A mother and daughter who combined their flair, hard work and complementary skills to build up a boutique at Dubbo are attracting customers across Australia and receiving recognition from the business sector.
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The Ruby Maine emporium of women's fashion, footwear, accessories and giftware in Bultje Street is a destination for shoppers across western NSW.
But owners Rhonda Cooper and Samantha Portelli have also made their online business a focus, and report that through it they are selling products to people as far afield as Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania.
As they rise to meet the retail world's challenges, feedback from their customers and winning a 2018 Dubbo Chamber of Commerce Rhino Award has encouraged them.
Now Ruby Maine is in the running for the excellence in micro business award at the Western NSW Regional Business Awards on May 10.
The duo, who purchased the business in 2015 and moved it from Narromine to Dubbo, had long been interested in working together.
It marked a career change for both Mrs Portelli who was a teacher, and Ms Cooper, who had retired after two decades in the mining industry.
It's a lot of hard work, a lot of effort, you don't walk out that door at 5.30 in the afternoon and forget about the place... but it can be very rewarding...
- Ruby Maine co-owner Rhonda Cooper
They consider the online aspect as one of the biggest challenges and have completely revamped the Ruby Maine website.
"It takes a lot of work, you know, it's probably as much work as your bricks and mortar really, if you really want it to succeed," Ms Cooper said.
The pair have welcomed the opportunity presented by the Rhino awards.
"And if we were to be successful at the next level, that would be amazing, to be able to go to Sydney and have ourselves recognised there through other retail businesses," Mrs Portelli said.
"It just puts us on the map really."
They encouraged anyone with a business dream to pursue it.
"It's a lot of hard work, a lot of effort, you don't walk out that door at 5.30 in the afternoon and forget about the place," Ms Cooper said.
"You've always got stock ordering and accounts coming in, and you've got new stock coming in, so there's always lots of work to do, but it can be very rewarding, a rewarding time owning your own business.
"Particularly if you have customers and you get some great feedback from those customers, that's the thing that gives you that nice feeling inside."
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Faye Wheeler
I have been a journalist for more than a decade and in that time I have been keeping Daily Liberal readers up to date about issues affecting them and what's happening in their community. Throughout my career I have covered a range of rounds and most recently I have been focusing on the business round.
I have been a journalist for more than a decade and in that time I have been keeping Daily Liberal readers up to date about issues affecting them and what's happening in their community. Throughout my career I have covered a range of rounds and most recently I have been focusing on the business round.
