Startup Story

Sofia Maquile is the founder and CEO of Smaqs in Mozambique. She is a young entrepreneur and Digital Influencer. Sofia's business is focused on making high quality digital pictures and videos for the international and pan-African market. She founded the business in 2017 and now employs and trains over 10 interns, 70% of them being from local communities. She has over 10 years of social media experience as a manager and influencer. Sofia strives for growth and motivates the young people to follow her path.

LoA chatted to Sofia this month about her inspiration for the business and also her vision for growing Smaqs and continuing to follow her passion for digital media.

What does your company do?

Smaqs is an AV production company in Mozambique covering Photography, Videography, Graphic Design, Digital Marketing and Digital Influence. Our target market includes models, artists and digital influencers.

“Our services are here to help people grow, explore their passions and achieve their dreams.”

What inspired you to start your company?

My country is, like most of our African countries, poor - not in resources, but in mentality. I’ve always dreamed of becoming famous and having HD pictures and videos of myself, I’ve always felt like a superstar. So when I was 12, I started to become more worried about my future but I didn’t have that much hope in school because most of the graduates in my country are starving to death and cannot make it in life. Also, every modelling/photo agency I applied to rejected me, every adult person I thought that would help me just used me, and all of these factors plus other events made me very frustrated. Combining these factors, I realized that I had to stop looking for help and understand that I can work with what I had in order to produce more and invest in myself and my bigger vision.

Why should anyone use your service or product?

Smaqs is a company that reflects my personality, and I love growth and development. So our services are not here to make money, money is just a consequence that helps us sustain the business. Our services are here to help people grow, explore their passions and achieve their dreams. We help, especially women, in terms of their self-esteem and personal growth, showing that it’s possible to come from a very reluctant and insecure personality to becoming the complete opposite. Besides our HD quality, artistic pictures/videos and very affordable prices, another feature that makes our services unique is that we, unlike other photography companies, deliver the photos very fast (in 2 days or less) and if our client is not satisfied, we also offer guarantees, either in money terms or with a free photoshoot.

Tell us a little about your team

I launched a vacancy notice at the end of 2021 for people that normally the government and companies run away from, that is, those who, due to lack of both financial and psychological conditions, had to stop studying but still want to learn and do something productive out of life. The team is made up of me, Sofia Maquile, the CEO, I have a General Manager, an Executive Secretary, an Accountant and Administrative Manager, an HR manager, a Creative Director, a Marketing Director, two Photographers who work with videography as well, and a Graphic Designer, all of them being between 18-22 years old.

“We help, especially women, in terms of their self-esteem and personal growth, showing that it’s possible to come from a very reluctant and insecure personality to becoming the complete opposite.”

Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?

As I mentioned before, I started my company when I was 12, meaning that before I had employees/interns, I worked alone and my family didn’t have a successful nor consistent entrepreneurial background. Unfortunately I won’t be able to cover exactly everything that happened throughout my career, but long story short, it all started with my iPhone 6, when I learned to make short dynamic video edits. Over time, I made some money here and there with the help of the audience I created on social media until my sister and my aunt saw my dedication and decided to work with me in a long-term partnership. My mother started to help me financially to invest in more equipment and my father helped me in terms of motivation and persistency. My sister, Yara Perengue, has a CrossFit gym, Fit Generation, she hired me to cover and manage the company´s social media and my aunt, Iolanda Francisco, hired me as her personal photographer. They helped me a lot and from there I was able to expand my vision and connections. After 2 years I stopped working with my sister due to poor time and task management, but I continued to work with my aunt. The pandemic came and it was a disaster specially in terms of school, so I dropped out in grade 10 and wrote the GED exams. The last person that helped me in particular with marketing was Evans Bia, my brother-in-law. In general it was a very tough journey since my competitors were/are at least twice my age and I lost a lot of friends and fun time due to work but it was definitely worth it. Now at 17, I´m able to solve and manage problems I couldn´t imagine I was capable of previously, giving me much more of a competitive advantage.

What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?

My biggest dream is to get Smaqs abroad, I want people to know our story and get to know my home, my background, which is Mozambique. With this, besides becoming a multi-million company, I’d like to have a university or training centre to form and teach as many people as I can in terms of AV production, psychology, self-development and entrepreneurship, just like I wished I had. I’ve already started supporting a non-profit organization, APRODES and we are helping a local community in Chipapa where I will be implementing these (and more) projects I mentioned.

“My biggest dream is to get Smaqs abroad, I want people to know our story and get to know my home, my background, which is Mozambique.”

What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?

Definitely my clients´ satisfaction and admiration when they receive the final product, especially the ones who were very nervous when they entered the studio and came out like superstars, it almost makes me cry. I also love the messages and DMs I receive from my followers, most of whom are young people, saying that I’m an inspiration and telling me about how I have helped them overcome a certain problem. Overall my biggest satisfaction is solving problems and helping people do the same.

What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?

It’s never too early, it’s never too late. Reality is in your mind and you can literally create your own, just stop thinking you need outside resources, get up and pursue your dreams with what you have, even when you don’t know what and how to do things, just go and you’ll figure it out along the way. U The Bawss (boss) Sis!

Contact or follow Smaqs

Why LoA loves it…

Successful entrepreneurial journeys start with a big vision and lots of passion, together with a can-do spirit and a tenacity to keep moving forward despite the challenges. Sofia Maquile has all these things and more, and importantly is a role-model for other young Mozambicans, demonstrating that it’s possible to start on an entrepreneurial journey at a young age, despite all the odds. In the world of digital influencers and digital media business, this is one tenacious young entrepreneur to watch. — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo, Lionesses of Africa