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02 January 2020
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Story Valentino Ndaba
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Photo Anja Aucamp
Refilwe Xaba, Senior Assistant Officer in Entrepreneurship Development at the UFS Centre for Development Support, is the founder and CEO of Glolooks. This Bloemfontein-based company manufactures and supplies an organic, natural hair product range.
When she first developed the products, they were for personal use. Xaba evolved from an intrapreneur to an entrepreneur. She innovated a personal solution into a booming business idea. It was only in May 2016 that she decided to go into business, following growing interest in the way she maintained her hair. “I officially started in-depth research in October 2015, after years of making concoctions for myself.”
Business and books
Xaba reckons that a research background is beneficial for growing a business such as Glolooks that has a huge technical aspect. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Entrepreneurship with a focus on marketing and is planning to use her business as a case study.
Her undergraduate, honours, and master’s studies, which she completed at Kovsies, contributed to equipping Xaba with skills to grow her business. She believes in balancing education and business. “I have always been commerce-orientated. If there is a problem to be fixed, I fix it. However, people are at the centre of my heart.”
Growing Glolooks
In 2019, Glolooks opened a salon in Westdene, where customers can receive a holistic experience above and beyond merely purchasing the product. Xaba says this is one of the ways her business is being innovative when it comes to creating relationships with customers.
Cephma wins technology award
2007-09-30
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A project of the Centre for Plant Health Management (Cephma) at the University of the Free State (UFS) has won a 2007 Technology Award presented by the National Department of Trade and Industry at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth. The award is in recognition of the groundbreaking research work undertaken by the UFS on kenaf, a South African commercial fibre crop used, amongst others, in the automotive industry. The research was initiated at the UFS six years ago in collaboration with the British company Sustainable Projects Development Group (SPDG) and is presently continued with the South African company Sustainable Fibre Solutions (SFS). At the awards ceremony were team members, from the left: Prof Wijnand Swart, Prof Maryke Labuschagne and Prof Schalk Louw.
Photo: Supplied
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