This Gen-Z couple runs a $650,000 a year celebrity cake business
Kai Yang Chan (left) and JiaYi Zhou (right) run Cake Inspiration bakery based in Singapore.
Courtesy of Cake Inspiration
When Kai Yang Chan and Jiayi Zhuo matched on Tinder when they were 19, neither expected it would lead to marriage. Six years later, they were not only married, but also business partners.
“I downloaded Tinder because I was bored at school. [swiping] “Neither of us expected that we would meet together,” Zhuo said.
“We’re pretty different personality-wise,” she said, adding that while she’s more introverted, her husband is the life of the party.
Today, Chan and Zhuo run a bakery based in Singapore CakeInspiration. Their business generated more than 850,000 Singapore dollars (about $650,000) in revenue in 2024 and is on track to surpass $775,000 this year, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.
The company is known for its custom cake designs, and its customers include family offices, hospitals, and even global celebrities.
It’s a family affair
CakeInspiration first started in 2010 as a home-based bakery run by Zhuo’s parents.
“My parents actually started [the business] When I was nine,” said Zhuo. “I’ve never been very studious, but I really like being hands-on. That’s why I love cooking, I love dancing. “I love creating all these little beautiful things,” she said. From the early days of the business, she often helped design cakes.
Then, when the pandemic hit, sales stopped and the business began burning through cash to stay afloat. While his parents were considering retirement, Zhuo knew it was time for him to step in, too.
Courtesy of CakeInspiration
“I [felt] It’s a waste to just leave it like that. I [saw] Growing up, my parents worked like 16 hours a day, so… I [didn’t] “I want the business to be closed,” he said.
Zhuo officially joined his parent’s business in 2020 and expanded the company’s product line. It eventually introduced two new brands: Eggyi.CoSelling bento cakes, or mini, single-serve cakes targeted at Gen Zers, and petissier A store that sells personalized cakes for pets.
Zhuo said introducing these two brands ultimately helped save the family’s business from Covid. Today their prices range from about $100 to $10,000 per order, and they have a staff of about 14 people in two kitchens, one for human cakes and the other for pet cakes.
Shooting for the stars
Similar to Zhuo, Chan’s ambitions lay outside of academia growing up.
“Actually, I wasn’t a very hard-working person, [but] “I’ve always loved the idea of entrepreneurship and doing our own business,” Chan said. “Since I was 16, I started my own small ventures, selling everything I had. [I sold] I would buy sneakers, clean them and sell them. “You know, I’ll do whatever makes money,” he said.
In 2022, he and his wife decided to join the family business full-time. He launched a new strategy: Instead of selling directly only to individual consumers (B2C), he suggested selling to other businesses (B2B) to create a more consistent source of income.
He also focused on building the company’s brands online. In addition to trying to establish a presence on social media platforms, Chan began targeting celebrities and influencers who came to the city.
A custom-made cake for social media influencers Ha Sisters from 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 found out they were in town, he took the opportunity to surprise them with a cake.
“It’s actually pretty crazy, because they were there for the opening of a beauty store in Singapore… They posted their story in a hotel, and I thought: ‘Hey, this looks really familiar. I know. [which] “This is a hotel,” he said. “So I made a cake and then we headed towards the hotel.”
Chan and her team quickly prepared a special cake for the sisters and timed the delivery to coincide with the end of the Ha sisters’ event. “Of course, you need to come back after the pop-up. [the hotel to] change it, right? Yes. For this reason [that’s when I] “I went there,” he said.
Luckily, his timing was perfect. When he arrived at the entrance of the hotel with the cake in his hand, he met the sisters and managed to hand-deliver the surprise. One of the Ha brothers later shared a video of the cake on social media, which ultimately garnered more than 500,000 views.
This interaction launched the company’s celebrity marketing strategy. CakeInspiration has also delivered special cakes to the K-Pop group so far 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 huge advantage. While Chan is best at partnerships, marketing, and anything outward-facing, Zhuo is best at managing day-to-day operations and anything internal.
“We don’t have work-related conflicts because our roles are very defined… So I usually don’t tell him how to run things inside, and he doesn’t tell me how to run things outside. I think we trust each other to fulfill our roles to the best of our abilities,” Chan said.
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