Realizing that the South African consumer is far more educated in the field of enzyme, bacterial and green cleaning products than just a few years ago, entrepreneur Vasie Seweramulu and two of her fellow women entrepreneurs, created Safeguard Hygiene and Safety.
LoA found out more about this niche eco-friendly business this month.
What does your company do?
We manufacture and distribute household and industrial cleaning detergents, including our bio enzymatic, locally produced, eco-friendly products.
"Safeguard Hygiene and Safety realized that the South African consumer is far more educated in the field of enzyme, bacterial and green cleaning products than just a few years ago."
What inspired you to start your company?
My family has been operating in the business successfully over many years. Their success together with the support, inspired me to start my own business.
Why should anyone use your service or product?
Our eco-friendly products are made with local bacterial strains, thus making them highly effective and cost effective.
"Safeguard Hygiene and Safety’s bio-enzyme and green cleaning products are based on local South African bacterial strains which gives them a massive home grown performance advantage."
Tell us a little about your team
We are three women shareholders in the business. Two of us are involved in the day to day operations of the company. The third director works off sight. Lena assists with the accounts, orders and sales. Vasie assists with production, marketing and HR, whilst Maggie assists with sales and marketing. Samuel Ngobeni, assists with production.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And, do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
I am an ex school principal and joined forces with Maggie and Lena, both family members. Maggie has been an entrepreneur since 2000 and Lena has been in the chemical manufacturing space since 1993. We started the business in October 2015 and very quickly realized that in order to grow our business we had to introduce new and innovative products that were eco friendly. After much research, we found a supplier who was working with local bacterial strains and decided to 'partner' with them. Currently we purchase the super concentrates and do the blending and packaging at our premises.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
As our products are highly effective and can save companies money, we are approaching the retail and hospitality industries in SA as well as in the African Continent. We are also looking at working with women in the townships as our social responsibility whilst promoting our business. We are constantly looking at ways of being innovative, and recently introduced a new product which assists with road stabilization on gravel roads.
"Our range of products can be used in a range of applications; from cleaning, hygiene, effluent treatment, environmental remediation, construction, to literally any other application."
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
The fact that I can be solely responsible for writing my own destiny. The sky is the limit!
What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
Perseverance always pays off at the end. There were many times when I though of giving up and looking for a job, but knowing that there are countless opportunities out there, I never gave up. Always try to stay ahead of the game.
Contact or follow Safeguard Hygiene and Safety
WEBSITE | EMAIL vasie@safeguardhs.co.za
Why LoA loves it….
Business is all about finding a need and providing a solution. In the case of Vasie Sewramulu and her co-founders, they identified a niche business opportunity in manufacturing eco-friendly cleaning products for both domestic and industrial use. Today they are building a growing brand in this rapidly growing business sector. --- Melanie Hawken, founder and editor-in-chief of Lionesses of Africa