“I feel pretty proud of myself as I actually have a business and it’s called KAV-TECH.”
Just over a year ago, Akavi Natua was stuck. Fresh out of school with a valuable skill in tech repair but no job prospects, he spiralled into depression. Rejections piled up and the thought of going on the benefit felt like giving up. For months, he had neither work nor income, just uncertainty and doubt.
Today, at 19, Akavi runs his own laptop repair business from a community space in South Auckland.
The transformation wasn’t an overnight magic trick, in fact it was the House of Hustlers Entrepreneur Project – an ADRA-supported initiative driven by The Community Builders NZ Trust. The project helps turn young people’s ideas into real businesses. Akavi had already led his school’s RAD Club, fixing broken laptops to donate to students in need. When he heard about House of Hustlers, operating just streets from his home, he recognised he had a skill and he needed a shot.
“Within a month of registering, I was supported to get my business plan done,” Akavi explains. The program didn’t just give him encouragement, but it also gave him practical support. They helped fund tools, they connected him with mentors and they provided free space to meet clients professionally.
His first customer was a local pre-school needing their laptops fixed. Then another. Now KAV-TECH is operating.
What makes this remarkable isn’t just that a young entrepreneur launched a business. It’s what it means: a young person from a low-income community in South Auckland, someone the system nearly lost to despair – now has independence, income, and belief in himself again.
“The biggest thing was how fast it happened,” Akavi says. “I still can’t believe it.”
The House of Hustlers Entrepreneur Project shows what’s possible when young people get mentorship, resources, and genuine belief. Akavi isn’t an outlier – the program has supported 13 emerging youth businesses this year, with participants gaining financial independence, confidence, and skills that will carry them forward.
If you’re finding it tough right now or know someone who is – don’t give up. Look around your local community. Connect with others. You never know how fast your success may come.
Maranatha Fidow
