News

A woman who took a risk opening an Angus shop at the height of the Covid pandemic has found sweet success.

Lisa Edgar opened Candy Dreams in Arbroath High Street in September 2020.

Since t hen it has survived soaring energy prices and a cost-of-living crisis.

Lisa initially started the business in December 2019 from home, taking orders for bags of sweets and sending them out to eager customers.

Now she has her own shop on Arbroath High Street and has branched into milkshakes, ice cream and, most recently, takeaway coffee orders.

In the beginning, she was packing orders at night after her daughter went to bed.

But in March 2020, four months after she started, the country went into lockdown.

It was a particularly uncertain time for small business owners.  At the time, Lisa was still working from home.

She said: “In the beginning, I had my first daughter, who was two at the time.  I just wanted something that was flexible that I could do in my spare time from home.  So I thought, let’s give being self-employed a try.

“Then we went into the first lockdown.  I did get a bit worried about the business because it was party and wedding favours.”

Despite this, Lisa’s business took off.  She was sending orders out across the country and was busier than ever.

She said: “I was doing far too much from home at that point so in September 2020, still in the middle of the pandemic, I decided to go for it and open the Candy Dreams shop on the High Street.

“Opening at that time didn’t affect people coming in, although it was a bit odd.  I was more scared about opening a business in the middle of a global pandemic and was it going to be successful?”

Over three years on, the shop is still popular and is serving classic sweets, treats and snacks.

The team of five sees a whole host of people when the shop is open, both regular and new customers,

Lisa now hopes to build up her online presence and start taking more orders through her website, perhaps venturing into the world of TikTok.

She said: “As a small business owner you have to be the accountant, marketing executive, cleaner, team leader and everything in between.  The social media aspect isn’t my strong suit.”

However, rising energy costs bring another wave of worries for the business.

Lisa said: “I’ve noticed a big increase in my energy prices.  I think, since August last year my prices have almost doubled.

“Some months my energy is more than my rent.”

She added: “We’ve got the fridges, freezers and the slushie machines in the summer, so there is a lot of power being used.”

Despite these struggles, Lisa has been able to find support from other local businesses in Arbroath such as local networking group, Oath For Arbroath.

Lisa said: ” I think it’s really nice to see everyone supporting each other.  I’ve recently been able to get my sweetie pouches into Chalmers Cinema.

“Connie, the new general manager has been really good at supporting me and I’ve been trying to support her as much as I can in the shop.”