Baking a new normal:)

To start off, I would like to thank everyone who has supported me thus far by purchasing my cookies or making custom orders! Together, we have raised S$284 which has been donated to Tamar Village Singapore. This whole journey has been a really exciting one for me. This is the first time I have ever made bulk orders and bake 50 cookies in one morning. This experience has opened my eyes to the world of handling a home business and I couldn't be more thankful for the opportunity. Many of you may know that I decided to donate 50% of proceeds in August and September to a family in need. However, what some of you may not know is how this all came about. When did I decide to sell cookies? How did I decide to give away some of the money to a family in need?

Let me bring you back to the beginning of August. That was when everything started to come together. I knew that my semester break was coming up and wanted to do another bake sale. However, since I had more time during this break, I wanted to do it on a bigger scale than I would normally do. Inspired by different home bakers on Instagram, I decided to go with weekly bulk orders. Since it was my first time taking such orders, I had to learn along the way and adapt to make the entire process from ordering to delivering as efficient as possible.

Through this, it opened my eyes to see how hard and uncertain managing a home-based business is. There may be days where you get more orders than you can cope with and other days where your earnings don't cover the amount of time and effort you spent making those orders. It takes hard work, courage and risks along the way. Nonetheless, this is something that I love to do and thus finally decided to go on with it.

I decided to sell cookies by the week simply because it would be easy to make the dough beforehand and freeze it by the bulk while maintaining freshness. I was also open to the idea of adding different flavours just to bring variety to the cookies! After 5 tries on the classic levain cookie dough recipe, I was pleased with the results and started to purchase the ingredients by the bulk as well as the packaging.

The thought of donating only came in just a few days before launching the bake sale. It was a very sudden thought but one I believe was a thought impressed by the Lord. I was hesitant at first. Wondering if I would be able to cover the cost price and how much I should donate. It took a lot of thinking and praying. Eventually, I decided to donate 50%. This way I would be able to cover my cost price and donate a decent amount:)

Once orders started coming in, I could feel how much God really wanted to bless someone in need through the money. I honestly didn't think I would be able to sell 50 cookies each week! It was truly a blessing:) Not only did I enjoy baking the cookies, but this experience has taught me to trust in God and not rely on my own strength even when it comes to baking. God can use your skills and talents in any way to reach out to others. To any teen or a young person reading this, never doubt what God can do with you and your skills. I didn't think I would come this far.

"Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12

I would also like to thank everyone for supporting and encouraging me along the way as well as providing me with feedback to helpm e improve! I couldn't have done it without all of you! Hope you have a great week ahead:) God bless!

Cheers, Bake to Bless