Students win competition and open cupcake shop
Tue, 24 May 2016 02:20:00 BST
Two students from the Business School have recently won a competition run by Kirklees Council to open their own shop in the Piazza Shopping Centre. First year students Rebecca Williams, Global Business Management BA(Hons) and Karen Japajapa, Marketing BA(Hons), have just opened their cupcake shop “Belle Bakes” and it will be open until Tuesday 14 June.
The students were made aware of the competition by the University’s Enterprise team and submitted their Business Plan to the Council. Karen Japajapa said “We had a vision of what we wanted to create and in the end got very enthusiastic about the opportunity to open our own shop. We didn’t think we would win it but a week after the submission deadline we received a call from Kirklees Council saying we had won.”
The shop will sell a variety of delicious themed cupcakes and the students are hoping that students and staff will support their business and enjoy their freshly made cupcakes.
Rebecca Williams said “We are very excited to be able to do this. I always wanted to study Business and become an entrepreneur so when we won the competition I was over the moon. It is a lot of hard work to manage this as well as preparing for exams but it is very enjoyable and rewarding in the end.”
Some of the skills the students developed include time management, attention to detail, liaising with customers and organisation. Karen and Rebecca said that having a business also opened many doors for them as they are also developing a make-up app, working closely with the University’s Enterprise team. Their app, ready to be launched next year, aims to help the users to choose a foundation shade and also sharing make up tips from beauty experts and bloggers.
Karen Japajapa from Northampton said “Having our own shop has challenged us but it made us understand the principles of running a business and put what we’ve learned on our course into practice such us accounting, finance and marketing. We are both passionate about starting a business and making money so winning this competition meant that we can get the fundamentals of that. Being business partners also made us understand and help each other and have the courage to motivate and push each other to achieve even more.”
To find out more you can visit their cupcake shop at the start of the Piazza Shopping Centre next to the Queensgate market entrance.
You can also stay updated by following them on Twitter or Facebook
To contact the team or use their made-to-order service email bellebakes@outlook.com or call 07539469486.
