The Future Is Sweet for Isabella
«My Bocconi degree was very useful when I had to draft the business plan; for the rest I took a step back in time, returning to my childhood dreams. Isabella Vergani is a 41-year-old from Monza who graduated in Business Administration with a thesis on marketing in 2001. Last December, she was named Italy's Best Cake Designer. The award ceremony was held in Florence, in the prestigious setting of the Fortezza da Basso, and acknowledges a profession and a passion she has been developing since 2012, when she opened her pastry shop in Monza, in the Brianza province north of Milan.
«After graduation I started working in the family business», says Isabella, «which sold automotive parts for foreign car brands. I was mainly involved in the commercial and marketing side». When the family firm was sold, Isabella continued to work in the same position, but without the same dedication. «I thought about it for a while, then I quit and after devoting some time to my family I decided to start again with a new business endeavor». After winning a grant for creative startups given by the local Chamber of Commerce, Isabella inaugurated an American-style pastry shop starting with the name, Bella's Bakery, but with a distinction with respect to Anglo-Saxon counterparts: "The cakes I make must not only be beautiful, but also delicious. Too many people improvise on elaborately spectacular desserts, but overlook the yummy factor; my cakes are certainly not like that».
For this reason Isabella diligently studied the fundamentals of pâtisserie, while honing her mostly innate skills as decorator. "I work on commission and I only bake cakes, no other product, because I'd rather do one thing very well than many so-so. It takes a very long time to make a decorated cake, I need at least a two-month advance notice, although clients often commission a cake year in advance. Customers arrive thanks to word of mouth but also to the promotion that I do by posting classy photos on social networks», she says. From the point of view of the economic returns, they are currently lower than her level of commitment, but things are looking up: «In Italy the culture for these products is still undeveloped and therefore prices are lower than in other countries, but the volume of orders is increasing and soon I'll have to decide about hiring a collaborator. It's imperative if the business is to grow further».