Childhood friends Nonhlanhla Mosweu and Nelisiwe Nhlapo met at the Sunday school at the Word Centre Ministries in De Deur in the Vaal, south of Gauteng, when they were just 10 and 11 years old.
Today, the long-time friendship has become a blossoming business partnership.
Mosweu, 32, and Nhlapo, 31, studied at the Vaal University of Technology.
The two whold jobs in the public sector, and the business is a side hustle. In 2020, they co-founded Helwa Health & Beauty Boutique, a health and wellness clinic based in Rivonia, Joburg north.
Mosweu and Nhlapo say they came up with the idea for their business after they faced their own weight challenges.
“We both struggled to lose weight after we had our first children, and since we had been fitness fanatics, we came up with an idea to trim fat on our bodies through gym and supplements. Later we realised that there were many people who admired how healthy we looked, and that’s when we started the business in 2020.
“Helwa Health & Beauty Boutique is focused on keeping men and women in good shape through our high-tech machinery we use for our clients,” said Mosweu.
Nhlapo says the business is doing well because of the passion of clients who are eager to look trim and keep fit.
“We are passionate about living a healthy lifestyle, and this has encouraged more people to be our clients as they also want to stay fit.
“Our vision is to see our people living healthy through our guidance, to give them tips, proper dietary requirements and exercise training.”
Mosweu, an IT specialist and Nhlapo, an industrial engineer, said they have boxed themselves in when it came to their professional careers, hence they felt the need to venture into the health and wellness space, to spread their wings by helping others to look great and stay in good shape.
“We are not using surgical equipment to get people back in shape, however, we focus on weight loss muscle building machinery to get our people fit.
“We also offer robust exercise programmes as healthy people have a positive mind and functional energy,” said Mosweu.
Faced with challenges in getting the business off the ground, the duo decided to use their own savings to realise their dream.
“It was not easy at the beginning to push to the new frontiers as we had financial challenges, and many people never believed in this quest of ours as they thought that we were just a fly-by-night company that was aimed to get money from them.
“However, seeing the results of what we were doing for our clients, many people who wanted to get fit and healthy joined our programme.
“We are gearing up to open more branches to encourage people to stay healthy and fit,” said Nhlapo.
The business offers services such as ultrasonic cavitation, laser lipolysis, radio frequency therapy, vacuum therapy, waxing and drip treatment.
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