PROFILE SBENZ CONSTRUCTION
SHERWYN AND KAREN ESBEND
A young love saw a couple growing a successful business together. Now married, the pair founded Sbenz Construction in 2011, an award-winning black women-owned company redefining construction in South Africa’ s construction sector through excellence, inclusivity, impact – and faith.
From teenage sweethearts to successful business partners, Sherwyn and Karen Esbend’ s story is one of love, resilience, and a shared vision that turned a personal challenge into a thriving construction enterprise. What began as a young couple’ s struggle to build their first home has evolved into a purposedriven company anchored in trust, hard work and a deep sense of community.
The two first met as teenagers at church.“ We were camp friends, and it all started from there,” laughs Karen. Their friendship grew into a relationship and, by 2005, they were married – united not only by love but by ambition, too.“ When we tried to build our own home, we realised just how complicated the construction process could be,” recalls Sherwyn.“ That experience opened our eyes to the opportunities to do things differently – with integrity, quality, and care.” Drawing on the skills of local tradespeople, the couple began taking on small projects on weekends. The side hustle soon gained traction. Sherwyn decided to leave his corporate job to focus on the business
full-time, a leap of faith that would set their entrepreneurial journey in motion.“ It wasn’ t easy,” he admits.“ But we saw a gap in the market for honest, reliable service, and we believed we could fill it.”
Their big break came when they joined a provincial programme for emerging contractors. The exposure and mentorship opened doors to major clients, including insurance firms.“ People didn’ t expect much from us at first,” says Sherwyn.“ One client even said they’ d assumed we’ d fail – but we proved them wrong. Years later, we’ re still on their panel.”
Working together as life and business partners comes with unique challenges, but for Sherwyn and Karen, it’ s been a natural extension of their relationship.“ We know each other’ s strengths,” says Karen.“ He’ s more technical and operational, while I handle administration, marketing, and client relations. We complement each other perfectly.”
110 SA PROFILE www. saprofilemagazine. co. za