The Mogo Lolly Shop is a finalist in the national small business awards

The Mogo Lolly Shop is a finalist in the Australian Small Business Champion Awards in the specialised retail small business category.

Store owner Theresa Matthews said she was amazed to be named a finalist.

The email informing her of the store's success landed in Ms Matthews' spam inbox. It was only when the signage arrived in the mail Ms Matthews finally believed she had been selected.

She was overjoyed to be listed as a finalist, especially after the past three years of challenges.

While the shop building survived, Ms Matthews lost all her store stock during the black summer bushfires.

Six weeks later, when the internal furnishings were outside the store to be cleaned, they were destroyed by floods.

When she finally did reopen her doors, The Mogo Lolly Shop served customers for only a few weeks before COVID hit. Sales moved online, with the doors closed for more than four months.

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When Mogo was hit by flooding in December 2021, five millimetres of the doorstep was all that prevented muddy waters again destroying the store.

Ms Matthews said it was the local community, as well as the online Facebook support community, that had kept her business going.

"I love our community," she said.

"I love the sheer delight you see on people's faces when the come in to the store - the excited children."

The self-professed "chocaholic" has been running The Mogo Lolly Shop for 10 years and has always prioritised Australian made products.

The focus on Australian producers made The Mogo Lolly Shop eligible for the specialised retail small business category of the awards.

More than 3500 businesses across Australia entered the 2022 awards in 102 different categories, from tourism to banking to agricultural services.

The Mogo Lolly Shop is one of 25 finalists in their category - whittled down by judges from a field of 60.

Ms Matthews had to submit a questionnaire designed to "evaluate [a businesses] standards of excellence and overall success", according to the award criteria.

When she entered, Ms Matthews didn't think she had a chance of getting listed as a finalist. She was overjoyed with the result, and hopes to be announced as the winner at a gala presentation evening on September 3.