A small business based in the Isle of Lewis has scored a big thumbs up from an acknowledged expert in business success.

Janet Ross-Jordan of Bayble has seen sales jump since Dragon’s Den judge and small business champion Theo Paphitis picked her as a Small Business Sunday (SBS) company in mid-June.

Janet said: “Each week Theo picks six winners from people who enter with a tweet explaining why they deserve to be selected.

“You submit your own entry, which of course has to be short and precise for Twitter, and he decides which six each week attract his attention.”

Janet caught Theo’s eye with her eco-friendly business, https://cardsandgiftwrap.co.uk, run from her home in Bayble in between duties as a mum.

She entered her home-designed eco-friendly gift-wrapping tape, with the tweet: “I got fed up removing tape from paper to recycle the giftwrap. Now I design eco-friendly paper tape.

“You can make presents look awesome with 100% recyclable wrapping – looks better, saves time, doesn’t cost the earth. Helping you have a greener lifestyle.”

After Theo had announced her name as one of his SBS six on 20 June, and had re-tweeted her message, Janet immediately noticed increased interest and new orders coming in.

She said: “I have had people who I didn’t even know were followers congratulating me and it’s definitely given my business a boost, with lots of kudos and as a way to underline that I’m serious about this business.

“I have heard from other businesses in the SBS network and have had some orders from them – the effect has been noticeable, especially given how slow retail is at the moment.”

Being social media savvy has been important to Janet in the ten years since she set up her business – but so has the ability to innovate.

She said: “You have to make the most of social media, living on an island. There are a limited number of people to be face-to-face customers so when I started the company I knew I had to look beyond the island.

“Having said that, I have a physical shop presence here at my home, and I have recently introduced ‘borrow-boxes’ – a shop in a box for people who are stuck at work through the day or stuck at home through ill-health.

“I lend the box of cards, gift-wrap and other items out for a week and they can browse and decide what they would like to buy, then I collect the box back from them.

“It works really well for workplaces like GPs surgeries, school staff-rooms and other places where people are not able to pop out to the shops during the day.”

Janet’s also got new paper tape designs on the way, including stars, moons, hearts and spots, allowing people to make up their gifts and packages to be completely recyclable, plastic-free and affordable.

And if success comes from a Small Business Sunday listing, that’s exactly what Theo Paphitis intends. As he said: “I started SBS to help give small businesses a leg-up and help them achieve their potential, so it’s always a pleasure when I’m able to see my winners thrive.”

You can follow Janet’s business at https://www.facebook.com/cardsandgiftwrap.co.uk, where there are links to other social media accounts.

Pictures show Janet at work on her subscription boxes, her recyclable paper gift tape, and the borrow-box scheme  (Janet Ross Jordan)