Junrex Cellphones’ success rooted on friendly network

CEBU, Philippines — Long before the telecommunication industry made its life-changing turns, Pablo "Jun" Yap Jr., had already been making a little business in helping people getting postpaid accounts to enjoy the mobile telephony.

Jun, who was working as a soft-drink subcontractor in the mid 1990s, stumbled upon this opportunity making use of his wealth of friends to get more subscribers for a cellular brand, literary hopping from one company to another.

It never came across his mind then, that this sideline business would eventually make him as what he is known now, as "Cebu's King" in technology and gadget retailing, probably because he thought his sideline was just a short-lived venture.

But, Junrex Cellphones & Accessories Inc., as what we know today, is one of the largest and long staying retail stores for majority of mobile technology brands, with branches spanning in the Visayas.

In 1996, cellphones were just beginning to get into everyone's consciousness. Cellphones were instant hit but only a few could afford them.

From one table to malls

When Jun found out that his sideline in the telecom industry gave him more take-home money than his regular job, he invited his cousin Xavier "Rex" Yap, who owned a hardware store then, to join him and help in the processing of mobile accounts for growing subscribers. The two distributed P2,500 each to rent a small space in a boutique near Mobiline office, as a support service for people who had hard time processing their post paid lines.

Their pooled P5,000 investments was only used to process the necessary documents for them to operate a legitimate business, thus the tandem "Junrex" started.

Aside from completing the necessary permits, Jun said what the business needed was a joint checking account for the company, so they can access credit lines from suppliers. "That was all we needed."

The challenge facing Jun and Rex then was to create a need for cell phones. To make cell phones more attractive to people.

"We had to go the extra mile by offering after sales service. It was our belief then that there wasn't much we could do as far as cell phone products were concerned, but there was much that we can do to improve customer service."

From one table to second table, the business grew in just a short span of time, until they were invited by a shopping mall operator to open a small kiosk. This time, the two cousins had already made their names in both consumers and the growing players of the mobile technology.

Junrex’s presence in the mall opened up more opportunities for Jun and Rex to get more brands to join in their array of offerings, until Globe Telecom came in and tapped them as distributor for the Visayas.

After its successful partnership with Globe, more multinational giants followed suit, brands like Nokia, Motorola, Panasonic, Bosch, among others competed to get Junrex's nod of approval.

And the rest is history.

Building bridges

Putting business aside, Jun is naturally friendly and believes on building relationships even when the times get rough. Burning bridges with associates, friends, and acquaintances is not his cup of tea.

His business he said was built practically because of his growing connections with friends across industries. Burning bridges with someone regardless of circumstances, he believes is an ultimate "downfall" in business and even in personal life.

Up to this time, even after Rex migrated to another country and left him alone managing the business, Jun is able to traverse the ups and downs, turns and twists of the highly fluid telecom and technology industries, it’s because he never burned bridges, rather continued to build them.

At the height of mobile craze and the golden age of telecommunication and now the generation of technology and internet, competitors come and some go, but Jun said he is able to build stronger bridges ever-since and these serve as his business protection to fight the avalanche of players in the same business category.

Stewardship

Unknown to many, Jun's secret to a successful and hard to compete business, is his strong conviction on "stewardship" — in spiritual level.

Jun, an active member of Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals (BCBP), understood the Christian belief of ownership, which acknowledges that everything we thought we own including money, and material things, is not actually ours and it’s just something borrowed from the true owner up above.

He said his business takes this kind of stewardship to a higher level, as this practice is being inculcated in every employee at Junrex. In fact, he designed a module in this regard, part of the several professional and personal development trainings every employee undergoes on regular basis.

According to Jun, his business did not succeed because he is good at it, but rather because somebody up above approved it and made it so.

He said in every partnership, or dealership Junrex enters, deals should be founded in integrity of quality, pricing and after-sales service is top most important.

Stewardship for him he said is giving God his portion first, in everything he gets — gross or profits.

"I am a believer of Christian tithing," he shared adding that this open-secret has become his business' cornerstone, and he doesn't have to prove to anyone if this really works — experiencing its benefits and blessings by himself is enough.

His way of doing business, maybe rare in the world of profit-oriented business landscape, but it had proven its worth — time and time again, he quipped.

Joy ride

After 22 years of joy-riding with the golden thread of telecommunications, technology sector, Jun is not only stuck in expanding his number of stores in Visayas, but he is also making good business on the sides, as owner and operator of concept stores of branded mobile brands, like Samsung, OPPO and LG.

What he thought could be a short-lived money making venture with his cousin Rex in the mid 90s has become an enjoyable ride.

Jun is even looking forward to ride on to more surprises in the fast spinning technology movement. "And Junrex is here to stay."

Junrex now has a total of 10 stores spread over Visayas region, with over 200 regular employees.

As the industry is taking another twist, Junrex also readies itself to take another joy ride. This time making presence in the online retailing world.

Wherever the technology and mobile telecommunications are heading, what Jun knows for sure, is Junrex will continue to hang on and "enjoy the ride." (FREEMAN)