EVERY one of us has dreamed or has dreams of making a decent living from doing the things we love. But many of us are not so lucky. And so we settle for jobs that we go to on weekdays and steal time to do the things we love on weekends.
Not Renante Lim. ‘Renax’ to friends and customers, the Cagayan de Oro native has found a way to turn a long-time hobby, mountain biking, into a profitable business as well.
But if you were to time travel and tell the adolescent Renax that he will likely be spending the rest of his life either on his bike, or building berms with friends, or even talking about the qualities of this bicycle part or that, he will probably be surprised.
Now in his 40s, Lim is a proud owner of the Bikelab, a bicycle shop that specializes in selling enduro and downhill mountain bikes and mountain bike parts. And even now, Renax bikes for recreation and competition, riding nearby trails or chasing downhill or enduro races all over the country.
Renax was introduced to biking by his older brother when he was 8 years old. Bicycle motocross or BMX was big even in the 1980s and the skills he learned riding BMX would serve him well when he subsequently began riding mountain bikes in college.
It was not always like this, however. Renax said he stopped for a year or two when he went abroad after he finished college.
"Nag stop one to two years kay nag larga ko sa gawas kay para makahanap ng job para maka earn ng (I stopped for a year or two since I went abroad to find a job so I can earn a) proper income," Renax said.
According to Renax, the money he received from working in a bank was not enough as a large sum always went to buying bicycle parts.
"It seems dili enough sa akong gusto kay everytime kami mag sweldo, padulong ra sa bike, so dili ko katigum kay gamay ra ang sweldo (it’s not enough since every time I receive my salary, it goes to my bike, so I don't have money left for my savings)," Lim added.
Renax said he decided to find work abroad. He spent a year working in Taiwan and another year in the United States. It was only in 2001 that he decided that he had saved enough money and to permanently stay in Cagayan de Oro and continue with his hobby.
By 2003 at 27, Renax said he began selling bike parts in a corner space at his parents’ house in Tomas Saco St.
The bike shop, Renax said, wasn't built in one day.
Before Bikelab was established, Renax was already a member of local bike club Combat and a member of the team Bikelab where the name of his business was derived from. Club members had their weekly meetings, every Sunday, in that corner area.
"Nag abre ko dinhi og gamay nga space para sa among mga bikes para diri na lang mi magkita, diri mi mag tambay, then diri mi magdula og video, bike gihapon nga mga games (I opened a small space for our bikes where we can meet and hangout, playing video games related to bikes)," Lim said, adding that that was also where they repair or change some bike parts for new ones.
As time went by, the group accumulated several bike parts and decided to sell them. Renax also was able to meet people from the bike industry at races outside Cagayan de Oro who offered to sell him bicycle parts.
Hence, after accepting the offer, Renax said he became the first dealer of parts for mountain bikes used for downhill biking in Cagayan de Oro.
"Its a matter of, more on nag trust lang sila sa akoa kay kauban sa bike, pareho og hilig, ganahan sila kay naa nay dealer sa Cagayan. So eventually ipambilin na nila sa ako ilang ipamaligya then hangtud nahimo na siya'g bikeshop (they put their trust on me since we have common interest and passion in bikes and they wanted to have a bike parts dealer in Cagayan de Oro. So eventually, they left their products for me to sell until the bikeshop was established)," Lim said.
Even without the help and support from his parents, Lim said he was able to maintain his business, and said everything seems to be effortless with no planning involved. He said he has fun selling and talking about bikes to his customers.
"Everything is easy for me because passion na ko ang bike (of my passion to bikes). The difference namo [Bikelab] (between our business) from other bikeshops, they're businessmen so they're making a life out of kani (this) as business. Sa amo man gud, wala mi nag think of profit, nag enjoy mi sa among gabuhaton. So whenever we have customers nga moduol, mo-inquire lang, ga-enjoy mi og conversation about bikes (We don't think of the profit, we enjoy what we're doing. So whenever we have customers who wanted to inquire, we enjoy starting conversations with them about bikes)," Lim said.
Renax said that as a biker, knowledge on which parts or equipment to use for bikes and for bikers, especially when it comes to the quality of the equipment, is handy when doing business.
"Daghan gaanhi sa amo because mo-explain pa mi, we go beyond sa selling lang, murag amigo ra mi nga ga istorya (Several people visit us because we explain everything to them, we go beyond the selling talks, we converse with them on friendly terms)," Lim added.
Renax said he is grateful that he does not have to wake up and tend to his business because he is obliged to do so. He said he has not lost his enthusiasm and he finds joy in doing something he loves. As he approaches the half century mark, Renax said he still feels he is that young man who hang out with fellow bikers, taking pleasure in bike rides to mountain trails, getting lost in beautiful scenery.
"Actually, kaning pag grow sa business, murag bonus na lang siya, at the same time happy ka sa imong gabuhaton (this growing business is just like a bonus, something that I'm happy to do)," Renax said.