Nur Sabrina’s Dessert Journey: A Sweet Dream Come True
By Muhammad Fawwaz Thaqif Nor Afandi
SUNGAI BULOH, Aug 25 (Bernama) -- What started as a small venture selling Malaysian ice cream during the COVID-19 pandemic has grown into a thriving dessert business for Nur Sabrina Md Salleh.
The 31-year-old former housewife, who started her ice cream venture to help support her family after her husband lost his job, drew on her longstanding passion for cooking to pursue her dream of becoming a chef.
She began by expanding her offerings, learning to craft pastries and cakes while getting feedback from her customers.
“When I started getting favourable response and orders started to come in, I became even more motivated,” she said to Bernama, through the Malaysian Federation of the Deaf sign language interpreter Goh Soo Leng.
After two years, the mother of two was able to realise her dream with the opening of Sabrina Desserts House in Sungai Buloh, serving food and beverages to customers.
The Challenge of Starting a Business
For Nur Sabrina, her business venture was a steep learning curve, as she had to learn to manage a business from the ground up.
The challenge was greater as she is a person with disabilities (PwD), who relies heavily on observation, experience and courses to understand how to manage a business.
“I learned a lot by observing how others managed their businesses and handled finances, as well as by attending various entrepreneurship courses,” she said.
According to Nur Sabrina, running an order-based business allowed her to adjust production according to customer demand.
She spent more than six months building her confidence before venturing into marketing her products, including by participating in Ramadan bazaars.
Her tiramisu, mango cheesecake and batik cake proved to be a hit, and she had also secured orders from cafes in Shah Alam.
She was also able to take part in EXIM Bank’s Mawaddah Initiative, which gave her the opportunity to promote her products and network with potential clients, while gaining market exposure and experience in managing sales at a bigger scale, which boosted her confidence.
The Mawaddah Initiative is EXIM Bank’s Islamic Social Finance platform which focuses on entrepreneurship development, education, healthcare, humanitarian assistance and strategic partnerships.
Towards a Brighter Future
Moving forward, Nur Sabrina hopes to expand Sabrina Desserts House, and realise her dream of operating a cafeteria.
She said that apart from assistance in terms of opportunities and market access, business management knowledge would remain her priority to ensure a more stuructured business growth.
The entrepreneur hopes that she would be able to inspire other PWDs to take their first steps in venturing into entrepreneurship.
She said having a disability should not make someone feel incapable of doing something, but rather, opportunities should be embraced with confidence and determination.
“We should try and move forward, and show our abilities and capabilities. No matter what challenges we face, we need to try because only then will we know how far we can go.
“Although we cannot hear, we can still do many things. We can be creative, our hands can create all kinds of products.
“Most importantly, have confidence in yourself and do not give up easily because, In shaa Allah (God willing), there are always opportunities,” she added.
-- BERNAMA