The accidental florist and a cupcake biz

SANDRA Santos and her florist Obet Lainez work together. Photo by Ma. Esther Salcedo – Posadas, Contributor

There are some accidents in life that lead to unexpected ventures.  Florist Sandra Santos, who opened her flower shop in May 2013, initially didn’t have the interest to start this business much less expected that she would also eventually tie up with her 21-year old daughter Tina Santos to open a café beside her store.

Sandra started simply as a donor at the Mother of Perpetual Help Parish in Laguna.  She made it her mission to donate flowers during Holy Week and the parish feast day.  As the cost of purchasing flowers got higher, it occurred to her that she could learn how to fix the flowers herself by taking a 10-month flower arrangement course at the Institute of Philippine Floral Techniques in Malate, Manila.  Then she started giving flowers to the parish every Sunday.

“Every time I give flowers to the church, someone would ask if I can arrange flowers for weddings.” Sandra says that at the beginning, she would turn down such offers because she wasn’t thinking of flower arrangement as a business.  Then the May flower festival arrived and other donors had a hard time finding sources for their flowers.  The parish office referred potential donors to her.  It was at that time that she finally decided to go into business, beginning in her garage.

ACCORDING to Sandra, cupcakes are kept for only three days before they are discarded. Photo by Ma. Esther Salcedo – Posadas, Contributor

Eventually she opened in a commercial building by converting a small storage space into a store.  When the space beside her small flower shop was vacated, she considered opening a small café with her daughter Tina after witnessing her talent in baking.  Tina has no degree in baking but just developed recipes by researching on the Internet and tweaking through trial and error.  Even as a young child, she wanted a cupcake business and would often bake in high school and sell during school fairs.

Mom Sandra reveals, “They were fascinated with red velvet.  Every time we go out, they always order a slice and compare flavors.”  In December 2013, You’ve Got Baked Café opened inside the Laguna Bel-Air 2 Subdivision (for directions call 0927-679-0879).

The unique attractions at the café include what was first planned as a “freedom wall” (to post just about anything) that turned into a picture wall where first time diners are greeted with an instant picture shot that is immediately hung on the wall.  Notwithstanding the cost of each picture (around P30 to P40 per shot), Tina does it out of sheer interest.

TINA’S picture wall is a source of conversation for first-time visitors. Photo by Ma. Esther Salcedo – Posadas, Contributor

The quality of Tina’s cupcakes can rival some of the better-known bigger brands.  Sandra says that they use good ingredients such as Anchor butter and Philadelphia cream cheese.  The café also sells at P65 per cupcake that is close to Manila prices.  Thus, some observers have wondered whether such a concept can work out in a province like Laguna.

“At first, many people said it wouldn’t click because of the area.  I told my daughter not to mind feasibility studies because if the taste is good, customers will go to you.”  Sandra continues that part of the reason she established the business with her daughter was to inculcate the value of money.

“You have to earn at an early age.  It’s not easy to earn money.”  Sandra advises that children should be taught young.  “If you want to buy something, check the price first.  You have to save for it.”

While the business is ongoing, Tina is continuing her studies in Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Santo Tomas.  Sandra who describes herself as a super hands on mom has started to offer her daughter’s cupcakes as part of her floral services during wedding-related events.

Sandra is fortunate to own the space where she operates so she is not burdened by monthly rental payments.  She doesn’t even consider the possibility of closing shop in case things don’t work out in the long term.

On her own she makes a confident assumption, “I think it will click.”