Business Profile: Jenny Lushaba
- What is the name of your business and what is your role? My name is Jenny Lushaba and I am the founder of Émilie Sweets.
- Describe your business in two sentences. We specialise in alcohol and cocktail infused sweets. Our products are like a happy hour for your sweet tooth!
- How long have you been in business? We’re just getting started. We will launch at the end of March 2025, but I have been working on Émilie sweets for about 10 months now.
- How did you get into this business? My love for the champagne region in France (Épernay) that I visit every summer inspired my Prosecco cocktail gummies. Things kind of took off from there and I became interested in cocktail and alcohol infused sweets, and confectionary in general.
- What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced, and how did you overcome it? My biggest challenge is pretty specific to sweet-making. I’d spent a year developing my recipes in Belgium and when I tried the same recipes in Durban, the sweets could not withstand the heat and humidity, so I’ve had to essentially go back to the drawing board and rework my recipes so that my sweets can withstand the Durban heat.
- What single trait/skill could you not have succeeded without? I have a data-driven approach to decision making. While it might seem like extra work to create a document to justify making certain decisions, this gives me the confidence as a new business owner to know that I’m making sound, objective decisions in the best interest of the business. Of course I never want to sacrifice creativity and fun, so I’m always trying to find a balance with those elements.
- What is the best business advice you’ve received? One of the speakers at the March KZNWIB meeting spoke about authenticity in your brand and that really resonated with me. In the fast-paced world of digital marketing, it’s so easy to get caught up in trends, but I believe that our brand identity is something that takes time to cultivate, and it’s important for our audience to connect with the ethos of the brand. I have an excellent social media coordinator who understands this, and we work together to stay true to this principle.
- Your secret to business success is? I suppose 2025 is the year that I’m going to find that out, and hopefully I can share that in a year 😉
- What is your business goal for 2025? To have our sweets stocked in at least one retail store, thereby bringing them to a wider audience to enjoy.
- Tell us one thing that not many people know about you? I am a speedcuber. I can solve the rubix cube in 45 seconds, and I have competed in some speed cubing competitions. It’s a really great party trick.