What do you dream of?

Ever since I started the bakery, I learnt that I have so much to learn. And the learning curve is no where near encouraging. Every step forward I took, several steps back will follow. The more steps I took, the further away I am from success.

Ilmu is the key to everything. 'Berniaga perlu ada ilmu'. That, is something I took granted of. I thought that I would be able to learn fast, catch up with the fast pace of the food industry. I have been wrong. I can only crawl when I thought I could fly.

I knew well before I even had the dream of owning a bakery that business is about taking calculated risks. When I had the dream, I also included the risks. When my dream of owning a bakery came true, I came head to head with all the fears of running a business. The risks are my 'profits'. Although all has been calculated, still, I am feeling the pinch.

18 months after day one, I am at the drawing board again.

Every success starts with a dream and with every success, there is a story. My story has been determined by Allah and it is waiting to be told. Until we know the ending, all we know now, is the beginning. It all starts with a dream.

What have I been dreaming of?

I have been dreaming of having my own bakery and cafe. With good enough business to support the families of the workers. I want to pay zakat like the billionaires such that the deeds which Allah will reward me in the dayafter, is like the deeds of the sahabats. The cafe does not have to be big but full of customers day in, day out. It will serve fast cafe foods, prepared using my own recipes. I will have trained staff to prepare the dishes.

The bakery will be like an R&D department for frozen products while there will be like a factory supplying the products to customers around the world. The world Halal market is the target. I will have cakes under my name and delivery vans to transport the cakes through out the country.

Talk about big dreams, ha! :-)

I have no problem with challenges as they make me stronger, although time and time again I need to be picked up. May Allah reward me.

Until my success story is told, I will continue dreaming. Then, with Allah's grace, I will take it to the drawing board and start calculating again. Remember, a story needs to be told!

A bakery at the underground level in Osaka, Japan. 2013.