Janson Smith, 37, from London, appeared to have a dream career as a well-paid investment banker, but felt increasingly exhausted and unfulfilled. A holiday moment about a cheap travel adapter changed everything, leading him to launch a multi-million-pound business from his laptop.
The Trigger: A Plug Socket Warning
While travelling overseas with a friend, Janson was cautioned against leaving a flimsy travel adapter plugged in. "It sounds like such a minor thing, but it genuinely made me stop and think," he recalled. "You're in another country, plugging expensive devices into something you bought as an afterthought – and a lot of them feel cheap, unreliable and potentially unsafe. That was the moment I thought, 'This could definitely be better.'"
Upon returning home, he identified a gap in the market: cheap, unsafe options versus overpriced airport buys, with confusion over country-specific adapters. "It wasn't about reinventing the product – it was about making something that people could genuinely trust," he said.
Building the Business While Keeping His Job
Instead of quitting immediately, Janson developed his venture evenings and weekends. "I was very aware that I didn't want to be reckless," he said. "I kept my job, used it to fund the business, and spent my spare time researching, learning and putting things into action."
Initial momentum was slow, but the first breakthrough came when strangers bought his product and left positive reviews. "That's when it goes from being an idea in your head to something real," he noted. Eventually, he reached his first £10,000 revenue month, which made the venture feel concrete.
Leaving Banking: A Calculated Risk
Janson only quit his banking job when the business outgrew his side-hustle capacity. "I only made that move when the business got to a stage where my job was genuinely limiting its growth," he explained. "It was a big decision because you're stepping away from something stable into something uncertain."
His family's reaction was mixed initially. "They were supportive of me as a person, but I think there were concerns because it didn't look like a conventional career path," he said. However, once they saw it working across multiple businesses, their perception changed completely. "It went from being a risk to something they were genuinely proud of."
From Six-Figure Monthly Revenue to Life Control
The venture has since expanded beyond a single product into a six-figure monthly enterprise. For Janson, the biggest change is not monetary. "The biggest change is the control I have over my life," he said. "Before, everything was structured around work – now I can be there for my family, I can take time off when I want, and I actually enjoy what I'm doing."
He now co-runs HonestBrands, an e-commerce education platform helping others build and scale online businesses. Reflecting on his journey, he believes the real gamble would have been never taking the leap. "Even though it was scary at the time, backing myself is the best decision I've ever made," he concluded.
