A CREATIVE primary school pupil who started his own business during lockdown has big plans this year.

Young entrepreneur Daniel Harris, 11, of Clacton, started making and selling crayons through his Crayons by Daniel business during lockdown last year and was inspired by helping his mum, Nia.

Nia, 33, was making crayons as Christmas presents for her nephews and Daniel joined her and wanted to do more.

She said: “When we went back into lockdown last January Daniel was schooling at home but he didn’t enjoy that so I wanted to cheer him up.

“We did some stuff to improve life skills like cooking and crafts, eventually Dan asked me if he could make and sell crayons on Facebook.

Gazette:

“Dan started off by making some names up in crayons and we launched on social media during the February half term.

“He received so many orders straight away, he wanted to do different shapes like Easter eggs, a lot of grandparents bought those instead of actual Easter eggs.”

Daniel’s technique involves buying crayons and melting them down in the microwave, he then pours them into different shaped moulds, lets them set and packages them for his mother to sell.

He has had a lot of support from the community, including his school Cann Hall Primary School.

Daniel has taken his business to Christmas markets and craft fairs and this year he wants to continue growing by selling at school fetes and making more crayons for special dates.

Lockdown has been hard for many including students but Nia said a positive came from the negative.

She said: “I think it helped him to be honest. During lockdown people were at home browsing social media so he had lots of shares and comments straight away.

Gazette:

“It’s great because he is the unique selling point of the business, he started when he was ten and people are interested in a young lad being so independent.”

Nia said she was proud of her son’s dedication as his business reached its first anniversary.