diff --git a/config/laravel-database-emails.php b/config/laravel-database-emails.php
index 61d9164..ef9c2f4 100644
--- a/config/laravel-database-emails.php
+++ b/config/laravel-database-emails.php
@@ -58,4 +58,17 @@
     */
 
     'limit' => 20,
+
+    /*
+    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    | Send E-mails Immediately
+    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    |
+    | Sends e-mails immediately after calling send() or schedule(). Useful for development
+    | when you don't have Laravel Scheduler running or don't want to wait up to
+    | 60 seconds for each e-mail to be sent.
+    |
+    */
+
+    'immediately' => env('LARAVEL_DATABASE_EMAILS_SEND_IMMEDIATELY', false),
 ];
diff --git a/src/Config.php b/src/Config.php
index af8cd1e..ab5a16d 100644
--- a/src/Config.php
+++ b/src/Config.php
@@ -53,4 +53,14 @@ public static function cronjobEmailLimit()
     {
         return config('laravel-database-emails.limit', 20);
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Determine if e-mails should be sent immediately.
+     *
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    public static function sendImmediately()
+    {
+        return (bool) config('laravel-database-emails.immediately', false);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/EmailComposer.php b/src/EmailComposer.php
index 09b16c4..a7d25ff 100644
--- a/src/EmailComposer.php
+++ b/src/EmailComposer.php
@@ -271,6 +271,12 @@ public function send()
 
         $this->email->save();
 
-        return $this->email->fresh();
+        $this->email->refresh();
+
+        if (Config::sendImmediately()) {
+            $this->email->send();
+        }
+
+        return $this->email;
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Preparer.php b/src/Preparer.php
index b2d69ac..b4e98fd 100644
--- a/src/Preparer.php
+++ b/src/Preparer.php
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ public function prepare(EmailComposer $composer)
         $this->prepareAttachments($composer);
 
         $this->prepareScheduled($composer);
+
+        $this->prepareImmediately($composer);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -221,4 +223,16 @@ private function prepareScheduled(EmailComposer $composer)
             'scheduled_at' => $scheduled->toDateTimeString(),
         ]);
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Prepare the e-mail so it can be sent immediately.
+     *
+     * @param EmailComposer $composer
+     */
+    private function prepareImmediately(EmailComposer $composer)
+    {
+        if (Config::sendImmediately()) {
+            $composer->getEmail()->fill(['sending' => 1]);
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/SenderTest.php b/tests/SenderTest.php
index 0ab3b17..cd16a0e 100644
--- a/tests/SenderTest.php
+++ b/tests/SenderTest.php
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 use Dompdf\Dompdf;
 use Swift_Events_SendEvent;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Mail;
+use Stackkit\LaravelDatabaseEmails\Email;
+use Stackkit\LaravelDatabaseEmails\Config;
 
 class SenderTest extends TestCase
 {
@@ -212,6 +214,22 @@ public function raw_attachments_are_added_to_the_email()
         $this->assertContains('Hello CI!', $attachment->getBody());
     }
 
+    /** @test */
+    public function emails_can_be_sent_immediately()
+    {
+        $this->app['config']->set('laravel-database-emails.immediately', false);
+        $this->sendEmail();
+        $this->assertCount(0, $this->sent);
+        Email::truncate();
+
+        $this->app['config']->set('laravel-database-emails.immediately', true);
+        $this->sendEmail();
+        $this->assertCount(1, $this->sent);
+
+        $this->artisan('email:send');
+        $this->assertCount(1, $this->sent);
+    }
+
     /** @test */
     public function raw_attachments_are_not_added_if_the_data_is_not_valid()
     {