A HYDE business is proof that sometimes the best ideas can be found on the internet after a woman used the last money she had to her name to set things rolling.
Abigail Owens was a self-employed dental nurse, which meant she could not qualify for the furlough scheme.
With work dried up and not able to get what she had earned as surgeries and businesses were forced to close, she face a bleak future.
But spending time on YouTube researching things she could do proved a turning point.
And after ‘scraping together’ what she could to buy ingredients, she cooked a Jamaican meal, it sold and now she runs The Jerk Stop on Hyde’s indoor market.
Abigail said: “I scraped up the change I had in my handbags, went on YouTube and spent hours researching recipes.
“I enjoy eating Jamaican food, so I made a jerk chicken munch box, with a burger, chips and sweet potato fries and someone bought it off me.
“It’s all gone from there and munch boxes are still the most popular item.
“It started as a home business, then we managed to rent a local café in the evenings, then in November I moved into the market.”
As well as selling meals, Abigail has also created Jerk Stop bottles of sauce and after staring down a black hole, she is now looking forward – to better, better and longer things.
Already, she has secured the ability to serve in the evenings at The Shack at Dukinfield’s Masons Arms.
The 43-year-old, who first made a meal last March, added: “We’re building a structure.
“We’re looking for a home which means we can open in the evenings as well as adding more to the menu.
“Here we’re bound by the opening hours of the market. We’re looking to stay in Tameside too.
“But it’s not an easy ride. People seem to think I’m absolutely loaded and making a fortune. I’m not.”