A business created by two mums from Co Antrim has grown massively over the past year due to TikTok.

Barbara-Anne McMullan and Ruth Armstrong from Ballyclare are the owners of Ooh & Aah Cookies, a business specialising in creating freshly-baked letterbox cookies that have been operating for the past eight years.

They began their business by attending food markets around Northern Ireland selling a range of cake pops, cookies, and cupcakes, but when they each got married and had children, working the relentless market circuit was no longer feasible, leading to their business adapting.

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Following this, they moved from their home kitchens into an industrial kitchen, continued to upscale their business, and haven’t looked back.

Towards the end of 2022, Ooh & Aah Cookies launched a TikTok Shop giving the bakery a new digital storefront with the duo now operating a live shopping feature which has led to thousands of new customers.

Speaking to Belfast Live about their “whirlwind” past few years, Barbara-Anne and Ruth said they’re proud at how far they’ve come.

Barbara-Anne said: “We don’t have or want a physical shop, so TikTok enabled us to have a virtual shop as it was like our online glass-fronted store where we could go on on live stream and sell our products.

“You had to have 1,000 followers at that stage to open up your shop, so we were on doing all the crazy dances, then you were limited to 50 orders a day so we went live every day, as you had to reach 1,000 orders to have your probation lifted. We were selling out in 10 or 15 minutes, it was just crazy.”

Ruth added: “We experienced such large growth during coronavirus which was all website-driven, so we learned how to deal with that growth, so we knew we needed to do something else to get to the next step to grow. TikTok definitely allowed us to do that.

“We sold all across the UK through our website anyway, but we didn’t know how to properly penetrate the English and Scottish markets. TikTok definitely let that happen organically without having to do a big marketing drive.”

They now have 12 staff members working at Ooh & Aah, four of whom came directly from their TikTok success. Barbara-Anne and Ruth said one thing they love about the video app is that it allows them to build up a connection with their customers – something they will be looking towards when they launch US and international shipping in the new year.

For any small businesses in Northern Ireland just starting out and looking to grow, the duo said you need to find what works best for you and your business, but that TikTok can help.

Ruth said: “For small businesses from Northern Ireland, we’re very quick to think we’re too small and TikTok is too big and scary, but you can do as much or as little as you want. It’s about not being scared to take risks, if you don’t take risks, you won’t get anywhere.

“As long as you take calculated risks, dip your toe in and see what happens. Being from Northern Ireland, we are a bit cautious, but the opportunity is there, it’s a bit of the pie we can all have.”

“We had to try different times of the day going live, trying new things, and you learn what products your customers respond to. We design our products now around what we sell most of and what people to see more of,” Barbara-Anne explained.

“It isn’t just overnight, you have to keep going over time and finding something that suits your own business. Your customers are your customers, the next person along will have a different set of customers who will act differently, so just find something that works for you.”

Ruth added: “You definitely build a community on TikTok with your customers, it’s a massive opportunity for growth within businesses.”

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