Kai Yang Chan (left) and JiaYi Zhou (right) run Singapore-based bakery Cake Inspiration.
Courtesy of Cake Inspiration
When Kai Yang Chan and Jiayi Zhuo matched on Tinder at age 19, neither of them expected that it would lead to marriage. Six years later, not only have they tied the knot — they’re also business partners.
“I downloaded Tinder because I was very bored in school, so I was just [swiping] through during class,” said Zhuo. “Both of us — we didn’t expect that we’d get together,” she said.
“Personality wise, we are quite different,” she said, adding that while she is more introverted, her husband is the life of the party.
Today, Chan and Zhuo run Singapore-based bakery CakeInspiration. Their business brought in over 850,000 Singapore dollars (about $650,000) in 2024, and is on track to surpass $775,000 in revenue this year, according to documentation reviewed by CNBC Make It.
The company is known for its custom cake designs, and its clientele includes family offices, hospitals and even global celebrities.
A family affair
CakeInspiration originally began as a home-based bakery in 2010, run by Zhuo’s parents.
“My parents actually started [the business] when I was nine,” said Zhuo. “I was never very studious, but I really like being hands on. So I like to bake, I like to dance. I like to create all these little pretty things,” she said. From the early days of the business, she often helped with designing cakes.
Then, when the pandemic hit, sales stalled and the business began to burn through cash to stay afloat. With her parents contemplating retirement, Zhuo knew it was time for her to step in.
Courtesy of CakeInspiration
“I [felt] that it’s a waste to just let it go. I [saw] my parents work like 16 hours a day growing up, so … I [didn’t] want the business to get shut down,” she said.
In 2020, Zhuo officially joined her parent’s business and expanded the company’s product range. She eventually introduced two new brands — Eggyi.Co, which sells bento cakes, or mini, single-serving sized cakes targeted at Gen-Z, and Petissier which sells customised cakes for pets.
The introduction of these two brands ultimately helped to save the family’s business through Covid, said Zhuo. Today, their prices range from about $100 to $10,000 per order, and they have a staff of about 14 people across two kitchens — one for human cakes, and one for pet cakes.
Shooting for the stars
Similar to Zhuo, Chan’s passions lied outside of academics growing up.
“I wasn’t really the most studious person, [but] I always loved the idea of entrepreneurship and doing our own thing,” said Chan. “Since I was 16, I did my own little startups, selling whatever. [I sold] sneakers, I’d buy them, clean them up and sell them. You know, whatever that can make money, I’ll do it,” he said.
In 2022, he decided to join his wife in the family business full-time. He introduced a new strategy: rather than only selling directly to individual consumers (B2C), he suggested trying to sell to other businesses (B2B) to create a more consistent source of revenue.
In addition, he was focused on building the company’s brands online. Along with working to build a presence across social media platforms, Chan started targeting celebrities and influencers who came into town.
A custom made cake for social media influencers, the Ha Sisters, by CakeInspiration.
Courtesy of CakeInspiration
In June, three Korean-American content creators — sisters Evelyn, Erica and Emily Ha — were in Singapore for a beauty store pop-up event. When Chan discovered they were in town, he saw an opportunity to surprise them with a cake.
“It’s actually quite crazy, because they were in Singapore for this beauty store pop-up… They posted a story of them in a hotel, and I thought: ‘Hey, this looks really familiar. I know [which] hotel this is,'” he said. “So I just prepared a cake and then we just zoomed down to the hotel.”
Chan and his team quickly made a custom cake for the sisters and timed the delivery to coincide with the end of the Ha sisters’ event. “Of course, after the pop-up, you have to go back to [the hotel to] change, right? Yeah. So [that’s when I] went there,” he said.
By chance, his timing was perfect. Just as he arrived at the hotel entrance with the cake in hand, he ran into the sisters — and managed to hand-deliver the surprise. One of the Ha sisters later shared a video of the cake to social media, which ultimately reached over 500,000 views.
This interaction kicked off the company’s celebrity marketing strategy. To date, CakeInspiration has also delivered custom cakes to K-Pop band BlackPink’s Lisa, Russell Simmons, G-Dragon and more.
Despite popular advice to avoid working with your partner, for Chan and Zhuo, working together as a couple has actually been a big advantage. While Chan is best at partnerships, marketing and anything external-facing, Zhuo is best at managing day-to-day operations and all things internal.
“We don’t have conflicts about work because our roles are very defined … So usually I don’t tell her how to run things inside, and she doesn’t really tell me how to run things outside. I guess we trust each other to fulfill our roles to the best of our abilities,” said Chan.
Want to be your own boss? Sign up for CNBC’s new online course, How To Start A Business: For First-Time Founders. Find step-by-step guidance for launching your first business, from testing your idea to growing your revenue.
Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life, and request to join our exclusive community on LinkedIn to connect with experts and peers.
