They met on Tinder when they were 19. Now, they're married and run a cake business that brings in over $650,000 a year

When Kai Yang Chan and Jiayi Zhuo matched connected Tinder astatine property 19, neither of them expected that it would pb to marriage. Six years later, not lone person they tied the knot — they're besides concern partners.

"I downloaded Tinder due to the fact that I was precise bored successful school, truthful I was conscionable [swiping] done during class," said Zhuo. "Both of america — we didn't expect that we'd get together," she said.

"Personality wise, we are rather different," she said, adding that portion she is much introverted, her hubby is the beingness of the party.

Today, Chan and Zhuo tally Singapore-based bakery CakeInspiration. Their concern brought successful implicit 850,000 Singapore dollars (about $650,000) successful 2024, and is connected way to surpass $775,000 successful gross this year, according to documentation reviewed by CNBC Make It.

The institution is known for its customized barroom designs, and its clientele includes household offices, hospitals and adjacent planetary celebrities.

CakeInspiration primitively began arsenic a home-based bakery successful 2010, tally by Zhuo's parents.

"My parents really started [the business] erstwhile I was nine," said Zhuo. "I was ne'er precise studious, but I truly similar being hands on. So I similar to bake, I similar to dance. I similar to make each these small beauteous things," she said. From the aboriginal days of the business, she often helped with designing cakes.

Then, erstwhile the pandemic hit, income stalled and the concern began to pain done currency to enactment afloat. With her parents contemplating retirement, Zhuo knew it was clip for her to measurement in.

"I [felt] that it's a discarded to conscionable fto it go. I [saw] my parents enactment similar 16 hours a time increasing up, truthful ... I [didn't] privation the concern to get unopen down," she said.

In 2020, Zhuo officially joined her parent's concern and expanded the company's merchandise range. She yet introduced 2 caller brands — Eggyi.Co, which sells bento cakes, oregon mini, single-serving sized cakes targeted astatine Gen-Z, and Petissier which sells customised cakes for pets.

The instauration of these 2 brands yet helped to prevention the family's concern done Covid, said Zhuo. Today, their prices scope from astir $100 to $10,000 per order, and they person a unit of astir 14 radical crossed 2 kitchens — 1 for quality cakes, and 1 for favored cakes.

Similar to Zhuo, Chan's passions lied extracurricular of academics increasing up.

"I wasn't truly the astir studious person, [but] I ever loved the thought of entrepreneurship and doing our ain thing," said Chan. "Since I was 16, I did my ain small startups, selling whatever. [I sold] sneakers, I'd bargain them, cleanable them up and merchantability them. You know, immoderate that tin marque money, I'll bash it," helium said.

In 2022, helium decided to articulation his woman successful the household concern full-time. He introduced a caller strategy: alternatively than lone selling straight to idiosyncratic consumers (B2C), helium suggested trying to merchantability to different businesses (B2B) to make a much accordant root of revenue.

In addition, helium was focused connected gathering the company's brands online. Along with moving to physique a beingness crossed societal media platforms, Chan started targeting celebrities and influencers who came into town.

In June, 3 Korean-American contented creators — sisters Evelyn, Erica and Emily Ha — were successful Singapore for a quality store pop-up event. When Chan discovered they were successful town, helium saw an accidental to astonishment them with a cake.

"It's really rather crazy, due to the fact that they were successful Singapore for this quality store pop-up... They posted a communicative of them successful a hotel, and I thought: 'Hey, this looks truly familiar. I cognize [which] edifice this is,'" helium said. "So I conscionable prepared a barroom and past we conscionable zoomed down to the hotel."

Chan and his squad rapidly made a customized barroom for the sisters and timed the transportation to coincide with the extremity of the Ha sisters' event. "Of course, aft the pop-up, you person to spell backmost to [the edifice to] change, right? Yeah. So [that's erstwhile I] went there," helium said.

By chance, his timing was perfect. Just arsenic helium arrived astatine the edifice entranceway with the barroom successful hand, helium ran into the sisters — and managed to hand-deliver the surprise. One of the Ha sisters aboriginal shared a video of the barroom to societal media, which yet reached implicit 500,000 views.

This enactment kicked disconnected the company's personage selling strategy. To date, CakeInspiration has besides delivered customized cakes to K-Pop band BlackPink's Lisa, Russell Simmons, G-Dragon and more.

Despite fashionable proposal to debar moving with your partner, for Chan and Zhuo, moving unneurotic arsenic a mates has really been a large advantage. While Chan is champion astatine partnerships, selling and thing external-facing, Zhuo is champion astatine managing day-to-day operations and each things internal.

"We don't person conflicts astir enactment due to the fact that our roles are precise defined ... So usually I don't archer her however to tally things inside, and she doesn't truly archer maine however to tally things outside. I conjecture we spot each different to fulfill our roles to the champion of our abilities," said Chan.

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