Sweet dreams are made of this

Ever since those very first cupcakes, people haven’t been able to get enough of the Sugar Daddies and their delicious creations. Both Nathan and John Serran have had a fun time bringing their passion to the community, and there have been a lot of challenges since the start, but things have been coming together and they're very excited for what the future holds for the community.

However, it all started two years ago during Canada day when they decided to surprise some friends at a party with some delicious treats to celebrate.

“We made candied maple bacon cupcakes and that became our signature and staple cupcake,” Nathan said about how selling cupcakes weren't even really on their radar. “And from there we just got order after order online and through social media and it kind of grew in November.”

And even for the next two weeks after posting that first cupcake photo through social media, Nathan and John would take on more than 20 cupcake orders for people who just had to have some of their delicious creations.

“We didn’t really think about it at first, we just posted the one picture to Facebook and when people wanted to order we started getting really creative with the different cupcakes,” Nathan said.

And from there wild, colourful, and creative creations sprung from the Sugar Daddy kitchens, exploding all over social media and ramping up the demand for the sweet treats.

But it wasn’t only the cupcakes that captured people’s attention. 

What started off as more of a hobby opened up into a greater opportunity. They installed a commercial kitchen to make it more legitimate and to meet the needs, feeling the tug into their own business pulling them.

It was then the owner of the daycare their daughters went to heard of their capabilities and asked Nathan and John if they wanted to cater the food for a hundred kids.

“We stuck with that by itself for a bit until we got the handle on things,” John said. “And then we started actively promoting our catering and that’s how that came about. The cupcakes blew up and then the catering took off and we’re getting catering requests pretty much every day now.”

It’s one thing cooking and baking on your own time for friends and family, or maybe a potluck you’re invited to, but making that jump from only passion to business is hard.

Much harder than people anticipate.

But For Nathan and John, Sugar Daddy is not working. It’s fun.

“It’s still exhausting, don’t get us wrong,” they explained. “But we really love what we do."

And it was especially stressful in the beginning putting in countless hours together while also managing a family.

“It was pretty hard in the beginning, especially while trying to raise a family,” they said, mentioning how in-demand their services have been since before day one. “But things have really worked out for us and it’s been getting a lot easier and we have so many new and exciting things planned.”

And while they work hard to build their business, Nathan and John also work hard to help the community, supporting different fundraisers.

“We try to get involved in the community as much as we can,” they said. “We get a lot of fundraising requests and try to help everybody. One of our biggest ones that we incorporated into our grand opening last summer is with Epilepsy North Bay.”

And as they expand, Nathan and John have built Sugar Daddy to cater to every need for people.

“We try to be that one stop for your entire event, we offer other desserts as well but that’s what we’re known for,” they said, explaining how they really do enjoy being part of the experience with people. “We’re completely custom, we build the menu with clients and help with event planning.”

And this joy for planning has carried them out of North Bay with demand across the region, with a wedding in Sudbury on their radar.

“It’s meant a lot to us, all the community support, especially all the love on Facebook,” they said. “We really appreciate the support from North Bay and all the surrounding areas.”