"I woke up one morning in early 2009 with a thought that I really must try and quit smoking. My initial research pointed me towards a new alternative of electronic cigarettes. Product availability at the time was low and I eventually purchased a kit from a GB based company, quickly stopped smoking and began my vaping journey.
I was also working in a job that gave me little satisfaction, so my goal was to do something that I would love to do, setting a new standard in innovation as well as helping young professionals build there careers as part of my growing team. I was intrigued by this product that helped me stop smoking as it had changed my life. The product was not of great quality, however, I could see the benefit of Vaping.
I devoted the next 8 months researching the industry and teaching myself everything there was to know about vaping. This led me in to the manufacturing process were I started building relationships and testing products. Compared to today, little information existed about e-cigs and e-liquids so I had to learn through my own experience from testing products.
I was now smoke free, felt great and my cough had completely stopped. During my research I looked closely at the ingredients in a range of e-liquids and concluded that the only non-food safe component was nicotine. The same ingredient found in gum and patches which can help people quit. My research concluded that patches and gum only gives your body nicotine. What a lot of smokers miss is the habit of holding something and the throat hit sensation. E-cigs tick all those boxes- it was then that I had my ‘eureka’ moment and that the concept of vaporising a nicotine solution had the potential to help every smoker who wants to quit.
So the Ziggicig journey began with my first product order of around £800 and I began selling in car boot sales and markets. By re-investing profits we were very quickly able to open our first store."