How I turned my £500 business into £2million!

If you're looking for ways to make some extra money, then turning your passion or hobby into a business, which can sometimes be known as a side-hustle, might be one way to go.

33-year-old Jessica Toole is one person who transformed her passion into a business, turning her initial startup of £500 into £2m total turnover in just six years. We spoke to Jessica, who is the founder of Jes Rose Vinyl, to find out more about how she set up her business and the things she has learned along the way.

"The biggest risk is not taking the risk at all…"

Jes, a keen interior designer, was working in recruitment at a popular social media publisher in 2019 when she was offered voluntary redundancy. "It made me realise that I wasn't really meant to be in the corporate world, I was never really settled or happy." Jes hadn't worked at the company very long, so the redundancy figure wasn't much, but she decided to take it. "I just thought, right, I'm unemployed now and I needed to find something to do. I knew that I wanted to work for myself, I just didn't know in what capacity."

"I didn't even tell my parents that I was taking redundancy because my mum would have said, 'what are you doing? Why would you quit such a good job, not even knowing if this is going to work?'." But Jes knew she was making the right decision: "What I would say is, the biggest risk is not taking the risk at all. Like, what have you got to lose? I think if you are passionate about something and there isn't a big financial risk, go for it, because you're never going to know until you do it."

The light-bulb moment

Jes had already built up a following on her Instagram, which focussed on interior design at her flat in Manchester's Northern Quarter: "I started a hashtag #FacebookFinds on Instagram – Facebook Marketplace is great for finding vintage furniture and quirky items for the home – and my following grew to about 14,000 followers." Jes took photos of the items she would find and the aesthetic of her home and post them on her Instagram, which she says people loved.

"My passion for upcycling and finding second hand items for my home is sustainable, and it's affordable. I have really expensive items that I'd pay a fraction of the price for, and people love that, especially in the climate that we're in now. I didn't do thrifting just for content, I genuinely just do it because I love it. I was doing it before I even had Instagram, but social media gave me a platform to showcase what I do".

However, there was one room that Jes would never post photos of – her kitchen. "At the time my kitchen was grey, dull, kitsch and it didn't suit my aesthetic. It wasn't me at all, so I just never showed it, but people started to question it."

As Jess rented her property there wasn't much she could do to change the kitchen. "I started researching stick on vinyl to cover the cabinets with a nicer design, but the options were scarce. That was the light‑bulb moment: I could sell peel and stick vinyl designs that let you refresh kitchens, bathrooms, and furniture in minutes!"

"I turned over £35,000 in 2 hours!"

Jes launched her business in September 2019: "I set up a website, hired a freelance designer to make five patterns, and found a supplier. I wasn’t doing this to make big money, just enough to make ends meet and work for myself." Sales trickled in and business was steady, and then in March 2020 lockdown hit: "My product just exploded in popularity because everyone was at home and obsessed with interiors!"

"It was a case of right product, right time – I remember I did a flash sale and turned over £35,000 in 2 hours! It was crazy!" Jes had to hire staff to help her cope with the demand: "I had to go limited, register for VAT, hire staff – fast."

Jes says she was never very academic at school, but that she has learned so much about business in the last few years: "I didn't go to university, I didn't get A-Levels, I got five GCSEs, but now I know about things like accountancy, taxes, paying freelancers, all of the things that go into running a business."

"I'm proud of what I've achieved so far…"

Jes told us that she's had to overcome many challenges over the years: "When I first started, I had people coming back to me saying that the tiles don't line up with each other, I didn't even know what a seamless pattern was at the time! It was a bit of a nightmare, but I worked it out."

Another challenge is competition from larger companies who also sell vinyl. Jes says: "I definitely think I'm the best in terms of small businesses doing this, and I know the quality of what I'm offering is still way better than what's available elsewhere."

Jes' personal appeal is also something that the larger businesses don't have. "I'm focussing a lot more on growing my personal brand by creating lifestyle content on social media, not just content about vinyl." Jes says: "When I post more as me, the business’s following grows too. Building my audience can become a stronger income stream than products alone and also support the business."Jes Rose Vinyl has gone from strength-to-strength, and as well as peel and stick vinyl and tiles, Jes now also sells shower panels.

Despite its success, it's easy to forget that Jes is still a small independent business, and even though she has turned over £2m since she started six years ago, Jes insists she is far from being a millionaire: "I wish I was! There are so many costs involved it's actually unbelievable. But lots of companies don't make any money in the first few years, so I'm proud of what I've achieved so far, and looking forward to seeing what the next six years bring!"

This article was published in January 2026.