‘I started a chocolate brand as my son had dairy intolerance’

chocolate – As a recently divorced single mum, the past few years have been a bit of a struggle financially. Occasionally I’ve had to borrow money from my family. My car was completely written off in February, so I had to take out a bank loan for a new one. The lowest point was when I was newly separated and had to ask my mum to come to the supermarket to pay for food.

The reason money was tight was due to not being able to really draw much of a salary from my business, Cocoa Libre, a dairy-, nut- and gluten-free vegan chocolate brand that I started in 2014 after my youngest son started to develop an intolerance to dairy and would constantly have a poorly tummy.

Back then, it was really difficult to find tasty treats he could eat. At the time I was freelancing as a graphic designer and I started thinking about setting up my own confectionery business aimed at people with intolerances. I took a chocolate-making course, equipped out the back room in my old house with a bain-marie, and started experimenting. I dreamt up the brand, started networking and met a buyer from Holland & Barrett at a trade show, who later placed an order for 18,000 units of 3D chocolate penguins. I couldn’t believe it!

When my then husband and I divorced last year, I was only drawing a £9,000-a-year salary. It was tough. Last summer I was ready to quit the business and find a more secure job. When I confided in a member of staff that I didn’t think I could financially carry on with the company, she told her father, a businessman, who saw its potential and came on board as an investor. I had lots of big orders pending so it was a huge relief. Knowing that I was having financial difficulties, such as putting my council tax on my credit card, earlier this year my investor suggested extending my salary to about £35,000.

Now that I’m free to focus on the things I’m best at, such as new product development, sales and marketing, it’s taken the pressure off my home life. I can do more with my boys, who are 10 and eight, and stop worrying so much about bills and really enjoy my independence.

Last year I bought a three-bedroom house using some equity from our former home; my mum acted as the guarantor. My mortgage is £752 a month. I spend about £300 a month on groceries. Travel and car fuel comes to about £200 a month, which I can sometimes offset when it’s business-related.

I’ll take my boys out for a meal twice a month. Their music lessons and sports clubs cost me about £100 a month. At weekends and during the holidays I always try to do interesting activities with them, such as trampolining, Laser Quest, arts and crafts and the cinema.

Now that I’m taking a larger salary, I’ve just booked to go on my first trip abroad with the kids for a few years.

I probably spend about £150 a month on myself. I might head out with friends to the local pub, or occasionally I’ll go on dates or for drinks in Bristol, and that’ll involve taxis. My biggest luxury is my gym membership. I try to keep healthy because there’s diabetes in the family and it’s a great stress reliever. I love to go out on my mountain bike and cycle along the trails around Bristol or south Wales with my sons.

We have a rescue cross-breed dog and a cocker spaniel puppy. What with insurance and everything else, they probably cost about £100 a month. But they’re quite calming and get us out of the house.

I don’t have any savings or a pension. Now that my salary has increased, that’s something I’ll start to do. I don’t worry too much, as life is already stressful and I try to limit how much I worry. I just think there’s probably more value in property anyway, and that, alongside my business, is my future pension pot.

Source: TheGuardian