ANDREW Khan, proprietor of Jablo Enterprise and recipient of the 2012 Prime Minister’s Youth Award for entrepreneurship, says becoming a businessman was not a career he fancied until three years ago.

Khan, 22, who started his health-based business venture almost a year ago, told Career & Education that his interest in becoming an entrepreneur was sparked only within the last three years while randomly pursuing a bachelor of science degree in entrepreneurship as a student at the University of the West Indies (UWI) where he also won an entrepreneurship competition.

“The business concept came about during my search to find a plant that could withstand the harsh, dry climate of St Elizabeth and also be immune to praedial larceny,” Khan said.

“The initial plant I thought would have been useful was the aloe vera; however, while searching for aloe vera seeds to purchase, I came across miracle tree seeds also known as moringa seeds. This spurred my curiosity and I started doing rigorous research on the plant,” Khan said.

Khan said his interest in the use of the plant for production was further ignited when Dr Kadamawe Knife, lecturer for marketing, international business and strategy, showed him the plant on campus and explained the benefits.

After that, he decided to create a business plan around the use of moringa seeds for production and entered it in the UWI Guild of Students’ Business Plan Competition in 2010. He won and was awarded a cash prize of $150,000 which was used as the capital for his business venture.

“Research and development continued as I approached our local government agencies, the Bureau of Standards and the Scientific Research Council and they confirmed that the plant had extremely beneficial properties,” Khan said.

“The target market is health conscious persons, persons suffering from high blood pressure, and those with diabetes. Persons have been calling with positive feedback as it relates to their pressure once they use the tea consistently. Moringa tree has been said to help maintain normal blood pressure levels. I have chosen to supply this market because I am a very health conscious person. I believe in the product and its benefits, so I also consume my product daily,” he said.

His company makes herbal blend teabags which are made from hand-picked moringa leaves and sorrel.

“At Jablo we set high standards and as such we set high goals. Once we can accomplish a goal which was set, we raise the bar even higher. It is a personal business belief of mine that one can never be satisfied with one’s company’s performance as that leads to complacency,” Khan told Career & Education.