Name: Shirley Tan
Age: 25
Company: Blossom Deli

IT’S been almost a year since Shirley Tan of NESCAFÉ® KICK-START™ Season 5 opened Blossom Deli and according to her, business has been “so far, so good.”

Blossom Deli offers a simple menu but with a variety of items from noodles like pan mee, yee mee, wantan mee and curry mee (which are made by Shirley’s mum), to cakes, muffins, biscuits and tarts which are made by Shirley herself.

Some of the items on the menu are fixed while the rest change daily. What “specials” customers will find available on the different days will depend on what Shirley’s mum decides to serve up.

One thing’s for sure though – the customers of Blossom Deli definitely love Shirley’s cheesecakes and the different variants – oreo, lemon, blueberry, chocolate, almond and carrot – are sold out every day.

Shirley also bases what she sells daily on customer demand. If there are orders for a specific cake, biscuit or tart, she makes extra portions to sell at her cafe for the day.

Shirley’s cafe, which is located at Jalan SS2/103, draws customers from the nearby areas of Damansara Jaya, Damansara Utama and Jaya One.

“Friends think I have a tough time since I’m located in a quiet area,” reveals Shirley.

“In fact, I thought that business would be slow in the beginning,” she admits. “I never expected to end up with so many regular customers so soon.”

According to Shirley, her customers find her prices reasonable but the fact that she is located very close to a housing area and her costs – rental, utility and ingredient bills – are not too high means she can offer what she feels are good prices.

And there are a few other factors that have worked in Shirley’s favour as well – her house is located directly behind the cafe, she does not charge any service tax, and parking in the area is free.

Aside from lunchtime, business is also brisk in the morning – a lot of people tend to buy their newspapers from a vendor out front in the morning and they then pop in to have a quick breakfast or buy some cakes to take to the office.

To cater to the morning crowd, Shirley starts her business at 7.30am and closes at 6pm. She starts baking first thing in the morning and doesn’t stop till 2pm. Apart from the walk-in clientele and taking orders for cakes, Blossom Deli also offers catering services, which are handled by Shirley’s father.

“It is important to do start things off small, get your regulars and not try anything too risky,” advises Shirley.

Shirley will next be trying her hand at wedding cakes – a friend of hers is getting married and has requested that Shirley be the one who makes the wedding cake. To equip herself for the task, Shirley took up a cake decorating course and hopes to live up to her friend’s expectations. And if everything goes smoothly, who knows, Blossom Deli might soon grow into something more than a simple cafe.