Asali’s products take beauty industry by storm
The Botswana education system is stubbornly known to produce graduates who are destined to join queues of those seeking to be absorbed into the formal employment. However for Norma Asali Nlanda, a graduate of Economics and Public Administration from the University of Botswana, it was not to be case.
Instead she chose to make a bold move to pursue entrepreneurship by establishing her own company, Asali Beauty, in 2019 on her birthday. Since its establishment, Asali Beauty is making waves in the beauty industry with its range of natural hair care products. Asali Beauty comes from her name Asali, which means honey in Swahili.
She, however, did not decide to join the world of business one morning as it was a culmination of market research to gauge the market.
Nlanda explains her passion to create her own brand led her to invest in years of diligent research, and enrolling in an online course from the United Kingdom in Natural Cosmetics Formulation resulting in the development of her range of natural hair products. “From my teen years I have always wanted to be a brand ambassador for a big hair or skin care company,” she tells BusinessMonitor, “so that quickly changed into why not create my own so that I endorse myself and create a legacy for myself using natural ingredients from Africa for African hair and skin tone”.
The company specialises in moisturising cream, shampoo, conditioning hair smoothie, hair tea, hair juice and hair oil, all made from natural ingredients. The products are manufactured at Nlanda’s place in Gaborone.
Asali Beauty takes pride in celebrating and embracing natural hair, recognising it as an essential part of one’s identity and heritage. The brand aims to provide easy and effective natural hair care solutions that can be used at home. Nlanda proudly states that she has received good reviews, has sold a significant number of units, and has already received overwhelming support from the local market.
According to the business owner, demand for her products is growing, with an increasing number of enquiries and orders. Nlanda envisions her product line becoming a household brand both locally and internationally within the coming years.
At the moment, Asali Beauty’s products are sold in homemade small packages and can be found at One Six store at Sarona City Mall. “Asali Beauty’s products are so unique because I use clean, non toxic natural ingredients like mango and almond, plant extracts and herbs because I saw the gap we have in Africa so I wanted to make products that are enriched in Africa,” she adds. While Nlanda has faced challenges in sourcing raw materials locally, she has found alternatives by purchasing them from other countries in Africa. Additionally, she has encountered difficulties in getting her products into supermarkets due to some obstacles. However, these challenges have not deterred her determination to succeed. Also since her business is fully self funded, she is open to being funded in order to maximise her business because she wants to take over the beauty industry.
One of Nlanda’s notable achievements is being selected as a delegate for the 2023 Under 30 Forbes Summit, which showcased young entrepreneurs making significant contributions in their respective industries. She is also a Beauty Editor at a local magazine and has also started Asali Beauty Academy as people were asking her for the instructions so she thought “why not turn the tutorials into a business”.
Nlandla is also a newly member of the committee of Botswana Bureau of Standards and takes part in workshops as a speaker.
Asali Hair Care’s success story is a testament to Nlanda’s determination, passion, and ability to combine her academic knowledge with her entrepreneurial skills.