Cowes Corner Takeaway owners Thomas Lincoln and Marie Ferns sell business after eight years of running it

A hardworking mother and son who have been running a popular takeaway shop in Phillip Island for eight years have sold up, ready to take their business journey interstate.

Thomas Lincoln and his mum Marie Ferns have been running the Cowes Corner Takeaway shop on Settlement Rd, Phillip Island since December 2015, and sold it this year. Picture: Google Maps

A hardworking mum and son who have been running a popular takeaway shop in Phillip Island for eight years have sold up, ready to take their business journey interstate.

Thomas Lincoln, 37, and his mum Marie Ferns, 59, have been running the Cowes Corner Takeaway shop on Settlement Rd, Phillip Island since December 2015.

Mr Lincoln, who worked at the MinterEllison law firm and was born in New Zealand, said he and his mother were a big part of the Bass Coast community.

After living in Melbourne for more than a decade, Mr Lincoln moved back to the Bass Coast to raise his children and saw potential to purchase a takeaway business in a popular tourist location like Phillip Island.

“It’s quite a little hub down there — so we’re closer to all the people on the island than we ever have been before and that was living here for 20 plus years beforehand,” Mr Lincoln said.

“The shop had been up for two years already, but it was very quiet.”

Mr Lincoln said he has turned the shop into a “monster”.

Mr Lincoln said running the shop was quiet at first, but then it gradually got busier as years passed. Picture: Google Maps

“It’s super busy now,” he said.

“It’s been great — if we weren’t going to move off the Island we would have just kept it and stayed there forever — it’s a great little shop.”

Mr Lincoln said the journey of running the shop was challenging at the start.

“Once we started picking up bit of business, the shop took right off,” he said.

“We had big plans to do external catering and get a food van but the shop just got so busy in the mornings and during lunchtime that we didn’t have time for anything else, which is a good thing.

Mr Lincoln and his mother made the tough decision to sell the shop, and now he plans to travel to Queensland and buy another takeaway business. Picture: Facebook

“We were the first place open on the Island by then, we opened at 6am — no one else is open then.”

Mr Lincoln said when they first took over the shop, there was a lot of building and construction going on in Cowes.

“So we went from making $1300 a day to now between four and $5000 a day, so it has taken it right up,” he said.

Now that Mr Lincoln has sold the business, his next goal is to move to Queensland, buy another shop and do it all again.

“We were super confident after that shop that I can go somewhere else and buy one,” he said.

“Maybe not have it for so long, but do it up in two to three years, then try to sell that and just keep doing that, that’s the plan now.

“It’s been a really successful business, I’m excited to do it again.”

Mr Lincoln said the new owners, April and John Runic, were new to the Island and wanted something new and different from their HR and management backgrounds.

“They’ve jumped right into this — next week is our last week there so it’s really good timing,” he said.

Mr Lincoln said customers came in with gifts and farewell messages to wish himself and his family good luck on their next business adventure.