WFT

Nomfundo Moh

HappinessHappinessHappiness ininin a a a bottlebottlebottle

Catherine Thompson and Jenny Arthur are South African cousins residing in Johannesburg and are the founders of What’ s That Fragrance (WTF!). Cath learnt the skill of Candle Making whilst living in the UK and Jenny has always had a passion for perfumes.

"When we decided to commence with our fragrances we had to understand the market language and who we wanted to sell our product to. In this day and age one has to be able to do such research before going for any product because it helps you as a business to know why you ' re starting and what is your actual goal. Jenny has two daughters in their twenties and this helped them identify a gap for a trendy, yet affordable range of perfume for tertiary students and young professionals " .

What makes your fragrances different or stand out from others? "Our fragrances stand out for their longevity. We mix imported Fine Fragrance oils to a Parfum standard (1:4 ratio) and we consistently get complimented at how long they last" .

In starting, what were your challenges and how did you overcome them? “We have been very careful with our money, but cashflow when starting out in a business is always an issue, especially if you don ’t have a capital injection. Profit goes straight back in to the company. With your own business you have to be willing to learn ALL the time. Technology, advertising, marketing, budgeting – you do it all. We have overcome challenges by signing up for free webinars, podcast and networking with other e-commerce business owners ” .

Highlights thus far? “We started with a table in a garden market of a friend in March 2019 after having the idea just two weeks prior. We are now selling candles, diffusers and room mists in one of Johannesburg ’ s larger retail pharmacies! Our biggest highlights are when we receive compliments – we have a bit of a cult following for our diffusers and scented candles with people coming back time and time again, saying they have never had diffusers that last so long, or such great smelling candles! That makes all the hard work worthwhile ” .

You can order or follow us by clicking the social icons on your right for more info. Get 10% discount when you purchase WTF products online using the WHATSAPP MAGAZINE code: