PETALING JAYA: It was a case of one problem leading to another but in Cynthia Lye’s case, it was a happy problem.
Finding it hard to make ends meet during the movement control order (MCO), Lye decided to sell healthy peanut butter.
“I was hoping to at least cover the phone and grocery bills with the returns,” she told theSun yesterday.
Surprisingly, she received more orders than she anticipated and is now busy trying to meet demand.
Lye began her little enterprise just two weeks ago.
“As a freelance multimedia designer, it was difficult to make any money during the MCO,” she said.
At the same time, bills were piling up.
“I decided to start small. I figured if I could sell just 10 jars of peanut butter, I could make enough money to pay the phone bill.”
After a late night pep talk with a friend, Lye decided to name her enterprise CynaNutter and proceeded to post it online.
She also posted a message on Facebook to take pre-orders.
Things then took an unexpected turn.
Family and friends were eager to help, and in no time, she had orders for more than 50 jars.
“I couldn’t believe it.”
Lye said she was unprepared by the surge in demand but her wellness coach, Mary Anne Loh, has been guiding her.
“It has been difficult to keep up with orders. It takes me up to seven hours to make a batch of eight jars of peanut butter.”
She said the decision to change her lifestyle was what gave rise to the idea for making healthy peanut butter.
“I have been on a wellness journey for the past year and have learned how to cook and bake using healthy ingredients for a low-carb diet,” Lye said.
She began to make everything at home for her daughter and herself.
“Now I make my own bread, granola, desserts and some wholesome meals daily,” she added.
Her daughter once asked for a homemade granola bar, and peanut butter happened to be one of the ingredients in the recipe.
That prompted her to learn to make peanut butter through a YouTube video.
Lye said apart from her daughter, her husband and son have also been supportive of her venture.
She said family members have even bought her peanut butter to give to friends.
“My daughter, who does social media professionally, has offered to handle my Instagram account,” Lye added.
Her advice to those wanting to venture out is simple: start small and take baby steps first.
“Do what you know. Tell family and friends what you can offer and ask what they need,” she said.
“If you have trouble paying your bills, focus on earning a bit of money just to overcome your problem first. That was what I did. I didn’t even have a business plan,” she quipped.
But going by the overwhelming response for her product, it is obvious Lye has cooked up the right stuff.
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