Meet the Absa Small Business Friday featured Small Business of the week – Lady K Wellness.
Established in 2010, Lady K Wellness is a manufacturer of indigenous herbal teas, cosmetics, capsules, drops and biscuits for the wellness and diabetic market. Using recipes created and used by her father since 1973. They are a proudly family-run business.
Karien Jafta started her business as a side hustle and relied on her corporate income to fund the machines needed in her business. She also put most of the profits back into her business. After three years, Lady K Wellness became financially viable and Karien could leave her corporate job and put all her energy into her company.
One element which has helped Karien on her entrepreneurial journey is always being willing to learn. Entering every competition, training opportunity, webinar, and workshop that was offered to her. She knew she didn’t know everything. She explains, “Learning is a continuous process; you can never say you have arrived”.
The biggest challenge faced by Lady K Wellness is getting their yearly FSA Intertek certificate. They managed to finally obtain the certificate in 2018. After failing three audits this was a welcome success and Lady K’s Wellness has continued to be certified since then.
Karien Jafta is an accomplished person. She is a certified lead auditor for FSSC 22000 with Intertek. She is a motivational speaker for Women in Business. She was involved in the Gauteng SMME Summit for Economic Development. She has also been the chairperson of the Deep South Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Region G Gauteng. They uplift businesses within the township areas with training and development programs with the support of the Department of Small Business Development and the Department of Economic Development Gauteng.
In the future, they hope to serve 1% of the diabetic market which will have a huge impact on their yearly income. Lady K Wellness would like to increase the employee complement by at least 15 more people and are also looking to farm their herbs and create a renewable energy mass supply for Gauteng townships.
Lady K’s Wellness was chosen to receive a Top 20 Award at the 2022 South African Small Business Awards.