A RENFREW schoolgirl is making a tasty profit after deciding to start her own lockdown business.

Ellie More, 11, was flooded with orders for her heart-shaped creations, filled with chocolate goodies, within half an hour of posting about them on social media.

She ended up making more than 50 during the mid-term break, using 1,500 Kinder chocolate bars, before delivering them to people in the local area.

The Gazette:

The primary seven pupil has now moved on to replicating the product with an Easter theme, fulfilling 20 orders of her new egg-shaped hampers, with plans to make others with Cadbury’s and Milkybar chocolate.

Ellie told The Gazette: “I’m really surprised, as I thought it wasn’t going to do that well, but then lots of people started ordering everything and we all got excited.

“It’s been really calming to make all of the Kinder hearts and eggs and has given me something to do in lockdown.”

The Newmains Primary pupil, who will move on to Renfrew High in August, first tried her hand at selling candy cones after watching others sell similar products on social media platform TikTok.

But she wanted to try something more creative and came up with the plan to make chocolate hearts after her aunt, Rhona MacDonald, began sending her some ideas.
Ellie, who lives with her parents Andy and Lynsey, has since received lots of positive feedback.

*The business has been a welcome lockdown distraction for Ellie, who currently attends the hub most of the week while her parents are at work, and has also helped her learn some useful skills.*

Lynsey, 38, said: “I’m super proud of Ellie because she’s done everything on her own initiative.

“I’m an ex-manager, so I’m sometimes tempted to try to take over, but she’s very good at saying ‘Mum, it’s my business, I want to do it.’

“She’s very independent and is really enjoying the crafting. We have bought a glue gun, so she’s been getting right into it and keeping herself busy.

“Ellis is enjoying it now but it’s something we will be checking. While we give her ideas, we are always saying ‘you don’t need to do this.’ It’s meant to be fun so, if it’s not fun, we can stop it.

“We’ve done a basic Excel sheet for her that she needs to put in all of the information. She runs an analysis on that so she can see how many orders she needs to make money and learn how to manage her own wee business.

“It’s the kind of life skills she would be getting taught at school but we are trying to teach her at home as well.”

To find out more, visit Ellie’s business page at www.facebook.com/cowgirl.candy.x.