@zee_sweets.

DEARBORN — At one point it seemed impossible for home-based bakers to attract customers, but the past few years have proven otherwise because of social media sites like Instagram. 

This useful site has allowed talented bakers from the community to launch and showcase their small businesses without having to market or open a bakery for themselves. 

As mothers of young children or as students finishing their education, they find it more convenient to work from home. 

Mirvat Osseili, a mother of three and home-based baker, kicked off her business four years ago. More than 31,000 followers from around the world follow her Instagram page, @bakemydaymimo, where she showcases her work and shares new baking techniques. 

@kbcakez.

Osseili has loved baking since she was young, but didn’t believe she could make a career out of it. She got her master’s degree in English as a second language and taught at a charter school for six years, but quit when she had her son, who is now 4-years-old. 

After watching the TV series “Cake Boss”, she felt inspired and started baking for family and friends until she decided it was time to launch her business on social media.

 “The best part is that I’m my own boss,” the 35-year-old talent said.  “I have my own hours; I can take orders if I want to; I can decline if I want to. There are more pros than cons, really.”

Osseili explained that there is no competition with other community bakers on Instagram. She recommends other bakers if she’s booked and doesn’t mind sharing techniques with her followers.

Kassem Beydoun started his business at 16-years-old while in high school. Now at 18, he has 2,114 followers of his page, @kbcakez. 

Like Osseili, he was also inspired by “Cake Boss.”

“I always liked to make dessert as a kid, but that show ‘Cake Boss’ ended up inspiring me to run my own business,” Beydoun said.

@bakemydaymimo

He thinks the only bad part about starting a business from home is that people don’t take him seriously because it’s not like having a well-known bakery.

Beydoun currently studies culinary arts at Schoolcraft College and hopes to open a bakery after he receives his culinary baking and pastry arts certificate. He said the home bakers on Instagram are more like family than rivals.

“I’ve always been the one that made a special occasion cake or any type of dessert for family and friends since I can remember,” Zaynab Zaban, a 37-year-old successful baker on Instagram, said. “I love baking, to me it is therapeutic. For a while it was a hobby until my family convinced me to start selling my cakes.”

@shaysbakes

Zaban’s daughter helped her set up an Instagram account two years ago, as she knew nothing about social media. She named her page @zee_sweets. 

“Little by little I started building my clientele,” she said. “The more people who would see my IG, the more business I got, which was great.”

However, she feels overwhelmed at times because she also manages the Sadr Foundation USA office here in Dearborn, in addition to being a wife and mother of four. She has 1,862 followers on Instagram. 

“I am never in competition with anyone,” Zaban said. “I genuinely hope everyone is successful. The majority of the home bakers in Dearborn try to help out one another. If I’m booked and I’m not able to take on an order, I recommend other home bakers.”

Ashayma Mashrah, another talented baker in the community, also started off with a passion for baking from a young age. She set up her page, @shaysbakes, three years ago and now has 1,803 followers.

“I would post pictures of the desserts I would make for my family every day during Ramadan on Instagram,” the 23-year-old said. “People started asking me if I had extra or if I was selling any. From there I knew there was a demand for my sweets, so I started taking orders regularly.”

Mashrah explained that the pro to launching a business on social media is easy promotion, but the cons are that people can “steal your work and claim it as their own.”

“Also, not everyone is on social media, so you are limited to only people who may see your business via social media or who may hear about it via word of mouth,” she added.

Mashrah received a bachelor’s of science degree in psychology from Wayne State University and plans to keep her business as a side job as she continues her higher education. She hopes to open up her own bakery one day.

She also refers customers to other home bakers if she’s booked or if she does not specialize in certain sweets. 

“Everyone is very supportive of one another,” Mashrah said.