How I started a New Business With Just £20 (and Made Over £300 in Less than a month)

Let me tell you exactly how I started a brand-new business with just £20 and how much I’ve made so far.

We’re only halfway through February, but I actually launched this business in the last week of January with a very soft start.

No big announcement.

No pressure.

Just intention, obedience, and action.

In this post, I’ll walk you through:

• how it started

• the strategy I used

• and the real numbers (yes, real-time)

Where It All Started

In December, I was in Edinburgh with my brother, who runs a food business. He makes Nigerian pies and small chops: meat pies, spring rolls, samosas, puff-puff, barbecue chicken… the works.

While I was there, I wasn’t “learning” in a formal sense.

I was helping.

Watching.

Absorbing.

Seeing how things moved in real life.

When I got back home, a thought kept nudging me:

I could actually do this.

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you’ll already know this about me, entrepreneurship runs deep in my blood.

My great-grandmother was a serial entrepreneur.

My grandmother was a serial entrepreneur.

My mum? A full-blown serial entrepreneur.

She’s done events, catering, hosting, poultry, fishery, cake-making, and farming: ball pepper, tomatoes, vegetables, sweet corn, you name it. She done it!

Growing up around that teaches you one thing early:

There is always a way to build something.

Timing, Capacity & Real Life

I work a 9–5. I have children. Time matters.

My kids are my centre,  everything else is an addition.

This season of my life is about building carefully, not burning out. So I asked myself a few honest questions:

• What can I realistically manage?

• What fits into my current life?

• What won’t cost me my peace?

That’s where the strategy came in.

How I Started With Just £20

The £20 went purely into ingredients.

The plan was simple:

• make free meat pies

• make some puff-puff

• take them to church

• share them for free

Not randomly, intentionally.

I shared them with people who already supported my other business, OZ Events Ltd. People who already trusted me.

But here’s the part I don’t gloss over.

Faith, Obedience & the First Order

While handing them out, I felt prompted, very clearly, to give some to someone I didn’t usually interact with.

I hesitated.

What if it’s awkward?

What if she says no?

But I obeyed.

I walked up to her, handed it over, and said casually:

“I make meat pies if you ever need any for an event.”

She opened the box.

She looked.

She smelt it.

Then she said:

“I have an event. I’ll need 50 pies.”

She hadn’t tasted it yet.

She just saw it.

That was my first order.

And that moment reminded me why I don’t separate faith from business. Ever.

How I Structured the Business

I decided early on:

• orders only for Sundays

• Saturdays for prep (when I’m not running events)

• church as my primary marketing channel, for now (This is still going into stores)

Simple.

Sustainable.

Aligned with my life.

The Numbers (Because I Promised Transparency)

I’ve been running this business for just under a month.

As of today, the pie business account has over £300 in it.

That’s:

• orders completed

• money already received

• no debt

• no ads

• no pressure launch

Just product, trust, obedience, and consistency.

A Note of Gratitude

I have to acknowledge my brother. His recipe is solid, refined over time, and having that foundation made this much easier.

Not everyone gets that advantage, and I don’t take it lightly.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve been sitting on an idea, start.

If you come from builders, build.

If you’re waiting for the “perfect” time, there isn’t one.

I’m grateful for the balance in my life:

• the entrepreneurial fire from my mum

• the discipline and structure from both my parents

Three and a half weeks after starting with £20, I’m standing on £300+ and a business that fits my life.

This is only the beginning.

With Love,

Ayo ♥