Faces Behind the Business: A Brewing Success in the Magical Cauldron (Colossal Cauldron)
A Brewing Success in the Magical Cauldron
In August 2020, like all Malaysians, Shasmita Manimaran, a 23-year-old law student, was stuck at home due to the MCO lockdown. When her mother bought a new oven, she decided to try her grandmother’s 57-year-old brownie recipe, to curb her boredom. As she didn’t find the brownies much to her liking, she modified the recipe and added her own magic touch; à la chocolate chips. Her friends and family ended up loving her brownies! They encouraged and supported Shasmita to sell her desserts online, giving rise to the Harry Potter-themed virtual bakery, Colossal Cauldron.
Whilst the bakery started with yummy brownies and cheese tarts, Shasmita, being a HUGE Harry Potter fan, decided to make an affordable DIY Harry Potter S’mores Kit. Inspiration for this struck when she was watching an episode of Barney and Friends, which made her crave some melty s’mores. Due to the lack of s’more kits available in the Malaysian market, she took matters into her own hands and went all out for her Harry Potter-themed s’mores kit! Giving it the perfect chance to stand out as well as distinguishing her product from others.
Life is never really smooth sailing, is it? When managing her business, Shasmita faced the challenge of delays in receiving raw ingredients, as it became difficult for suppliers to stick to their delivery schedule because of the MCO lockdown. Despite the challenges, Shasmita viewed the pandemic lockdown as an opportunity to market and grow her business online. Taking advantage of the new normal, Shasmita was able to expand her customer base, as people could not go out to physical desserts stores to satisfy their sweet tooth.
She shared that she has had orders from a college to include her tarts in their gift boxes, and a couple ordered her brownies as their wedding door gifts. Her ingenious Harry Potter S’mores Kit was such a big hit, that the World of Buzz had featured her virtual bakery in an article!
When asked about her plans for the future, Shasmita shared that she is currently working on finding ways to ship her products to Singapore. She also aims to have her own mini Harry Potter café sometime in the near future, where she can sell all her delicious desserts.
To anyone out there eager to start your own entrepreneurial journey, Shasmita’s advice is to just go for it, because your business will grow eventually! A helpful tip she provided is to reach out to food pages on social media to market your business and gain more customers, because they are always willing to lend a hand to support small businesses.
So don’t be afraid to start your business now! View the lockdown as a golden opportunity and view the internet (it’s free!) as your best friend! Take charge of your future today.
“Magic happens when a stubborn soul refuses to give up on her dreams!”
Avijeet Das, Author of Chase Dreams
Fun fact: Shasmita will be releasing a new Harry Potter-themed DIY kit sometime around November 2021, so don’t forget to follow her socials and stay tuned!
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