Leaderboard

Donde Ventura Chimi started its journey 23 years ago. A merchant dedicated to different activities, he took the risk of managing a fast-food restaurant and dedicated himself with discipline to his business. With it, he raised his three children, and now they are in the business as well. Today, we spoke with one of them, Jose, the restaurant manager. What is the type of business you run, and how long ago did you start? The business has a history of more than 20 years. It is fast food, hamburgers, fries etc. It is a family business that started with my parents, and then all the children took a place in the business. We all help and are involved in it. My dad was involved in other businesses, but the old owner offered him to manage the restaurant, and he took the risk, so with the help of some acquaintances, they encouraged him to take over the business. Thus, Donde Ventura Chimi was born on December 8, 2001, 23 years ago How has the trajectory of the business been? Do you remember any difficulties that you have gone through? As a family business, my parents are the ones who prepare the products; when I grew up, I took on the role of managing sales. It is a small but stable and very productive business. It has been evolving slowly but steadily. We used to be outside in a little cart on a corner. Then we moved to a storefront, and now we have a physical store in our region. Concerning any difficulty we faced in this trajectory, it would only be the pandemic because my dad, “come rain or shine,” always fulfills the business schedules and always goes out to make sales. When did you decide to implement new tools in the business? After the pandemic, we started with digital sales, social networks, and WhatsApp sales. We were hesitant to open sales during the pandemic, as this was the first time we had worked with any delivery tool before, but we insisted on starting with WhatsApp sales, shockingly after two weeks, all the sales flow was by WhatsApp. Then, we began to open gradually, and at that moment, we saw the need to formalize the menu for the catalog and add images. Then, I started looking for a POS system to manage inventories and reports. That's how I came to Loyverse. How did you manage the business before, and how did you find Loyverse? As I became more involved in the business, I saw the need to change the way we handled orders. To place orders, we used a paper notebook. There was no order of arrival, and there was disorganization in the kitchen when receiving the orders. The calculation of the item’s stock was also done manually. When I found your system, I hesitated to say it was compatible with restaurants. I was looking for some hardware for the business, and in multiple instances, the devices advertised that they were compatible with Loyverse. Then, out of curiosity, I searched for more information about your system. I found some restaurant software, but only Loyverse had everything in the same place: the receipt printing, the kitchen screen, and we needed a system compatible with our Android device to make the sales. How was the process of choosing Loyverse as your POS? After I found it, I thought or a long time I thought, what was the catch? They offer me kitchen display, multiple POS, Back Office, Employee Management, and Customer Display. I downloaded the app, created my account, and did everything for free, I found out it was true what you indicated on your pricing page, all those tools were free and I would only have to pay if I wanted to add employees. Loyverse communicates with the kitchen screens, it does everything. For me, it was a challenge, to find out where it was going to fail me, and I found nothing, I continued, 3 months, 6 months and I've been with the system for a year now. What changed in your business when you implemented Loyverse? Previously, I had problems with another system because sometimes the internet failed, and I could not work because everything was online. In Loyverse, there is the offline mode. Even if I don't have internet, I can make sales, and when the internet is connected, it will be synchronized with the Back Office, eliminating my headaches. When I saw that in the POS, I could register the sale, charge, add a customer to the ticket even without internet, and that automatically, when I put the internet, everything is synchronized, it was excellent. A week ago, I started with the shift management, and it is great to have that daily summary of all the sales; it gives me a clean report. Since we started using Loyverse, we have started to print the receipts, and I don't need to do anything else to make accounts; everything is in the reports; if I receive a payment by card or transfer, I have the report to review all the details later. I can assure you that with Loyverse, we have advanced what could have taken us two years, and we have achieved it in a couple of months. One of the positive points of Loyverse is that in the free version, we can personalize our receipts, and there is no advertising from you. Our receipts have a personal touch and are not contaminated with advertisements. Is there a tool that has impacted your business the most? In these ten months, we have implemented well-managed card charging and created four payment methods. With the sales reports by type of payment, I can quickly identify the total sales in cash, or card. I have also created the Delivery as a payment method to identify the total we have received for orders already, this information is vital for my business and has saved me many times. We also manage different devices to better organize our business; we have the customer screen, we manage a POS device for Pedidosya, for WhatsApp, for physical sales, and another tablet for the kitchen. It has helped me in my relationship with the customer, it has helped me because the customer can check his order on the screen, see the variants and modifiers, and see the total. Then, he can decide to add more products because he can see that he still has the budget to continue buying. Is there any tool in Loyverse that you would recommend for other users? Yes, I would like to share a trick we use with the predefined ticket tool. We don't have tables as such, but we have used them to identify our customers, for example: Cart 1, Cart 2, Family, Friends, Couple. And if necessary we customize them, for example: Green Cart, Blue Cart, etc. This is to identify who placed the order. Even if they are not regular customers, in some cases, I don't need to ask for their name, so what I do is add to the ticket some physical description of the customer to the ticket, the color of their clothing, if they have glasses, etc. This makes it easier for the employees to immediately locate where they have to deliver the order. How do you see the future of the company in the coming years? I think the business will continue to grow at the same slow but steady pace. What I can guarantee is that I will continue with you, because the program has given me reliability. It is having the confidence that every time I open the program it will be working, and when I synchronize the sales everything will show up in the reports. I am not in the business all the time, but I don't have to wait a minute to review all the information from anywhere. I also know that with the integrations in the future, when the company grows, I will be able to continue with Loyverse and integrate it with the program I need. Finally, what advice would you give someone just starting their business? I want to share my experience of what worked for my father, which is discipline. You reluctantly had to do things, and his rule was always to respect schedules. If you have a work schedule, that is your schedule without complaints. Open your business; if you are a traveling salesman, go out and sell, respect those schedules, that has worked out very well for you, and additionally, and talk to the clients. We can serve a customer in one minute, but we talk to them for 15 minutes; you need to manage that relationship with your customers.

In this interview, we talk with one of the co-founders of a successful Mexican restaurant in Valencia, Spain. The story begins during the pandemic and highlights the challenges and triumphs of establishing and growing a business in such a difficult time. The restaurant, known for its authentic Mexican cuisine, has become a beloved spot in Valencia, expanding to multiple locations and participating in important local fairs. The co-founder shares insights into the philosophy behind the restaurant, their use of technology to streamline operations, and advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. Starting the Business The business began during the pandemic. It was started by my Mexican friend, Alejandro Robledo, and me, an IT professional. Alejandro said, "Hey, I'm going to open a Mexican restaurant. Do you want to help out?" So, I became part of the process, starting with the development of a simple website and looking for customers. It was very complicated due to the pandemic. We tried various options to see what worked best for us until we found the right solution. It was a boom because it fit very well into the system. Restaurant Philosophy Our restaurant's philosophy is to serve one hundred percent Mexican food made by Mexicans. All our cooks are Mexican. Our staff is diverse, with employees from various nationalities: Venezuelans, Colombians, Cubans, Spaniards, and more. We try to participate in many events. For example, we have booths at fairs offering Mexican food and are present in different parts of Valencia. Currently, we have three locations in the city. Main Objective Our main idea is to bring a bit of Mexico, and its culture, both in the restaurant's atmosphere and the food, to the Spanish palate. We noticed that in Spain, most Mexican restaurants offer Tex-Mex cuisine, which is not authentic Mexican food. They sell burritos and other dishes that are more Tex-Mex style. We wanted to bring traditional tacos with corn tortillas and authentic ingredients like barbacoa al pastor. We opened our first restaurant in 2020, the second in 2021, and the third in 2023, consolidating our success. Consolidation at Important Fairs Between 2021 and 2023, we also established ourselves at two important fairs in the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia. During the Christmas fairs, we positioned ourselves well, attracting clients from all over the world, significantly contributing to our popularity. Business Differentiation Although we started in the midst of the pandemic crisis, we have distinguished ourselves from other restaurants. Our food is one hundred percent homemade and not Tex-Mex style. Additionally, when people visit our restaurant, we want them to feel like they are in a little piece of Mexico. We are an embassy of Mexico, with authentic food and music. Generally, we bring Mexican artists, and many of our murals are hand-painted by Mexican artists who create their works while people eat. We also have mariachis constantly performing. Choosing Loyverse POS I am in charge of the IT part, while Alejandro, my partner, takes care of the kitchen and the business structure. Together with Ana, who manages social media, we were looking for a system that worked well. I developed a system within WordPress that we tried to adapt for internal order management, but it was complicated. While searching for systems, I found Loyverse POS in a forum where someone recommended it. It was perfect. I quickly familiarized myself with its functions: how to place an order, send an order to the kitchen, and register printers. I am very grateful for the ability to print tickets in the kitchen, which has streamlined the work of our waiters, solving the problem of lost tickets and significantly improving our processes. One feature I appreciate about Loyverse POS is the ability to customize orders, such as choosing whether a product has sugar or not, and having this information displayed at the checkout. It also helps us manage the daily menu, where customers have three options: starter, main course, and dessert. All of this is recorded and sent to the kitchen automatically, allowing us to efficiently serve many people. In our restaurant, we have managed to serve up to two hundred people at once, thanks to this system, which has greatly facilitated our operations. We also like the feature of sending orders and managing the inventory of beverages. Although we currently only manage the beverage inventory, we might implement a more detailed inventory control in the future. Advice for Entrepreneurs For those who want to start a business, my main advice is not to fear failure. We started in the middle of the pandemic and feared losing everything, but taking risks and being brave led us to our current success. It is crucial to be passionate about what you do and maintain focus, working consistently every day. We were not funded by any large entity, just three friends with bank loans to start this business. Not fearing risks and maintaining constant hard work have been key to our success. Conclusion In summary, our success is based on the authenticity of our culinary offering and our ability to adapt to our customers' needs. Our passion for what we do, combined with the use of efficient technology like Loyverse POS, has been fundamental to our growth and consolidation in the market. We invite everyone to visit our restaurants and enjoy an authentic piece of Mexico in Valencia. Restaurant name EL HUEY Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elhueyvalencia/

In this customer spotlight, we speak with Mr. Abubakar Umar, the manager of a family-owned hospital in Nigeria, who found a powerful solution in Loyverse POS. What began as an effort to prevent inventory losses at a hospital pharmacy evolved into a multi-business success story - one that has not only improved business operations but also led to the creation of a consultancy helping others achieve similar results. Here is his inspiring journey. From Challenge to Transformation: A Business Story I am the manager of a hospital owned by my older brother. In 2019, he gave me the responsibility of overseeing its operations. Inside the hospital, we run a pharmacy, and at the time, employees were handling sales without any POS system in place. This lack of structure opened the door to serious issues - missing inventory, unexplained losses, and no way to track sales accurately. With a background in Information Technology, I decided to find a technological solution. Initially, I thought about developing custom software, but a friend recommended that I first look for existing systems online. That’s when I discovered Loyverse POS. After ordering a compatible Android terminal from China, we began testing the app. One feature immediately stood out: the Dashboard app. It gave me real-time insight into sales and inventory - something we had never had before. It was a game-changer. Once implemented, everything changed. Employee accountability improved, inventory losses stopped, and the entire operation became more transparent. Because of this success, I started recommending Loyverse to others. Key Features That Drive Daily Operations The Dashboard app remains my favorite feature. I currently live in Abuja, but my businesses are located in other cities. Despite the distance, I can monitor everything - from sales to inventory - in real time. Even when employees operate in offline mode, I can request they reconnect to the internet, and instantly I can see what’s happening. The ability to access data remotely has made Loyverse popular even among people I’ve introduced it to outside Nigeria. Whether they’re in Egypt or elsewhere, they appreciate being able to manage their businesses from anywhere. Insights from Loyverse Reports The Back Office reports are essential for making informed decisions. These reports help me deeply understand how the pharmacy and restaurant are performing, allowing me to act based on real data rather than assumptions. It’s a crucial tool for any business owner aiming to run a data-driven operation. Expanding Loyverse to Other Businesses Soon after, my brother opened a restaurant and asked if Loyverse could be implemented there too. The answer was yes - and it worked just as effectively. Now, we use Loyverse in three of the businesses I manage, plus a mini-restaurant of my own. Over time, word spread. People began recommending me to others as someone who could help fix their business operations. Loyverse became a key part of my consulting approach, especially for businesses struggling in Nigeria. My experience with the platform made it easy to implement and support across various business types. A Platform That Built Trust and Opportunity Before Loyverse, I had never managed businesses outside of my brother's. But the platform opened doors for me. People started coming to me with their own business challenges, and I helped solve them using Loyverse. This led me to start my own company called Vacon, short for “Value Consistently.” Loyverse didn’t just solve our initial problems - it transformed my professional path and allowed me to create solutions for others. Tried, Tested, and Preferred I did test a few other POS systems alongside Loyverse at the beginning, including a local Nigerian provider. But none of them matched Loyverse in reliability and features. I even declined a request from that local company to promote their product - because I only recommend what I truly trust. Kitchen Display System and Feature Wish List We haven’t implemented the Kitchen Display System yet, but I’ve downloaded the help articles and I’m learning how to use it properly. One improvement I would love to see is integration with a payment system - this would significantly enhance our operations, particularly in the restaurant setting. Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs Business is fundamentally about solving problems. If you’re thinking about starting a restaurant - or any business - look around you. Identify the issues people face and create solutions. That’s the best way to build a sustainable and profitable business. People are always willing to pay for real solutions. A Personal Business Philosophy My philosophy is centered on problem-solving. I strive to create a secure, trustworthy environment where business owners can make profits while maintaining respectful relationships with their employees. When the workplace is structured and fair, success follows. This story is a testament to how technology - when chosen wisely - can completely transform a business. What started with a family pharmacy's operational problems turned into a multi-venture success story, powered by Loyverse POS and guided by a clear commitment to solving real-world problems.

