We make £10,000 a week selling our sausages on TikTok shop – we’ve hired 20 staff

As small businesses across the UK battle with rising costs, some have looked at alternative ways to keep the lights on – with one firm saying it now makes £10,000 a week from selling on TikTok shop. Wolverhampton-based Malik Butchers have been a family-run business since 1970 with Adnaan Malik, 45, taking over the shop from his father in 2009. His brother, Manny Malik, 40, said: “My brother ran it as a traditional halal butcher, there was only one member of staff, and it was only turning over around £2,000 to £3,000 a week. This was enough to keep the bills paid and enough for my brother to eat and live.” Shorts In 2019, Adnaan injected £150,000 into the shop and modernised it. He created an in-store deli and started an outdoor burger van, both offering premium cuts of meat. Manny said: “My brother’s back was against the wall; it was either do that or become a taxi driver. Initially, the reaction was fantastic but then there was a big dip. The novelty had worn off, and people just weren’t coming.” This is when Manny realised for the business to be successful it needed to be on social media so he left his corporate role and came on board to help his brother grow the business. “We first started posting on Facebook and Instagram, showcasing the meat. People started to come from out of town as were selling premium halal steaks and sausages which is unique as you can’t get that from every halal butchers. [Yet] even though we had more people coming from further afield this still wasn’t enough,” Manny explained. This is when the business moved onto the TikTok platform, with the butcher’s now racking up on average £10,000 of sales weekly from live selling. Manny said: “We are a success story for how a small business can get wider reach through TikTok shop and has allowed us to expand our business in terms of the amount of people we are employing and the amount of money we are making.” According to Manny, selling on the platform accounts for 8 per cent of the butcher’s total revenue. They go live once a week and over the past two months have made £50,000 worth of sales and now have more than 20 employees. In terms of how it works, Malik Butchers vacuum seal all their products and when packing put in insulation and ice packs into the boxes before they ship out. “Our couriers then have no longer than 48 hours to deliver that box. Everything that we sell has been tested to last over 72 hours in transit and then we give customers information on storage once their delivery arrives,” Manny explained. When live selling, the butchers sell boxes for around £40 to £45, while also offering flash sales on the more expensive products, like their signature wagyu pastrami. Manny said TikTok has allowed the business to thrive, and it is not feeling the pressures other small businesses are facing currently. The company has 1.5 million likes on its videos, promoting its business in a variety of ways, whilst also having over 64,000 followers. “We’re absolutely living in a completely different reality. TikTok itself as a platform has enabled us to create so much exposure that we are nationally recognised. We’ve achieved a couple of things which have purely been down to these successes through the platform,” Manny added. With the business growing, it has taken on a new investor allowing the butchers to open a purpose-built unit where the TikTok shop orders will be processed and stored – allowing the team to take on more orders. Malik Butchers also sells its products online via its website as well as fulfilling wholesale orders. Manny said: “We’ve got a store opening up in Stoke just before the end of the year and the plan is to have between five and 10 stores across the UK in the next five years. “We’ve turned ourselves from a very small local butchers into a nationally recognised brand that’s going to expand.” How does TikTok shop work? Sellers upload products to TikTok Shop – which was launched in 2023 – and promote them by making videos and pinning their items to the video, creator partnerships or by going live. Fees are commission‑based and vary by category. Live shopping allows users to instantly add items to their basket that are being showcased on the live with some creators packaging them right there and then for the viewer to see. According to TikTok, over 300,000 small businesses are now selling on TikTok shop with 84 per cent saying it increased their sales and revenue. Firms must adhere to TikTok’s rules when selling on the platform or risk their business being banned or suspended.