‘My side hustle lets busy mums finally put themselves first’

Single mum Kelli realised how little time she had to pamper herself. So she decided to bring the nail salon to her instead and it has turned into a successful little business. 

Raise your hand if you struggle to find time for self-care.

*raises hand*

Same!

And one other mum who knows this struggle all too well is Kelli Armstrong, founder of Nailfitt.

Between juggling parenting, work, and the myriad of responsibilities that come with those, she realised how little time she had to pamper herself.

So, she decided to bring the nail salon to her home, and in doing so, not only found a solution for herself but created a successful business too. 

How did she do it? Kidspot picked Kelli's brain about all things business, single mum life and the struggles along the way. 

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Image: Supplied

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The $100 salon manicure that sparked the idea

"The idea of premium quality press-on nails swirled in my mind for four or five months," Kelli explains. 

Unaware of the burgeoning trend of press-on-nails, Kelli's inspiration came from her own experience. "I didn’t start it to cash in on a trend. I created Nailfitt to solve my own problem of wanting a non-damaging, occasional manicure that looked amazing but didn’t require time, money and too much effort. Something I could do myself without any hassle," she said.

The business had its genesis last year after Kelli got a pair of $100 gel nails done, having previously only dabbled in at-home manicures and Shellac. It was a once-off splurge for her birthday, and while she loved the glamorous look, she felt they were impractical for day-to-day life.

"It was tricky to type, shower, help my daughter get dressed," she said, "let alone the removal process that left my natural nails damaged beyond repair."

"Never again!" she vowed. But it did spark the idea for a good quality, press-on version of these nails...

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"I wanted women to be able to save time, money and effort on a salon-quality manicure"

As a single mum, Kelli said that finding time for beauty maintenance and self-care is "practically non-existent" and she realised it was probably the same for other mums. 

"I thought, surely there were other women out there like me who wanted a glam manicure only occasionally, to fit their lifestyle. Time-poor mums or even women who work in an industry like nursing or FIFO that can't wear nails at their place of work," she explained.

"I wanted them to be able to save time, money and effort on a salon-quality manicure they could do themselves at home, and also easily remove themselves. A manicure they could wear for a night or up to three weeks, that wouldn’t fade, chip or damage their nails."

Image: Supplied

Getting her business off the ground

Navigating the complexities of starting a business, Kelli delved into e-commerce courses and extensively researched the market.

She explained, "I signed on for the Foundr Start and Scale course so I could learn everything about creating and marketing a product. And I went down a rabbit hole researching what was on the market in Australia. I discovered three brands and ordered them to test. I was actually surprised they existed, but perhaps that is because being an older mum, I wasn’t the target market of what was typically more a Millennial or Gen Z product.

"I also ordered samples of press-ons from suppliers in China and South Korea and found that the quality of press-on nails varied wildly. Then I decided to track down the supplier of a brand I’d discovered that was trading in the US. They offer a premium ‘soft gel’ press-on nail that is far superior to the regular plastic variety. The only problem was they had an MOQ (minimum order quantity) of 20,000 kits. I definitely did not have the money for that! But they did put me in touch with a smaller supplier and I was able to convince them to let me order 500 sets."

During that time, Kelli was also up ‘til all hours studying the course, creating a logo, designing the box, naming the nails she had ordered, building a Shopify website and finding a product photographer within budget.

Financially, Kelli invested $4400 to order the 500 nail kits. Then she had to front the costs for the course, the website and photography, which meant she spent around $7000 to get her business off the ground. 

The biggest challenge for the new business

The journey from concept to product wasn't without its obstacles, as any startup founder would tell you. 

"Building awareness of the brand has been the hardest," Kelli admits. Starting with just 12 followers, she wondered if she would ever grow an engaged community, especially as she was working full-time in a senior position at her day job. 

"The parenting aspect has been challenging too though, I do feel guilty spending so much time on my computer or with my head in my phone at all hours. My daughter sometimes gives me a hard time about it and I try to explain that I’m doing it for a reason – to solve a problem but also to build it into something bigger for our future."

"She was actually so confused when 500 nail kits turned up at our house, thinking they were all for me! But now she helps me with packing the orders and loves to think up names for new designs. Having her as my little assistant gives us the opportunity to spend some of the time together that has been taken away by the business."

Image: Supplied

So what's been the response so far?

"Fantastic!" said Kelli. "The response has been great, given my small audience. I have deliberately targeted mums and an older demographic that is often forgotten when it comes to self-care and beauty items. They love them!"

And the sales speak for themselves. "I have done over 15k in sales and I launched in May!" she said. "The business scaled 20% last month in sales too and projection is set to double that in the coming months."

Image: Supplied

What you can expect from the nail kits

"Our premium kits (in the apricot package) contain 30 nails and currently come in 28 shades (including short, medium and long almond, coffin and squoval or square/oval shapes) and retail online for $38-$40," Kelli explained.

"The recently introduced Mini Kits (purple package) contain 24-26 nails and currently feature 10 practical shades and shorter almond and squoval shapes.

"All the kits feature everything you need for the perfect-fit manicure, including an alcohol prep pad, cuticle stick, nail buffer, nail glue and gel pads for application. I recommend the gel pads for first-time use or shorter wear time. The glue should be used if you want more staying power, or to wear them for up to two to three weeks."

In exciting news, Kelli will be releasing eight fresh new shades for Spring in the coming weeks, so watch this space!

To find out more or to purchase, go to nailfitt.com.au or follow them on Instagram. 

Originally published as ‘My side hustle lets busy mums finally put themselves first’