Here are the 5 women-led businesses that received R1-million from SA’s Momentum

Momentum Metropolitan recently announced it had empowered five women-led businesses with a share of R1-million and some invaluable coaching in its #AdviceForSuccess competition.

Dr Shamila Ramjawan

Owner, Princess D Menstrual Cups

Noting that women’s sanitary products are unaffordable, Dr Ranjawan developed the Princess D Menstrual Cup to help keep girls at school at a time when no access to sanitary towels would make leaving the home difficult.

Sanitary towels are a huge expense and are often out of reach financially for girls in rural areas. With no sanitary protection, embarrassment means many opted to not go to school during the days when they were menstruating. This meant less time spent in schools, which negatively impacted their results at school.

At its core, Princess D Menstrual Cups is a business focused on keeping more rural school girls at school and achieving their potential.

Dr Ranjawan believes success is about building your personal brand, then that of your business, followed by your product or service. Her #AdviceForSuccess includes believing in yourself in order to grow and elevate yourself to where you expect success. She advises businesswomen to take a risk, take the plunge and grasp all available opportunities.

The money Dr Ramjawan won from last year’s Momentum initiative helped her to secure and maintain her business, she says, as well as sponsoring girls in three Gauteng schools.

She also started a talk show @redcornershow, to inspire others with personal stories that encourage women to aspire to success.

Juanita Khumalo

Owner: TROVE Wellness

Juanita Khumalo is in the business of transforming lives, starting with helping women to feel better about themselves. She noted a dire need in 2020 to get women to take care of themselves.

In encouraging women to get moving, she turned her passion for fitness and wellness into a profitable business. Juanita says her personal goals are tied closely to her business success, and that just one life changed is success.

Juanita noted three key facets to wellbeing, and that one cannot exist without the others. This insight inspired her to redefine TROVE Wellness into a holistic wellness offering.

Achieving mental, spiritual and emotional ‘fitness’ meant looking beyond the general assumption that fitness is purely a physical act. TROVE focuses on the physical but infused with a multi dimensional approach to ensure that the physical, mental and spiritual wellness women are given the importance each deserves in a woman’s life.

Juanita’s #AdviceForSuccess is start, keep at it and remember that no two months are the same. She also advises that a business is not built by one person, but that the eco-system of people you bring together and engage with will help you grow and succeed.

Sinenhlanhla Ndlela

Owner: Yococo

Lemon, blueberry chocolate, vanilla… Yococo started on the happy memories of her grandmother sharing ice-cream with her. Success in her business means everyone gets to share in the love and joy she puts into every creation.

Sinenhlanhla’s key objective was to create a completely vegan friendly ice cream with the intention of ensuring consumers could sense – and taste – the love that was infused in the product.

The ingredients had to be meaningful and are loosely based on the seven chakras and the colour therapy associated with them; with packaging that is both environmentally friendly and fun. Importantly, each bite should bring delight.

Winning the 2020 Momentum initiative was an unexpected boost that made Sinenhlanhla incredibly happy and helped her through the Covid-19 crisis.

Sinenhlanhla’s #AdviceForSuccess to fellow entrepreneurs is to be brave, because things do get tough. Importantly, always keep your ultimate vision in mind.

Vuyisile Zondi

Owner: Corium Skincare

Corium started as a hobby, with Vuyisile creating skincare products in her kitchen. From there, she researched ways to enter the skincare market.

She highlights the passion she has for the business, but notes that 2020 was a year that could have crushed her spirit as an entrepreneur and her business. The Momentum competition came at a time filled with much uncertainty, she says, but the cash injection she was awarded will help her to focus on what needs to be achieved going forward.

What sets Vuyisile’s skincare range apart from others in the market is a brand built on the hallmarks of simplicity, purity and credibility. The skincare solutions that Corium Skincare provides are natural and botanical. This means that every ingredient in each product in the range is derived from nature and is – as far as possible – in its most unrefined and natural state.

Corium’s product recipes are inspired by traditional African, Himalayan and Ayurvedic beauty practices, and its products are handmade.

Vuyisile says success to her means enjoying what she does and being able to positively impact others. Her #AdviceForSuccess to other entrepreneurs starting a business now is to do as much research as possible; know who your competition is and what the price points are; and – importantly – who your target consumer is, as this is the key differentiator in a competitive landscape.