6 years ago today, jaraCake sold her first cake to a brave customer called Seye who found us online and ordered 3 cupcakes (just because) and we’ve been in Business ever since.
Today, I look back at what we’ve built; I literally started jaraCake with N33,000. I used that money to buy domain name(s) and pay for a year of web hosting. I didn’t really have the skills, but I learned them as the days and years went by.
jaraCake has had no eternal funding to date and we have bootstrapped the business with customer revenue only. We have generated millions of naira yearly with our online marketplace commission-based model and although we aren’t where I want the business to be growth-wise, I can truly say that I am proud of how far we have come…
It was a completely new space for me as I had studied law and I really had no real #tech, #onlinemarketplace, or #confectionery background. All I knew was that I wanted to build a business that helped other (predominately female-owned) businesses prosper and I wanted to spread joy and happiness in the process.
The few days leading up to today were a little bittersweet for me though. I couldn’t believe I had been doing this for 6 years and couldn’t help it when Nefemi ‘my inner voice reminded me that Flutterwave is the same age and has a Billion valuation blah blah blah
She knows that I could write a book on the million things I would do differently if starting over again, but I’ve reminded her that today is not the day for all that.
Today is a day to #celebrate and be #thankful to God for how far we’ve come.
I thank God almighty for the vision, wisdom, strength, and gifts He gave as I embarked on this journey. He unveiled a level of courage, strength, and passion I didn’t know I had.
I thank every single official and unofficial Business that has partnered with Us in spreading happiness across the faces of our customers and their loved ones.
I thank every single customer that has trusted us to bring joy and happiness to their loved one’s face. In spite of the fact that we did not have a physical office space they could walk into or an address they could run to, they entrusted us with their hard-earned money with complete confidence that we would deliver, We do not take that for granted.
To those who’ve taken their love a step further by leaving amazing reviews of our service online, God bless you.
I thank every single official and unofficial delivery partner like Bolt & Uber drivers who’ve been very efficient and helped us deliver with excellence.
I thank all our amazing partners that enable us to provide an excellent service and also give us their platform to use, either for a fee or for free. Platforms that help us showcase our product & services, process customer orders, build and maintain communications with our customers, process payments, issue invoices and maintain our books, etc.
SiteGround Web Hosting Company Google WordPress Namecheap, Inc Canva Paystack @klayvio Intuit Mailchimp Zoho Airtable WhatsApp Instagram Meta
Most importantly, I thank Myself, the self-acclaimed Sweetheart in Chief of jaraCake.com. I have been so critical of myself over the years but I’m thankful I didn’t quit through it all. Most of the time I didn’t know what I was doing but I ‘skill acquisitoned’ my way to this point. I learned everything from web development to graphic design to CRM to bookkeeping to name a few. I still need talent acquisition sha 🙂 I stretched a whole lot but I didn’t break.
I am proud of the lives we have touched, the relationships that we’ve built, the revenues, in thousands and millions that we’ve brought into the businesses of our partner companies (owned mostly by women), and my growth.
jaraCake.com is an online marketplace that enables anyone around the world to order cakes and treats from amazing vendors across 23+ Nigerian states and counting.
I am proud to be a woman that builds. May God bless the 17 of October and may God bless you all.
Stay Happy,
Eyinimofe A.
Sweetheart in Chief
