From motorcycle stickers to motocross racing gears
While his career as a seaman offered bright prospects for him, his passion for racing took him on a different path.
Starting with a backyard motorcycle sticker business in 1998, Zandro Fajardo later realized what he loved most doing and founded the OZ Racing brand now under his own corporation Original Zandro Racing Corp.
OZ Racing is a popular brand for motocross racing enthusiasts with products ranging from stickers to protective gears, accessories and racing apparels.
“In the mid 90s, I was working as seaman for three years. But a leg injury kept me from going aboard again, and so I decided to start a small business making sticker sets for race bikes,” said Fajardo.
To start the business, Fajardo invested P1,500.
He made stickers with original designs exclusively for motorcycles.
Because he is fond of racing, Fajardo said that he knew what race bikers wanted and at what price range.
He said there was a market for the stickers then because most of the sticker sets sold in retail chains were imported and were expensive.
“Because my stickers are produced in our house in Labangon, my prices are about 70 percent lower than imported ones but of the same quality,” said Fajardo.
His business grew and in 2001 he opened his first outlet in barangay Labangon, Cebu City.
He also opened a second outlet at Elizabeth Mall followed by his Archbishop Reyes Avenue outlet which became the main outlet.
From stickers, Fajardo added more products needed for motocross racing enthusiasts such as gloves, protective jackets, helmets, bags, seat covers and more accessories and apparels.
The jackets are one of his bestselling products which sells at his outlets from P1,000 to P3,000.
“Because I love to race I also know what a racer needs based on my experience as a racer. Most of the products I have are all affordable and I also carry products that are not available locally,” said Fajardo.
Fajardo sponsors events to also promote his brand.
From a single brand OZ Racing, he also now created other brands for specific product line like Koko Tank Bag, Urban Tech Bags, Kokonut Helmet and OZ Girl.
According to Fajardo, he produces all the apparels through his OEM company Ecolife Trading based in Mandaue City.
“We opened Ecolife Trading three years ago to cater to our manufacturing. We also cater to other brands who wants to have their apparels manufactured by us.”
His latest product line is for downhill mountain-biking which he is also marketing abroad.
Fajardo has about 30 people for his operations and about 15 outlets nationwide.
He said he planned to become a global market brand and had started marketing his products in other countries.
“We have done some marketing abroad before but westill have not made any progress. Now I’m pushing for our downhill mountainbike products and we are getting good feedback. We’re hoping that this time we can open a door to a global market,” said Fajardo.
For Fajardo, it doesn’t matter where you start but how you have grown.
“With OZ Racing, we intend to make Philippine-made brands a global brand especially that we are slowly attracting international sports events which can be a good vehicle to promote our brands,” said Fajardo.