Boomski Pet Supplies began as a heartfelt endeavor driven by a love for pets and a desire to support a growing family. What started with selling dog tags online soon blossomed into a thriving retail business with three branches across the Philippines. Despite launching just before the pandemic, the founders leveraged challenges into opportunities, innovating with same-day delivery and embracing Loyverse’s POS system to manage their expanding inventory. Their story exemplifies how passion, adaptability, and dedication can turn a personal dream into a successful business venture. Can you briefly describe your business? We started a Pet retail business, not because it is in demand but because we love pets. I have been married for 16 years. One of our struggles as a couple is having a child. We had been going through an arduous journey, and it came to a moment when I wanted to give my wife a gift. I decided to get her a dog. Once we got the dog, all the business opportunities came into place. We started our Pet shop, Boomski Pet Supplies. First, we started the business online selling dog tags. We fabricated and sold them online. Once we came to that opportunity to get a fund, we decided to open a Pet store and retail business. We started in October 2019, right before Covid. Six months after, when the pandemic hit us very badly globally, the pet industry and the pet community became an opportunity for us to rise. We started on a small pet store first. We now have three branches in the Philippines, in Quezon City, next to the capital city. That’s how we started, and now we have 1400 SKUs. When we started, we had only 20 SKUs. Initially, it was a challenge for us because we weren’t familiar with the pet industry. We did a lot of hard work and sacrifices. Our initial goal was to have our own business; I can proudly say we have had that success. But we are aware that there is a long way to go. This is our history. How did COVID-19 affect your business? In the Philippines, on the entrepreneur side, they call us pandemic babies. We strived to sell more during the pandemic. A lot of people used to go around and shop for products for their beloved fur babies. What we did is that we offered them a “same-day delivery concept.” When they reached out via our online platform, we delivered same-day to their address in one to two hours. We also gave an opportunity for our friends who were severely affected by the pandemic to work for us to deliver the products to our customers. They are working with us to this day. Did you start using Loyverse when you opened your shop, or did you implement the system later? No, we did not use the system since the beginning. We started doing anything manually first. I started researching for a POS system when our business grew. I saw many coffee shops using Loyverse here in the Philippines, and I became inquisitive about it to learn how it works and what features it provides. I noticed that the Loyverse system offers the easiest way to monitor our products. When we opened the store and had only 20 SKUs, it was easy to manage them manually, but after the number of products grew, it was necessary to have a system to help us manage all the items. I put my effort into learning the Loyverse system, and now I can say that Loyverse is a partner in our success. Because you offer free use of the system, right? But to unlock additional features that might be useful for the business, there is a subscription, which we have activated because the features included in the add-ons are excellent and needed by us. Which are the features that have been most useful for your business? Advanced Inventory is the feature I appreciate the most and has helped me the most. One of the features that I frequently use is the Purchase orders. We use Transfer Orders to transfer stock between my branches. The Advanced Inventory features suit to our business perfectly. Loyverse is very intuitive and easy to use. I don’t have any issues with making sales and using the POS app. Of course, the Back office reports, where I can see my sales and my profit, are very beneficial for me to understand how the business is going and to make informed decisions. In addition to the Sales Summary, my second favorite report is sales by item, which allows me to identify the fastest-moving items and the slowest-moving items. This information helps me determine which products to purchase next. Have you created your customer base in Loyverse, and do you offer loyalty programs to them? Unfortunately, we have not explored the loyalty program yet. The majority of our customers are repetitive, actually. We have added them to the system. When we issue a receipt, we assign the customer to it so that the customer can see his name on the printed receipt. This is very convenient for us to understand who are returning customers and who are walk-ins. Which online platform do you use for your online sales? We use Meta; we have our Facebook page. Also, there are many e-commerce platforms here in Southeast Asia, like Lazada and Grab. When we make sales online, we enter the sales manually in Loyverse so that these sales are calculated in the reports. We recently learned about the integrations that Loyverse offers, and we plan to explore that more to sync the sales from our online platforms automatically to our Loyverse account. Have you found Loyverse’s customer support responsive and helpful when encountering any issues or having questions about the system? Customer support has been very helpful in answering all my questions and trying to help me with workarounds for specific features that I might have asked that were not currently available in the system. What are your plans for the future, and how do you envision Loyverse supporting these plans? We aim to grow constantly and open, on average, new stores every two years. Right now we are trying to sustain our three branches, and following two years, we want to open again a new branch. But, like now, the pet industry is like a mushroom. They are coming out everywhere. We have a lot of competition, and we are so lucky that we have established ourselves for the last five years. We have created a credible identity and reliable opportunity for the clients to purchase their needs regarding their fur babies. Our focus for the future is growth. Would you like to share any advice or words of wisdom with aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to start their own retail business? This is so funny because I feel I don’t yet have the credibility to speak about other people’s businesses and their entrepreneurial journeys. I am with the idea of “their money, their rules.” But, all I can say is do not follow the trend and what is currently popular. Based on my experience, my advice would be: “Do what you love, do what your heart says.” If you are passionate about doing something different, something unique, push and pursue your dreams. There are a lot of sacrifices, but eventually, there will be success. This is in line with our vision. Our vision as a retail business is to create a wonderful and unique experience for our customers. And this vision is in line with our belief that our pets are family. Visit Boomski Pet Supplies social pages: Instagram Facebook Youtube

We interviewed Emmanuel Hernandez, owner of the stationery and gift store Pichin, located in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. His wholesale and retail business has eight years of experience in the market and one year of experience as a Loyverse user. What motivated you to use Loyverse? Because our stationery is in the retail business, we needed a program with the facilities to record sales and generate reports. Other business owner friends recommended Loyverse to us. We needed a proper point of sale, and since we don't have space for big machines, it needed to be compatible with our Android devices. Loyverse was what we needed. What tool do you consider has benefited the management of your business? One of the main ones is the simplicity of seeing how many sales we had today and the possibility of comparing in the sales summary to the previous day or the previous period. This way, we know if sales have been good or low. In terms of inventory, we can see which items have low stock, and in this way, we can know which products need to be renewed and which have not been sold. What information do you use to know which products need new inventory? We have already identified the merchandise with the item sales reports. We can use the filter in the item list to see only the items with low stock. Generally, in the item list, we see how many products there are, and in the sales report, we identify the ones that have not sold so we can ask ourselves why this item is not selling. What is happening? Do you have a favorite tool in Loyverse? We like the option to add images to the items to personalize the sales screen, and the facility to offer a discount on an item or a ticket; we choose it, and the customer will see it on the ticket. We automatically print a ticket and give it to them. Those would be my favorites. If you had to recommend Loyverse for someone starting in business, what feature would you recommend? The most useful tool is mainly the inventory tool. With it, you can easily list and sort the products, organize them by category, and review the inventory list by category. In my case, it is a stationery store. I manage several categories of cut papers, office supplies, and gifts. For similar businesses like candy, soft drinks, etc., the most useful tool is to have control of all the items they sell. Have you ever made decisions based on the information you have in Loyverse? Yes, with Loyverse, we have been able to identify the most representative sales periods of the year. For example, on February 14th, we see that the most sold items are in the category of chocolates and gifts. On special dates such as May 10th in Mexico, we can see which items sold the most and thus make decisions for the next year, etc. Could you also describe your experience with Loyverse when you first started? The program has been easy to use, good, and practical. With one click, you can review all the information and have it in the palm of your hand. It was not very difficult to understand the tools when we started using them because they are accessible, easy, and understandable. How do sales work on a day-to-day basis in your store? We manage several points of sale. It was easy to create the different points of sale from the Back Office. The sales are done smoothly, in online or offline. Sometimes, the internet connection is lost, but we know that when it is reconnected, it will automatically connect to the inventory and reports. Having eight years of experience, how does your business keep up with trends? We keep up to date as we offer services for students,so we use the internet as our communication tool. We always look for the latest and most popular items. We try to have quality and not quantity, and we sell products that guarantee the satisfaction of our customers, that they come back for a good experience and not to complain about the poor quality. Concerning the business, what are your short or long-term goals? Do you plan to continue with Loyverse? Yes, this is a family business, and at the moment, we have one branch that we manage with my wife. We are planning to open a new store in a year, and we know that we will be able to manage it in the same program and this is one of the reasons why we want to continue with the system, besides anyone can use it easily and without mistakes. Finally, would you like to leave a message for people who are just starting out their business? A business is a challenge to stand firm through thick and thin. We must use the best options to overcome the challenges. Loyverse has been the program that has helped us grow as a family business, and we recommend it to everyone we know.

We interviewed Camilo Ruiz, owner of Isa & Tin, a candy shop with typical desserts from Colombia. They started their business ten years ago and have succeeded with perseverance in the face of difficulties and challenges. How long ago did you start the business? We started as a family business over ten years ago and are looking for a growth option today. We currently have three stands operating, two in shopping malls and one in a supermarket that is very popular in the city. How has the workflow been during these ten years? My wife and I have independent professions, and our business emerged as an alternative income; this is not our main activity. Its growth has been organic; we have not managed campaigns or any kind of incentive for sales growth. The idea is to implement new scenarios that allow us to operate with more control and expand. How did you start using Loyverse? I saw the application in another establishment, and since we are in the process of gaining greater control of sales and inventory, I started to search for alternatives to point-of-sale systems that would allow us to have easy access and thus implement them. I saw it in an establishment, downloaded it, and started generating sales for two of our stores. To get to know it, I used it on two devices. The first few days, I loaded the sales at the end of my day to check if the reports were reliable, learn how it worked, and analyze all the Loyverse tools. At the moment, we have two stores open so we can differentiate the sales of each store. Was there any feature or tool that motivated you to stay with Loyverse? The interface is straightforward to use, and the whole issue is creating the products with their inventory. It is interesting to have the hourly sales information for each item and category. All these elements are essential to generate business information, and we also have the option to review each employee's report. Not all employees have the same capabilities, and for the owner, it is crucial to observe this and review who needs more attention to perform better. The inventory is an important part of the sales process because it is where the traceability of the business is. Loyverse seems to me to be a very comprehensive and versatile system for multiple types of business. Have the reports you mentioned changed the big picture of your business workflow? Yes, of course! Reviewing the daily sales graphs is important because we can find high and low peaks. Find the dates or days when sales were lower, and with that information, implement some strategy. This helps to review trends and to know which of our products sells the most and which sells the least. The idea is also to identify the hours with the highest customer flow. This information is relevant and important for organizing strategies and giving another boost to the business. How has it been managing two businesses with two different locations? In the free version, we opened the second store without difficulty. It is effortless to log into the account with an email and review the product catalog separately but in the same account. We did not need to make major adjustments; we just created the two points of sale to be able to differentiate the sales of each of them in their respective store and make an independent analysis because the stores operate differently in terms of the flow of people, customers, and sales. It is exciting because one can perfectly contrast the two scenarios by changing the filter in the reports. Loyverse also offers the advantage of downloading the information in Excel files, and from there, you can do other types of analysis with the Unlimited Sales History. Do you have a strategy to keep up with industry trends and changes? We want to collect information and know more about the customers, and what the customers think about the business, maybe do some research, and manage and promote social media. We know that Loyverse has the option to manage the loyalty program and the customer database; with this information, we can get to know our frequent customers. The relationship with the customer is fundamental to know if we are doing our job well, and it is essential that they feel appreciated by the company. Have you had the help of our team through the chat at any time? I have not asked any questions via chat so far. In general, the management of the tools within the application is quite friendly, allows simple configuration, and is what we all seek: an option that does not generate more difficulty but facilitates and promotes business activity. Could you summarize the impact that Loyverse had on your business? What has favored me the most is being able to see the sales reports in a friendly way every day with its graphs. Previously, I had no information on how much was sold per day, and that is vital to have all the information in a single account, analyze it, and see the changes visually. That has been so far the biggest impact not only on one business but on the two businesses. That is the main benefit I have received from the application. Would you like to share any tips for entrepreneurs just starting their business? The first tip is about the importance of persevering in the business. Keep the business going even after the first fall. Surely, there will be ideas that can be perfected, and others that cannot, but we must maintain our ability to persevere. Secondly, rely on the digital theme, social networks, applications, and all those tools that allow us to take the business to a new level. Organic growth worked very well for us, but there comes a time when we must decide and take the initiative to change the way the business should grow and the technology and tools are here to do it.

