Small businesses are all the hype right now as creators on TikTok and other social media platforms continue to gain massive followings for creating and selling their own unique items. This trend has even made its way to A-West as many students are starting up their own small businesses. From handmade clothes to pieces of art, people are flooding in to buy from and support these hard-working small businesses. 

Contributor at Forbes, Marcia Layton Turner explains, “TikTok’s emergence as a mainstream social media staple also presents an opportunity for early adopter brands, many of which are seeing surprising results from having a presence on the app.” 

Just like many others thriving through social media right now, A-West sophomore Madison Mcjunkin runs her own local small business and has gained over 1000 followers on her Instagram account, @_madjewelz. What started as a small account that was used to sell her old clothes, Mcjunkin has expanded into new territory by making her own items as well. 

“I started the account in April right around when the pandemic started because I had clothes to get rid of and I couldn’t take them anywhere,” describes Mcjunkin. 

It has become quite popular for students at A-West to sell their old clothes for cheap on their social media accounts to make a little money that they normally would not. After becoming so successful in selling clothing, Mcjunkin started to make and sell jewelry. 

“I started off just trying to get rid of clothes that I no longer wanted because I saw other people doing that, but then I started selling everything and for better prices than I would have originally got,” she says. 

Slowing down with selling clothing, Mcjunkin makes all her jewelry by hand and is even becoming Covid-friendly by making reversible masks. Sewing everything by hand and creating all the jewelry takes a lot of time and effort, and Mcjunkin is committed to making sure she does everything with dedication and precision. 

“I decided I wanted to buy and resell clothes which was very time consuming and took a lot of work and with school starting again I decided I would start selling jewelry and masks because that was easier for me.” 

Even though what she is doing now works better with her schedule to make sure she only produces quality items, Mcjunkin admits how hard it really can be to own a small business. 

“Not much has really been easy because introducing new stuff to my account can always be a hit or miss and what has been hard is getting enough inventory, making sure my followers will be interested in what I’m posting, and sometimes it can be hard financially because I don’t want to invest too much in something that won’t do well which is risky.” 

There is so much going on behind the scenes when running a small business that people generally shy away from. Unlike a large corporation, Mcjunkin makes and packages everything by herself. Supporting small businesses really helps them grow and make a name for themselves which can be really difficult to do. 

NatureHub staff at Medium illustrate, “Unlike big corporations, shopping local is going to offer you unique products that will be as incredible as you think they will. You’ll find unique twists on traditional possessions, or entirely unique ideas that create products that you never even knew you needed before you saw them in that shop.”

Supporting these businesses is not only beneficial to the person buying, but to the seller that works very hard. The small business community is very strong and supportive of each other. Mcjunkin constantly buys from other small businesses and helps get their names out and they do the same for her. 

Mcjunkin states, “I love to shop too, so I buy from small businesses because if I’m going to buy something I should get it from a small business that works hard, and that’s what I want people to think about with my account as well.” 

Mcjunkin believes that anyone can and should start a small business as long as they understand how much work needs to constantly be put in. 

“If people are willing to put a lot of time into it because not putting time in it can cause it to fail completely,” Mcjunkin advises. 

Understanding the time needed to be successful is crucial when starting up a small business. Mcjunkin has been nonstop working hard and making items the public loves. Like any other business, she has goals to achieve. 

“Right now I just want to try to gain a bigger following and I think that I can achieve it as long as I stay really active on my account and make sure I am adding new stuff to my shop every now and then as well.” 

Keeping up with a small business and going to school is impressive during a time a Covid, and Mcjunkin continues to flourish as she makes new products for her followers to enjoy. With big goals and motivation, Mcjunkin proves her dedication to her business.