Every morning, Winnie Magagula would wake up unable to breathe properly.
For years, sinus problems had become part of her daily life. Like many South Africans living with chronic congestion, she relied on over-the-counter medication to get through each week. But when she lost her job in 2014, buying that medicine was no longer an option.
Instead of giving up, she started asking a different question: “How can I help myself using what nature has already provided?”
That question would eventually become the foundation of Gutjwa Holdings, a Mpumalanga-based business that manufactures Sinu-X, a natural plant-based sinus product inspired by Winnie’s own journey.
Winnie never planned to become an entrepreneur. After losing her job, she began researching medicinal plants and experimenting with different combinations using ingredients available to her. When she finally developed a formula she felt confident enough to try herself, she noticed a difference the very next morning.
“I realised I wasn’t blocked,” she recalls. “I decided to stop using it for a few days because I wanted to see what would happen. The congestion never came back like before.”
Encouraged by her own experience, Winnie shared the product with her daughter, who also struggled with sinus problems, and later with neighbours who wanted to try it.
As more people returned with positive feedback, Winnie realised she might have more than a personal solution, she might have a business.
With an idea but very little money, Winnie approached the Small Enterprise Development Agency for guidance. Their advice was simple: go and see if there is a market. So she did.
Armed with determination and samples of her product, Winnie began visiting schools across her municipality in Malelane. She would arrive before classes started, return during break and visit again after school.
“I walked everywhere,” she says. “At first it was just me.”
Demand grew quickly. Within weeks, referrals were bringing in more customers than she could manage on her own. She recruited four people to help visit schools across the area and, after just three months, had earned enough to buy a second-hand Toyota Corolla.
For Winnie, it was proof that her idea had wheels.
While customer demand was growing, Winnie knew that trust would be essential if she wanted to build a sustainable business.
Through SEDA, her product was submitted for testing through the South African Bureau of Standards and the University of Limpopo as part of the product development process. She also received support from the provincial Department of Agriculture and the SAB Foundation’s Tholoana Enterprise Programme to strengthen her manufacturing systems.
That support gave her the confidence to continue growing her business while learning that success depends on far more than having a good product.
“You can have a great product,” she says, “but if you don’t have the systems to run a business, you don’t really have a business.”
Winnie’s story comes at a time when consumers around the world are showing increasing interest in traditional and plant-based wellness products.
According to the World Health Organization, traditional, complementary and integrative medicine is used in 170 countries, highlighting the important role these practices continue to play in healthcare worldwide.
Despite growing the business, Winnie says sales figures are not what motivate her most, it is the people. She still remembers customers returning months after using her product simply to say thank you. “When somebody comes back after a year and says they’re still happy, that’s the most fulfilling part for me.”
Today, referrals remain her biggest source of new customers – Gutjwa Holdings has grown through conversations between family members, neighbours and friends who recommend the product to others.
Although Gutjwa Holdings currently sells directly to consumers and her products are available in pharmacies in Mpumalanga, Winnie believes this is only the beginning. Her ambition is to grow the business beyond South Africa and introduce her products to markets across Africa and eventually internationally.
Like many entrepreneurs, she admits the journey has required sacrifice but has no regrets. “There were times when I had to make difficult choices to get the business off the ground. But I believed in my vision and product. I remained persistent and continued to learn.”
She advises others who are starting out on their entrepreneurial journey to avoid being distracted by the noise around them: “Focus on what you know and keep moving forward.”
For Winnie Magagula, losing her job was the beginning of a new chapter built on resilience, curiosity and the determination to turn a personal challenge into a business with purpose.
Share this article:
About the Author
Terrena Rathanlall is the SME Media Portfolio Manager at Fetola.
