THREE Northern Caribbean University (NCU) students Javin Williams, his sister Kamla Williams and Kamal Smith are well on their way to success with the introduction of an organic shampoo, Herboo — having already won the National Business Model competition last year.

Herboo Enterprise, which started from a scalp condition that chief executive officer of the company Javin Williams suffered, has grown into a popular hair product since entering the market last year. What’s more, the Mandeville-based start-up has also expanded its product line to include organic hair oil.

“I suffered from dandruff and I contacted my grandma and she referred me to rosemary and peppermint which is really good for the scalp,” the 20-year-old entrepreneur told the Jamaica Observer. “So I tried the rosemary water and it helped, so I said to myself, seeing that the world is going green and it’s mainly synthetic products on the market, this might be a big opportunity for us to create a natural shampoo.”

Last year, the university students, along with fellow team members, Kemesha Maxwell and Alshadane Wright, entered the National Business Model Competition and were awarded $2 million after winning the competition. Following the win, the team also entered the International Business Model Competition which took place in Salt Lake City, Utah, and earned eighth place against 42 international teams.

The local team was also awarded the Best International Team award and won a total of US$6,000.00. Prior to that, Herboo entered the First Heritage Cooperative Credit Union Business Plan competition, which assisted them in organising the business model.

“That competition created a huge model for us to see if our business was viable. With the help of the Morris Entrepreneurship Centre at NCU we also got to understand how to run a business since none of us are business major students,” Williams told the Sunday Finance.

“The international level of the competition also motivated us significantly after seeing how seriously those university students took their business,” he added.

Currently, Herboo employs six part-time individuals to carry out operations and has plans to take its products into the Caribbean markets and the United States. Williams hopes to sell 2,400 units this year, up from the 400 units sold in 2014.

“We created the shampoo directly for dandruff, but after the competition we used some of the prize money to buy a fungus which causes many skin diseases such as eczema, dandruff, itchy scalp,” the CEO stated. “So we used the fungus to see if the product would work on those issues and it worked exceptionally well.”

The experiment, he said, incurred costs of $150,000 but guaranteed the product’s effectiveness.

“Once we found the solution we went on to validating the product, testing it to see if the market liked it. Some persons complained that the mint was too strong and it wasn’t lathering enough, so we had to go back to the drawing board,” Williams said.

The next step was to find out the distribution channel, key partners and resources, according to Williams.

The part-time student and CEO of Herboo Enterprise said the company is now looking to manufacture other hair products based on consumer demand. Distributors of the Herboo products include the York Pharmacy, Lilly’s Beauty Supplies, Parkview and Three Angels Pharmacy, Fontana Pharmacy and Central Beauty Supplies.

“We have many university students leaving school and we believe that small businesses like these will help to create jobs for the next generation,” he said.