This interview was conducted with Cirilo Macanze, Techical Director of WebCom. He is 26 years old and has an education in civil engineering.
Cirilo, could you please tell us some background about your company?
My company’s name is WebCom, and our main activity is web design and graphic design. We have 6 employees, including three co-founders, and established our business 4 years ago. We also do web hosting, server configurations and networking. This year we are planning to extend our company to software development, especially in mobile applications, such as market system information and others. The other project for this year is to finish the project that we started when we got into the incubator, a search engine for Mozambican content.
Is this the first company that you have started, and what drove you towards it?
Yes. In 2002, before WebCom, I won the RINAF National Web Competition and as a freelancer I started to make websites for some companies. When the MICTI business incubator came out, I said why not? With 2 partners we submitted our proposals and we were approved for pre-incubation, 6 months later we went to incubation and in 2004 WebCom was legally established.
How did you finance your start-up operations and how long did it take for the company to become self-sustainable?
We didn’t have any direct funding but the UNDP [United Nations Development Program] paid the lease agreement in the incubator for one year and then during the incubation process we continued to get some business. So, for us it was easy to became self-sustainable and 2 years later, we recovered our money and time invested in the company.
"The incubator exposes and introduces incubator tenants to the environment and people that will assist in capacity development and identification of new business opportunities... investment in entrepreneurs is key to having more companies, more jobs and generating income."
Cirilo Macanze, Technical Director, WebCom
What are your major products and services and how are they unique? What is your competition?
Our major service is web design. In the beginning of WebCom there were few web development companies in Mozambique, but now the number of companies making websites has increased. We are continuing to be in demand as our company is well known. Due to the changing market, we are beginning to focus on mobile applications development, using the capacity developed during our years of business, and taking advantage of the fact that there are few or no companies working in this area.
How did you first launch the product?
The incubator helped a lot in this as they have facilitated some contacts at the beginning and we had big clients like the Mozambican National Radio, the Office of the President and National Water Company. This gave us visibility and credibility that we explored to attract other clients. We are proud to be the company that made the first e-unique website with online radio, for the national radio.
How do you measure the success of the company?
We measure our success by the number of big projects we are involved in and the revenue generated that allows us to be a sustainable company. We have an office outside the incubator and have recruited three new people. We have been invited to participate in some conferences and seminars where we share our experience.
Who are your clients and how many do you have? How are you focusing on expanding your user community?
We work with small and big companies, NGOs and governmental institutions [Ministries and the Office of The President] and academic institutions. We have been involved in organizing conferences banners, badges and brochures. WebCom is also exploring new markets outside Maputo which have big potential as there are few suppliers of web and multimedia applications including networking services.
Are you planning to patent your product and do you see any obstacles in doing so?
Yes, our search engine will be patented, and there are no obstacles in doing that because the MICTI has links to the Intellectual Property Institute and also the Ministry has a campaign to assist researchers and innovators to register their products.
What was the biggest challenge in starting an innovative business in your country and how did you overcome that?
Innovative business are new and the entrepreneurs have to invest a lot in marketing to convince people to use the product. There is no seed funding available to finance business start-ups and we had some difficulties in convincing people and companies to take their business to the internet and market their products and services on the internet. Internet usage was low when we started, but with some interviews and presentations, where we explained the benefits to be on the internet, many accepted.
Who are the shareholders in your company?
Our shareholders are the co-founders of the company. In addition to myself, Leonarndo Xerinda and Afrósio Sadie are sharholders as well.
How have you benefited from business incubation?
The Incubation Program helped us in company registration, business planning and management, sponsoring of technical and managerial training and, most importantly, they have introduced us to some good clients.
Do you have some specific lessons that you know now and wish you would have known when you started your business, and which you would like to share with fellow entrepreneurs?
One lesson is that starting a new business is a hard thing, entrepreneurs have to be perseverent and work 24 hours a day. Business planning is one of the steps that all entrepreneurs have to go through and it has given us a better understanding of the market and its dynamics and this gives us the confidence to be more flexible.
Do you plan to internationalize your product and if so, how?
Yes, last year we started a partnership with a business incubator in Luanda, Angola to build their website and the websites of all companies in the incubator. Our search engine, to be launched this year, ill also be an opportunity for us to internationalize our company.
With hindsight, are there any particular lessons or messages that you wish you would have known when you started up your company?
When the incubator was launched we thought it would finance our business and the projections we made on the business plan were wrong. We got technical support from MICTI and we were able to correct and redefine the business model. At the beginning we had the wrong understanding that we should keep our activities closed, but through participation in the incubation program we learnt that we should interact and discuss more about the business so that we could get more business and overcome some of the constraints that we were facing.
Do you feel that you had the necessary advisory and support network when you started your company?
Yes, the incubator gave this to us. For example, my participation in the UNESCO conference is an example of their efforts to expose and introduce incubator tenants to the environment and people that will assist our capacity development and identification of new business opportunities. We and other companies at the incubator have been exposed to this and other learning networking environments.
What is your message to funders/supporters and what is your message to the users of your product?
Mozambique is a county in transition and consolidating its economic growth. The investment in entrepreneurs is key to having more companies, more jobs and generating income. Most of the entrepreneurs are young people who do not have their own money and would like to have some financial support to start and fast track their business implementation.
To our users, I would like to say that the internet and mobile applications are the future and they should invest more in this to guarantee their market presence and quick access to information and remote services. We will be launching a new product this year to facilitate the search of Mozambican content. I would also like to thank all our clients who trusted in our products and all people and institutions that have supported our business development.
For more information about the Mozambique ICT Business Incubator, please visit their profile in the Global Network Directory.
For more information about WebCom, please visit their website.