Three questions every business should ask: LMI at Omni Asenso Talks with Globe Business

On 9 October 2026, LMI Corporation joined our key connectivity partner, Globe Business, at Omni Asenso Talks in Bacolod, a morning session for local business owners on how to use technology to grow. Together, LMI and Globe Business help businesses run on reliable connectivity, from managed Wi-Fi to direct internet lines.

Engr. Axel B. Banay, LMI's Founder and CEO, spoke to the room. Before LMI, he spent years as a telecom engineer building wireless networks across southern Negros, so when a business's internet goes down in the middle of a busy day, he knows both sides of that phone call. He promised not to sell anything. Instead, he left participants with three questions, one for each idea on the day's banner: strengthen the core, digitize with purpose, and grow with confidence.

1. Strengthen the core

Every business runs on three things we rarely think about until they fail: power, connection and records. In Negros, that means brownouts, typhoon season, and the payday rush when the internet drops, the payment terminal stops and customers walk out.

The question: if your power or your connection failed at ten o'clock this morning, how long until you are back in business?

If the honest answer is "I don't know", start here. The fixes are not expensive:

• Keep a backup connection. For many small businesses, a mobile data line that takes over when the main line drops is enough.
• Put a UPS on your router and main computer, so a brownout does not take your whole network down with it.
• Keep your records in two places. If your bookkeeper's laptop dies tonight, where is the copy?
• Know who holds the keys. Passwords, admin accounts, your website: if one person leaves, can the business still get in?
• Cover the security basics. Turn on two-step verification for email and banking, use a different password for each, and make one rule for your staff: any message asking to change where a payment goes gets a phone call to confirm. Every time.

"A strong core is not exciting. It is what lets you keep trading on the day your competitor can't."

2. Digitize with purpose

Many businesses buy software the way we buy gym memberships: we pay, we feel good, and six months later nobody is using it.

The question: which task in your business costs you the most hours, or the most mistakes, every week?

Start there, and only there. It might be counting stock by hand, chasing collections on paper, or typing the same report three times for three people. Three rules:

1. Fix one process at a time, and measure it before and after. If you cannot say how many hours or pesos it saves, wait.
2. Train your people before you switch it on. A tool is only as good as the person using it.
3. Tell your team what it is for. Going digital should make their work lighter, not make them afraid for their jobs. When people understand that, they help you make it work.

"Technology serves the business. The business should never end up serving the technology."

3. Grow with confidence

Growth is good, but it breaks things that worked fine when you were small. When you open a second branch, does your system follow you? Can you see sales from both stores on your phone? Does the new site have the same backup, security and records as the first?

The question: what breaks first if your business doubles next year?

• Protect your cash. You don't have to buy everything up front. Connectivity and equipment can now be paid monthly, which keeps cash free for inventory, payroll and the opportunities you can't predict. Just compare the total cost over three years, not only the first invoice.
• Choose partners who answer the phone after the sale. The real test of a supplier is not the presentation; it is what happens at two in the morning when something stops working. Ask who will come, how fast, and whether that promise is in the contract.

Three questions to take home

1. If my power or connection failed this morning, how long until I am back?
2. Which task costs me the most hours or mistakes every week?
3. What breaks first if my business doubles?

You don't need to answer them today. Write them down, and answer them with your team on Monday.

Asenso means progress. As Engr. Banay closed:

"Progress that lasts is never one person's work. It is built by owners who plan ahead, teams who are trusted, and partners who show up."

Thank you to Globe Business for organizing the morning and for having LMI as a partner, and to every business owner who gave us a Friday morning. Salamat gid.

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