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At just a final-year student, Tess has already made a name for herself as a talented entrepreneur and pastry expert. With a passion for baking that dates back to her childhood, Tess has turned her hobby into a thriving business, Tess' Bakehouse. From humble beginnings selling cold pure water in school to building a loyal customer base for her delectable pastries, Tess' journey is an inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs everywhere.
In this exclusive interview with The Business Package, Tess shares her story of entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, and perseverance. From balancing academics with running a business to overcoming setbacks and failures, Tess offers valuable insights into what it takes to succeed in the competitive world of entrepreneurship. Get ready to be inspired by her passion, dedication, and sweet treats!
Excerpts.
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What sparked your entrepreneurial journey, and what drives you to succeed?
I don't think there was a particular spark for my entreprenurial spirit, I think it has just always been there. The first time I did anything entrepreneurial was when I was in secondary school, JS1 actually. A few weeks into second term, I noticed a pattern. During break time, the boys would always go to play ball, and more times than not they would return to class before stopping at the kiosk to get water. So 15 minutes to the end of break I would buy a bag of cold pure water for 100 naira, load it into my purple jansport bag and set up in class. Break would end, the boys would file into the class and while our sixth-period class went on they would quietly pass the cash to me and I would pass the cold pure water to them. That was my first adventure with entrepreneurship.
Q. How do you balance academics with running a business?
Balancing my academics with my business has been relatively easy. While in school, I work with my time table and I try to acknowledge my limits. I run Tess’ Bakehouse and we provide pastries to satisfy cravings but while in school, said cravings can only be satisfied on a certain day. My bake day. At the beginning of the semester, I look at my timetable and pick my least busy day and use that to bake and sell that day and the next. It really helps that most of my customers are on my contact list. This helps me maintain communication so that I can indicate the days that cakes and other pastries are available. Bake days are very stressful but I’m able to work in a way where it doesn’t directly affect my academic schedule.
Q. Describe your business idea and how it came about.
When I was much younger, my mum used to take me to her school with her during the holidays. I always ran off to the Home economics lab and the sweet woman always allowed me to sit in on the lessons and allowed me to participate. We made so many snacks during these classes, donuts, puff puff, bread to name a few. One silly memory from back then was how I I always assumed you put a raw egg into egg rolls and it somehow cooked and the shells disappeared during the cooking process. That was the beginning of my interest in baking and I’ve been doing so ever since. My very supportive parents have always been dedicated to nourishing their children’s passions and did just that. My mother took me on so many ingredient runs and her kitchen suffered in my hands, and it still does. My father got me my first mixer and sometimes tastes my creations even when they are “too fancy for him”. I didn't start selling my pastries till much later though, when I realized that I could get paid to do something that I love and something that I’m good at.
Q. What challenges have you faced, and how have you overcome them?
One of the major challenges I face in my business is being self taught. The bulk of my knowledge comes from watching videos online, looking for recipes, and a lot of trial and error. Another thing is handling the workload, as Tess’ Bakehouse continues to grow in reach, we have not grown in employees because I school in Ogun state and live in Lagos state, so the business moves with me. I am hoping that once I’m done with school and I can settle in one location, I will be able to get more people to join my business and grow.
Q. How do you handle setbacks or failures?
As much as I want to say that I handle setbacks well, I can’t truthfully say that. Setbacks and failure in a pastry business can come in multiple ways, a cake falls on the floor and there’s nothing you can do about it but make another cake which takes time and money that you might not have and while I’ve never dropped an entire cake, I recently tripped and an entire batch of brownies splattered all over the wall in my kitchen and I definitely didn’t handle that well. I think something I do is to rant to my friends. It helps me lighten up any burden I’m feeling and then I can start working on solutions to the issue at hand.
Q. What's your proudest achievement as a campus entrepreneur?
When I was in 200 level, my roommates told me about the trade fair that was hosted during the school’s student week in second semester. Prior to this I had only told them about the fact that I bake and shown them pictures. We decided to get money together and buy a stand at the trade fair and sell cupcakes, cake slices, and other pastries. We also thought adding mocktails would make us more attractive, so we did that as well. It was tough, going back and forth on the numbers. How many to make, how much to sell it, etc. I was scared that if I made too many treats, we wouldn’t sell out and we would be at a loss, but they were confident that we would sell out, and so I listened. I made over a hundred cupcakes, dozens of cake slices, so many mocktails, and bags of icing(one of the most hectic nights of my life) and in less than 8 hours we sold out. I was so happy and so proud of myself and my business.
