Being a postgraduate student while running your own start-up business is no small task, according to Marothi Motshekga, a PGDip (Marketing) student at Stellenbosch University (SU) and co-owner of her own skincare brand, Aunora.
After two years of brainstorming and preparation, Marothi and her aunt, Kholofelo Motshekga, officially registered Aunora as a business in April, said Marothi.
Marothi Motshekga, a PGDip (Marketing) student at Stellenbosch University and co-owner of Aunora, a skincare business, said that while balancing work and studies can be tough, she and her aunt, Kholofelo Motshekga, work well together and support each other as co-owners. PHOTO: Lienke Norval
“These days, a lot of skincare products have [ingredients] you can’t even pronounce – you don’t even know what it is,” said Marothi. “So we started talking about how we need to do better at nourishing ourselves, like food for your skin.”
The only product Aunora currently sells is a body butter made from tallow, lard, castor oil, glycerin, and essential oils, said Kholofelo.
“I am somebody who has suffered my whole life with dry skin and I didn’t know what to do or what to use,” said Kholofelo. “Our ancestors have been using animal fat forever and mixing it with plant oils.”
Kholofelo said that she then decided to try tallow and lard as moisturisers.
“My body just loved it,” she said. “Then I started adding a bit of lavender to kill off the smell and then I whipped it. I loved it so much that I thought: ‘Why don’t I sell this?’”
Kholofelo Motshekga, co-owner of the skincare business Aunora, said that after struggling with dry skin for years, she tried using tallow as a moisturiser and found it to be very effective. PHOTO: Supplied/Marothi Motshekga
A team effort
Kholofelo makes the product from her home in Gauteng where she sells it, and also ships to Marothi to sell at local markets and around the SU campus, according to Marothi.
“[Kholofelo] is more [focused] on product development, so to say,” said Marothi. “And I’m on the marketing [side]. Everything else we split and share.”
Marothi Motshekga, a PGDip (Marketing) student at Stellenbosch University, who is the co-owner and head of marketing for the skincare business Aunora, said that she spends much of her time over weekends creating content to promote the business online. PHOTO: Lienke Norval
According to Marothi, coordinating business meetings can be a challenge because she has to balance work and her studies, and Kholofelo works from 9:00 to 17:00 every day.
“But I think we’re both understanding of how busy we are,” said Marothi.
“Thank God for WhatsApp video calls,” said Kholofelo. “We have a video call twice a week or so where we keep each other updated. It’s doable.”
“Besides, we just get along so well,” she said.
Looking forward
Tallow and lard are rendered beef and pig fats, which Aunora sources from a local company, according to Marothi.
“For us to say it’s organic, all our manufacturers have to be certified organic manufacturers,” said Marothi. “We would want to work with a small farm, but in order for us to get a certified-organic sticker on our product, we also need to find a farm that is certified as an organic farm.”
Although the family-owned skin care business Aunora currently only sells body butter, the owners are experimenting with formulas for soaps and lip balms, said Marothi Motshekga, a PGDip (Marketing) student at Stellenbosch University and co-owner of Aunora. PHOTO: Lienke Norval
The business is always open to suggestions on how to improve and expand, according to Marothi.
“Aunora’s body butter is versatile,” said Michelle Bopoto, a customer of Aunora. “I use it for my hands, my heels, and as a lip balm.”
“I think a shea butter that I could use for hair would be a great idea,” said Bopoto.