I opened a humble shop with my mum – now we run a £1.5million business just four years later and it’s growing
THIS self-starter managed to turn a small shop with her mum into a multi-million pound business in less than five years.
Annie Park was backpacking in Southeast Asia in late 2019 when she went to help her mum open up a small ice cream shop in her home town.
She told CNBC: “To be honest, at first I was like, ‘ice cream shop’? I wasn’t very excited about it. But it was never a question of was I going to help her or not.”
Annie explained that her urge to help comes from being the only daughter to her single mum.
After opening, the store was a surprise success thanks to mum Sarah’s unique and natural flavour combinations.
Mum Sarah uses fresh ingredients such as fresh cherries, rose water, apricots, and pistachios.
Annie recalled lines out the door when they opened their first location: “It was something none of us ever expected.”
The store was such a success that they opened a second location, and are already planning for a third.
Over 35 employees help bring in a whopping £1.5million in revenue each year for the formerly small ice cream shop.
Annie earns £180,000 per year now, but it took around six months for her and her mum’s business to take off.
Annie said: “I think one of the things that has really shaped where I am today is that I thought that all of these different life experiences were random and I thought I was lost.
“It’s a weird feeling of looking back and saying that none of those experiences were a waste of time, I’ve been able to combine it together and now it’s fuelling my work at Sarah’s Handmade.”
Another mum-and-daughter duo launched a toy business, which sold out within the first 48 hours.
Mum Roxy and daughter Pixie managed to turn over £105,000 within the first month – and Pixie is only 10 years old.
Pixie’s Pixs sells other children‘s toys, clothes and accessories that have the 10-year-old’s stamp of approval.
Commenting on her daughter’s huge success, Roxy said she’s set all this up for Pixie so she “can retire at 15” if she wants to.