Director and entrepreneur Lester Pimentel Ong still remembers the property he failed to buy.
At the time, he had around PHP1.2 million in savings and had been taught the same lesson many Filipinos grow up hearing: save money, put it in the bank, and avoid unnecessary risk.
A property near him was selling for PHP2 million, but instead of taking a loan or making an aggressive move, he decided to wait until he had enough cash saved up.
By the time his savings neared the amount, the property price had climbed to PHP2.5 million.
He saved again. Then, the property reached PHP3 million.
That experience fundamentally changed the way Lester views money.
“To rely too much on savings and the interest of the bank will make your money smaller,” he tells PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) during an interview at the Binondo Food Group headquarters.
“You should be wise and learn how to take a loan and make your money work for you and not be a victim of inflation.”
Watch: Direk Lester Pimentel Ong: LIVING A DOUBLE LIFE
DIREK LESTER’S VALUE FOR COST EFFICIENCY
Throughout decades of expanding his food empire, he picks up a valuable lesson on growing money.
“Para sa akin, very good cash flow. [Nothing] beats good cash flow. So saan mo kukunin yung cash flow? In my opinion ha, pero kasi ako, I’m an entrepreneur, I’m a food entrepreneur.
“I would open a business that has a good cash flow, good cash income, good [investment] yun. Nothing beats that for me.
“That’s where you should put your money in—kung meron kang alam na isang skill set or may alam kang produkto na gagawin na kaya mong ibenta.
“That’s still the best yield. Yun pinakamabilis lumaki ang pera mo.”
Today, Lester oversees multiple food brands under Binondo Food Group, including RBX Rice in a Box, Wangfu Chinese Cafe, and Kyu Kyu Ramen 99.
Its flagship brand—RBX—born from a capital of only PHP80,000 using surplus equipment from home and operating out of a small kiosk, now operates nearly 200 branches nationwide.
Back then, he described himself as “very poor and very young” while starting a family. The business was originally meant to supplement his income and simply “put food on the table.”
Meanwhile, Kyu Kyu Ramen 99 is steadily growing into the biggest ramen chain in the country with over 90+ branches nationwide.
Despite continued success, complacency has no room when it comes to money matters.
Lester understands that entrepreneurship is about studying how every peso moves.
“Cost efficiency should always be the priority, for every peso of saving is every peso of extra profit that you have.”
His tenets in running restaurants crosses over to how he approaches filmmaking, operations, staffing, and even customer experience.
As a director of film and TV productions, including the ABS-CBN action series Incognito, many viewers assumed he was operating on a significantly larger budget than other teleseryes.
This was in part due to the show’s cinematic visuals and polished action sequences.
Lester, however, clarifies that was never the case.
According to him, Incognito was produced using the same budget range assigned to other ABS-CBN dramas airing within the same time slot.
What made the difference, he says, was discipline.
“Because of discipline, because of cost efficiency, because of my expertise as an entrepreneur, I was able to help the production save a lot of money and make it look more expensive than it is,” Lester explains.
Read: Incognito, nag-finale na sa Netflix; magkakaroon ng Season 2?
Discipline gets him far
Discipline has never been out of the picture in Lester’s life. As far as he can remember, it was a value almost expected of him and his siblings.
“I grew up as an athlete, particularly as a martial artist. I am raised in a very, very disciplined household because my father is also a martial arts teacher.
“And then, he trained us all siblings in martial arts, and I have become a very competitive athlete. I was a national athlete for Wushu. I represented the country in several [competitions].
“So, the discipline in martial arts, in training as an athlete, I carry it through everything and every endeavor that I do.”
And “everything” it is. The way his day unfolds is proof enough of that.
“I would start my day, I would have to wake up very early. At six, I would go to the gym and work out. Or, I would ride my bike for an hour or two, go back home, take a shower, have a quick coffee to the in the office by mid-morning.
“And then from mid-morning, I will start all of my work here in the office and then, I will take off late afternoon [to] go to the studios, most of the time [to] do creative work.
“Meeting with our creative people, the writers, my producers. Now, I'm giving training workshop to the actors that I’m gonna be working with.
“I will work until around 10 or 11 in the evening and then I call it a day.”
Read: Kyu Kyu Ramen 99 ambassador Anthony Jennings enjoys career resurgence after controversy
Honing the discipline to avoid chasing trends
At work, his level of meticulousness reflects the same caliber of discipline.
Although he does not identify as a micromanager, saying, “I trust my team a lot. I delegate a lot of their work and I give them, give them directions and let them perform their best,” he is one to be particular with priorities.
He monitors every operational detail, visits branches himself, conducts meetings while eating at stores, and speaks directly with both customers and staff.
“There’s no substitute for me going to each branch to test the food,” he claims.
Customer experience, which he believes has become the most important factor in modern dining, is tackled systematically.
Years ago, Lester said affordability mattered most to customers. Then quality became the priority. Today, he believes diners are increasingly paying for experiences.
“It’s not just being Instagramable for posting,” he explains. “It’s Instagramable because it gives you a complete experience.”
He points to details many customers might overlook consciously but still feel during a visit: the temperature of the air-conditioning in ramen restaurants, the type of music being played, the visual design of the interiors, and the overall sensory atmosphere.
“If you’re selling ramen, you have to make sure your aircon is very cool,” he cites with a laugh.
Still, Lester insists the company tries not to blindly chase trends.
“We are not for the trend,” he said. “We are for the necessity, for the need of the customer.”
That philosophy also affects how the company evaluates products.
Lester spills how the business conducts regular reviews every quarter to determine which menu items are succeeding and which need to be removed.
He stresses: “You have to know your numbers. The lifeblood is the numbers.”
Based on his history of doing business, he says mistakes become manageable if they are identified early enough.
Before social media and widespread internet access, Lester admits much of his decision-making involved guesswork.
Without the budget for formal market studies, he observed larger brands and studied how they operated.
“Big companies like Jollibee or McDonald’s would spend millions on market study,” he says. “I don’t have that.”
At times, he simply copied trends that were already proving successful in larger chains. Over time, he noticed the reverse happening, too.
When Rice in a Box introduced meals served in paper boxes years ago, Lester later saw larger companies adapting similar formats.
Instead of feeling defeated by larger competitors entering the same space, he treated it as validation for a successful practice.
“They’re seeing the demand,” he recalls thinking at the time. “So I just continued doing it.”
Despite the scale of the business today, Lester’s personal philosophy around money revolves around restraint.
“Spend less than what you earn,” he notes.
For younger entrepreneurs hoping to enter the food industry, his advice banks on these four steps.
“Learn fast, fail early, recover early, and just keep on pushing forward until you reach your goal.”
Read: Incognito: kumusta ang premiere sa Netflix?