December 20, 2005
By Billy Lim-it

The past...

Six months, six excruciatingly long hard months, yet, so satisfying to say the least…

Welcome to the first of what I hope to be a weekly column to update you on what’s happening here in Kimoni central.

Looking back, when we first started, not one of us, the original 4, me, Greg, Victor, Sharon, had any inkling of the magnitude of the scope, the opportunities that Kimoni would provide.

Against all advices given to us, that there’s no way we can succeed, that we’d end up losing money, all sorts of reasons was given to us, to me, and it was from friends and family that only have our best interests at heart, so either we know something they don’t or we are just plain stupid.

Honestly? I think I was just plain stupid, so that makes the other 3 stupider! (Is there a word “stupider? But you get my point.) Against all logic, all the things your professor in business school would teach you like market study, surveys etc. I just had this gut feel, maybe, just maybe, this will work!

Joined by friends, Luigi, Ricky, Dave, JC, and Nikka., each of us buckled down to work, I’m not well versed in the local badminton circles, I just had one thing in mind, I just stepped back and try to see from the outside what’s being done now, and do things that no one else had done before.

Some might work, some might not, but it’s about taking chances, pushing the envelope so to speak. Easy to say, but here is where we put our money where our mouth is.

From doing tournaments differently, remember the Swiss system? To giving out the biggest prizes to date on our first Kimoni badminton tournament in our launch last July, to the way we market our products, unorthodox? Yup, crazy? You bet, results? Hell, yeah!

The present…

Suddenly, we were the talk of the town, calls from everywhere flooded our telephones, cell phones, emails, requesting for sponsorships, and Kimoni became everywhere.

Instead of resting on our laurels, we kept busy setting up the foundation of our company, trying to keep the brand awareness in the public mind by sponsoring small and big events, setting up a team, sponsoring deserving players. Putting out ads differently, creating buzz with our exclusive model and endorser, scoring a coup by being able to come out with a 2006 calendar (the only calendar) endorsed by a dozen celebrities, check it out!

As early as august, I knew what we wanted to do next year, 2006, but something just wasn’t right yet, implementing it would be tough as it would be again, something no one has ever done before also. Till we tied up with Willy Agbulos, Emma Mina, Joyce Misa, Gary and Jing Tulio on the 3rd Powerade challenge last October, after its success, I knew I’ve found the final piece of the puzzle.

I sought a meeting with Willy afterwards, I disclosed our plans and if he would like to join and help us out, and he said yes!

The future…

Now that we have the Willy and Billy show on the road, I’m very proud to announce the Kimoni Badminton Tour 2006!

With our partners in their respective cities and provinces, we will be holding our first leg in Pampanga, followed by Bacolod, Davao, Tacloban, Cebu and Kidapawan, and more to be announced, culminating in the grand event this coming July here in manila! Check out the details to be posted here and elsewhere soon!

And lest I forget, watch out for the opening of the first of our Kimoni boutiques!

Merry Christmas to all, thanks for all the support!

And let’s make 2006, the year of Kimoni!