Startup Story
Leonilde Melembe Bene, is the founder of Paphalati, a handicrafts and handmade jewellery small business in Mozambique. She has a passion for accessory designs, recycling materials and home décor articles. Paphalati also restores old pieces of jewellery, giving them a second life. She founded her business 15 years ago, first it was only her and now she employs 3 people, one of them a local community seamstress. Professionally she also works as a Communication and Public Relations Manager. From a very early age she became interested in the world of arts and culture. She made her directorial debut with this short film and was the winner of the 2nd Edition of the Maputo Shortcutz competition (2022).
LoA spoke to the passion-driven Leonilde Melembe Bene about her love of handcrafted accessories and her desire to create more artisan jobs.
What does your company do?
Paphalati is a small company in Mozambique employing three people that designs and creates handmade jewelry, hair accessories and interior decoration items. It also repairs costume jewelry.
“What satisfies me about entrepreneurship is the fact that I can do what I like, always. To be able to own my time, and to be willing to try and realize my projects and dreams, to constantly learn to develop my own business.”
What inspired you to start your company?
What inspired me to start my company was my passion for craftsmanship and creating handmade jewelry. Despite working as a communication manager for more than 10 years, the hobby of creating crafts has always been a constant, I started by making pieces to offer to friends and family. Until in 2008, I decided to register my brand and start the necessary steps to turn my hobby into something profitable.
Why should anyone use your service or product?
What makes my product special is its unique and irreverent design, the fact that it is made out of recycled material to make different earrings and hair accessories. Products can be made to order and from customer suggestions, always making sure to give an ethnic touch to the pieces.
“My plans and aspirations for my company are for it to grow more and more, to increase the number of sales both nationally as well as internationally, to become self-sustaining,”
Tell us a little about your team
My team consists of two women and a young man. Besides me, there is a lady who is a mother, grandmother, and seamstress. She was a worker in a clothing store when Maputo was still called Lourenco Marques. I met her when she was cooking in the streets of Matola, now she works with me. I have a young man coming from the north of the country who makes the deliveries and participates in fairs from time to time. In the future I intend to hire more people for the fairs, to learn how to design the jewelry.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
Since I was little, I liked to make crafts, and in my adolescence I went to study abroad and learned many techniques, and I saw that I had a penchant for the arts. Then I perfected my craftsmanship and experimented as a self-taught artisan. The brand was registered in 2008, and 10 years later I began to dedicate myself almost exclusively to Paphalati, to participate in fairs, to publicize my work on the Internet, to receive more orders and to make sales. Although, it's not an easy market, it's been interesting and rewarding. No, I don't have anyone from my family ancestry tied to entrepreneurship. I have an entrepreneurial sister, too, in the fashion industry.
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
My plans and aspirations for my company are for it to grow more and more, to increase the number of sales both nationally as well as internationally, to become self-sustaining. Maybe in the future I can have a physical space where people can enjoy my work. To be able to develop new products and learn new techniques. To increase the number of employees, is also a plan.
“Maybe in the future I can have a physical space where people can enjoy my work. To be able to develop new products and learn new techniques. To increase the number of employees, is also a plan.”
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
What satisfies me about entrepreneurship is the fact that I can do what I like, always. To be able to own my time, and to be willing to try my projects and dreams, to constantly learn to develop my own business.
What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
My advice to women is that if they have a dream and a desire to accomplish something, that they do it simply, that they don't expect to create the perfect conditions initially. The path is made by walking, the most important thing is to begin. For if you have this dream in your heart and in your head, it is because you really have to realize it, because if you do not do it, no one will do it. And even if someone else does it, it won't be like you would you do it, there is only one You. Make your mark in the world.
Contact or follow Paphalati
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | EMAIL leonilde.melembe@gmail.com
Why LoA loves it…
We always like to see young women entrepreneurs fulfilling their dreams and aspirations by turning their hobbies and passions into viable businesses. For Leonilde Melembe Bene in Mozambique, that opportunity came through her love of craftsmanship and the creation of jewellery and accessories, and for the past 15 years, she has been building her skills, her customer base, and her team to fulfill that dream. — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo, Lionesses of Africa