In the heart of Lubao Pampanga, Kenitamu Poultry and Agricultural Supply has been a cornerstone of agricultural retail and wholesale for over 25 years. Navigating the challenges of a family-run business with both traditional and modern approaches, the owner decided to integrate a cutting-edge POS system to streamline operations. Discover how Loyverse POS became a pivotal tool in this business's evolution, enhancing inventory management, sales reporting, and overall efficiency while bridging generational gaps in business practices. Can you briefly describe the history of your business? I run a family business called Kenitamu Poultry and Agricultural Supply. The business started 25 years ago. We are currently in the retail and wholesale part of the agricultural department in the Philippines. We help many farmers in our province and sell products to other retailers in our nearby principalities. What are some unique challenges that you faced as a retail business owner? I have a very modern take on business. My parents are very traditional when it comes to business. They like to use pen and paper, which results in many paperwork and filings. I kind of don’t like that aspect of our business. I have decided and asked their permission to use a POS system as a basic for our business to keep our data, analyze it, and use this data for our future references. When did you come across Loyverse, and what made you decide to implement it in your business? A friend referred me to Loyverse. My friend owns pharmacies in the Philippines. They have different branches in the new provinces. He is using your software and recommended it to me. He taught me how to get started and what I needed to know. I think Loyverse is quite helpful. One of the essential features for me is the reports like Sales summary, which helps us understand how the business is going and make informed decisions. Another crucial point for us is inventory management, and Loyverse’s inventory features have been crucial to us. Is Loyverse the first POS system that you have used in your business? No, I have tried various popular POS systems in the Philippines. None of them can beat Loyverse’s versatility when it comes to device handling and the user-friendliness of the software itself. Here in the Philippines, some of the cashiers are old, and some of them are young. The young ones learn faster than the older ones. It is very difficult for us to train them. But when we used the Loyverse POS, almost all of them were able to use the software. What are some of the features that have helped you streamline your business operations? As I mentioned before, inventory management is essential for our business. I have subscribed to Advanced Inventory. We use Purchase orders and Stock Adjustments frequently. I would specify the Transfer Orders as a very useful tool for me in the Advanced Inventory. We have multiple branches, and we need to transfer stock between them. I use Stock Adjustments when I need to do an urgent inventory count or if there is a need to deduct the stock if there are damaged items. The inventory valuation report is one of the best features for me. Have you created separate profiles for your employees in the system? Yes, we have added employees to the system. This helps us manage their access rights and track their performance based on the reports. In terms of reporting and analytics, how valuable is the data you obtain from Loyverse in terms of understanding your business’s performance and making informed decisions? We primarily use Sales Summary to review our purchases. For example when we purchase goods that are not in season, we are forecasting for the season when this item will be sold a lot. Before that item runs out, because here in the Philippines, most of the items are scarce, so we need to decide before the season of that product ends. We manage to buy the items that we will sell in the next two months in bulk to have consistency for our clients. That is possible because of the data we get from Loyverse sales reports. Do you use the Dashboard app as a tool to check your sales analytics? Yes, of course. When I am making some reports for my parents, I usually use the sales summary to inform them how much we are making for that particular month or particular quarter of the year so they can make business decisions on how we can enhance our customer experience, or if we need to upgrade something. How would you describe your experience with Loyverse’s customer support? Have they been responsive and helpful in resolving any issues or answering your queries? Yes, the Loyverse support team is very responsive. They reply in a few minutes and always resolve the issues that we have. Would you like to share any advice or words of wisdom with aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to start their own retail and wholesale businesses? I suggest finding what you are good at and investing in that ability. Entrepreneurs must be passionate about what they do. Always do something you love, not something you must push yourself to do because you need to.

In this interview, we explore the journey of a passionate entrepreneur who turned a concept into a thriving restaurant and bar. Despite facing significant challenges and costs, the business has grown into a multifaceted establishment offering dining, fast food, desserts, and a bustling bar. Central to this success has been the use of Loyverse POS, a point-of-sale system that has streamlined operations, improved efficiency, and supported the business through its growth. Here, the owner shares insights on their business management philosophy, the benefits of Loyverse POS, and advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. Business Background When my partner and I embarked on this journey, we knew we were diving into something big. It all started with an idea that took two years to materialize. The journey from concept to reality was challenging and expensive—far more than we initially anticipated. What we originally budgeted at 50 million to 65 million CFA quickly escalated to around 400 million CFA. The scale of the business grew beyond our initial expectations. We opened our business on February 13, 2014, offering not just a restaurant but also an ice cream parlor and fast food outlet—all combined under one roof. Before this venture, I had dabbled in a few other businesses, but it wasn’t until 2016 that I discovered Loyverse POS. While researching better ways to manage operations, I came across Loyverse through a Google search and decided to implement it in our existing business. Since then, Loyverse has become an essential part of how we run things, and we’re planning to expand its use to our larger bar upstairs in the coming weeks. Business Management Philosophy Managing a business, especially one in the F&B sector requires a clear philosophy and a strong mindset. Before the restaurant, we had a bar that was doing exceptionally well. However, as more competitors entered the market, we had to think strategically. We were the largest bar in town, so naturally, new businesses aimed to draw customers away from us. When the bar market became saturated, we decided to diversify and enter the restaurant business. This decision was driven by the need to attract a different customer base and ensure the business stayed relevant. We didn’t just want to focus on one aspect; we wanted to cover all angles—restaurant, fast food, desserts, and a bar. It’s about not putting all your eggs in one basket but rather embracing a more comprehensive approach to customer engagement. This strategy has proven effective, allowing us to stay competitive and relevant. Choosing Loyverse POS The decision to use Loyverse POS was driven by the need for a reliable, user-friendly, and comprehensive point-of-sale system. I had previously used Loyverse in a different business venture and was impressed by its functionality. When we started this new business, it was a no-brainer to implement it again. Loyverse POS has been instrumental in operations. We use almost every feature it offers, and I particularly appreciate its ease of use. This system is straightforward enough that my staff, many of whom worked in different businesses before, adapted quickly. The kitchen printers, bar printers, and stock management tools are particularly effective, making day-to-day operations run smoothly. Overcoming Challenges with Loyverse POS Loyverse POS has made managing stock incredibly efficient, which is crucial in a restaurant where inventory is constantly moving. Whether we're tracking different cuts of meat or managing multiple outlets under one roof, Loyverse handles it all seamlessly. The ease with which my team can use the system is another major advantage. Despite having staff from various backgrounds, they adapted to Loyverse quickly and have found it easy to use daily. This has saved us a lot of time and reduced the potential for errors, which is invaluable in a busy restaurant setting. Advice for New Entrepreneurs For anyone looking to start a business, my number one piece of advice is to conduct thorough research. Often, the budget you set isn’t enough, and if you don’t have additional resources, you might find yourself unable to start or sustain the business. Starting is the most critical part, and it requires not just a good idea but solid financial planning. Make sure you have a budget that accounts for unexpected costs. Starting with tools like Loyverse POS, which offers many features for free and a trial period, can also be a huge advantage. It gives you the flexibility to manage your business without a hefty initial investment in software. Future Plans As we continue to grow, I look forward to seeing how Loyverse POS evolves. It can potentially adapt even more to the needs of businesses like ours. I’m excited to see what the future holds for the restaurant and bar and the tools that help us succeed. Instagram https://www.instagram.com/myway_restaurant?igsh=NTYwbTN3dHFoZXM5

In the heart of Zimbabwe, Smart Homes stands as a beacon in the retail sector, specializing in exquisite home décor. Since its inception in February last year, Smart Homes has evolved from selling watch accessories to curating imported furniture, inspired by a deep-seated passion for elegant interior design. However, like many burgeoning businesses, Smart Homes faced its share of challenges, particularly with manual inventory management and operational oversight. Enter Loyverse POS—a pivotal turning point introduced by their dedicated accountant in October. This cloud-based system not only revolutionized their daily operations but also empowered them to manage inventory seamlessly across multiple branches. Today, we delve into Smart Homes' journey with Loyverse and uncover how this innovative tool has optimized their business operations and customer experience. What type of business do you have? We are in the retail business. We sell home decor. The store opened in February of last year. The business owners first started selling watch accessories. What inspired them to get into home interior decor is the fact that they import their furniture for their home and love it, and they thought that other people would like it as much as they do as well. This is how the business started. I joined the company in October as an accountant. My job was to streamline the operations and ensure that things ran smoothly. What are some of the challenges that you faced during your first year? The first issue was with inventory management. The first time I went there, they had not done an inventory valuation. It was hard for me to come up with an evaluation. It was also hard to account for the ins and outs of the inventory, so yes, it took a lot of work when it came to inventory. The owner could not manage the inventory while he was not there, so they had to be physically there every time they wanted to check what was happening on the ground. That was really a challenge. As an accountant, it was hard for me to come up with the figures because everything was done manually. That was a challenge even for me. How did the business come across the Loyverse POS system? The business owners were not looking for a computerized system, but I had to suggest Loyverse to them. This happened also in October when I joined the company. I created an account in Loyverse and used the 14-day free trial to demonstrate to the business owners how the system works and how it can improve their business. The owner liked it very much. From then on, we started implementing it in both branches that we have. How did Loyverse impact your daily operations? Given that everything was based on a database, inventory management was something that I could do while I was in the office. The employees in the shop should see the inventory in real time while making sales or when they receive goods. The owner didn’t need to be there at any moment to check what was going on, so that was a plus. One of the best features that helped us a lot was the user access levels. Some cashiers can enter the system with their secret PINs and do whatever they do, but they don’t get to see information we don’t want them to see. That was a definite advantage for the owner. I believe that you are also using Advanced Inventory to manage the business’s inventory. How did you find the features that this package offers? Yes, we are using the Advanced Inventory because we really need its features. One example is at the end of the day, when we receive the inventory and need to transfer it to the branches, we use the Transfer order functionality. It is working well for us. Do you sell only offline, or do you have an online store? We don’t have an online store at the moment. We have a website where we advertise our products, but there is no check-out method at the moment. This is something we are working on. In terms of reporting and analytics, how valuable is the data you obtain from Loyverse in terms of understanding your store’s performance and making informed decisions? It is definitely very important. I actually do my account management from the revenue side in Loyverse. I combine this information with any other information that I have to make business decisions. I would like to be added in Loyverse an option to add expenses, so that I can calculate the real profit. This feature would be a great add to the application. Are there any other additional features or improvements you would like to see in Loyverse to further enhance your business’s operations? We have customers who want a quotation. It has been difficult for us to make one from Loyverse, so we need to have a template somewhere where we get our prices from Loyverse and prepare the quotation. Another thing that the cashiers need help with is selling items that have limited stock. We would like to show the inventory of the items on the sales screen. Have you found Loyverse’s customer support responsive and helpful when encountering any issues or having questions about the system? The customer support has been quite helpful. All the tickets and inquiries I have sent through have been answered. I have had a very good experience with Loyverse customer support. Do you have regular customers that you have added to the system? Maybe reward them with loyalty points? Yes, we have repetitive customers that come through, and we have registered them in the system. Unfortunately, I was unaware we could configure a Loyalty program, but I will start exploring and implementing it soon. I think it will encourage some of our customers to buy more. Would you like to share any advice or words of wisdom with aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to start their own retail business? My first suggestion is to manage processes and operations. I strongly recommend implementing a cloud-based system so you can access all your information from there and be sure that your backup is secure. I think this is my advice, which I also use for myself all the time, and it helps me.