Q. How have you measured success, and what metrics do you use?
I measure success for my business in customer feedback. I have gradually graduated to a point where I’m no longer just taking recipes from the internet, but I’m making my own recipes, and that comes with so much anxiety. I’ve changed my chocolate cake recipe so many times and I’ve gotten nothing but positive feedback from non-chocolate fanatics and chocolate lovers alike, yet every time I make another batch for a new or returning customer, I ask for feedback or reviews because that is the only true way to measure the success of a business like mine. I think the greatest metric for any business to track is customer satisfaction. Without that, you have no business.
Q. What's next for your business, and what goals do you have?
What’s next? I have a few months left to complete my b.sc in mass communication and the future is all I can think about right now. My plan for the business is to upscale and focus on building its media presence. My mass comm knowledge helps me understand the importance of a strong media presence and having good public perception. I also have a list of new recipes and baking techniques I want to try out. I think ultimately I do not have a particular goal to achieve this or that. I just want to try and fail and try and fail til I don’t fail anymore in building up my business.
Q.How does being a student influence your business decisions?
I think being a student entrepreneur has encouraged me to make my menu as budget-friendly as possible. It’s hard to make certain products affordable while maintaining the quality. I’ve gone from a period from when one large cupcake was ₦300 to a mini cupcake being ₦500 depending on the flavour, and changes like that make a huge difference in sales. I have a customer that always orders the same thing, the first time she placed the order for 24 chocolate cake squares in January 2022 it was 2000 naira. She last placed the same order in February 2025 and it was 8500.I sympathize greatly with my customers and I’m ever grateful for their patronage which is why I try to be as budget-friendly as possible without compromising on the quality of the products.
Q. What support systems do you have in place for your business?
I have really great and supportive family and friends. Whether I’m in school or at home. When I needed to make over 200 donuts for a departmental event in one morning, my friends helped with every single part of the process, when I needed to hand mix a huge batch of icing, my friends stepped in. When I try to surpass my limits and take giant orders that shouldn't be humanly possible for one person to complete, my brothers, my sister, my mum, my dad, and my best friends, they always step in to help. I think that’s one of the reasons I sincerely believe I can do anything, the people around me have never allowed me to know what it feels like to not have help.
Q.How has entrepreneurship impacted your personal growth and development?
I’m currently the president of my department, I’m a final year student and I own my own business, I think multi-tasking is a very essential life skill, and being a business owner pushes me to be better at multi-tasking every day. Owning a business has also been very good for my soul. Every year, I try to give back to the community in any way that I can. Profits from my business go into baking hundreds of cupcakes and giving them out to kids during Eid. I want to be better, and I’m glad my business is serving as an avenue to achieve that goal.
Q. What skills have you developed through running your business?
Skills? Running my business has taught me more than just baking. One of the major skills I’ve learned is time management. Balancing orders, baking, handling deliveries, keeping up with my school work and making time for my sorry excuse of a personal life are just a day in the life. I’ve also learned how to deal with customers, financial management, marketing skills, and most importantly, resilience.
Q. Where do you see your business in the next 5 years?
In the next five years, I want to be a known event caterer for pastries. I want to develop my brand and learn more recipes and techniques to create more international cuisine. A physical store is not in the plans yet but I’m not opposed to the idea.
Q. What steps are you taking to achieve your long-term goals?
The major step that I’m taking is building brand awareness. When people look for vendors for their events, they go online to search. Building my brand awareness ensures that I’m one of the first names that pop up when you search for pastry vendors. Being known and trusted opens doors to more opportunities for myself and my business.
Q. What's the most important lesson you've learned as an entrepreneur?
The most important lesson I’ve learned as an entrepreneur is to try. As people, we sometimes forget that we have to try before we can fail or succeed. The first time I did a bulk order, I was terrified, but I tried, I did it and I succeeded. While it would have been very possible for me to fail as well, it wouldn’t have been possible for me to succeed if I decided not to try at all. Even the experts have to do it for the first time, so why shouldn't I.
Thank You.
Contact Teslima Jimoh on:
09066396097 (WhatsApp)
08106906433 (Mobile)
joladunni24@gmail.com
Instagram: Tess'bakehouse
Tiktok: Tess'bakehouse
LinkedIn: Jimoh Teslima
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