Jessica Loh, 18, is one who has taken advantage of the social media bandwagon. The owner of Shiberty’s Sweets, an online cupcake and cake website, she started out posting pictures of her creations on her online blog. She claims that readers of her personal blog were the ones who started her off. “My designs were a lot less impressive back then, I started out as quite the rookie,” she says.

The next step she took was to know more about her target audience. “The online community is all about visuals,” she claims. Flattering photographs of her mouth-watering creations and some good reviews, and Shiberty’s Sweets was off and running. She also added that she has a significant online presence due to supportive friends who do free advertorials for her on their online blogs.

In the beginning, it was a pure hobby for Jessica to bake for her family. She says that the whole point of baking was to make people happy with her creations, so she decided to disseminate the news that she was willing to bake for others’ occasions- at a price. Soon, orders began to flood in and with the response she hoped for, Shiberty’s Sweets was born. “I never imagined it to become a business opportunity and such a valued experience in my life, but I’m thankful this turned out so well,” she says modestly.

In every business, there will inevitably be difficulties. When asked about her own, Jessica estimates that she has over 100 cupcakes to design and bake a day, not to mention having to set aside about three hours just to answer emails alone! As a baker, she asserts that there are many factors to consider, such as sufficient ingredients, making and baking of cupcakes and cakes, cost of equipment and being creative with her designs. Jessica says that she enjoys giving her creations a unique touch, but after a long day of baking, it’s almost impossible to be creative.

in2it.sg was blessed enough to try some cupcakes baked especially for us by Jessica herself! True to her word, they not only look good but taste absolutely dreamy as well.

Jessica followed the design we gave her, but made it ten times better! Every detail was painstakingly drawn with food colouring! It looks almost too good to eat, but we couldn’t resist. Vanilla-flavoured icing covers the rather large cupcakes, and the middle is soft and moist chocolate. Delicious!

Want to see more of her designs? Check out Jessica’s website