Neftali, one of the owners of El Titan Bazaar, shares his experience and shows us how optimizing time and partnering with good tools is essential for the growth of a business. What type of business do you run and how long ago did you start? We started 8 months ago, it is a bazaar, we sell clothes, furniture, household equipment etcetera. Our business began with a table on the street where we placed the clothes and gradually added more merchandise. As we made sales sometimes we realized that money was missing, and we also wanted to know what products were being sold, discussing with my partner we concluded that the information was extremely important and we needed help to obtain it. Since we were handling everything in a notebook and entering it into Excel, at that point I decided to look for an application and since we didn't have a computer, it had to be compatible with my phone and my partner's phone. In a short time, we were running two physical stores. We consider that at this moment we are reaching stability, one store supports the other. We are also in the period of acquiring regular customers and in the future we will probably be able to manage them with the Loyverse system. Could you describe your experience when you found Loyverse? I searched the internet for an application that I could use as an Android-compatible point of sale. On YouTube looking for the best Android POS a content creator recommended your system and made an introductory tutorial. From the very first contact I liked it, I found it very comprehensive for any type of business, comfortable, and very easy to configure. Were there any features within Loyverse that made you decide to switch systems? I opted for Loyverse because of the ease of running many features in the same system. For example, our previous POS stopped making updates some time ago and disabled the option to add more products to the catalog, i.e. there is a limit of items and that has prevented us from moving forward. Nowadays time is very valuable and a day of delay with any tool within a software is time lost, and time is money. So we decided to look for other alternatives that would work better for the business. The definitive tool that made me choose Loyverse was the option to make split payments. In other software, we have to choose if the payment is by card or cash, but in Loyverse, I can choose several types of payment for the same sale and split the payment. Also, if I want to use a different payment method from those that have integrations with Loyverse, I can create it and use it to make the payment in my sales. How has Loyverse helped you in your daily operations? With the addition of employees, Loyverse has helped us because I take care of other things and my employees have their tasks. With employee management, I can delegate responsibilities with restricted access to some tasks and I focus on other functions, so we can make better use of our time. Now we have two users in the account and log in with different e-mail addresses. In addition, we can control the cash we have in the till, this way we know if we have cash leaks or not, if we are properly closing the sales, etc. This Shift Management tool is very effective and necessary to control the money and goods that are left daily. We manage this shift for each store and we can review the information for each one individually. I see that you handle the option of multiple stores on the same account. How do you like this option? I found it very easy to adapt and manage having more than one store in the same account. I don't need to create new email accounts or manage new phones. You just need to set up the store, log in with the same email, and you are ready to go. In our case, we run the same type of business, but some prices vary, and the stores manage their own inventory. Have you required assistance from the Loyverse support team at any time? Yes, once I contacted the chat, it was for the tool I mentioned above. We needed to add the Mercado Pago payment method, and the team pointed us to the options to add alternative payment methods. Some users started using Loyverse recently, would you like to share an experience that could be useful to other entrepreneurs? As entrepreneurs, I would recommend them not to get discouraged and to look for tools that can help them, so that they are not in the dark about their information. Concerning the Loyverse system, they can have the confidence to find and record important information about the business, even in the free version, explore, and use the system and you will realize the importance of managing a system, this goes for any type of business, you will have control of your incoming and outgoing inventory and will give you certainty to make decisions. Every effort brings a reward, sometimes you see that the return is coming slowly, but still, in our case, we trust in the business and what we earned we invested in the purchase of a point of sale equipment, we rented a local and now with Loyverse we invest in subscriptions to employees. We used the free version and we got to the point where we saw that using the subscription was an investment because it was going to bring multiple benefits. Little by little and with time we see that the effort is paying off, so don't be discouraged you will soon see this improvement in your business. De una Mesa al Éxito: La Transformación de un Bazar en Crecimiento Neftali nos comparte su experiencia y nos muestra cómo optimizar el tiempo y asociarse a buenas herramientas es primordial para el crecimiento de un negocio. Cual es el tipo de negocio que manejan y hace cuanto comenzaron? Comenzamos hace 8 meses, es un bazar, vendemos ropa, muebles, electrodomésticos etcétera. Nuestro negocio empezó con una una mesita fuera de la calle con una mesita con ropa y pues fuimos agregando ropa, accesorios, más mercancía. Conforme realizabamos ventas en ocasiones nos dabamos cuenta de que faltaba dinero, también queríamos saber cuáles eran los productos que se estában vendiendo, platicando con mi socia concluimos era una información muy importante y para obtenerla necesitariamos ayuda. Ya que todo lo manejabamos en un cuaderno y lo pasabamos a Excel. Fue en ese punto donde me me via la tarea de buscar alguna aplicación y ya que no teniamos un computador, tenía que ser compatible con mi telefono y el de mi socia. En poco tiempo ya manejamos dos tiendas físicas. Consideramos que en estos momentos estamos alcanzando la estabilidad, una tienda apoya a la otra. Tambien estamos en el periodo adquisición de clientes regulares y en el futuro probablemente podamos manejarlos con el sistema de Loyverse. Podría describir como fue su experiencia cuando encontró Loyverse? Busqué en internet una aplicación que pudiera usar como punto de venta compatible con Android. En YouTube buscando los mejores puntos de venta para Android un creador de contenido recomendaba el sistema e hizo un tutorial de introducción. Ya desde el primer contacto me agradó, me pareció muy amplio para cualquier tipo de negocio, cómodo, muy fácil de configurar. Hubo alguna función dentro de Loyverse que lo llevó como a tomar la decisión de cambiar de sistema? Opté por Loyverse por la facilidad que tiene de ejecutar muchas herramientas en un mismo sistema. Por ejemplo nuestro anterior POS dejó de hacer actualizaciones hace un tiempo y tiene deshabilitada la opción de agregar más productos al catálogo es decir hay un limite de artículos y eso pues ha impedido que avancemos. En los días de hoy el tiempo es muy valioso y un día de retraso con cualquier herramienta dentro de un software es tiempo perdido, y el tiempo es dinero. Entonces decidimos buscar otras alternativas que funcionaran mejor para el negocio. Las herramientas definitivas que me hicieron escoger Loyverse fue la opción de hacer los pagos divididos. En otros software debemos escoger si el pago es con tarjeta o con efectivo, ya en Loyverse puedo escoger varios tipos de pago para la misma venta y dividir el pago. Y tambien si deseo usar un método de pago diferente de los que tienen integraciones con Loyverse puedo crearlo y usarlo para hacer el cobro en mis ventas. Cómo ha ayudado Loyverse en el día a día en su negocio? Con la adición de colaboradores Loyverse nos ha ayudado porque así yo me ocupo de otras cosas y mis colaboradores tienen sus tareas. Con el manejo de empleados puedo delegar responsabilidades con acceso restricto a algunas tareas y yo me dedico a otras funciones, de esta manera aprovechamos mejor el tiempo. Ahora tenemos dos usuarios en la cuenta y se ingresa con correos diferentes. Además podemos tener el control del efectivo que tenemos en caja, de esta manera sabemos si tenemos escapes de dinero o no, si estamos cerrando bien las ventas etc. Esta herramienta del cierre de caja es muy eficaz y necesaria para tener el control del dinero y de las mercancías que están saliendo diariamente. Manejamos este cierre para cada tienda y podemos revisar la información para cada una individalmente. Veo que maneja la opción de multiples tiendas en la misma cuenta. Cómo le ha parecido esta opción? Tener más de una tienda en en la misma cuenta me parecío muy facil de adaptarse y manejar. No necesito crear nuevas cuentas de correo electrónicos o manejar nuevos teléfonos. Solamente es necesario configurar la tienda, los productos, inicia sesión con el mismo correo y ya está listo. En nuestro caso manejamos el mismo tipo de negocio, algunos precios varían y las tiendas manejan su propio inventario. En algún momento ha necesitado asistencia del soporte del equipo de Loyverse? Si, una vez contacté al chat y fue por la herramienta que comenté anteriormente. Necesitabamos adicionar el método de pago de mercado pago y el equipo nos indicó donde estaban las opciones de agregar metodos de pago alternativos. Hay usuarios que comenzaron a usar Loyverse hace poco tiempo le gustaria compartir una experiencia que le pueda servir a otros emprendedores? Como emprendedores les recomendaria que no se desanimen y que busquen las herramientas que puedan ayudarles, que no se queden con su información a oscuras. En relación a Loyverse, tengan la confianza de encontrar y registrar información importante sobre el negocio, aún en la versión gratuita, exploren, utilicen el sistema y se daran cuenta de la importancia de manejar un sistema, esto va para cualquier tipo de negocio, van a tener control de sus de sus entradas y salidas de inventario y les va a dar certeza para tomar decisiones. Todo esfuerzo trae una recompensa, a veces que uno ve que el retorno esta llegando lentamente, pero aun asi en nuestro caso confiamos en el negocio y lo que ganamos lo invertimos en la compra de un equipo para punto de venta, rentamos un local y ahoria con Loyverse invertimos en la suscripcion a empleados. Usamos la versión gratuita y llegamos al punto en que vimos que usar la suscripcion era una inversión ya que iba a traer un beneficio. Poco a poco y con el tiempo vemos que el esfuerzo esta rindiendo frutos, entonces no se desanimen pronto van a ver este mejorías en sus negocios.

An Interview with Marco Van Daal May 3, 2025 Why, How, and When Did You Start the Business? I launched our small distillery in Aruba just over a year ago. We’re a craft operation, and from the beginning, we knew we needed a software solution that wouldn’t overwhelm us with upfront costs. That’s what initially attracted us to Loyverse. The free trial period gave us time to evaluate whether it could handle the strict local regulations, especially since investing heavily in something untested was not an option for us. What Makes Your Business Unique? Our business stands out because we are a craft distillery. We don’t produce in mass quantities — instead, we focus on small batches. Aruba, being a popular tourist destination, has a bustling hospitality industry, and we’ve successfully positioned ourselves as a local supplier to hotels and restaurants. Our focus on quality over quantity, combined with our connection to the local scene, is what sets us apart. How Did You Discover Loyverse? Interestingly, I stumbled upon Loyverse when I saw a customer display in a shop. At the time, we were actively searching for a POS system, so I asked the store clerk a few questions. He shared the name, and after conducting some online research, we began testing it ourselves. The simplicity of the layout caught my attention right away, and it grew from there. What Features Convinced You to Subscribe? One of the biggest hurdles we faced was handling excise taxes — a specific tax calculated on the volume we produce, not the sale price. Most software on the market could handle VAT, but not excise tax. Loyverse didn’t support it out of the box, but after consulting with their support team, we created a workaround by setting up two separate shops in the system: one for production and one for sales. Transferring inventory between them allowed us to account for the excise tax based on volume. That flexibility, especially using the advanced inventory and transfer features, made all the difference and convinced us to subscribe. What’s Your Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs? Why are you waiting? Seriously — there’s never a perfect moment to start a business. Many people hold off, waiting for all the stars to align, but that day never comes. If you believe in what you’re doing, just go for it. You’ll learn, adapt, and figure it out as you move forward. That’s what entrepreneurship is all about. Follow them in Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArubaRedAnchor

Perfume is the key to our memories. We pick up scents in every breath we take. Read along to learn the story of Antidotes, a Boutique Perfume & Home Fragrance located in Thailand, which, with its scented candles, transports you to places with the ordinary act of taking in a breath. Can you briefly share the story of your business? The business is called Antidotes; it is a boutique perfume and home fragrance. We have been operating for around 2-3 years. I lived in Singapore before opening the business. Antidotes originated from a casual conversation between my friend and I, two office workers at a multinational corporation who shared a passion for scents. Rather than settling for ordinary brands through trial and error, we aimed to create a distinctive candle experience. We meticulously explored numerous color palettes before settling on our signature mint green and selected a custom candle wax blend with long-term health benefits in mind. We decided to start our business online only as it was straightforward. But, after a while, we decided to step forward and make it bigger. After two years, we decided we needed a physical shop. The first shop that we opened is located in Bangkok. We decided to move from Singapore to Bangkok, knowing very little about running a business. Once we opened the shop, we understood we needed something more professional to manage our business. The time that we had before opening our shop was very minimal, around a month. There were so many things we needed to take care of. The POS system was one thing we needed to think about. How did you come across Loyverse? I went to the other shops to see what kind of system they were using. Initially, I noticed the POS devices they were using; they were Sunmi devices. I went home, Googled it, and checked the Sunmi Thailand page. When I visited them in the shop to buy the hardware, they recommended Loyverse. They taught me briefly how to use the system. When we started the business, we used two systems: Loyverse POS as a point of sale and another system that could connect to my accounting system. How did Loyverse impact your business? The system helps us be worry-free about operating our business and offers more flexibility with customers and employees than other systems. The reports also help us understand how the business goes. I like the option to export reports, and it has been beneficial for me since I use it to export the sales report and forward it to my accountant. What I really liked about Loyverse is its cost-effectiveness for a starting business and the flexibility that the system provides. In what specific ways does Loyverse help you manage your inventory? When we first started, we didn’t have many items, and we still don’t have many. I think we have around 50 SKUs. But we want to track the stock to avoid any issues. We are using Advanced Inventory and Employee Management subscriptions. The employees do inventory counts to reconcile the physical inventory with the inventory that the system shows. I also use Transfer orders and Stock Adjustment features daily. We use the Inventory History report when there is some mismatch in the inventory numbers to see if we have missed something. Do you have regular customers, and have you added them to the system? Yes, we have regular customers and registered them in the systems so we can track how many sales they have done and what items they have purchased. To view the purchases of the registered customers, I use the “View purchases” option in the POS or export the receipts list and filter by customer in the exported file. What features or functionalities would you like to see added or improved in Loyverse to further enhance your retail business operations? I would like an improvement in the discounts report to show not only how many times a discount was applied, but also which items were discounted. Also, I would like to have more options regarding customers, such as classifying them into different groups, so we can identify when they visit our store who is classified for a specific discount. Would you like to share any advice or words of wisdom with aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to start their own retail business? I recommend that all retail businesses invest in a good POS system like Loyverse to ensure that they are worry-free about daily operations. Visit Antidotes website and Instagram page.

In the vibrant Caribbean island of Dominica, small businesses play a crucial role in the local economy. One such entrepreneur is Vanessa, a dedicated businesswoman who saw a need in her community and decided to act on it. With a background rooted in the auto industry, Vanessa has used her passion and determination to build a successful auto parts business. Recently, she has adopted Loyverse to help streamline her business operations, and in this interview, she shares her journey, insights, and experiences. Why, how, and when did you start your business? I started my business about 4 or 5 years ago. I noticed a need in my community for auto parts, and that’s when I took a chance and opened a small store to provide that service. My business focuses on selling auto parts, and I felt that offering these products would help meet the needs of local consumers. What was your main motivation for starting the business? My husband is in the business of ordering and reselling vehicles, and we also run a car rental company. I saw that an auto parts business would not only complement our car rental company but also serve the needs of the community. So, the motivation came from both wanting to support my family business and fill a gap in the market. Do you have competitors, and what makes your business stand out? In my immediate community, I don’t have any direct competitors, which is a great advantage. However, in nearby communities, there are others offering similar services. But right here, I’m the only one in this line of business. I haven’t monopolized the market, but in my community, I’ve built something that’s unique and slowly expanding. What is your mindset or philosophy in running your business? My goal is to grow my business into a larger, successful auto parts company. However, given the current economic situation in my country, things haven’t been moving as quickly as I had hoped. But despite the challenges, I’m committed to achieving success and expanding step by step. How did you find Loyverse, and how has it helped your business? I learned about Loyverse through a friend who owns a small restaurant. She recommended the app to me when I mentioned I needed help managing my inventory. I was initially considering QuickBooks, but after she gave me a demo of Loyverse, I decided to give it a try. I’ve only been using it for about a month, so I’m still learning. There are some teething problems, but I find the live chat support helpful when I have questions. What features of Loyverse have you found most useful? The feature I love the most is that I can monitor my business even when I’m not in the shop. I can check my sales, compare the actual stock in the store with what’s in the system, and keep track of my inventory. This ability to have real-time reporting has really made a difference in managing my business more effectively. What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs looking to start a business? I believe it’s a great idea for young people to start their own business, even if they are already employed. Sometimes, the salary from a job isn’t enough to cover all your expenses, so having a side business can provide that extra income. It doesn’t have to be big—just find your niche, and you’ll be able to create employment for yourself and maybe even for others. Conclusion: Loyverse has become an important tool for Vanessa as she manages her growing auto parts business in Dominica. The ability to track sales and inventory remotely has given her more control and flexibility. While she’s still learning the system, she sees the potential for Loyverse to continue supporting her business operations. For Vanessa, tools like Loyverse help her to focus on what really matters: growing her business and serving her community.

