Published on the Tennessee Tribune on 27th March 2021
Mignon Francois turned $5 into a thriving cupcake business. Image: YouTube/@ebfriedland
Mignon Francois shares her story of building her million-dollar baking business, The Cupcake Collection, from scratch. Francois, a mother of six, was a stay-at-home mother when her husband lost his job and the family had to survive on a limited budget. It became a struggle to pay rent, utility bills and food. To ensure that there was enough power in the generator for when her children came home from school, Francois would spend her days at home in the dark.
A neighbour, who was aware of Francois’s baking skills, offered her a business opportunity to bake 600 cupcakes, which would sell for a dollar each. Francois had to use money from her own funds to buy the ingredients for the cupcakes. At the time she only had $5, so she offered to bake 60 cupcakes instead. From the profit of selling these cupcakes, she was able to save money and continue baking cupcakes. Francois and her husband did not have a bank account at the time so they could not get a loan for the business. Instead, she created a system of placing the profits from the business into different envelopes to cover rent, food, utility bills, the cost of supplies and pay taxes. Through this system Francois was able to grow her business.
Currently, Francois is running her successful business, The Cupcake Collection, a bakery that specializes in cupcakes, birthday cakes and other deserts. Also, she is a mentor and board member at Pathways Women’s Business Center and Nashville Entrepreneur Center, where she helps women achieve their business ambitions.
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