FEATURE: Ten Years of Prep Cakes

Ten years ago, Prep Cakes Bakery was an idea, then a spot in a shared commercial kitchen. This month it turns ten — and it is still here, still growing, and still one of the clearest answers we have to the question people ask us most often: does any of this actually work?

Prep Cakes was one of the first businesses through the doors of our kitchen space, CookHouse at Cohab. Over four years there, [Turaeza] didn't just build a bakery. She helped run the commercial kitchen itself, which meant she was in the room while other food entrepreneurs were finding their own footing. That is the part of an incubator that doesn't show up on a balance sheet: the person one step ahead of you, in the same building, who has already solved the problem you're stuck on.

"Cohab will forever be part of the Prep Cakes story. I was one of the first businesses to come through those doors in that kitchen space, and for four years, I had the opportunity not only to grow Prep Cakes there, but to help orchestrate and manage the commercial kitchen while watching other small businesses find their footing too. Those years gave me community, mentorship, resources, engagement, and most importantly, a space where an idea could actually become a business." — Turaeza Lopez, Prep Cakes

Roughly half of new businesses don't reach their fifth year. Reaching ten, in a category as unforgiving as food, is not luck.

Congratulations, Prep Cakes. We're proud to have had a small part in it.

If you're building your own business right now and wondering where to start, come talk to us! We've been down this road before. You can schedule a consultation at Cohab.org.