Teenager, 17, earning £4,000 A WEEK selling sweets and fizzy drinks

Choc-full of dough! Teenager, 17, earning £4,000 A WEEK selling sweets and Prime drinks from shed in his parents’ back garden

  • Callum Baker from Cardiff is earning more than most thanks to his sweet shop 
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An entrepreneurial teenager is turning over more than £4,000 a week selling fizzy drinks, sweets and snacks from his parents’ back garden shed.

Callum Baker, 17, from Cardiff, started out selling homemade cookies at just 15 but after branching out to branded products, he is now making a sizeable profit – and has even hired his first employee.

The young businessman set up his online sweet shop, The Sweet Shack, a week before his 16th birthday after seeing the TikTok account of confectionery seller Greedy Gwin.

Explaining how he started his business, Callum said: ‘I was really bored and I watched a lot of TikTok and I was watching these sweet business videos.

‘I bought some sweets online with £50 of my own money and set up a small website with just five products and then just started posting on Facebook pages and TikTok.’

Callum Baker, from Cardiff, started out selling five products but now stocks over 700 items of fizzy drinks, snacks, chocolate and sweets that are stored in a purpose built shed in the garden

The teenager studies by day but in the evening it’s business as usual doing stock takes, packing orders and recording TikTok lives to reach new customers

His stockroom has come on quite a bit from the five initial items he sold. The teen now has over 700 products available to purchase

Callum estimates he ships between 220 and 250 orders a week and has turned over around £74,000 since January 2022.

The 17-year-old’s business has grown spectacularly from the initial small range of products, with the shop now offering more than 700 different sweets, crisps and drinks – including the original five he started out with.

He said: ‘At first I had the corner of my bedroom, the one shelf, then two and then I took over the spare room as things got more popular.’

Callum now runs his business from a purpose built shed in his parents’ back garden, nicknamed The Shack but is already looking into expanding into larger premises.

The teen has also recently taken on an employee, a neighbour from his street who comes into The Shack in the evenings to help pack the orders.

Callum has also found the business has helped his mental health after previously spending time in hospital due to depression.

He explained: “When I first started this business I was at rock bottom. I didn’t feel like I had much to live for but starting the business really gave me a drive in life.

“My confidence has shot up, going on TikTok live and speaking to hundreds of people every night is amazing.

Understandably Callum’s family are incredibly supportive and proud of his efforts and all pitch in to help run the business.

Callum says the business has helped his mental health after previously spending time in hospital due to depression. He believes going on TikTok live and speaking to hundreds of people every night has boosted his confidence

There’s something for everyone at The Sweet Shack! Callum has built up a huge following of 23,000 followers on TikTok

Callum inside his custom-built shed that he uses as a stock room, office and recording studio to create content to promote his business

The teenager began selling homemade cookies when he was 15 but after investing in other products his business has flourished – here he shows the many packing labels for orders

Callum even sells popular drink Prime from his website along with hundreds of other types of beverages

And he revealed his mum Michele helps to re-stock over the weekend and even pack the parcels for shipping, although she’s only paid in sweets. 

Discussing Callum’s mental health struggles, the senior NHS manager said: “It’s just changed him and I often wonder, would he be here now if it weren’t for this business?

“I think it really saved him. He gets excited now and he talks about the business and has something to look forward to.”

Callum’s ambitions don’t end at running his own sweet shop and is currently studying public services at Cardiff and Vale College with an eye to joining the police force later down the line.

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