A graphic designer packed in her £1,000-a-month job to start packing up sweets - and created a £1million business from her bedroom.
Laura Scott, 25, started the idea in 2018 to try and earn a little extra money after spotting a gap in the market.
Making the most of her breaks and putting in the hours after work, she would bulk buy the sweets then make selection bags to sell online.
But her Conscious Candy Company - which sells vegan Woolworths-style pick n' mix sweets - quickly grew from her home in Plymouth, Devon.
Months later, she walked out of her job to focus on the project full-time and now it's worth seven figures.
But she said quitting her job to make cola bottles, fizzy strawberries and other yummy sweets came with a risk.
Laura said: "When I first started it was just one product and now it's over one hundred products - we do chocolate, baked goods, we deliver waffles, just anything sweet and anything that contains sugar.
"It's an amazing thing to sit there and think about, for me it's about how I've gained my freedom even though I work more than I ever did when I was employed - I do 4am starts, midnight finishes and a seven-day week.
"I get to hire people with the same beliefs and values and we work with animal charities, to do that stuff means more than the one million mark."
They also offer a waffle delivery service in the Plymouth area through UberEats, allowing those with a sweet tooth to order treats including 'strawberry shortcake' and 'banoffee delight' waffles.
Now, the business has moved from Laura's bedroom to a 5000 square foot unit and employs two full-time staff including Laura's partner.
"I've been vegan for quite a while and was veggie for a long time too - my favourite thing is pick 'n' mix as it brings back childhood memories and when I launched there were only a few options on the market," said Laura.
"I really wanted a traditional Woolworths style pick 'n' mix with bubble-gum bottles and I started thinking that there must be other people who feel the same.
"I asked on a vegan forum if it was something people would be interested in and the feedback was overwhelming - I began to research vegan options from around the world and find options I could make for a vegan pick 'n' mix.
"I thought it was going to be side-lined but as soon as it launched, I sold out that day.
"I was a full-time graphic designer at the time and launched the business on my lunch break at work - I had £1000 come in and at that time it felt like a lot, I thought 'this is pretty much the same as my full-time wage and I've done this in an afternoon'.
"There was a week of deliberating and I decided I wouldn't know if I didn't do it so I just stood up in a meeting and declared I was going and left - I had no plan, I just thought 'whats the worst that can happen' and knew I could always get another job.
"I remember walking home from work in the rain and I didn't even care, it was one of those things I normally wouldn't like but I felt so free.
"In April 2019 we became a business - it was in my spare room when I started and now we're in a five-thousand square foot unit and trading globally.
"We have customers from all over the world and we wholesale to independent stores - we've worked with some bigger companies but it's not where I want to go with it.
"We've never had any big investment, I always said it will grow organically and now it's my full-time job with my partner who joined the business two years ago.
"It's a strange feeling as I never set out intending to do this."
