From a challenging childhood to entrepreneurial success, Tendai Kupenga transformed adversity into opportunity by founding Ashkim Electricals, now a respected electrical infrastructure company in Zimbabwe's Manicaland province.
After asking him the books that he reads, he chuckled and said that his childhood taught him sufficient lessons for the rest of his life. He did not have it easy, his parents separated when he was a child and he had to move from one relative to the next. This on its own was adequate to give him a bleak future. However, Tendai Kupenga, stands today as a successful young business person.
The difficulties in securing employment in Zimbabwe did not hold him back. After a successful completion of his apprenticeship with ZETDC in 2017, Tendai started working for the organisation as an artisan on contract basis. The uncertainty of contract employment roused an urge to secure another source of income. This was also catalysed by the fact that he was now married with a young family to provide for.
Tendai made a sacrifice of selling his private vehicle to start his hustle as a mobile phone and electronics dealer. He claims that the small venture was lucrative as they were purchasing products at low prices in China then reselling at higher margins in Zimbabwe. He however remained unsatisfied with this venture since his heart was in electrical engineering. With the guidance of his mentor and uncle, Patrick Kupenga, the young man sold off his shares in the mobile business to pursue his dream.
The journey to establishing a company was an arduous one as he describes it. There were a lot of requirements to be satisfied worsened by bureaucracy and red tape in public institutions which could have deterred him. The business itself is capital intensive; financiers were unwilling to invest in a business without a proven track-record. Regardless of all this, Ashkim Electricals was incorporated. The company focuses on construction of electricity infrastructure and maintenance.
Tendai's greatest test was the first tender that he won. "I remember the job was to construct power lines in Hwedza, I had so much fear because I did not believe I could succeed. I even hired 2 workers instead of 12 because I kept thinking that if we blundered, I would not afford to pay all of them," he said. Surprisingly, the construction work succeeded and it boosted his confidence to bid for bigger tenders. In just a space of two years Ashkim Electricals is now recognised among the reputable contractors in Manicaland province. He is also proud of his organisation's ability to scan the trends in the environment and adapt. They have ventured into renewable energy infrastructure and have also diversified to start a hardware retail outlet.
According to Tendai being an entrepreneur made him realise his capabilities and weaknesses. "I did not know that I was capable of running a business and only thought I could be a technician as I trained to be. It also made me realise that I do not know everything and have had to rely on my mentor who has walked the business path before to guide me particularly with issues on financial management," he asserted.
For Tendai, adverse situations have been the fuel behind his success. It did not destroy his future that he had an unpleasant childhood, neither did he stop pursuing his dream because he had married early and now had larger responsibilities. In fact, he is grateful to his wife Adelaide and his two children for keeping him grounded and focused on the things that matter.
