Chester Lim: Epitome of innovation and entrepreneurship

CEBU, Philippines — Innovation is a big thing for Chester Lim.

For a business that his parents started in 1973, more than four decades ago, innovation was really key for Cebu Belmont Inc., a family company that is now under Chester's watch, to stay afloat in the ever changing and becoming competitive business environment.

Chester, 43, has been primed to take over the family-owned business, which started as a small hardware shop in downtown Cebu City.

Four decades have been a long journey for the business, testing the changing business environment and the ever increasing competition.

The Cebuano entrepreneur admits that the idea of innovation is what keeps him upbeat in managing a hardware distributing company.

It's no brainer as he was recently awarded by the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Innovative Entrepreneur of the Year.

"It's not only maintaining what you have, you also have to innovate. You constantly look for something that is not offered in market," Chester, the company's vice president for administration, shared to The FREEMAN in an interview.

"We are constantly on the lookout for new things. We go to different countries and we check the things there that we don't have and we bring them here. We make sure there's something new always. New items for the customers," he said.

His company is one of the earliest adapters of innovation and technology in Cebu to further business growth.

It all started with Cebu Belmont Hardware Co, a conventional general hardware store that his parents Antonio and Josiefe Lim opened on Plaridel St., Cebu City on October 18, 1973. This store is now located in Legaspi corner P. Burgos Streets, still in downtown Cebu City.

Mid-1980s, Josiefe Ang-Lim’s brother Engr. Felomino D. Ang introduced power tools to expand the store’s product offerings.

It was in 1989 that Cebu Belmont Inc was incorporated and a second store was opened along MC. Briones St. in Mandaue City.

In 1997, Lim recalled a point-of-sale system was first introduced in all of their stores to enhance operations.

The firm's Mandaue store doubled in 2001 its footprint to 1,100 sqm from 500 sqm allowing it to house more machinery and bigger equipment and was soon named as Belmont Industrial Tool Center, a one-stop shop for industrial tools and equipment.

Looking back, Chester was exposed to his parents' business at an early age up until he finally joined the company management back in 2001.

"We had earlier exposure to the business. I recall we would go with our parents to the store (warehouse) and help them. And we enjoyed doing it. So that gave me an earlier view of what business was like," the businessman shared.

Prior to joining the management of their family business, Chester was preparing himself so to speak.

He completed a business course in college, a masters degree in business administration in Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship in Florida, USA and some short courses in Ateneo REGIS Program and Asian Institute of Management.

These studies were instrumental to his being an entrepreneur today.

All these, he said, have broadened his knowledge in successfully running the business that his parents started.

The short courses he took at AIM also helped him create a family constitution for their business.

"A family business is challenging because there could be overlapping of decisions. But we are crafting our family constitution and values we must follow. That's important for every family business," he said.

Over the last four decades, Cebu Belmont has grown steadily to become a major player in the hardware retail market.

Aside from their physical stores, the company is also putting priority in increasing its online presence through Lazada and taking orders online, an innovation deemed very crucial in the expanding digital economy.

Another innovation the company made was to offer a wide range of products to include DIY (do-it-yourself) items, thus reinventing hardware retailing in Cebu. To cater to the DIY market in Mandaue City, another store under the Belmont Hardware Depot brand was opened next to its industrial tool center.

From being a small conventional hardware shop, Belmont now has a varied inventory of about 30,000 items, including tools and equipment support the operations and supply chain management of various industries.

The company has since grown its employees to more than 200.

It was named the Outstanding Filipino Retailer of the Year in 2007 by the Philippine Retailers Association, an award given to successful homegrown retailers that are globally competitive with good business ethics.

In 2016, Belmont received the Gold certification, the highest recognition given to retail establishment under the Bagwis Award Program of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

From serving mainly the end-users, Belmont now addresses the needs for tools and equipment of the following industries: furniture, food, shipbuilding, hotel and restaurants, automotive, electronic, power commercial institutions, building contractors, government agencies, academe, retail trade and metalworking.

In 2010, the company diversified into the booming real estate industry by creating a subsidiary named Colourfield Land Development Corp and started its first project Northfield Residences, 3-hectare housing project along Barangay Canduman Mandaue City. (FREEMAN)