Startup Story
Sandra Kourouma is the founder of Millkappas Multiservices and the "SK Escolinha de Futebol e Futsal Project" in Mozambique. She is an experienced entrepreneur and has certificates for trainer courses and trainer instructors. Sandra's business is focused on for society football and futsal for women and young girls and briefly for child girls. She founded the business 4 years ago and employs according to the needs of the event, but few women join the work for this type of event. She has 15 years of certification and experience in football training and more than 10 years in organizing sporting events that she started as a volunteer.
LoA spoke to founder Sandra Kourouma about her passion for sports and making them accessible to women and girls.
What does your company do?
At the moment our focus is the organisation of sporting events (Futsal) for working women from different companies in the capital of the country. We also organize futsal for school holidays for children from 5 to 13 years old. Due to quality and demand, we also started to organize Futsal for male workers from different companies in the capital of the country.
“Our focus is the organisation of sporting events (Futsal) for working women from different companies in the capital of the country. We also organize futsal for school holidays for children from 5 to 13 years old.”
What inspired you to start your company?
I wanted to create a second income for myself and a friend advised me to sell what I most enjoy doing. Looking at me I said, "I like to play football and futsal", so I'm going to sell football. Thus the idea of "creating and selling" sporting events arose.
Why should anyone use your service or product?
The simple fact of being organised and coordinated by a woman, who is a reference in the field of sport (former player and captain of the Mozambican National Team), with respect to the dedication in preparing the event and monitoring the evolution of teams and practitioners in terms of their health status and advice for observing and following a healthy life.
Tell us a little about your team
My team is formed according to the event. When we have events for men and women, I contract referees and delegate 1 to coordinate their work. I also contract 1 masseuse who deals directly with him and finally a delegate to do administrative matters and the general coordination is always with me (dissemination of events and sharing of information-press and stakeholders). When the event is bigger, the work team also increases according to the demand of the event itself. For children, I also contract 2 kindergarten teachers to help with the event.
“I never had an entrepreneurial education, I always searched in books, on the internet and observed those who do something similar or similar to my surroundings.”
“The satisfaction of being an entrepreneur is that I do what I like, according to the dates I plan and make money doing what I really like, in addition to helping the people I employ at these events.”
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
My entrepreneurial journey at the moment is made according to the event, (i) for women there are 3 events per year and lasting 3 months each year; (ii) for men, there are 2 events per year lasting 4 months each year; (iii) for children there are 4 events and they are held during the holiday period. I never had an entrepreneurial education, I always searched in books, on the internet and observed those who do something similar or similar to my surroundings.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
The future plans for the company are:
Get partners who can help the "SK Escolinha de Futebol e Futsal" project, to be recognized at National and International level;
Be recognized at the National and International level;
Be a reference at the National and International level;
Being able to carry out major sporting events at the National and International level (games of National teams at all levels);
Have Internationally renowned partners with regard to this area of sport;
Grow in the business area with sporting events.
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
The satisfaction of being an entrepreneur is that I do what I like, according to the dates I plan and make money doing what I really like, in addition to helping the people I employ at these events.
What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
Women must gain the courage and face the challenge of doing something to make them financially independent through entrepreneurship, only then will they break the barriers of discrimination (of all kinds) and gain respect and admiration from others.
Find out more
Email: prod.millkappas@gmail.com
Why LoA loves it…
One of the most valid reasons for starting a business is the desire to follow a passion doing something you love, and then turning that passion into a viable business. Sandra Kourouma is doing just that with her business, Millkappas Multiservices, harnessing her passion for sports, and in particular, football and futsal. Today she is leveraging her own personal skills and expertise in the sport, making futsal accessible to women, children, and also men in Mozambique. Inspirational! — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo, Lionesses of Africa