An artist from Hemel Hempstead says business is booming after she won the backing of one of the country’s best-known businessmen recently.
Lizzie Martell has seen a surge in her followers and orders for her unique art work after Theo Paphitis, star of BBC 2’s Dragon’s Den, picked her as one of the winners of his Small Business Sunday (#SBS) campaign.
The retail magnate retweeted one of Lizzie’s posts on Twitter to his followers and ever since, her business has enjoyed a meteoric rise.
Paphitis has also profiled her business on his website theopaphitissbs.com
Lizzie explained how her good fortune came about
She said: “I thought I’d give it a go – it was the first time I’d ever considered doing it and I know Theo likes to support small business. In a tweet, you have to promote your business, tell him about yourself, what you do and why you are passionate about it. So you only get a bit of space. On Monday, he picks six winners and retweets your tweet.”
Since the retweet, Lizzie said she has won a lot of support from other small business and has also seen a rise in orders.
She’ll meet and receive an award from Theo Paphitis in January and could also be invited to have a stall at an event at the NEC in Birmingham.
Lizzie said she still can’t believe her luck but stressed she is determined to take full advantage of the opportunity.
She said: “However much you put in you put out and I’ve definitely had a boost in status and seen good sales from my shop.
“My business has been going for a year and I launched it mostly off the back of my daughter Iris. I did her a beautiful big painting I loved doing it and the business is my dream. I painted all the things she loved, that made her happy. It looked beautiful. We both fell in love. I then began to paint to bring joy to other little people and big, grown-up ones too
“I especially love saying hello to the littlest customers and seeing their reaction to my artwork first hand. I’m hoping that when Iris starts school, my business can support my family. It’s such a helpful way of boosting somebody’s presence. To be picked up by a dragon is a great accolade. To put that behind my name makes me feel proud.”
To find out more about Lizzie, go to lizziemartell.com
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