Business beyond books

I am thankful for the privilege of being in the company of an amazing woman, Mrs. Esther Vibal.  She founded Vibal Publishing House, a company that has been known as the biggest book printer and publisher in the country for decades. Through her hard work, determination and undying passion, she has brought the company to the forefront of the printing industry.

Now, under the leadership of Mrs. Vibal and her son Gus, Vibal Group is a multi-billion peso group of companies engaged in multiple core businesses on technology.  This is genuine proof that technology and innovation goes a long way in business.

Yesterday, I was invited to the launch of their Vibal Technology Solutions.  With the mother-and-son tandem leading the Vibal Group, the company has taken its biggest technological step beyond printing.  It’s amazing to witness how a traditional business like printing is now adapting to changes and advancements in technology.  Instead of getting left behind, they geared up to have technology as a main part of their business model in order to secure a continuous and sustainable revenue and income stream.

Mrs. Vibal gave me a personal tour of their 1.5 hectare plant in Quezon City.  Now in her mid-80s, she passionately discussed how Gus is moving the company forward through technology.  She was tireless and dynamic as she showed us their facilities and latest equipment.  It was mind-blowing how we were able to keep up with her enthusiastic energy.  I saw how they are staying true to their mission to reinvent and align the public sector and education to the 21st century standards.  Go Negosyo agrees that this is just what the country needs.

Going beyond printing, Vibal Technology Solutions now offers complete products and services for the education, government and health sectors such as cloud services, cloud data centers, encryption and digital security storage, mobile and systems software development, among many others.  They are moving towards technological advancements that cater to the present trends.  Even their printing equipments and systems have also been upgraded to state-of-the-art high valued digital printing.  While other businesses fail to adjust to technological advancements, Vibal partnered with the most credible brands in the industry like HP, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, McGraw Hill, Huawei, and others.

Congratulations to Mrs. Esther Vibal and Gus Vibal for the recent launch of their Vibal Technology Solutions. They are true examples of entrepreneurs who continuously innovate and develop new business models.

Continuous innovation in a business model is critical in ensuring a sustainable feasibility in one’s business model.  Not being able to adapt to changes around us can lead to dropping sales and even business closures.  That is why I am always amazed how I see our fellow entrepreneurs adjust to the macro environment and gear up through technology to grow further.

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Technology has been very instrumental in all the things that we do especially on how we get in touch with our loved ones, how we transact business, and how we connect to the world. We have websites that caters to e-commerce platform. The social media site Facebook, which is celebrating its 10th year in the business, is also one of the effective and easily accessible tools that we can use. Negosyo start ups also make use of Instagram and Twitter to market their products and services and generate more awareness.

As we intend to promote the power of technology in our negosyo, we will be holding the 3rd Filipino Technopreneurship Summit on Feb. 19 at SMX Convention Center. This summit will feature inspiring technopreneurs who excelled in their field like Filipino tech giants Engr. Dado Banatao of Tallwood Venture, Manny Pangilinan of the PLDT Group, and notable social media journalist Maria Ressa, CEO of Rappler.com and Marx Melencio.

I remember meeting Marx Melencio several years ago in the 1st Technopreneurship Summit. Despite completely losing his eyesight in 2003 because of an unfortunate incident, he managed to recover and put up his own company Grayscale Business Consultancy and Management Services which provides research services to offshore software companies, incorporating technical research writing with information technology.

He was helped by his friend Tony Llano in ATRIEV, a computer school for the blind Tony Llano is also visually impaired. It was in that school where Marx  was exposed to the blind community and where he learned the advantages of being handicapped.

Presently, Marx acts as a mentor to others through his own business. He implements employment programs for persons with disabilities that provide them with employment and training. Though visually impaired, Marx has proven that nothing can stop him from achieving his visions in life.

 Engr. Dado Banatao’s story has a humble beginning, he grew up and studied in the valleys of Cagayan. He had to walk across the fields to reach school.  He was a bright and studious student who did well to be able to eventually enter and finish an Engineering degree, cum laude, from the Mapua Institute of Technology, and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

Business innovation and finding your strategic value are very important to Dado. He values innovation because for him innovation is what propels the technology industry.

Manny V. Pangilinan, an MVP in real life, also moved up the ladder of success with great sacrifice, hardships, and failures but he emerged on top of his game. He is one of the most respected and reputable self-made business leaders today. His persistence and hard work made him who he is right now.

CEO of the Philippines’ 3rd top news site, Maria Ressa will talk about technopreneurship in the Philippines: Understanding Social Media and Big Data. Ressa is a renowned Filipina journalist in Asia having been in the business for more than 25 years. Interestingly, Maria’s vision is to redefine journalism by incorporating traditional broadcast, new media and mobile phone technology to further social change in the country.

For more information on the 3rd Filipino Technopreneurship Summit, you can visit www.gonegosyo.net.