Life
11-year-old girl starts her own small business selling “Billy Buttons”
Georgie came up with such a cool and original idea for a business.
Kate Miano
10.26.21

Georgie Empringham has surprised everyone, including herself, by becoming a successful businesswoman overnight. At just eleven years old, she opened up a business selling Billy Button, a wildflower native to her Australian home.

Although it began as a passion project, she’s been delighted by the public support from people who share her love of flowers.

She was inspired by the plentiful wildflower fields in her backyard.

Pexels - Kristina Paukshtite
Source:
Pexels - Kristina Paukshtite

Georgie lives on a farm. That means that she is constantly surrounded by amazing views of nature and has come to appreciate the native wildlife.

While brainstorming ideas for a side gig, Georgie realized that other people would probably want to enjoy these flowers too. They are quite unique-looking and their bright yellow color brightens up any room.

Georgie told ABC.net about her love of these wildflowers by saying:

“They’re little balls of happiness and sunshine.”

What are Billy Buttons?

Georgie’s parents had initially planted the flowers on their property to help improve the soil quality. These flowers can withstand the elements, and they can grow plentifully.

flickr - NSW Grassy Ecosystems
Source:
flickr - NSW Grassy Ecosystems

Another special advantage of Billy Buttons, as opposed to more traditional flowers, is that these flowers last for a long time.

After picking Billy Buttons, the blooms can continue to look fresh for months after.

While typical flowers die within a few days, these can easily become a consistent part of your home décor.

Thanks to social media, the business took off.

Georgie’s mom suggested running a business over social media because she thought it would be easier, and orders flew in.

Her pre-teen’s Instagram business page gained over 5 thousand followers in the three weeks after it went live.

In the first 24 hours of being open, Georgie already had over 100 orders. She was being asked to send her flowers all over Australia!

Georgie said that when her business got really busy, it had to become a family affair.

Fortunately, her siblings were happy to pitch in. On one particularly busy day, Georgie wrote on her Instagram:

“Thank you to everyone for their orders today! I am so thankful and amazed! I had to employ my sister at lunchtime because mum and I couldn’t keep up 🤣 We are going to stop for the day but we will start again tomorrow! We will answer all your messages in the morning. Thank you for your orders and your patience, from Georgina (and Amelia)! 💛💛💛”

Georgie and her sister are using the profits to buy horse supplies.

In addition to being nature lovers, Georgie and her family also love riding horses. Georgie brought her sister Amelia into the business so that they could work together and help out their horses.

The money that they have earned from this enterprise has gone towards hay for their horses as well as riding gear.

It’s great to see someone’s passion project take off.

Her Billy Button business has really taken off, and it’s fun to watch her be passionate about the project that’s also bringing her success. Running a successful business is hard for everyone – and a great lesson for a kid.

Make sure you see this young entrepreneur in action by scrolling down to the video below.

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