Inspiration to anyone forced out of school

BUSINESS

By NATHAN WOTI
ALEX Penda, 39, from Pangia, Southern Highlands, is an interesting man as his life story and journey to become a respected entrepreneur is nothing short of inspiring.
A humble, wise, hardworking, family-oriented and above all God-fearing man, Penda’s story not only inspired me, but truly helped me to refocus my life and invest my time and energy into my own passion and work.
He started his business with a small cleaning company with eight of his close mates, and fast forward almost a decade later, Penda has three different companies under his name with a net worth at around K17 million.
Penda is currently the Managing Director of Koli Security Solutions Limited and other subsidiary companies namely Souths Builders and Maintenance Construction, a company specialised in construction and maintenance of buildings and properties and Alexsah Hire Cars, specialised in providing affordable car hire services in Port Moresby, Lae and Mount Hagen.
Penda explained that he had no idea of doing any business when he walked out of Grade 11at Badihagwa Secondary School in Port Moresby back in 2007. All he knew was he has to start somewhere if he wanted to survive in a big city like Port Moresby.
“I remember I had no school fee and I just got up and walked out of the gate,” he said.
“After leaving school I did not waste time. I got straight into becoming a security guard and I used to get K10 per day. I would save up that money and then lend it for a little profit of K5 or K10.
“From there I managed to buy a little car which I used it again to transport garden produce from Koiari down to Gordons market and I usually charged K10 for a bag. From there on I saved enough money and I started my first company, a construction and cleaning company with some of my closest friends who are all still with me to this day,” an emotional Penda said.
After starting his first company, Penda was lucky enough to secure a contract with PNG Power Limited for some maintenance work at the Hohola head office in Port Moresby. That would lead him to meet Obert Batia and John Tangit (former CEOs), who he negotiated with to start up a security company.
In 2015, Penda established his second company, Koli Security Solutions. He started the security firm and provided support security to substations of PPL. After PPL, Penda went on to secure a contract with few secondary school around the cities including a couple of government offices.
Currently, Koli Security Solutions Limited has over 200 employees, with offices in Port Moresby and Lae. The company is providing second-chance opportunity to unprivileged Papua New Guineans who would have been on the streets causing law and order issues.
The employees are from all over the country, which something Penda said has made him feel proud to see different ethnicities working together.
Penda opened the firms’ new headquarter office in Port Moresby on Good Friday. The building will be the center of its operations for Port Moresby and Lae.
Penda told The National that one of his greatest inspirations was to create opportunities for Papua New Guineans.

I remember I had no school fee and I just got up and walked out of the gate…

“I started my journey into business at a very young age with no money in my pocket,” he said.
“When I first started a cleaning service and a construction company, I did it with a group of friends and that had always been my inspiration. I wanted to employ more men and women so that in that way I can at least play a part in ensuring that a family has food on their table every night,” Penda said.
He added that with the new office, it would boost operations and performance of the firm as well as the guards.
Penda said the firm had come a long way since 2015 and the opening of the new head office symbolized a decade of hard work and sacrifice.
“This should inspire any Papua New Guineans to achieve big things in life. I have put in effort, time, energy and tears into this result, to see that my staff will now be operating from their own desks inside an air conditioned building.
“This achievement can be a testimony to any Papua New Guinean to keep continue chasing their dreams.
The firm recently received an International Standard Certificate (ISO) for meeting globally recognised standards in its operations. It received ISO certificate No.9000 and its certificate, ISO No.18788, in 2022.
The security firm was established in 2015 with eight security guards, a firearm and one vehicle used for providing security at PNG Power limited substations in Port Moresby.

God and family
Penda said all that he had achieved was made possible through his relationship with God and the support of his family.
“Throughout my entire journey so far I have always put my faith in God first and foremost, and I have always trusted my little family for support whenever I am down,” he said.
“I have never forgotten where I come from, or what made me to become the person I am today, blessed with a beautiful family, a loving wife, and amazing staff.
“God has a way of testing a man to see whether or not they will stay loyal when He blesses them or they will fall.
“I knew how I came to be and it is not through my own wisdom or strength which I will receive all glory, but I must always praise God for the things he blessed me with, and I want to bless others the same way,” Penda said.
Penda is married to his beautiful wife Rexlyn Tau Penda, and has two sons—Alex Junior and Melchizedek, and daughter Maliyah.
When asked what advise he would give to aspiring entrepreneurs, Penda said; “It is better to start with what you dream of doing, could be your passion or what you are good at, failures will come the first time, but a true entrepreneur knows that failure is part of the journey. Try to be consistent and have a group of friends or staff who would push you to your limit to see you achieving your goals. Make plans and aim to achieve them in a time frame, step by step, one block at a time. And above all make sure to keep God in the center of everything you do and hold on to the love of your family because you will need it”.
Penda told The National that choosing a path of entrepreneurship was not for the faint hearted, but was for people with very strong desire to succeed.

Afraid of dirty work? Think again!
“One thing that I have witnessed, which I believe is killing most of our aspiring entrepreneurs is the feeling of being shy,” he said.
“They do not want people to see them doing dirty work or lower-paid jobs, but those are at the heart of being an entrepreneur.
“As for me, and I know most of the successful entrepreneurs. I know have this, they strive for failure so that they can learn from it and improve their products or services.
“Many young people do not want to go out of that comfort zone and I believe the world we live in today is providing countless opportunities for small and medium enterprises everywhere and every day. It is a matter how bad you want it and how far you would go to get it,” Penda said.
As I was about to bring the interview to a closure, Penda smiled and said: “You know, my biggest motivation of why I’m doing what I am doing is not money, but it is the smile of my fellow Papua New Guineans working for me and knowing that I at least play a small part in providing for their families”.
Recently, Penda’s company Souths Builders and Maintenance Construction, built a bridge in lower Wiru in Ialibu-Pangia district, Southern Highlands.
He constructed the bridge without any charge, with only material assistance from Department of Works through funds from Ialibu-Pangia MP and former prime minister Peter O’Neill.