Startup Story
Maura Cumba is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of Nilombi Microcredito and Imperium Finance Consulting in Mozambique. Today, at the age of 30, she is also a mother of two children as well a business builder which currently employs 15 people. At the age of 17 she began her professional journey in the areas of protocol and sales. At the age of 21 she embraced the profession as HR Consultant, accumulating 5 years of experience in this area with a focus in recruitment and selection. At the age of 27, she decided to embark on the world of entrepreneurship, and today she is a serial entrepreneur.
Maura is Executive Director of Nilombi Microcredito; Executive Director of Mais Radiante (beauty salon); Founder and CEO of Imperium Finance Consulting, Limited, the first national and international company of consulting and training for microcredits in several areas and that develops projects for the creation of Microcredits, insertion and integration of young people in the labour market, properly in the financial sector; Deputy Director of Next Step, graphic and screen printing; Sembe Sales Representative Investments, company supplying goods and services. Maura is a visionary woman whose motto is: “Woman can have and be everything you dream of. Consider yourself to be an influencer and life-changing by example.”
LoA spoke to the inspirational Maura Cumba to learn more about her entrepreneurial journey and her hopes for the future.
What does your company do?
Nilombi Microcredito E.I - Granting of credit
Imperium Finance Consulting - First consulting and training company for microfinance in Mozambique.
The plan is to positively transform all microcredits, reducing the number of companies that go bankrupt and ensuring long-term sustainability through consulting and training services.
The greatest satisfaction as an entrepreneur is to transform people and impact lives, especially those of young people, and know that my businesses develop and add value to Mozambican families, the country's economy, and more.
What inspired you to start your company?
I never identified myself with a worker's lifestyle and I always had innovative ideas which I could not implement because the companies were not mine, so I just had to follow orders. Not only have I always imagined someone in my family needing to go to the hospital or being sick, the question I asked myself: whose responsibility will be to accompany the person, since we are all working? That is why I also decided to follow this entrepreneurial path.
Why should anyone use your service or product?
Acknowledging that the standard of quality concerning the provision of services in my country is very low, and after having made visits to several different companies in the field in which I worked, I realized that there are many weaknesses. As a result, I invested a lot in customer service, ensuring quick responses, in the low and competitive interest rates, and also in the clothing. All employees have and wear uniforms, and that conveys a great image and credibility of the company.
As for the consulting company I can say that it has brought an innovation to the field of microfinance, because there is not yet a company in Mozambique consulting and training for microfinance in different areas. In addition, we develop two types of projects: Firstly, we encourage people who have money saved and do not know how to multiply it, to open a microcredit and we as a company give support, from legalization, training of staff in main areas and the installation of management software for microcredits. Secondly, another for youth development which aims to integrate and insert young people, preferably from suburban areas, into the labour market, recruiting, selecting and training them (for free), in order to be inserted in different microfinance companies (as trainees and even as staff).
Tell us a little about your team
We are a very young team, composed of 15 people, of which 11 are internal and 4 external. We are a team where women take the lead in different departments. The employees are young people who come from very poor families and suburban areas. They are young people between 19 and 32 years old. I built and developed a super committed, dedicated, results-focused and super motivated team. One of the main characteristics is the unity and spirit of cooperation and mutual help. Most of them have been with us since the beginning. We have made evaluations of satisfaction and balance meetings and it is unanimous the motivation and enthusiasm to be part of this company. I firmly say that at least within 1 year no one will leave the company.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
I started my journey in 2019 when I was 27 years old. At first it was very difficult because I didn't know the area, I just ventured out and fell in love. I was very deceived, because being a woman and new to the business, people saw an opportunity to make a loan and not make the payment. This was mainly because I still had no office and staff at that time and I did everything myself and it was all very complicated. So much so that I lost a lot of money, more than 1 million meticais. But I did not give up, I went in search of knowledge and technologies that would make my job easier. I recruited staff and here we are today. Because of the difficulty I had to graduate in this area, because there were no companies that gave training for microcredits and we have more than 2000 companies legalized in this area so vulnerable, I chose to create a company that will help other companies not to make the same mistake that I made and not to lose money that I lost. Today I have 4 companies - microcredit, consulting company, a beauty salon, a graphic and screen printing business, and I am a Sales Representative of a company providing goods and services.
“I like being able to have a certain kind of freedom to make decisions and be able to generate and manage several businesses simultaneously.”
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
For microcredit, the plan is in 2024 we become a microbank, with agencies in the different provinces of Mozambique and with different services, because with microcredit we only give money loans. As for the consulting company, the plan is to positively transform all microcredits, reducing the number of companies that go bankrupt and ensuring long-term sustainability through consulting and training services.
The objective is also to reduce the rate of unemployment, crime, and crime among young people at national level through the youth development project, which aims to train them to be inserted into the financial labour market, specifically microcredits and microfinance, and why not commercial banking?
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
The greatest satisfaction as an entrepreneur is to transform people and impact lives, especially those of young people, and know that my businesses develop and add value to Mozambican families, the country's economy, and more. I also like being able to have a certain kind of freedom to make decisions and be able to generate and manage several businesses simultaneously.
What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
Women believe in your bookshelf and your dreams. The path is not easy but is possible. We are beings of strength, determination, and courage. We can do so much more than what other people determine for us. Let's not limit ourselves because there is a lioness inside of us.
Contact t or follow Nilombi Microcredito and Imperium Finance Consulting
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | EMAIL mauracumba.cumba@gmail.com
Why LoA loves it…
There is something that drives serial entrepreneurs to find solutions to key challenges or gaps in the market, and that’s exactly what Maura Cumba is doing today with her various businesses. Each one is focused on providing a solution that will help to transform people’s lives, and her approach is definitely empowering people to do just that. Inspiring! — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo, Lionesses of Africa