Mother-daughter, perfect partners
Published:Thursday | June 25, 2015 | 12:00 AMLauntia Cuff
Starting a business can be a difficult process, and choosing the wrong business partner can create an even greater challenge. For Shauna-Kay Miller, she has found the perfect partner for her business in the person of her mother, Suzette Miller.
"The name of the business is Sweet Concepts and it started in late 2012. We do all things: cake pastries and other desserts. We major in cake baking and decorating. Cakes for all occasions - weddings, birthdays, anniversaries [and] - the list goes on," the younger Miller said.
Shauna-Kay said that while her mom did most of the baking, she was mostly responsible for the decorations as she had gone on to do training in cake decoration after graduating from university, a skill she is now teaching to her mother.
idea for the business
"The concept was Shauna-Kay's idea. she has always wanted to start a business soon after she graduated from university. Home economics was her major. Apart from being in the classroom, she has always wanted to have a business. I was drawn into it. [It's] something I love to do as well. It has been good so far working together.
"For me, I prefer to work with a close family member who is honest and I can monitor what is happening in the business. I was concerned at first when she was thinking of starting the business with somebody who was not a family member and I suggested to her that she should think about it carefully because I have heard of different horror stories of persons who've had business partners and it did not work out because it turned out persons were not honest. I prefer it this way, and since we are keeping the business within the family, then the family benefits. Whatever profit is made stays in the family," her mother told Family and Religion.
working together
One of the great part of working together, the mother and daughter team said, was getting to spend more time together. They spoke of late nights spent working to meet deadlines while still finding time to clown around and have fun while working together. They say it gives them joy when they can see the smiles on the customers' faces when they deliver their finished products, knowing it is something they accomplished together.
"Knowing that this little girl has grown up to be somebody I can work with, it's really a [great] feeling. Not everybody can say 'I feel proud to work with my daughter'. It is something that is quite rewarding," Suzette Miller said.
They say working together is not without its challenges, but the positives far outweigh any negatives, which are minor.
While it has been a joy working together as just two, mother and daughter say there are plans for expanding the business.