By Shankar Kumar Turha
SHILLONG:
As a young girl studying in college, Nilofer Naz had a super interesting hobby of baking cakes and presenting them with life-like designs, leaving an onlooker surprised on the fascinating patterns that resembled different objects. She would experiment with different designs on the cakes for different occasions, knowing little that her hobby will one day turn into a serious profession for her.
Few years down, Nilofer managed to turn her hobby into a serious business christening it ‘Cakes by Nilofer’, which specialises in all kinds of cakes. A self-trained baker, Nilofer is passionate about her job, and hopes to also train people on the art in the future.
The closure of markets during the lockdown helped Nilofer getting clients from far and wide, as that was the time when orders flowed and people got to know about ‘Cakes by Nilofer’.
Born and brought up in Shillong, Nilofer saw an opportunity in home delivery, after different local entrepreneurs also took the same path to serve people from the comfort of their homes.
Narrating her journey, Nilofer told The Meghalayan that as the cakes did not fetch a reasonable price, she decided to start her own business and target all the middle-class people-offering them the most delicious flavours at reasonable price.
To hone her skills further as a baking specialist, she also got trained from bakeries around the city, learning the immaculate details from experts to carve a position for herself in the competitive market.
Growing base being an important factor, she also promotes her business through social media, customer feedback inorder to hold onto the market and win clients.
“Client response is good, bulk orders help me boost my morale and help me give my best in what I do. My business being FSSAI registered, I guarantee the best cake specialities,” she says.
With a desire to have a bakery chain for herself a few years down the line, the ambitious Nilofer hopes to also take her business offline. “We bake while creating memories” is what the Instagram page of Cakes by Nilofer’ reads, depicting pictures of different cakes which she has baked with love for her customers in the past.
With all smiles, Nilofer is optimistic of doing well in the field, creating a brand image and exclusivity for herself in times to come.