This time, we interviewed Gerardo Vázquez, the owner of Carabina 3030, a coffee shop that sells organic and natural products and items for coffee preparation, such as coffee makers, French presses, etc. The business is organized with a cold bar, a coffee bar, and a store. The café is located in “Ciudad de Mexico,” Mexico. It’s a business with a history of 10 years, starting in 2014. How did the idea for the business come about? We didn't start with the business as it is today; we began with the idea of a light kitchen, and we had a connection for marketing coffee. As an entrepreneur, you always have to explore market options. At that time, the profit margin from the light food and coffee business wasn’t enough, so we experimented with other merchandise, and other products that we could introduce into the market, and that’s how we reached the stability we have now. How do you stay up to date with trends and changes in your industry? In this case, it’s been through managing social media, combined with getting feedback about the products directly from our consumers, clients, and friends. In a way, personal interaction is very important in this type of business. With social media management, we can analyze where our audience is growing, the profile of our followers, who the people visiting us are, and how the public reacts to our advertisements or posts. We are constantly analyzing the profile of our customers to provide them with the best service. At what point did you decide that you needed to implement an upgrade? We started using Loyverse in July 2023. The role of the Loyverse app was very important because, in the beginning, everything was managed through sales notebooks. It was very easy to stop using a sales notebook since the process with the Loyverse app is quick and efficient. When making manual sales, by the time I write down an order, there’s already a line of people, which makes customer satisfaction difficult. With the Loyverse app, the sales process has been streamlined. What were your expectations when using a sales app? The main point was to get information to analyze our sales schedules so that we could establish strategies for quieter hours. Here, Loyverse brought about an important change for us. Also, managing the business’s accounting has simplified our work with shift management. Have you used the reports to make decisions? Yes, in our business model, it’s necessary to establish production schedules. We manage lists of the best-selling desserts, the quantity of bakery items to have ready and available, as well as pre-prepared ingredients like fruit portions, etc. Loyverse helped us identify the quieter sales hours to invest in production because it’s not possible to respond with the same speed during high-traffic hours, and everything has to be ready. For us, the products must be fresh. The quality of the products and our service is what sets us apart. How has the process of managing sales schedules to establish production schedules been? With the Back Office reports, the sales-by-item report, and the sales summary, I have a sense of which items run out and need to be restocked. As an owner, you might think you know your business, but with these tools, you can confirm with certainty. You can estimate daily sales—for example, on Monday, I need a certain quantity, and on Thursday, I need to buy more products for the weekend, etc., and that’s how you manage the production of bakery items. Also, with the decisions for the future that Loyverse helps us with, such as the need for staff, how many people we need working at certain times, and what kind of customer service or production profile is required—this kind of information is useful. Could you describe your overall experience when you started using Loyverse? It was quite simple to get started. One of the things that mattered to me was maintaining stock control, knowing how much I had sold, and receiving a notification to know when to replenish that inventory. Loyverse's inventory management is quite intuitive and easy to use overall. To start with a POS, I did some prior research, and I can say that among the programs I tested and reviewed, Loyverse was the most user-friendly. For the employees, it was also simple, even if the person doesn’t have knowledge of digital systems or technologies—they can use Loyverse and get used to it quickly with simple training using its guides. How have you managed your relationship with customers through Loyverse’s tools? To build customer loyalty, we started with the user list, and loyalty points tool that can be accumulated through purchases. This gives us a good idea of how many of our customers are regulars and how much money comes from these regulars. Loyverse also allows us to create promotions or gift discounts for these people, further enhancing customer loyalty. Was there a specific feature that stood out to you and influenced your decision to choose Loyverse? In general, because its use is simple. Both the POS operation and the Back Office. The reports for analysis seemed sufficient to me, and in addition to that, it facilitated sales from my Android device. Even though we didn’t have specific training on this type of technology, it was quick to get used to using it daily. For example, downloading reports to handle all the information and conducting data analysis is very functional and uncomplicated. What feature would you recommend to new POS users? The main thing when choosing a POS system is that it helps you maintain control of the supplies you manage; this is important for all businesses. Loyverse allows you to define how you will sell the products. There’s even an option to manage items by weight or by units, receive an alert when stock is low, etc. All of these are functions to keep the business operational. One of my favorite tools is the one that allows me to have real control over the cash generated after a day of work, and that’s with Shift Management. You get the report; you can customize it in terms of periods and schedules. This is extremely important for analyzing how the business is working. In your company’s history, what has been your biggest challenge as an entrepreneur, and how have you overcome it? Undoubtedly, it was the pandemic because it significantly reduced our customer base, and one way to try to face that situation was the use of social media, transforming, reinventing, and selling through virtual platforms. To be honest, that didn’t work—it didn’t get us out of trouble, it didn’t increase our sales or increase our customers—but we persevered. We added home delivery to that and were able to stay afloat. We’re still recovering, as we are located near a university, and a large part of our clientele was students and professors who had virtual classes and didn’t return to campus. So today, there is a sort of economic reflux in that sense, but we’ve also dedicated ourselves to other types of customers, like residents of nearby neighborhoods, etc. This is still a challenge for us, but we trust in future projections, and with ten years of experience, having survived those days without closing fills us with gratitude and positivity. Finally, do you have any advice for small entrepreneurs who might be just starting? The type of business we have relates to local economies; those of us who work in small businesses know how important collaboration and cooperation are among those of us who work in them. So, it’s essential to adopt flexible measures in terms of managing schedules. Often, you’re advised to extend your service hours, but that’s certainly not always the most optimal solution. Sometimes, the solution lies more in being flexible with the hours when you receive the most customers. It’s important to know where you’ll be making your significant sales and, finally, to diversify the offerings you’re making so that your work becomes more effective.

For over four decades, Alfa Menswear has stood as a trusted name in men's fashion, offering a curated blend of timeless tailoring and contemporary style. Originally launched as a family-run business, its commitment to exceptional service and high-quality garments remains unchanged - even as it enters a new era. In August 2023, Jeremy Lawson, whose roots in menswear run deep through his father’s clothing business, took the helm. Today, Jeremy is honoring Alfa’s legacy while bringing a modern vision to the forefront - combining personal customer care with smart technology. In this exclusive interview, he discusses his journey, his core values, and how tools like Loyverse POS are helping him elevate Alfa Menswear for the next generation.. Can you tell us the story behind your retail business—how and why did you decide to start it? My business has been trading for 40 years, but I took over as a new owner in August 2023. Menswear is my background. I worked for my father from the age of twelve in his clothes shop. I did a variety of jobs in the meantime, including running mobile shops. Afterwards I did some other jobs in between and decided to come back to where I started which was retail of mans’ clothing. The opportunity came up when a friend of my father’s announced his retirement. I stepped in and continued the business with the same name, took on a new lease, found some new suppliers and kept his existing suppliers as well. What were some unique challenges you faced when you took over the business, and how did you overcome them? I suppose footfall is always challenging, so we do a lot of weeding fairs to drive people to our store. We do a lot of wedding attire so spring is a really good time of the year when people think about getting maried. We do a lot of weeding suits,shoes, shirts and ties to go with it. Driving traffic through those fairs has been one of our main strategies. Looking back on your journey so far, what philosophies or values have guided you through the ups and downs of entrepreneurship? Looking after our people is a top priority. Our staff is incredibly important - many stayed on from the previous ownership. Providing excellent service is at the heart of our philosophy. We believe that if we go the extra mile, whether it’s a same-day alteration or a quick turnaround with the tailor, customers notice. That kind of service keeps people coming back. It’s a reputation that’s been built over decades, and we’re committed to upholding it. What type of advertisement do you use for your business? We mainly use social media and advertise in wedding fair magazines. A dedicated social media company manages our Instagram, Mailchimp emails, and Facebook presence Do you plan to open more branches in the future? I wouldn’t rule it out. If we manage to make this one successful, that would be something I would look at in the future. How did you first hear about Loyverse, and what made you decide to use it for your business? We started using Loyverse about a year ago. Previously, we were using another POS system, but the reporting features were lacking. What I love about Loyverse is the detailed breakdown by category—it allows me to track sales for suits, shirts, belts, and shoes. This level of reporting made it an easy choice for us. Do you use any of the integrated card payment system in your store? Yes, we are currently using Teya which integrates seamlessly with Loyverse POS, and in comparison to the other payment systems it is paid next day which is always good for the volume of transactions that we do. It is nice to have the money in the bank straight away. How has been your experience with the Employee Management add-on? Employee Management has been incredibly helpful. It allows us to restrict access rights and also track performance. For example, if someone is struggling with suit sales, I can see that through the system and arrange training accordingly. Being able to see who sold what is vital - not just for accountability, but for staff development. In terms of reporting and analytics, how valuable is the data you obtain from Loyverse in terms of understanding your retail shop's performance and making informed decisions? The reporting is well worth the investment. As I mentioned, I can see sales by employee and by category, and I can also pull up specific transactions if a customer asks about a past purchase. For instance, someone might say, “I bought trousers last year—can you check the size?” I can quickly find the receipt. I also use the Dashboard app all the time to monitor performance week-to-date, month-to-date, and year-to-date. Which features of Loyverse have had the most impact on your day-to-day operations? Advanced Inventory is probably the most impactful. It helps us track what we’re holding in each department, and we use that data to plan future purchases. When booking stock for the next year, I can look at what we’ve been selling and make informed decisions. This feature is one of the main reasons we chose Loyverse over other competitors. Have you integrated Loyverse with any other software/system? Yes, we are using integration with Xero for our accounting needs. What advice would you give to new or aspiring retail entrepreneurs, especially about choosing the right tools and staying competitive? First, get relevant industry experience. I once considered buying a bar, and while I had both bar and management experience, I didn’t have managerial experience in that sector - which made it a risk. So my advice is to gain experience by working for someone else in the field you’re interested in. Second, create a solid business plan. Don’t be afraid to ask for help—there are plenty of people willing to support you. I also recommend joining a local networking group to test your ideas with others. Third, build strong relationships - with your suppliers, your staff, and your customers. Working for yourself is incredibly rewarding, and I absolutely recommend it over working for someone else.

In the bustling food scene of Barcelona, Sigma Burgers has quickly made a name for itself with a no-nonsense approach to burgers: quality ingredients, done right. Founded by a consultant-turned-burger-enthusiast, this smash-style burger joint proves that passion and precision can cook up real success. Here’s how the journey began—and how Loyverse helped along the way. Why, how, and when did you start your business? I opened Sigma Burgers on December 13th. It’s a smash-style burger joint, and although I still work in consulting, burgers have always been my passion. I finally had the chance to go for it, and I thought: it's now or never. I wanted to do something that truly excited me, and my consulting job helped cover the initial investment. Just when I was ready to launch, the pandemic hit—so I had to delay. But eventually, I went ahead. If it worked, great. If not, I’d stick with consulting. I'm not the type to leap without a parachute—I like to weigh my options. What makes Sigma Burgers stand out from other burger places? Two things: quality and simplicity. First, the meat—we use 100% beef, nothing else added. Just salt and pepper, which brings out the natural juiciness. A lot of places mix in other ingredients, but I learned from the best in the burger scene, not from flashy trends like burgers with donut buns. We keep it classic: brioche buns, onions, melted cheese, and always focus on using the best ingredients. The simpler it is, the better. How did you discover Loyverse POS? My budget was limited, so I searched for POS apps for hospitality on Google Play. I tried several, but Loyverse stood out—it was intuitive, easy to use, and most importantly, free. Even so, I chose to subscribe to the Employee Management add-on, which has been extremely useful. What are your favorite features? The modifiers—without a doubt. They’ve made things much easier when it comes to handling custom orders like “no onions” or extra sauces. Before using them, we had a lot of internal confusion—orders would get mixed up, and it wasn’t always clear what each one needed. But in a kitchen, order is everything, and modifiers brought that order. They’ve helped us work faster and with more confidence. What's your top advice for someone starting their own business? Start as soon as you can. I had ideas and theories about how things would work, especially the food—but once you're in it, you realize many things are harder than expected. That’s why it’s better to start early and learn as you go. It’s scary, and yes, it’s a risk—but just like driving a car: once you get it rolling, it’s easier to keep going. There’s no perfect moment. The best time to start is now. And find a clear motivation—whether it’s money, passion, or not wanting a boss. Whatever your reason is, let it drive you. Follow them in IG: https://www.instagram.com/sigma_burgers Their tasty website: https://sigmaburgers.com/

