Ms. Catherine Mathu (left) with her son Tendai Mathu (right)

Ms. Catherine Mathu’s business lives up to its tagline ‘making the edible incredible’. Her delicious cupcakes and cake pops are bound to leave you craving for more. The self taught baker was inspired to set up her business after realizing the hobby could be an income stream. Her baking prowess soon turned into what today is known as Cupcake Haven. “Cupcake Haven came about after the birth of my son. I had been baking cakes while nursing him at home and I just decided to turn the new acquired skill into a business,” she said.

As fate would have it, her eldest sister took a baking course and this provided Catherine with the opportunity to inherit her sister’s kitchen wares and guideline books. Catherine currently bakes alone but is assisted by her son from time to time. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Kenya Methodist University (KEMU) and a diploma in Public Relations from the University of Nairobi, Catherine is proof that your degree does not always define your life path.

A cake made by Ms. Catherine Mathu

Setting up her business

Despite her passion and zeal for baking, Catherine underwent challenges when setting up her business. She struggled with raising capital to get her started. “Assistance from my family and friends helped me overcome this,” she recalled. Additionally, she found it important to get business networks  and mentors to guide her in the journey of entrepreneurship. She turned to PassionBiz Academy and getting tips from its founder, James Karundu, in order to curb this problem. “I got an opportunity to learn a lot of principles from PassionBiz Academy,” she said “I am particularly keen on learning new skills to improve my performance, overall achievements and set objectives,” she added.

Business success

When the company was just 6 months old, Catherine participated in the annual  Cake Festival. She got a lot of publicity and amazing feedback. The overwhelming response helped her business pick up more.

Catherine attributes her success to God and a solid support system from her family, life partner & friends. Hardwork , resilence and patience have also shaped who she is today “Walk your own journey , build a solid foundation and legacy for the young generation,” she said. As mentioned earlier, the help she got from James Karundu’s advice also played a crucial part in how she runs her business. She often attended his free talks that are held every last Thursday of the month and put into use the tips James shared. “James’ sessions were an answer to my prayers. They were very informative and practical,” she said. She also grew her business networks through these sessions. “He {James} is quite knowledgeable,very supportive  and encouraging. He is a very good mentor,” said Catherine

One of Cupcake Haven’s cakes

Cupcake Haven’s vision

Catherine aims to have many bakery outlets around East Africa offering the best,healthy, delicious baked treats. She would also like to venture into training children how to bake treats. “I want to be the pioneer of selling cake pops and cookie sticks,” she said.

Parting shot

Catherine concluded by saying all people who want to start businesses should utilize what they have and just start from where they are. “Mindset is what separates the best from the rest,” she said. “You will have high seasons and low seasons so lean on God ,have a great support system and just keep going,” said Catherine.

You can check out more of Cupcake Haven’s tasty treats on the Facebook page here

Please follow and like us: