From face masks and scheduled walks to clapping for the NHS, we all remember going through lockdown. But while for many it was a time of working from the kitchen table or being furloughed, for Danielle Flynn, 27, from Liverpool, it was an opportunity to start the ultimate side hustle.
That’s where Gift and Graze properly began. Now we’re a marketplace with more than 50 creative businesses selling everything from handmade jewellery to phone charms and delicious personalised traybakes. I can’t believe how far we’ve come. Eventually I was called back into work full-time and couldn’t keep up with the Gift and Graze orders. I’d made online friends with other small businesses whose products I loved so instead of losing all my hard work, I made quite a sudden decision to boost the brand and turn Gift and Graze into a marketplace, displaying and selling my favourite handmade gifts that I found online.
The experience has definitely made me tougher. Switching from our own products to a marketplace made us lose a lot of our initial audience, who were just after local drop-off gifts in Liverpool, and it was a challenge to regain our fanbase. We tried some events like outdoor markets too, which took a lot of investment and had no return.
Being surrounded by people who encourage my dreams and believe in me has been important and the main reason I’ve achieved what I have to date.