We interviewed Bryan Muñoz, one of the owners of Palomon, a popcorn and snacks business that has been running for one year and has been using Loyverse since day one. Could you please introduce your business? I am the co-owner of a snack business along with my brother. We opened on July 22nd of last year, and since then, we have been using Loyverse as part of our operations. We produce popcorn in a variety of flavors and recipes. Our flavors are quite popular in Mexico, ranging from butter, cheese, caramel, strawberry, cherry, grape, and more. We also sell corn-based snacks, potato chips, and nachos. Our customers often choose us for movie nights at home, to take snacks to school, and more. We have daily customers and are currently in the process of expanding. How was your initial experience with Loyverse? At first, it was challenging because we were learning how to use the Loyverse POS features from scratch while starting the business. Despite the challenges, from manual tools to a virtual system, I liked the information it provides because it is complete and has been a great help from the beginning. What tools are you currently using? I subscribed to the employee management feature for one year, allowing my employees to log in with their email and password as they have the administrator role. Since I’m not always present, my employee is responsible for starting the shift and acts as the cashier, having access to the necessary functions. Another feature that has been very helpful is the customer purchase history and database. My customers also love the option of earning cashback (Loyalty) points with each purchase. They often return after a couple of visits and ask if they have enough points to redeem a free popcorn. What was the main reason you subscribed to the employee management feature? I specifically wanted to separate the cashier function since my employee would only handle transactions. There are also days when I’m not at the store, and one of the employees needs access to refunds or handle more responsible tasks. On one occasion, a regular customer requested a combination of items we didn’t have in the system, and my employee was able to create a new item directly from the POS and make the sale. This makes my work easier when I return to the store. It's worth mentioning that it was simple for my employees to learn how to use the POS. Was there a specific feature that made you choose Loyverse? I’ve tried other POS systems and helped others manage them, but when I came across Loyverse, I realized it was the best fit for my business. The way it displays items, and the ease of adding a shape, color, or image was very appealing. It was a quick decision because many people recommended it. When I started my business, I bought the hardware (printer and cash register) on Mercado Libre, and there were comments about Loyverse POS. Then, I searched for videos on YouTube, created the account, made test sales, reviewed the reports generated by Loyverse, and saw that it worked very well. That’s when I decided to continue using Loyverse. It’s an intuitive POS, which is essential for this type of application, and I’ve recommended it to a friend. Have you ever used the reports to make any decisions? I do that often, as we are seeking the business’s break-even point. I need to see what my actual sales, costs, and profits are. When I create an item, I can add the price and the real cost, and Loyverse shows me the difference. I can check the net sales and gross profit. Once a month, my partner (who is my brother) and I review what sells the most, and what sells the least, and we examine the costs and margins. Based on this, we look for new suppliers to reduce costs. If we see that certain items aren’t selling well, we decide whether to continue restocking or create discounts to clear out that inventory. Loyverse helps us determine whether the business is truly profitable. We set an acceptable profit margin percentage for each item. In our case, the minimum value is a 30% profit margin. Why have you recommended Loyverse to other entrepreneurs? I’ve recommended it because it helps control sales, analyze inventory movements, manage discounts, review profits, and provides all the necessary information for a business to thrive. Using employee profiles allows them to operate the POS without accessing the Back Office. In the short term, we plan to expand with a new store, so we need the information provided by Loyverse to understand how long it will take to reach the break-even point and to assess the average sales at our current store. In the long term, we aim to establish several franchises, and Loyverse has significantly impacted that planning due to the valuable information it provides. Would you like to leave any inspirational message or story that could help other entrepreneurs overcome difficulties? When we started the business, we set a goal to recover our investment and had expectations for reaching the break-even point. Every month, we hold an analysis meeting. By month five, we had no profits, experienced days with few sales, and still had expenses to cover. My partner was very negative and wanted to abandon the business. However, I pointed out that the employee salaries, rent, and goods were all being covered by the business itself. I wanted him to understand that the business was self-sustaining. So, I logged into the Back Office and showed him the sales history from when we opened until the current date. Even after accounting for expenses, we could see the stability we had achieved in a short period. This experience showed me that Loyverse saved my business. The story I’d like to share is about patience. The results in a business are not immediate, but with patience and hard work, it’s possible to succeed.

In the competitive world of jewelry retail, having the right tools can make all the difference. This article explores how a jewelry shop transformed from a budding idea to a thriving business with the help of Loyverse POS. By streamlining operations, enhancing customer connections, and facilitating expansion, Loyverse POS became the cornerstone of this sparkling success story. Discover how this innovative system played a pivotal role in the shop's journey to success. The Journey to a Jewelry Business I started the idea of this business approximately 11 years ago, back in 2014. This desire grew inside me, and I fell in love with the idea of jewelry. It eventually drove me to action. I began by researching more on the internet and talking to other people in this type of business to get insights on how I could do this. One thing led to another, and I started doing it. The process just kind of helped me to run the business today, and I hope to keep growing in the coming years. Managing and Expanding Currently, I'm managing one shop, but soon I'll be opening other branches. One of the main motivations that led me to use Loyverse POS was this expansion. I thought it would be difficult to expand because controlling the system to make sales was hard, but Loyverse POS changed it all. It's easier now, and I think it will be easier to expand and open more stores, diversifying the business a little bit. It's a pretty good system. Favorite Features I like the inventory feature. It's pretty good, and the shift opening and closing feature is essential to know where we are each day. The statistics are also helpful; they provide a good time frame, and I can check the metrics to see if the day was good or not and what to do based on the data. I finished registering all the items on the platform recently, which took about five months. Now, I'm digging a bit more into the platform, and so far, it's marvelous. Unique Selling Points The main thing that made me start this business is feeling it in my heart. I knew my clients, my targets, and what they wanted. This has proven to be right because I hear a lot of people congratulating us and the business for what we bring to them. I connect with my clients and the community, knowing exactly what they like. Every time I select stock, I do it myself because I know what people want. This connection with the clients, and understanding their hearts is what sets my business apart from other jewelry shops. Desired Features As I said, I haven't explored all the features yet, but one thing that could help is a way to control invoicing with my manufacturers. This would make it easier to order and manage purchases. Loyverse POS already has a feature for this in their Advanced Inventory Package, which includes purchasing, invoicing and updating inventory. Discovery of Loyverse POS A friend recommended Loyverse POS to me. He has his own business and told me that to expand, I needed a system to control my business without having to be there every day. I wanted a modern, efficient system that could help me do everything on my phone. After some investigation, I found Loyverse POS. It was exactly what I wanted, with all the hardware I needed to work with it. I started ordering everything and preparing the gear, and eventually, I started using it. Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs Control is essential to run a business properly. Managing stock, workers, and every aspect of the business is crucial. If I had a consistent system like Loyverse POS from the beginning, my business would have grown much faster. Registering all the products took a long time because previous software didn't work well, causing stock disparities. A system like Loyverse POS would have made everything much easier. So, my advice to new business owners is to invest in a good system from the start to help manage and scale the business effectively. This interview has provided valuable insights into the importance of control and efficient systems in running and expanding a business. It's clear that having the right tools can significantly impact the growth and success of a business. Follow his Instagram: perolain.js

In the heart of Veracruz, a small store was born as a family project to keep Don Francisco, a retired father, active and engaged. We interviewed Mr.Luis Sanchez, who shared how Tiendita de Doña Rosa has not only become a profitable business but also an inspiring example of how technology can transform a humble corner store into an organized and forward-looking enterprise. Could you tell us what kind of business Tiendita de Doña Rosa is and how it all began? Tiendita de Doña Rosa is a grocery store. It all started as a small family shop to give my father something to do. I live in a different city and wanted to help him feel better, as he wanted to continue working, but we didn’t want him to leave the house due to his age. We initially thought we would sell around 300 or 400 pesos a day, but we quickly surpassed 2,000 pesos. With this unexpected growth came the need to control inventory, improve customer service, and make data-driven decisions. That’s when I searched online and discovered the Loyverse POS system, which is how I now manage the business. You manage the business from another city—how does your day-to-day work with Loyverse? I chose Loyverse precisely for that reason because I can help from afar. I upload products, update prices, and review sales from Monterrey. My parents only need to record the sales. Although there were some initial challenges when uploading the product data, the system quickly became an essential part of our daily operations. The app is very intuitive. Both my mom and dad adapted quickly. As for our customers, they notice we’re using technology, and that gives them confidence. What motivated you to implement Loyverse in your business? Thanks to the sales reports, we gained a much clearer understanding of customer behavior and our top-selling products. Before, we only knew that Coca-Cola sold well, but we didn’t know which size or packaging sold the most. Now, we manage our stock and purchases based on real data. Having access to Loyverse reports has allowed us to make better purchasing decisions, reduce losses, and plan investments, like acquiring a new refrigerator. Loyverse has improved your daily operations—what changes have you noticed since its implementation? Everything used to be manual. Now, we track our daily and monthly gross profits. I had two main challenges: first, being far away made it difficult to support my parents directly. With Loyverse, I can update inventory and enter items remotely, and my mom just verifies the information. Second, I needed to standardize control over which products sell the most. With Loyverse’s reports, we now know exactly which formats are selling best and can purchase accordingly. We're also beginning to maintain better inventory control. Are there any specific reports you use most frequently? Yes, I rely heavily on the reports by item, category, and payment method. The sales summary is the one I use the most, especially for the gross sales and gross profit figures shown alongside the graphs. For example, with the item sales report, we’ve standardized our maximum purchase quantities. Now we know exactly which products move faster and buy only those. Have you noticed improvements in areas such as inventory control, sales, or even customer service since implementing Loyverse? Yes, we saw changes from day one. People in our area aren’t used to seeing POS systems in small grocery stores or being able to pay by card. We received a lot of positive feedback from customers who were impressed by the full setup—the POS, the printer, the scanner, and the cash drawer. Would you like to share any advice for entrepreneurs who are just starting? Yes. This isn’t my first time managing a business, and the most valuable advice I can give is: if you don’t maintain proper control, you can suffer major losses or misuse your funds. The real, numerical data that a POS system like Loyverse provides is vital to help your business grow. It’s also important to understand the value of building strong customer relationships—anything that inspires trust in your customers is a good idea. Cómo una tienda familiar de prueba creció gracias a Loyverse POS En el corazón de Veracruz, una pequeña tienda nació como un proyecto familiar para mantener ocupado a Don Francisco, un padre jubilado. Hemos entrevistado al señor Luis Sanchez que nos cuenta como hoy, Tiendita de Doña Rosa no solo se ha convertido en un negocio rentable, sino también en un ejemplo de cómo la tecnología puede transformar una tiendita de barrio en una empresa organizada y con visión ¿Nos podría contar qué tipo de negocio es Tiendita de Doña Rosa y como comenzarón? Tiendita de Doña Rosa es una tienda de abarrotes. Todo comenzó como una tiendita pequeña para que mi papá tuviera algo qué hacer, yo vivo en otra ciudad y queria ayudar a que mi papá se sintiera mejor ya que el quería trabajar pero al ser mayor no queríamos que saliera de casa, pensábamos vender unos 300 o 400 pesos diarios, pero pronto superamos los 2,000 pesos, y con este inesperado crecimiento, surgió la necesidad de controlar inventarios, mejorar la atención y tomar decisiones baseadas en datos reales. Así busqué en internet y encontré el programa de Loyverse POS, yo administro el negocio de esa manera. Usted administra el negocio y vive en otra ciudad, cómo funciona su día a día con Loyverse? Elegí Loyverse exactamente por esa razón, porque podía ayudar desde lejos. Cargo los productos, actualizo precios y reviso las ventas desde Monterrey. Mis papás solo tienen que registrar las ventas. Aunque hubo algunos retos al cargar los productos inicialmente, el sistema se volvió parte clave del día a día. La aplicación es muy intuitiva. Mi mamá y mi papá se adaptaron rápido. En relación a nuestros clientes, ellos notan que usamos tecnología y eso les da confianza. ¿Qué lo motivó a implementar Loyverse en su negocio? Gracias a los informes de ventas, entendimos mejor el comportamiento de nuestros clientes en cuanto a los productos más vendidos. Antes solo sabíamos que se vendía Coca-Cola, pero no sabíamos qué presentación se vendía más. Ahora, compramos y alimentamos nuestro stock con base en datos reales. Tener los informes de Loyverse nos ha permitido tomar mejores decisiones de compra, reducir perdidas y planificar inversiones, como la adquisición de un refrigerador nuevo. Loyverse mejoró la operatividad diaria, qué cambios ha notado en su negocio despues de implementar Loyverse? Antes todo era manual, ahora medimos utilidad bruta diaria y mensual. Tenía dos retos principales: primero, como estoy lejos, no podía apoyar a mis papás directamente. Con Loyverse, modifico el inventario, cargo los artículos y mi mamá solo verifica. Segundo, necesitaba estandarizar el control de qué productos se venden más. Con los informes de Loyverse, ya sabemos cuáles presentaciones se venden más y podemos comprar con más precisión. Además, estamos empezando a llevar un mejor control de inventario. En relación a los informes, tiene en mente alguno que use con más frecuencia? Me ayudan mucho los informes por artículo, categoría y método de pago. El resumen de ventas es el que más uso, sobre todo por los datos de ventas brutas y beneficios brutos que aparecen junto a las gráficas. Con la información de las ventas por artículo, por ejemplo, estandarizamos la compra máxima de productos. Ahora sabemos cuáles productos se mueven más y compramos sólo esos. ¿Ha anotado mejoras en áreas como el control de inventario ventas o incluso en la atención al cliente desde que implementaron Loyverse? Desde que empezamos el primer día vimos cambios, la gente no está acostumbrada a ver puntos de venta en tienditas de abarrotes, ni cobros con tarjeta, recibimos muchos feedback positivos de los clientes al ver todo el sistema funcionando con al POS, la impresora, el escaner y la caja registradora. Le gustaria compartir un consejo para los emprendedores que estan aun comenzando? Si, no es la primera vez que administro un negocio, el consejo más valioso es que si no llevas buen control, puedes tener mucha perdida o usar mal el dinero. La información real en numeros que un sistema de POS como Loyverse te da, es vital para ayudarte a crecer. Tambien es necesario entender la importancia de una buena relación con el cliente para el crecimiento del negocio, todo lo que inspira confianza en sus clientes es una buena idea.

