Kaupa pursues passion

By ZINA KOIM
RESIGNINIG from a steady job to follow your passion is a risk for anyone but for a young entrepreneur it is paying off.
Twenty-five-year-old Israel Kaupa is a motivated, determined and confident man who has chosen to follow the path less trodden, the one where he could develop his burgeoning talent in art and graphic design and turn it into a business at the same time creating employment opportunities for his fellow Papua New Guineans.
Kaupa, from Omkolai in Chimbu’s Gumine, would be the first to say it has not an easy ride but the graduate geologist from the school of natural and physical sciences at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) said he needed to follow his heart.
He had so much love and passion for the arts and graphics, an interest that was piqued while in primary school.
While a student at UPNG, he did freelance graphic design work for the Gumine students association of which he was a part.
“Apart from rocks, my passion is also arts. I am always passionate about arts, paintings, drawings and graphics, so during most of my free time, I would always do designs,” said the short but muscular Kaupa who wears his hair in the popular dreadlocks and extensions.
“I would have chosen to study arts at university if there was a good market in PNG or if there was a demand for jobs in that field,” he said.
After completing his studies, he was recruited by the Porgera Joint Venture to work at the country’s leading gold mine. His was employed as a contract underground mineral geologist.
As fate would have it, Kaupa’s stay in the industry was cut short with the forced closure of the mine by Barrick Niugini Ltd after the negotiations with the national government for a renewed mining lease broke down.
Kaupa was made redundant but the industrious young man did not let that setback keep him down.
While at home after the mine’s closure, Kaupa made the decision to pursue his passion as it was as good an opportunity as any to try, and he had the advantage of time and youthful exuberance to fuel his cause.
“I was thinking, if I can spend so much time on art, why not I make it marketable and make something of it and that was when I registered the business, Badonga Tech and Graphics Solutions in 2020.”
‘Badonga’ in Kaupa’s father’s language means moonlight and this matches well his hours of operation at the early stage of running the company.
Initially, there weren’t many clients as any start-up experiences in its early days.
But persistence and effective advertising on Kaupa’s part through the use of social media, particularly Facebook, allowed his fledgling business to attract clients.
“I started it as a freelance graphics designer where I only did graphics,” he said.
After a couple of months, Kaupa was recruited by Hidden Valley Gold Mining in 2020.
Being in a fulltime job and managing Badonga at the same time was quite a struggle for the vibrant Kaupa who speaks with an adroit yet personable manner, but he managed to juggle those sides of his life.
“I started it (Badonga) as a freelance graphic design company and I managed it myself,” he said.
Kaupa arranged his work hours and business hours so he could concentrate on his job at Hidden Valley as his primary focus and fill clients’ orders after work hours and on off days.
“In the mining industry, the pre-start meeting usually begins at 5.30am and the shifts end at 5pm, so from 7pm to 10pm, I usually dedicate those hours to Badonga,” he said.
He worked off his laptop for Badonga which was convenient and allowed him to fill any downtime with tasks for his growing business.
Kaupa reached a milestone in his short business history when he opened his first office at his home in Waigani. He used one of the rooms as an office and brought in a cousin, Paul Mili, as his first employee.
He remains extremely proud of the fact that his company is providing employment for other Papua New Guineans.
“Paul is a graduate civil engineer but he has been applying for jobs for almost two years but has not been able to secure employment in his field. Apart from Paul, there are a lot people who find themselves in the same situation,” he said.
This is what inspires and drives Kaupa: having a business that can gainfully employ some of the best talent especially with the job market what it is today.
Mili was his first employee and learned to manage the business through an online course which Kaupa helped him study for through web access. Mili attended online classes and served clients.
The business advanced to the point where more and more of Kaupa was required at Badonga’s front office to manage the growing clientele and work orders.
Bringing a fair-minded man, Kaupa felt was it only proper to disengage from his employment to focus on his enterprise and he made the dive this year into being a fully-fledged entrepreneur.
“I realised that I would be greedy if was still working (for the mine) but if resigned from my job and concentrated on Badonga I could potentially employee a lot of people who are looking for jobs and be my own boss,” he said.
In June, the Badonga’s home-based office was relocated to the Steamships compound off the Waigani Drive intersection across from City Pharmacy.
Kaupa also took on another employee in the experienced David Tau to work as a printing assistant.
He hopes to continue building his business and employ more people next year.