Faustino Quissico, a 22 year old Mozambican construction industry extraordinaire, tells us his story.
“From the age of 12 the entrepreneurial spirit took over me and I started helping my father in his restaurant in Inhambane. By 14, I was basically running it. It was quite difficult to balance my studies, but I made it happen. I was however always thinking about what businesses I could open and how I would do it. Interestingly I started many businesses that just didn’t work. This taught me to really sit back and think about what I needed to do – so what businesses could I start that didn’t require huge capital at the outset and which would offer returns on investment in a shorter space of time. In 2011, I felt I had found “it”. A partner and I started TQ Group Service, which sells and assembles processed wood specifically for hardwood floors.
Through a bit of trial and error and refining our business, things started looking up in 2015. Luckily, housing construction in Mozambique boomed and people were particularly interested in quality building materials. Our quality is different from our competitors as well as our service offering. Our challenge is still economies of scale and so our main competition is big companies.
We are not deterred and count small victories. We recently raised money for the purchase of a very expensive flattening machine, which is also environmentally friendly and easy to use. Our workers have noted much less dust as they work. We have luckily been given the contract from Inhambane City to build a guest house in the region’s most popular tourist spot.
Our plans for the future are vast! We want to take the TQ Group to the highest level and diversifying. We are interested in providing painting services and then further expanding. I really hope to grow our company’s assets to gross over a billion dollars, employing many locals. Most importantly we want this business to continue through the generations!
