Adam’s Journey
Adam’s Delivery is not a faceless delivery app. It is a local service built from years of delivery work, family life, setbacks, and starting again when things did not go to plan.
The beginning
Before Adam’s Delivery, I got into food delivery by working evenings for independent takeaways.
It gave me the flexibility I needed, because my daytimes had to stay free to care for my children, who have ASD. I needed work that fitted around real life, but I also needed something I could take seriously.
Delivery gave me that.
The app years
After delivering for independent takeaways, I moved into app-based food delivery and became one of the early Just Eat couriers in the Worthing zone.
At first, it felt like there was proper opportunity there. But, like most food delivery apps, the workforce soon became flooded with more couriers. There was not enough demand to share around, and the availability dropped.
Then the pandemic happened.
I already had food delivery insurance. I was ready to work. But the work simply was not there. My final week delivering for Just Eat brought in around £60 after spending more than 35 hours on the road and waiting in the zone.
That was not an income. I had to do something.
Candy Box
I knew I had to deliver something. But not just anything.
It had to be something I understood, something people actually wanted, and something I could start small with. I chose sweets.
I found local wholesale suppliers and started a small delivery sweet shop called Candy Box. It began from home, and it grew far faster than I expected. In the first few months, Candy Box became a proper local business.
As the pandemic continued, demand kept building. Before long, every part of the house was being used to store stock: sweets, crisps, drinks, boxes and packaging were everywhere.
We had outgrown the house and needed a proper shop. In December 2020 and January 2021, I spent my daytimes shopfitting and getting everything ready. In February 2021, we opened the Candy Box shop.
A proper local business
For a while, Candy Box was exactly what I had hoped it would be. Hundreds of local families used us for weekly treat orders, movie nights, Netflix nights, birthday extras, last-minute snacks and desserts.
We became part of people’s routines. Candy Box was loved, and I was proud of what it became.
The hard part
Behind the scenes, the shop gave us problem after problem.
Over time, we had ongoing issues with the premises, including electrics, flooding and problems connected to the adjoining part of the parade.
We raised concerns. We had people inspect the situation. We tried to deal with it properly. But the problems continued, and eventually the situation became unworkable.
By the time we closed, we still had thousands of pounds worth of stock in the shop.
That was one of the hardest parts. But once the condition of the premises became a serious concern, I had to make the responsible decision. Even where products were sealed, I no longer felt I could confidently sell stock that had been stored in that environment.
Customer trust mattered more than trying to claw back the money.
So we wrote off the stock, disposed of it, boxed up what equipment we could keep, and walked away. It was painful, but it was the right decision.
Starting again
After Candy Box closed, I went from running a busy local business to looking for work and trying to figure out what came next.
I tried different ideas and looked at different options, but nothing properly fitted around my family commitments. The economy was dry, jobs were difficult, and I became anxious, depressed and worn down.
For a long time, I felt like I had failed. But the truth is, I had not failed because I was lazy. I had not failed because the business was not wanted. I had built something people loved, and circumstances outside of my control had helped destroy it.
Eventually, I realised something important: I still needed to be busy. I still needed to build. My ADHD does not allow me to sit still, and I knew deep down that delivery was still what I understood best.
Adam’s Delivery
One day, after using a delivery app to order a few bits from the supermarket, I saw almost £6 in fees and charges added on top of around £12 of goods.
That annoyed me. Not just as a customer, but as someone who knew the delivery industry from the inside.
Bag fees, low order fees, service fees, delivery fees — all piled on top of a simple order.
I knew there had to be a better way for local customers. That is when Adam’s Delivery was born.
The idea was simple
Built direct
I knew the margins would be razor thin. I knew it would be hard. But I also knew I had done this before. I knew how to source products, manage stock, deal with customers and get orders delivered quickly.
So I started again from home. This time, I wanted to build more than another snack shop. I wanted to build a proper local delivery service that actually cares about customers, keeps prices fair, and does not punish people with a stack of extra charges at checkout.
Adam’s Delivery now offers sweets, chocolate, crisps, drinks, desserts, essentials and more — delivered locally and direct.
I also built the website and delivery system myself. Instead of relying on expensive third-party platforms, I built a custom Laravel delivery operating system and a bespoke website designed around how the business actually works.
That matters because Adam’s Delivery is not trying to copy the big apps. It is trying to be better for local customers.
Still here. Still building.
The business is breaking even. The system works. Customers are using it. The future is finally starting to look bright again.
I have had to start again from nothing more than once. But I am still here.
Adam’s Delivery is built from everything I have learned: the late nights delivering takeaways, the app work that dried up, the pandemic, Candy Box, the shop closure, the stress, the rebuild, and the refusal to give up.
This business exists because I believe local delivery can be fairer, simpler and more personal.
Order from Adam’s Delivery