Grumpy Granny Bake and Brew is a unique bakery inspired by a love for homemade, fresh bread and a desire to create something memorable. Founded by a passionate chef who began her culinary journey in 2009, the bakery came to life during the pandemic, when the need to reinvent her career led to turning her dining room into a bustling bread-making space. With a memorable brand and logo rooted in family heritage and a commitment to organic ingredients, Grumpy Granny Bake and Brew has become a local favorite, delighting customers at farmers' markets with fresh, homemade bread and pastries. The business combines heartwarming family stories with delicious, freshly baked goods, creating a brand that’s as personal as it is delicious. Could you provide an overview of your business and its story? I am a chef since 2009. With the pandemic and other things going on, I was trying to find a way to stop working for other people and start working for myself. I have always loved to bake bread for my family and friends. I never thought that bread would be a career. After the pandemic, I had to go back to Brazil because I had no job here in the UK. If I wanted to return here, I needed a plan. So it occurred to me that why not open a bakery? So, I came up with the name. The name took me a very long time. I don’t remember exactly how I came up with the name Grumpy Granny; I just wanted to have a funny name in English that would attract people and make them remember the brand. The name is good. I shared it first with my friends, and they liked it. The second thing was the logo. I have a cousin in Brazil who likes to take many pictures of my late grandmother. They were funny pictures of her being funny or grumpy or dressed in funny dresses. I told him to send me all the images he had. If you check our Instagram, my business logo is actually a picture of my grandmother that I converted into a logo. It does bring the customers, that’s the funny story. Because there is always a story to tell about her, and you can start a conversation with any customer. Ladies come to me, and they say: “Why the grumpy granny? Who is grumpy granny? Who is cooking?” and I say: “No, I am the one cooking, I am the baker, I bake and sell the bakery products.” I don’t have a physical shop. I have configured many shops in my Loyverse account, but they are farmers’ markets where I go. For each one, I prepare the corresponding products; sometimes, I prepare and sell bread; sometimes, I prepare pastries. This is why I have added the locations as stores and separated the products I sell in each location. I started the bakery in my dining room, which is now a bakery and not a dining room anymore. I produce and bake the bread here and then take it to the farmer's market. When did you start to use Loyverse for your bakery? I have a friend who owns Pizza Geeks. He has been using Loyverse for a while. I helped him in December of last year, and I saw that he was using Loyverse for his pizza place. He has Loyverse in two locations and managed the business remotely. He saw the sales report and identified which items were being sold the most and which were not. I found this very interesting. Of course, in my case, Loyverse POS would not be used to check what is being sold or what happens when I am not present since I am doing everything by myself. I wanted to use Loyverse to be able to identify which items are being sold the most. And with Loyverse, it is easy. Sometimes, I am exhausted since I start working at 5 am to prepare some products, and I can work until past midnight. Then, the next day, I have to wake up at 5 am and go to the market. Because of this routine, I am usually very tired and cannot even remember the prices. There were days I forgot to add products, and there were days I could not remember the prices even though I had the price tags on the products, but they were facing the customers. I tried to put a price tag behind the products so I could see them from my side as well. Then, the problem was calculating the total of the receipt. I was too tired to do the calculations. This is the main reason why I decided to implement Loyverse in my business. I input all items and their corresponding prices there, facilitating my sales process. I could easily choose the payment method that the customers wanted to use. Loyverse also made me switch to SumUp because I was using another company for card payments that didn’t integrate with Loyverse. It worked everything perfectly for me with SumUp. Do you track the inventory of your items using Loyverse POS? I have not input the stock of my items there yet. What I have done is input the cost of my products. I go and buy stuff weekly since I don’t have a lot of storage in my home. I produce for the day, so I don’t have stock available, and that is why I don’t use inventory features for the moment. But I definitely should use it since last week I forgot to buy some very important ingredients, and the market is really far away from my home. What features of Loyverse have been most beneficial for your business? I like the reports very much. I have input the prices and costs, and I can see the gross profit in the reports. I tried to play around with the Employee Management subscription to see how I could use it, but since now only my wife and I are doing everything, there is no need for this feature. However, I plan to use it in the future. What are your future plans? I want to open a coffee shop where we will sell baked goods. I am now producing at maximum capacity at home, so I am searching for a place to transfer the business so I can prepare more items. I currently have a website that provides information about my brand, but customers cannot purchase online because all my items are prepared and sold fresh. I plan to include in my catalog some items that can be prepared beforehand and sold via the website. How do you advertise your business? I use mainly Instagram and Facebook to advertise my products to customers. Is there a philosophy in business that you try to follow? My philosophy is that I bake products that I would happily give to my children. I try to use as many organic products as possible. The breads are 100% organic. Do you have competitors, and how do you differentiate from them? Yes, in some markets, many other businesses offer bread, but in the markets around my area, there are not many that provide the same products as I do. I would say that in my city, there is no other baker, only me. I have tried to get people to know me for two years since I don’t have a physical or online store. It is hard to make people believe that I am a baker and that despise having a dark kitchen in my home I am as clean as I can be. I tried hard to make them believe that I was a professional and that I would deliver them bread as hot as it could be. It has been a challenging journey. Do you have regular customers that you have registered in the system? Yes, I do have some regular customers. But it is hard for me to register them in the system since the sales process is very fast. Usually, there is another customer behind each customer, so it does not leave me time to add the customer to the system. I am thinking of giving clients an opportunity to leave their details and their preferences of what they want me to sell on a piece of paper, and later, I can go ahead and create their profile in the system. Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to open their own businesses? I just advised a lady who is opening a coffee shop to use Loyverse as well. My advice for the new guys would be: Don’t surrender! It is tiresome at the beginning; you will feel the weight because you will need to work full-time. Don’t surrender! It is your dream; keep going until you succeed! Trust me, it is worth it.

Natural Health is a store based in Ecuador that sells sports supplements, vitamins, and natural products. Its owner, Fredy, shares with us some insights about his business and his experience since they started using Loyverse. How long have you been in business, and when did you start using Loyverse? We started four years ago and have been using Loyverse for a year and a half. When we first opened, we managed the business using a computer program, but as we expanded to new locations, I needed a solution that could be used on tablets. That’s when I started searching for options and found Loyverse. What made you decide to use Loyverse? I was looking for a POS system that I could install on my mobile devices and turn them into sales points. With my phone in Loyverse, I can scan barcodes and record sales. For payments, I use Payone, a startup from Ecuador, and I added it as a card payment method that I can select directly from my phone. To process the payment, the customer follows a link, I confirm on the same phone that the payment has been made through the app, and then I select the payment in Loyverse. It was very convenient from the start. How was your initial experience managing the Loyverse app? It was straightforward. The explanations provided by the help center are pretty comprehensive, but the app itself is so intuitive that you can configure everything practically without needing tutorials. Have you made business decisions based on the information provided by Loyverse? Yes, with the low stock notifications, I can tell when stock is about to run out. I receive an email that helps me know when to contact suppliers or restock. Over time, I can forecast the stock for certain items. The Back Office information is crucial because, for example, before using Loyverse, I used to buy without control. If there were a promotion, I’d buy many units and end up with stock for six months. This wasn’t profitable, but with Loyverse, I can make smarter purchasing decisions. I can see the product rotation over a month. If I know that I sell 25 units per month, then it makes sense to buy that item during a promotion. Is there a specific report you use most often to make decisions? I always check the sales summary and sales-by-item reports because both show gross profit. The sales-by-item report also has the option to view the margin. With Loyverse, I check the gross profit daily. Since I have this information, I can use the profit margin data to calculate averages, determine when I can increase the price of a product, and create promotions for products that aren’t selling well. This way, I try to balance the gross profit. What tool do you consider essential for your type of business? I have two locations, so I need my employees to log in with different users because I can’t be in two places simultaneously. With the owner’s profile, only I can control everything. For example, cashiers can only process payments and give change. This feature is essential for the security of my business. What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs about using Loyverse? For any entrepreneur, it’s essential to know your revenue and expenses and manage information correctly because, without it, you end up making decisions without thinking. As I mentioned earlier, we can spend too much on supplies without considering long-term consequences, like promotions, and then get stuck with too much stock. Managing information and adapting to new technology is crucial today. You can do everything with your phone; with Loyverse, we don’t need to buy a barcode scanner; the camera of my device can be used. You don’t need to buy a computer or a printer because you can email receipts. Loyverse allows you to do all of this, and it’s a great help. How has your experience as an entrepreneur been? To ensure the business didn’t fail in the four years we’ve been operating, we’ve had good and bad experiences. The bad ones happened due to a lack of experience. We started the business with challenges but managed to overcome them, mainly by persevering despite not seeing profits at first. After the first year, we made profits, and I thought any business I opened would be the same, but that wasn’t the case. I made bad decisions; I opened many locations and had nine people working for me, and then reality hit. Not all businesses yield the same results, and not all employees are equally dedicated, so I had to close several locations. Now we have two stable stores. What advice would you give to others to avoid making mistakes when managing their business? First, I’d say that, like many entrepreneurs, our beginnings were tough, with just a few people. So, I’d advise carefully thinking things through before making decisions and analyzing the market you’re targeting. All the information you can gather about your business is valid and important for any changes. Finally, keep going, stay strong, and be motivated. From the moment I started the business, I knew I had to implement something automatic, especially for managing inventories, because we don’t always have the time or motivation to do manual calculations.

In a remarkable journey that spans continents, a retail entrepreneur in Trinidad and Tobago has turned her passion for hair extensions and wigs into a thriving business. After relocating to the UK with her husband, she faced the challenge of maintaining her career as an attorney while managing a new venture. Utilizing her family’s business background and the power of Loyverse POS, she has successfully streamlined her operations and expanded to multiple locations. Her story is a testament to resilience, adaptability, and the belief that hard work truly pays off. What type of business do you run, and how did your journey as a business owner start? I have a retail business in Trinidad and Tobago that sells hair extensions and wigs. The business started in 2016. My husband is part of the air force in the UK. Because of his job and of us getting married, it meant that he was going to travel a lot. I moved from Trinidad and Tobago to the UK to live with him. Due to this, it was challenging to keep my profession; I am an attorney. Since I could not be a stay-at-home wife, transferring my business to the UK would not be suitable since my husband would move a lot, and I would move with him. That is why we decided to get something that would entertain me. I have always been interested in online businesses. I started to see various options for what type of business I could open, and my mom suggested the hair extensions and wigs business. She knew several people who were doing the same business as well. I started to research, and about a half and a month later, we ordered our first box of hair extensions, and that was it; we haven’t stopped since. The business has grown really well for the last couple of years. Last December, we opened our second location. An advantage that helped me with my business was the fact that I had some knowledge about business management. I come from several years of being with my mom and dad who have run their businesses over the years of growing up. Does your family help you manage the business since you are not always physically there? No, I have set up everything. I have made the businesses independent. I have CCTV cameras. I monitor and control everything from England. One challenge I have is caused by the difference in time between Trinidad and UK. UK is five hours ahead, so if I need to arrange something with my staff, I have a few hours available to do this in a convenient time for both my team and myself. But I have managed to basically control everything remotely. What is the philosophy that you always try to follow in business? I would say hard work pays off. It was hard when we started because we needed customers to believe in our business and products. There are a lot of other sellers in the market and a lot of sellers that are scammers in the industry as well. There were a lot of nights that we could get only 2-3 hours of sleep to reply to all our customers. My husband would often help me even though he was working as well. I would get to bed at 10 pm, for example, and my husband would wake up to check all the messages that we were receiving online from our customers and register their orders. As I said, hard work pays off, and I think this is how a journey in business works. How did you come to know about Loyverse? We initially used to use another point of sale. After a couple of years, in 2022, we decided to move the business from offline to online because of the pandemic. I created an online store and was able to sync it with our POS initially. However, the synchronization began to have issues, and I could not find out where the error was. The stock displayed in the online store was not correct. This situation forced us to find another alternative. While searching, we tried several POS systems. When we came across Loyverse, it was one of the best options for us in the market. The only drawback was that it could not be synced with Ecwid, the platform we used for our online store. How has the Loyverse system impacted your retail operations and overall business efficiency? I like it because, first of all, it is a straightforward platform to use and understand. We have used customer support several times when we initially transferred everything to Loyverse and received immediate support, which we didn’t have before. I loved the fact that you can have multiple locations in the same account, and you don’t have to log out and log in to something else. The only thing that I would have liked is to see the sales report by stores in the same view rather than having to filter one by one. We have two physical locations and a website. The website is only the addition of the two locations. I would like to see a grid in the Dashboard that shows the stock in each store for each item. Are you using any of the paid services that Loyverse offers? Yes, I am using Advanced Inventory and Employee Management. Advanced Inventory is beneficial for keeping track of stock and recording everything. Employee Management has been a lifesaver, with the option of managing employees’ access rights. I have set up their role so they cannot change or edit anything. When I need to update items or some settings, I do it myself from the Back office. Initially, when I transferred my business to Loyverse, I hired someone in IT to manage the account, but we had some misunderstandings, and I could not rely on him anymore, Have you added your customers to your Loyverse account and activated the Loyalty program? Yes, I am using that at the moment. I recently activated the loyalty program. The customers accumulate points on every purchase, but we have not started redeeming the points yet. How do you utilize Loyverse’s reporting and analytics features to make informed decisions about product assortment, pricing, or promotions? The reports are really lovely. It is much better than the other POS that we used before. I like very much the shift report and the detailed breakdown it gives for all the cash movements in the cash drawer. I also use the Dashboard app a lot, which helps me quickly see the stock of all items in different stores. Is there any advice or words of wisdom you would like to share with aspiring entrepreneurs looking to start their own business? I suggest going for it. You will never know what works unless you try it. If it doesn’t work, that is fine as well. Keep on it, and you will find something that works for you.

