Qaiss from io81 has a great post on a small start up juice company here in Kuwait. The post talks about the basic structure of the company, how it works and how much it makes. He also highlights an important point at the end:
There is a market out there and huge potential for many business idea’s other than cupcakes
He is absolutely right. There are a lot of people that bake and cook food and then set up a Facebook page and start selling their goods. Other than the fact that its probably illegal to sell food from your home (since there is no way to guarantee the cleanliness) why don’t people actually setup a proper business? Why not open up a little bakery or a small delivery restaurant. What about ideas beyond food? Check out his post [Here]
25 replies on “Stop it with the cupcakes”
1st hopefully 😛
how bout something that has some benefits on society while making money???
great example
“Innocent was founded by three Cambridge graduates – Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wright; at the time they were working in consulting and advertising. The three were friends at St John’s College, Cambridge. In 1998, after spending six months working on smoothie recipes and £500 on fruit, the trio sold their drinks from a stall at a music festival in London. People were asked to put their empty bottles in a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ bin depending on whether they thought the three should quit their jobs to make smoothies. At the end of the festival the ‘YES’ bin was full, with only three cups in the ‘NO’ bin, so they went to their work the next day and resigned. After quitting their jobs, the three had a lucky break when Maurice Pinto, a wealthy American businessman, decided to invest £250,000.[4]
Innocent credit the creation of their brand identity to David Streek (aka Gravy)[5], the design director at Deepend which also developed their early label designs and website. Prior to the name “innocent”, the product was going to be called Fast Tractor. The company’s HQ, Fruit Towers, is based in Shepherds Bush. On 2 December 2007 Innocent Drinks appeared at number 40 in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100, a list of the fastest growing private companies in the UK. It was the only company to have appeared in this list for the last five years consecutively.Each of the last four years, Innocent has more than doubled its revenues”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innocent_Drinks
“There is a market out there and huge potential for many business idea’s other than cupcakes”..
…totally agree.. non food related eg… why doesn’t someone ever see the potential of an Indian/Filipino/other language FM station here? There is a very large captive audience ready to be served.. which includes housewives (decision makers on grocery and household items), cabbies stuck in cars the whole day, counter staff at small outlets etc etc.. imagine the advertisment and sponsorship potential..
i happen to like cupcakes!!
FOOD is our #1 pastime!
Mark, thank you for sharing such a nice piece of
info. Been waiting for a [ br!ght bus!ness !dea ] to hit my mind; not yet 🙂
Now some people are leaving cupcakes and moving to frozen yogurt. Even business is following trends, that’s just not right.
There has to be some innovation and new ideas, but people usually don’t like risks and the unfamiliar especially when it involves risking their money on it, so they settle for the usual and what’s easier.
They can’t be blamed for worrying about losing their money over new ideas, but so far not many have tried something new and lost, so why not go for it? The results could be really worth the risk.
fruits=food.
Lack of innovative spirit and risk taking. Just copy a successful business model. A Kuwaiti thinking out loud.
hi, i personally own a cupcake business(or thats how it started off) and i noticed how ppl are all of a sudden r a big fan of cupcakes.. i agree that there is a lot of ppl making cupcakes, but this kuwait. we tend to follow trends, but some try to rebel and create their own path or future “habba.”the smart thing is to stay in the market and u can do that in many different way by creating new ideas or branching in different desserts etc..
for instance, i started doing a 7 layered rainbow cake which is new plus appealing to the eye as well to your tummy;p
ALL home based companies do the most nastiest things.cupcakes with marshmellows and smarties and cream and SUGAR..seriosuly FATTENING much..it makes me want to puke more that want to eat it..i think they should change the name from cupcake to diabtes cake…
Its true, I have always wondered how does the government control the hygiene and food safety measures when food is produced at home under no supervision. Many of them don’t even know these codes. Kuwait is overloaded with cupcakes, cookies, and beauty salons. Time to think of something new; though I really love the fact how Kuwaiti women tend to be ambitious, at least they are being productive with their time.
@Wyn
you want a good idea, here’s one for free.
become a ‘aerogel glass’ agent; its about time someone brings this innovation the middle east.
Becaaaause they need instant cash to buy the latest Chanel/Hermes ”darja 2oola” knockoff 😉
Crappy article.
He assumes a 50% net profit, well hello where are the operational costs (staff, transportation cost, cost of storage, marketing etc etc etc)
And gross margins on juices outside of restaurants wouldn’t be more than 30%.
Appalling article.
haha i happened to just have one of those juices.. they are pretty good.. about the cupcakes.. yes kuwait usually tends to follow certain trends to a tiring extent.. but i guess the fact that the country’s people are doing more with their time than eating, shopping, and sleeping.. its a good thing.. at least theyre being more productive! cupcakes or not..
I agree with Sahar, I find it that today’s youth are more productive. I remember when having a part time job was just so embarrassing for Kuwaiti kids, but I see them mashalla working now almost everywhere and it is nice!
I do wish to see more variations though, business owners do tend to follow the trends and are too afraid to find their own interests. One person does something and it becomes successful, then EVERYONE wants to follow the same concept! :s
Thinking out of the box is very cool and a good example would be Saudi as Saudi students in King Saud University have created their own vehicle – Why not do that in Kuwait??
Oh forgot but this would also be a cool idea!!
In the West they have Bars where people go and hang just to have a couple of drinks. In Kuwait it would be nice to see SIMILAR locations obviously without the alcoholic drinks! I believe its better than having soo many coffee shops.
@kuwaii Godfather
Bro…
We already have this concept, its called diwaniya 😛
stop talking and do something about it
if your so convinced of the fresh juice company, do it
Starting a business in Kuwait is insane. Paperwork, payoffs and bureaucracy. WTF would anyone want to start a business here? I’m all for the home start-ups in Kuwait because it is the only way that cottage industries can get even a small foothold. It isn’t like there is a small business association that will help you through the processes – OR financing for start-ups.
Big companies ALWAYS have advantage in Kuwait and if you bring your creative new idea to them, you will either be shot down “no good, will never work” (leaving you feeling rejected and humiliated) or it will be stolen outright and used as a new division of an existing company.
How many really creative people have given up their hopes for starting businesses in Kuwait? Not only Kuwaitis, but foreigners too.
Desert Girl: rightly said…
i eat their salads all the time!
Totally agree!