An engineer from Liverpool is on track to make six figures from a business she launched with a £10 budget.
Danielle Flynn, 27, started Gift and Graze during lockdown three years ago while she was on furlough, offering “graze” boxes of confectionery. Fast forward to now, the business has become a marketplace of more than 50 independent businesses reaching hundreds of thousands of visitors.
Ms Flynn said: “I started dropping mini graze boxes on my friend’s doorsteps as a pick-me-up during [the pandemic]. This is where Gift and Graze began. Now we’re a marketplace with 50 plus businesses.’
“It’s a huge passion project! It escalated from me giving gifts to my friends to people wanting to buy them. When I returned to work full-time, I then opened a marketplace, selling other small business gifts that I’d met on Instagram and loved.”
Ms Flynn added: “I am a go-getter. I believe everyone is capable, you just need the self-belief to get you there. I hope to inspire others and represent women in business well.’’
Completing a degree apprenticeship in Engineering from Warwick Uni, Ms Flynn is a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) ambassador and a business mentor for the Prince’s Trust, actively trying to encourage more younger women (and all) into STEM careers.
Speaking on her budget, Ms Flynn said she started out with just £10 and she’d reinvest any profit she made to keep the business growing. Now, Ms Flynn said the business is making five figures a year with aims to soon make six.
Ms Flynn said: ‘‘I didn’t have much money so I was keeping the budget to a minimum. Re-buying stock and paying for ads with any profit I had made.
“I started with £10 and made to order one single product for a customer because I was unsure if anyone was going to buy again. I used the small profit to help buy the next lot of stock.’’
Social media provided a huge boost for Ms Flynn in spreading the word about her products and marketplace. She said: ‘‘Social media is the most powerful tool out there. If you do anything, focus on value-add content for the consumer.
“Things they will save, things that will capture their attention, things they can’t miss out on. I started with making graze boxes, I would wholesale buy sweets and chocolate and make them into a graze box and wrap it all up nicely with personalised options.
“After seeing there was an interest, I would post daily on Instagram with what I was offering and seeing what my audience liked. Social media really helped me view my insights and see what was working the most.’’
When it comes to starting up a new business Ms Flynn said there are “so many tools” and ways of learning now on youtube, TikTok, skillshare and more.
She added: “Nothing is impossible, you just need a goal and a plan in place to get that. With self-discipline and consistency, you will completely transform your life.
“Don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t get sales. It’s going to happen many times. Go back to the basics and ask yourself, ‘Why wouldn’t I buy from this company?’.”
