2021 Winners of Our $5,000 Quarterly Draw

Congratulations on the win! Tell us a bit about yourself and your business

I’m Karen, and I’m the owner of Eve Nail Lounge. Having been in the industry for more than 10 years, I saw a niche in the industry and decided to set up my business to be different from the rest. 

We are all about the customer’s experience from when they walk in the door to soak in the clean, fresh and relaxing ambience to when they are being taken care of by our friendly and professional nail technicians. Many of our customers are returning ones and we are very proud of that. I’m also very proud of our talented, passionate and hardworking team of 12 who are experts in nail art, manicures, pedicures, gel nails, in addition to facials and much more.

Has your business been affected by lockdowns? If so, tell us how

In Queensland, we have been quite lucky, we have had a few lockdowns, but not as long as the ones in NSW & VIC. Although we lost a bit during that time, we are back in full swing and are in fact doing better than before. Our team are all locals and I am thankful that we have been able to keep everyone employed throughout the time.

Congratulations on being the lucky winner! How do you feel? Any ideas on how you might spend the $5,000?

What a great feeling! Thank you Smartpay! The timing couldn’t be better. We are currently isolating and had to shut our store for a few days (at time of print). As you can imagine, we’re in the middle of what usually is the busiest time of the year for us so this will help off-set some of the loss.

Congratulations on your win! Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Tina, I have owned Arty Hair Studio for 4 years now. We are a team of 4 highly qualified and professionally trained hairdressers, with 2 apprentices. We specialise in fashion colour such as balayage, hair straightening including keratin and permanent hair straightening as well as hair extensions.

We pride ourselves in providing our clients an all round experience. We are an organic sustainable salon and we only use high quality organic products.

What made you recommend Smartpay and make the referral?

The savings! By not paying for EFTPOS, I have reinvested all the savings into our monthly marketing promotions for the business. We were also able to refurbish the salon with the latest equipment and products to benefit our clients. “Better in our pocket than the big bank’s pocket.”

I heard about Smartpay from my next door neighbour who owns a fish and chip shop. I rang Smartpay, who were fantastic, they were ready to take us on board! We had to answer a few questions and put in an application to check if we were qualified. The rest was history.

Has your business been affected by the lockdown? If so, tell us how

Definitely, we are a service industry, we’ve been shut since August. We do offer a click and collect service for our organic hair products – but sales have been very minimal.

We were very glad when Smartpay offered us a rental relief when we were shut. It’s a nice feeling to know that the providers care about us, the small businesses!

We’re looking forward to opening for trading come 27 October 2021! Ever since the government announced the roadmap to opening up, our phones have been off the hook with bookings. Our team will be working very hard; we will be working longer hours and plan to open 7 days a week to meet all the appointments.

Congratulations on being the lucky winner! How do you feel?

I’m excited, I have never won anything in my life. Thank you for the prize. I’d like to put it towards a weekend away with our staff as soon as we can travel; they deserve a break.