A Legacy of Hard Work
Richard Lim, Sr. with Ralph, Richard Jr., and Rex
It may be their high-end and extremely luxurious Eskaya Beach Resort in Bohol that has people paying attention, but the story of the Lims’ business ventures is more intricate than running a four-star destination.
These days, the children of Richard Lim, Sr., are taking the reins over their many businesses. Besides the resort, the family runs a salt trading firm and a cement trading company. The story begins with the patriarch as a struggling working student with the resolve to make enough money one day. When he met a salt trader on one of his working days, he found out that the man’s company was dealing with their native Bohol. He thought, why can’t be the one to sell salt to Bohol?
“Tapos tuloy-tuloy na (Then the rest just happened),” says Lim, almost nonchantly. It takes a closer look and an attentive ear to realize there is nothing flippant about this statement. The remark is loaded with quiet pride that his sons are quick to identify.
Son Junjun (Richard Junior), 29, has his hands full managing the operations of Eskaya as well as the business of the cement trading firm.
There is much to be said about having a dad who has put in a good day’s work, day in and day out, even if it meant being too busy too many days while the children were growing up. The kids were also taken along on days with no school, to sit n at meetings, to do some clerical work, to observe and listen. Their on-the-job training, as a matter of speaking, began early and had paid off tremendously.
“The work ethic was all about punching in every day,” Junjun says, pointing out one of his dad’s more valuable lessons. “The other thing is, since he is a self-made person, I learned that if you put your mind to something, and you want to do something, there’s no reason it won’t happen for you. Just put in the work and then it will come.”
Working with his dad has taught Ralph, 30, that diligence is the key factor in success. The oldest son says, ”Things do not happen by luck — or that luck only comprises one percent of the equation. Dad has taught us that things happen by hard work.”
Ralph handles the marketing and sales department of Eskaya, while managing matters at their new shipping venture at their salt trading company. There’s nothing glamorous about the latter, and Ralph realizes that his friends may not understand the nature of such a fastidious type of work. He shares, “We go to the different warehouses to inspect. We also visit our clients, the office, and we do sales calls.”
Rex, 23, has newly joined the family business and takes care of accounting and financing matters. It’s something he’s included toward, his dad says, but it won’t be permanent. Over the year, Ralph and Junjun had been put to various tasks, across all companies, and Rex can expect to see himself in a different position and with other responsibilities.
Rex, like his brothers, admires his dad’s proactive ways, not leaving things to fate or faith, without discounting the greater forces out there. “What I admire the most about him is that [when faced with something] negative, he tries to fix it. And once he fixes it, he tries to move from there.” He also reveals his dad “has this belief that you can put much hard work, but sometimes you have to leave it to God.”
Junjun reflects, “I think one of our core values is really about the family helping each other out. In terms of our own development and our own growth, one of the key reasons our companies are successful is because they let us handles certain businesses. My dad gives us free rein. He gives us enough amount of freedom. So it’s really us putting our handprints in whatever business we’re handling.”
The patriarch has been listening to his sons’ remarks all this time and chooses to let them have the floor. It’s similar to how things are artwork: Everyone has a say and a democratic process is in place — replete with discussion and arguments to “reach a consensus.”
Mr. Lim explains, “I tell them, you are both an employee and the boss. We remind them that the family business — it’s really for them [to grow]. We are, after all, growing older.”
There are certain non-negotiables in this family. A significant one is the policy of disallowing the children to establish ventures outside of the family businesses. The rule is: If one wants to open a new enterprise, that must be presented to the board instead of being explored on one’s own.
One of the sons, Redmond, 25, has decided to go on his own, pursuing law instead of business. Dad shrugs that there are four more years before Redmon really needs to face the decision of joining the family business.
It’s the youngest, Rex, who recently had to make that choice, deciding to join the family and growing his career in that direction.
His dad jokes: “They have a choice: Join the company or resign from your job. I tell my children: We need you. The business is yours.”
