GUA MUSANG: “It’s not as easy as it looks and it’s not difficult at all to fail,” these are the motivational words that have been the mantra for housewife Nor Azlina Zakaria, 55 to grow the pastry-based business that she is in.
For six years she studied the art of making pastry and finally it paid off because not only does Nor Azlina now have her own bakery but she can also make 21 types of pastries such as snail bread, red bean bread, sausage bread and sweet bread guaranteeing that she earns some RM4,000 per month.
“Initially, I did not expect the business to receive such an overwhelming response among the residents here because my intention was to only help my husband, Abdul Aziz Ahmad, 62 who works as a clerk in a timber company.
“The idea to set up a bakery shop only came when my eldest son continued his studies at a university in 2017. Studying is expensive and I cannot rely only on my husband for money. I need to work to ensure that I am in a comfortable zone to help my husband,” she said when met by Bernama at her bakery near Kampung Kolam Mass here today.
The mother of six said despite having participated in a course under the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) Skills and Entrepreneurship Training Programme for six months, she went through several episodes of failure including when she had to throw away lots of bread dough that caused her to suffer losses.
“It made me sad to see all the dough being thrown away even though I was only doing it on a small scale from home with a small capital.
“But thank God, despite the challenges, I finally managed to open my own bakery, built next to my house four years ago,” she said, adding that she would also receive orders for cakes and Raya cookies.
Nor Azlina said to continue to be relevant, she will keep herself up to date on current trends in pastry production and continue to enrol in relevant courses to increase her knowledge.
“I also get assistance from the Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (RISDA) in the form of equipment like mixers and industrial ovens.
“And of course, my dream now is to expand the business so the brand will be well known around the country and compete with other pastry products that are available in the market,” she added. – BERNAMA
