In the world of 2011, online bakeries and fine dessert patisseries were a rarity. Flavours like red velvet, lemon, and passion fruit were hard to come by.
At least, that’s according to Ee-Lyn and Hazwan, which is why they took it upon themselves to try baking and selling what they wanted to eat.
However, neither of them had any experience as entrepreneurs. Ee-Lyn worked in advertising, journalism, and PR. Hazwan on the other hand was in sales and marketing as well as did headhunting.
But still, they wanted to try. The two gave themselves a year to see how much they could accomplish… and they haven’t looked back since.
As a career that they stumbled into on accident with no planning or training, there was only ever one right name for them.
When opportunity knocks
When they first started as a home business in 2011, The Accidental Bakers was a part-time gig for Ee-Lyn and Hazwan.
Come late 2013 though, working the oven after work and on weekends steadily started taking up more and more of their time as orders began to pile up.
“We hit a crossroad and had to ask ourselves, what do we actually want to do?” said Ee-Lyn. “Work in corporate? Or bake full time?”
The decision was not one that they took lightly, and the two gave themselves six months to prepare.
Finally, on April 1, 2014, the duo decided to take the plunge and leave the corporate life behind for good.
The decision to take that risk of committing full time would eventually lead them to La Juiceria in 2015. At the time, Ee-Lyn and Hazwan were looking for a central kitchen. Before, the two were baking out of their own homes and wanted to have everything under one roof.
“One of the founders of La Juiceria heard us during an interview on BFM,” Ee-Lyn explained.
“Coincidentally, La Juiceria, who had their central kitchen in Sri Hartamas at the time, was looking to move out to a much larger location and contacted us to see if we wanted to take over their existing space.”
10 years on, Sri Hartamas remains the home of The Accidental Bakers.
In the eye of the storm
Having set up pop-up stores every weekend around the KL area, the idea of a brick and mortar store soon came into view a year on.
They wanted a central area that was busy and accessible to locals and tourists alike. And where better for that than the ever popular Pavilion KL?
“We thought to ourselves, ‘They’ll never consider us, we’re a small little local brand,’” said Ee-Lyn.
Yet to their surprise, their proposal was accepted. They earned a spot in the then up and coming Pavilion Elite.
But then came the question.
“What do we do now?”
As neither had any experience setting up a retail store, Ee-Lyn and Hazwan had to adapt fast.
From plumbing to wiring, the pair spent many late nights to make the store a reality. But while they found the transition from pop-up to a permanent store easier than expected, a new challenge had presented itself—staffing and scheduling.
Abiding by Pavilion’s 12-hour operating window on top of finding reliable workers proved difficult.
“We eventually did find absolute gems who have stayed with us for more than five years now,” Ee-Lyn continued. “We strongly believe that if you take care of your team, they will take care of your customers.”
Against the grain
The Accidental Bakers’ growth would continue with the creation of BROWNIESBAR in 2016. Operating as a sister brand, it specialises in the companies’ brownies, as the name implies.
The idea first came about when the two were trying to find their footing amidst 2015’s boom of online bakers. Though thriving overseas, the concept of a store solely focused on brownies had yet to exist in Malaysia, the founders said.
“Brownies have always been our best selling dessert since day one,” said Ee-Lyn.
Orders would range from a single piece to entire trays. Some customers even expressed their desire to purchase them daily. And so, they tried their hand at a permanent location.
In August the following year, The Accidental Bakers would open a second outlet at the Gardens Mall.
Keeping up with the times
14 years on since joining the industry, the market for baked goods has become increasingly more saturated. Services and platforms that ease the process of ordering and delivering have entered since, lowering the barrier to entry for new bakers.
Of course, that makes things easier for Ee-Lyn and Hazwan as well. No longer do they need to handle deliveries themselves, something that they’re very thankful for.
But related to that, another noticeable change was in customer behaviour post-pandemic.
“Customers today are more likely to place an order for desserts online as opposed to physically,” she elaborated.
So significant was this switch up that physical stores no longer felt necessary for the two. Eventually, the decision was made to close The Accidental Bakers’ Pavilion and Gardens outlets.
“We ended up saving so much in terms of overheads,” said Ee-Lyn. As the icing on the cake, they were now free to open and close as they pleased, returning to their roots in doing pop-ups.
Some things, however, will never change for the two. Though they have moved into more managerial roles, Ee-Lyn and Hazwan are still very much hands-on when it comes to baking.
Looking towards the future, The Accidental Bakers will be pursuing a halal certification.
Ee-Lyn also shared that they have plans for more outlets soon as they explore the downtown Kuala Lumpur and Subang areas.
With deliveries starting in Singapore, they have their eyes on the Indonesian market as well.
Though their start may have been accidental, their success today was achieved by no accident.
- Learn more about The Accidental Bakers here.
- Read other articles we’ve written about F&B businesses here.
Featured Image Credit: The Accidental Bakers