Setting up a business by yourself requires a lot of hard work, determination and resilience. The fear of failure is always in the back of your mind, and the dynamic market always means that your consumers could be looking for more. However, for entrepreneur Anna Filippelli, success of her cosmetic business has driven her to work to her highest standards and make the customers needs her main priority – leading her to have a hugely successful business locally, and gradually expand her market to places over the country.
Based in Biggin Hill, 19 year old Anna Filippelli (or as everyone calls her, Bella) decided to start up her own cosmetic business almost 4 years ago. Only having GCSEs and a qualification in makeup, her hard work and determination to see her business succeed allowed her to have the success she has today.
When speaking to Bella, I asked her “what inspired you to start up your own business?”. Firstly she told me that her parents inspired her because they “built a very successful business together when they were married and put their everything into the company and their work - and they benefited from it massively.” However, the most inspiring reason being that she “was not massively supported by certain people going into the beauty industry”, she told me, and that, aswell as her passion for makeup and beauty, she felt the need to “prove everyone wrong”.
The turning point for Bella was she worked in a recruitment company as she needed a steady income for herself and also her partner who had been made redundant. Her manager was a bitter, middle aged man who seem to hold a grudge against Bella in specific. She told me, “One day at 8am at my desk I yawned and he told me I would never own my own business because I was too lazy and always tired. That was the last straw and I thought I may as well leave and just go for it and take my business full time!”. Little did her manager know the impact one tiny comment could have on pushing Bella to become as successful as she is today!
I was curious to how Bella started up and she told me that she started as a freelance worker, aswell as working as a full time makeup artist in London after she had left her recruitment job. By this point she had already made an Instagram account ( @bellabeautykent ) and had only around 200 followers. She then started experimenting with nails as she couldn’t find anyone local who done such intricate designs, so she bought some kits and practised on herself and her friends, while posting them to her Instagram account. Suddenly, her account gained a lot of attraction and in a few days her account blew up and she was getting a huge amount of requests for appointments.
A lot of her advertising is done through word of mouth through customers and by Bella, aswell as social media to gain a loyal customer base who can follow her newest designs. She told me, “I treat all my clients like a friend I’ve known for years and make sure I listen to their needs and provide the perfect result and service to make them feel special. And I genuinely believe positive energy spreads quickly, and if someone has had an amazing experience they will talk and tell people about it.” Very very quickly, she became well-known locally, but now she saids that she even has people all the way in Bristol travelling down to see her!
Following Bella’s huge success, I asked her “what are your goals for the future?”, in which she replied: “continue working on my career within makeup artistry”, “ continue to do nails on the daily”, “continue to provide the best makeup and nails in the country and make people feel beautiful always!” , and in the long run to “open a salon where people can go for all their beauty needs and treatments”.
“Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t. If you believe you can do it, then follow your gut and do it", is the inspiring advice Bella has for anyone wanting to start their own business.
Her Instagram @bellabeautykent allows an insight to her treatments and prices for anybody interested.
Written by Teide Marrable
