Remote working inspired Sylvia to develop business

LOCKDOWNS led to a lot of people working from home, and for many, this brought about the realisation, that they wanted to change direction of their career.

This was the case for Sylvia Kennedy (30), who worked in an office setting for a security company, but remote working inspired her to develop her own business – Treats by Sylvia.

The venture is a year old, but already Sylvia is supplying to a number of local businesses, events, and will require an additional pair of hands, besides a bit of help from her husband, to cater for demand.

“During Covid I was working from home and in my spare time I baked a lot. I have always had a passion for baking,” said Sylvia.

“I think Covid changed a lot of people’s perspectives on their lives and how they wanted to pursue their future.

When the time came to return to the office, I realised it wasn’t the type of work environment I wanted and took a chance – luckily enough for me it worked in my favour.”

According to Sylvia, a big factor in helping her get started was support by Ballyfermot, Chapelizod Partnership and in particular, Enterprise & Guidance officer Brendan Finn.

“Brendan was so helpful and guided me through the process of setting up my own business.

“I completed a ‘Start your own business course’, along with a bookkeeping course and other modules.

“I also completed all my HACCP Training and was fully registered in 2021.

“Brendan is always the other end of the line whenever I need him and checks in with me often.”

Sylvia makes all sorts of cookies, brownies, waffles and sponge cakes for all occasions, but her speciality is cheesecakes.

“In the last few months, I have been very lucky that I now supply my cheesecakes to local café’s & deli’s which include, the Civic Centre Ballyfermot, Coyle’s Fruit & Veg Shop, Ballyfermot and Jojo’s Café in Palmerstown.”

Social media has helped drive the venture forward with her Instagram reaching nearly 5k followers.

“I get a lot of business from Instagram, some from Facebook which is great, but Instagram is the main one,” she said.

In March, she hosted International Women’s day in the Civic Centre Ballyfermot and at the recent opening of Cherry Orchard Boxing Club, 150 mini pots of her cheesecakes were “gone within the space of an hour”.

“I will also be supplying to the Cherry Orchard Centre soon, we are just waiting on appliances.

“I currently have other places onto me and look forward to seeing what the future can hold for me. It’s all go at the moment.”

Sylvia built a separate kitchen unit at home to do all her baking, but hopes to own her own café/bakery down the line.

“I love working for myself, and watching my business grow from strength to strength each day, it’s very rewarding.

I advise anyone thinking of setting up their own business, to go for it. Take the chance and build your own dreams instead of someone else’s.”