
“I would be doing it anyways.”
