Jewellery maker Georgia Westcott had been thinking Christmas may not "be big this year" but then a rural-led movement started bringing her a whole new wave of customers.
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The founder of ByGeorge reports she's been receiving "four to five orders a day" via the Buy From The Bush Marketplace since the online emporium was launched last month.
Miss Westcott, who recently moved to Peak Hill from Gilgandra, said the marketplace's launch had also provided a welcome boost to sales on her own e-commerce site.
"I was seeing a bit of a dead period, thinking 'oh gosh, I don't know if Christmas is going to be big this year'," she said.
"But since the marketplace, I've seen probably double in sales on my personal ByGeorge website, as well as at least four to five orders a day just through the marketplace."
It's history repeating itself one year after Buy From The Bush showcased Miss Westcott's microbusiness to its rapidly-growing following on social media.
ByGeorge's sales "tripled", and she was inundated with orders in more than 150 Instagram messages and more than 100 messages on Facebook, she said.
Giving her the "fire in the belly" to continue, the side hustle went from strength to strength, significantly increasing the number of shops that carried the range, being featured in New Idea magazine, and then the launch of an e-commerce site, Miss Westcott said.
"I had an order into Europe last year... I quite often get orders from New Zealand and anywhere around the world, which is amazing, Buy From The Bush has connected that for me, because I wouldn't have been able to do that on my own, just with my little Instagram page."
Miss Westcott, who started making earrings to give as gifts to her teachers when she finished school, said consumers could make a difference.
...when we shop small, we're supporting a small business... their family, their income, you're putting food on the table.
- Georgia Westcott of ByGeorge
"I would suggest that everyone shop small, as much as possible, because we need our small businesses, they're the ones keeping our economy going," she said.
"And it's the flow-on effect, when we shop small, we're supporting a small business... their family, their income, you're putting food on the table."
"You're also supporting, when you drive into town, you might go and buy a coffee, you've got to post your orders, so it's just that flow-on effect so I suggest everyone shop small, shop local, and keep the small businesses going."
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.