In the vibrant landscape of Tanzania's healthcare sector, David opened his pharmacy just a year and a half ago, fueled by his passion for pharmacy and a desire to serve his community. Facing numerous challenges in inventory management and customer relations, David turned to Loyverse, a POS system that transformed his operations. In this interview, he shares his experiences with Loyverse, highlighting how its features have streamlined his business and offered valuable insights for aspiring entrepreneurs. What are some challenges that you faced during your first year in business? There are many challenges. Some are related to inventory management, tracking stock that comes in and out, and tracking product expiration dates. These challenges pushed me to search for a system that would help me manage my business effectively. Other challenges that I faced are market-related. When did you start using Loyverse in your pharmacy? I started to use the Loyverse system in February of this year. Did using Loyverse change how your business operates, and which features are you using most? Loyverse has been a handy tool that has helped me significantly to manage the inventory and track my business with the sales reports that it offers, allowing me to see the profits. I use the Advanced Inventory subscription. It is effortless to send orders to suppliers and update the stock in the system. I use this feature very frequently. I love all the reports that Loyverse offers. The Sales summary report shows me how the business is doing, compares each period with the previous period, and helps identify the busiest days or hours. Before using Loyverse, I tried to track everything manually, which was quite a hassle. Implementing Loyverse has made all the tracking easier. I am also using Employee Management so that each employee has their profile in the system. This helps me manage their access rights and track their performance. Did you use other POS systems before Loyverse? I tried several POS systems. However, I was very impressed with Loyverse because of its simplicity of use and purchase order functionality. Another fact that convinced me to use the Loyverse POS system is that it can be installed easily on smartphones and tablets. Do you have loyal customers, and have you registered them with Loyverse? Yes, I have loyal customers. I still need to add them all to the system. I am still working on my customer base. I have added only a few of them to my Loyverse account for now. I want to add all my customers and explore the loyalty program feature in the future. Do you utilize the Loyverse additional apps? Yes, I use the Loyverse Dashboard on a daily basis. It helps me with the reports and quickly sees the stock update of items. I like the push notifications feature when an item is low or out of stock. Have you used the Integrations service to integrate Loyverse with other apps? I have tried to connect Loyverse to Quickbooks. But, since I am still new to the business and our profit is low, I have decided to postpone using the Integration for a second moment. How would you describe your experience with Loyverse’s customer support? Have they been responsive and helpful in resolving any issues or answering your queries? The customer support is very fast. I have not used it frequently since I have found answers in the Loyverse Community and your Help Center. What advice would you give to other young entrepreneurs who have just started their journey? If your business is small and new, like mine, I suggest investing in a good system. Of course, I would recommend Loyverse to get started. You can always start with the free version and upgrade when your business grows.

Nestled on the picturesque island of Gili Air in Indonesia, Marta Jes runs "Little Gili," a charming boutique catering exclusively to children's needs. Founded out of a personal necessity to provide quality toys and educational materials for visiting families, Marta's shop has quickly become a haven for both locals and tourists seeking thoughtful, eco-friendly products. Despite the challenges of operating in a remote and tourist-centric environment, Marta's strategic use of Loyverse POS from the outset has played a pivotal role in managing daily operations and fostering growth. In a candid interview, she shares her insights on starting and sustaining a unique business on this idyllic island paradise. What is your business about? I have a small offline shop. It is like a kid’s boutique. The shop is located on a small island of Indonesia called the Gili Air, which would take you an hour and a half to go around. This island is very touristic, and the visitors are particular. A second ago, I was looking on the web for Loyverse, and you have features to add and manage your customer base, but my clients are coming to the island for one to three days for holidays with kids. Probably, they will never come back here, or they will come in terms of years or something like that. A few families live on the island with kids, and I would say they are my loyal customers. What inspired you to start this kind of business? I have two boys, six and eight years old, and this is the place where we usually come for a quick getaway. I am the mom who is always prepared, which means we have coloring books and crayons when we are waiting for the food. My kids don’t usually sit on the phone, so we need to be prepared. What if I don’t have the coloring book and staff? There is no place on the island where to buy such items. This island is considered a family-friendly place. If you have kids, you would come here and not to the other two islands next to Gili Air, one for yoga and the other for people who prefer parties and noisy activities. This got me thinking that if families are coming here, they don’t have a place where to buy toys, coloring books, puzzles, and other items that are needed for their children. There is a supermarket with nothing and everything in it. They offer only some plastic toys that will be destroyed within 5 minutes. I had never thought I would be a shop owner, but I felt that this was something that the island was missing. This was my first business, and I would need to open my wallet wide to have it. It is not like let’s spend 50 euros and try it to see if it will work or not. But, so far so good. When did you open your shop? I have opened the shop on July 5th. It will be a year since it opened soon. Have you used Loyverse since the beginning, or did you start using it later? I used Loyverse since the very beginning. Before I opened the shop, we had a small social project where my friend and I helped the local community produce coconut products, and sometimes, we were in the market trying to promote these products. That was the first time we came across Loyverse. We checked a very basic version of Loyverse then, only to register sales and print receipts. That was three or four years before opening my own shop. When I opened the shop, I didn’t do extensive research about the POS app. I know that in Indonesia, there are two popular POS used in Coffee and other businesses. But I decided to go ahead with Loyverse. I know that I don’t use Loyverse fully. I am paying only for employee management at the moment since I have an employee who needs to have her own access to the system. I know that I can have Advanced Inventory and use Integrations to connect Loyverse with other systems, but I might explore the other two add-ons later since I don’t need those extra features at the moment. How was the onboarding process for you and your employees? The girl working in the shop is 21 years old, so you know, you just show the app, and she is like, “Great, I got it,” but for me, it took a little bit longer :). Even though her English is not the best, she has no issues with the system. She knows everything, and it is excellent. Sometimes, when I visit the shop, I see how she is using the app and learn something new myself. It was easy to set up everything. I think after two months of using the app, while I was talking with my friend who is also using Loyverse for her business, we were discussing how to track the cash that goes in and out of the cash drawer, and she told me that I needed to activate the shift feature and the employee needs to count the starting cash and the cash at the end of the day and the system will help with the cash reconciliation. So, I was learning new things along the way and using more and more features. Are you the only one with access to the Back office, or have you given your employee access as well? I am the only one who has access to the Back office. The employee has restricted access rights. What has been the most helpful feature for you so far? One of the most useful features has been the daily reports, which allow us to understand daily sales. I also appreciate the receipts report because it is essential to know which items have been sold. As I mentioned, my shop is really small, so I don’t have 50 units of a specific product, for example, since I simply don’t have the space for it. Today, I saw that my employee sold four units of a particular product, and I know that we had only eight units of it in stock. Every day, I can quickly check which items have been sold. I use the Dashboard app very frequently, and I appreciate that I can see the total number of receipts, total sales, and how many items were sold. Still, I would also like to see the individual receipts since, for me, it is interesting to see who bought what. I can see this information on the computer, but unfortunately, I cannot see it on the phone as well. What improvements would you like to see in the Loyverse system? I noticed that once you create an item with variants, it is not possible to delete them and make the item a simple item again. Sometimes, I have items with variants, but when I notice that some of the variants are not selling well, I would like to remove them. This is an improvement that I would like to have. But overall, I am really happy with the system. Do you sell only offline, or do you also have an online shop? I have Instagram since if you don’t have Instagram today, you don’t exist. When I first opened the page, I was committed to posting every day, but this is not in my nature. Actually, I don’t feel it. I like to see and swipe rather than post. I was committed, but I noticed that my customers don’t care because most of our customers are walk-ins. I started to post every day for every new product; I even started to post reels, then I stopped for a week, and I noticed that it did not affect the sales at all. After this, I decided that I didn’t need to advertise via social media or other channels. I think this is also due to the fact that we are the only shop of this kind and there are no competitors. Sometimes, people from other islands contact me via Instagram to ask if I have a specific product in stock, and if we do, we ship it to them by boat. In Indonesia, we have a page called Tokopedio. I have an account there, but I rarely use it as well. Do you plan to open more branches of your shop in the future? I was thinking of making this store bigger and maybe expanding with some kids' activities, like workshops for kids, drawing, etc., since this is something that the island does not have. On the other hand, this would be more risky than selling diapers. We are talking about small humans, and I have two boys, and it is a real challenge. So, I have to really study the pros and cons before making the final decision. What is the philosophy that you try to follow in business? I don’t know if it is a philosophy, but it is mostly related to the items that we are selling. We don’t have plastic products inside, and the island is also very eco-friendly. We tend to have wooden toys, puzzles, and books and avoid anything plastic. I think kids can and should play with very creative toys, and they don’t need phones or plastic toys that will harm them. All the products that we offer help to boost the children’s creativity. I don’t know if it is a philosophy, but I don’t sell anything in my shop that I wouldn’t let my children use. What message do you want to give other young entrepreneurs who might be planning to open a new business? I am an Excel person. I would not go through anything without really thinking about it. I am not a business shark. This is the first time that I opened my wallet to open a business. I made some profit before making some small things, but it wasn’t this level of investment. What I know now is that it is not possible to make a profit in a business without opening the wallet a little bit. The more money you put in, the more money you will get. I know that from this small shop that I have, I will not build a villa with a pool, but is it something. My advice is to calculate everything and have a backup plan. It is a risk, but no risk, no fun.

In the bustling heart of the Philippines, Burger Mama stands out as more than just a local eatery. Led by Marjorie, this beloved burger joint uses Loyverse POS to streamline operations and create jobs for local students. In this interview, Marjorie shares how Burger Mama is helping students achieve their educational dreams while serving up delicious meals. Why, how, and when did you start your business? My current business started during the pandemic. Before, I have been in the furniture and lights business for almost nine years. During the pandemic, we had to shut down our operations in the Ayala Mall. With nothing to do at home, I decided to recreate the burger recipe I used to make more than ten years ago. Even McDonald's was closed during that time, and my son loves burgers. So, I started making burgers again and shared them with friends in our community. They loved it and encouraged me to sell them. Initially, I was hesitant because I wasn't into food and wasn't used to working in the kitchen, having spent 22 years in the corporate world, including 15 years at Pfizer and nine years at Mead Johnson. However, the feedback was positive, and we already had a following of people who loved the burgers. Even after the pandemic, some consistent customers kept ordering from me. When we relocated our furniture store last year, I found a small cafe space next to it. That was my condition: if we could find a small cafe space beside our furniture store, I would consider managing both. So, in April 2023, we opened Burger Mama Cafe, offering homemade burgers in a small, cozy setting. This allowed our regular clients to have a go-to place for their burger cravings. Who inspired and supported you during the journey? My mom, who was in the US, played a significant role in encouraging me. During the pandemic, we would Facetime, and she would teach me how to mix ingredients efficiently. When I visited the US last year, she convinced me to open a burger cafe instead of expanding our furniture store. Her support and experience in the food business were crucial to my decision. Is Burger Mama expanding? By late last year, we opened another branch closer to the community where Burger Mama started. So now we have two branches. Despite our primary business being furniture, the burger business has gained traction, and we are slowly recovering from the financial losses incurred during the pandemic. What were the challenges and how did Loyverse help you? Managing the business operations efficiently was a challenge. I needed a good POS system but was cautious about the costs. I found the Loyverse POS system, through a recommendation and decided to try it. It was simple to use, especially for taking orders and managing sales. However, I faced difficulties with inventory management and integrating both branches into one system. Since Loyverse can manage multiple branches under one account and many other features, I plan to explore them further with support from their customer service. Any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs? Starting a business is not just about having the money; it's about having the right characteristics and attitude. You need tenacity, determination, and a willingness to work hard. It's different from being an employee where you earn a salary regardless of your effort. As an entrepreneur, you must make sacrifices and put in a lot of hard work. Additionally, having a clear purpose and passion for what you do is essential. Community Impact I'm proud that Burger Mama has been able to help young people in our community, like the graduating grade 12 students we've employed. It's fulfilling to see how our business has positively impacted their lives and helped them with their education. Final Thoughts and Future Plans So far, I'm happy with Loyverse and the support they offer. There are still features I need to explore, such as inventory management and integrating both branches into one account. I plan to reach out for support to streamline Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/burgermamaph?igsh=MTJ2YmpneHYwZmM5dg== Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/burgermamaph?mibextid=LQQJ4d

In today’s fast-paced world, efficient and reliable point-of-sale (POS) systems have become crucial for the seamless operation of retail shops, cafes, and restaurants. These systems streamline transactions, manage inventory, and provide valuable insights into business performance. Loyverse POS is a particularly appealing choice among the various options available, offering a freemium pricing model that allows you to start without any upfront costs. Here’s why adopting Loyverse POS can be a game-changer for your business. Why Choose Loyverse POS? 1. Freemium Pricing Model: Loyverse POS offers a freemium model that allows you to access basic functionalities for free. This means you can start using the system without any financial commitment. This is a significant advantage for businesses looking to manage costs while gaining experience with POS systems. The basic version includes essential features like sales management, inventory tracking, and customer relationship management. 2. User-Friendly Interface: Loyverse POS is designed with simplicity in mind. Its intuitive interface ensures that even those without prior experience with POS systems can navigate and operate it effortlessly. This ease of use minimizes the learning curve and allows you to focus on running your business rather than struggling with technology. 3. Comprehensive Free Features: Despite being free at the basic level, Loyverse POS offers a wide range of features that cater to the needs of retail shops, cafes, and restaurants. Some of the key functionalities available in the free version include: Inventory Management: Track stock levels and receive notifications for low stock. Sales Analytics: Access basic reports on sales trends, best-selling items, and peak business hours. Customer Relationship Management: Build a customer database and track purchase history. 4. Advanced Paid Features: As your business grows, you may find that you need more advanced functionalities. Loyverse POS offers several paid add-ons that can enhance your system's capabilities, such as: Advanced Inventory Management: Manage stock across multiple locations and generate detailed inventory reports. Employee Management: Track employee sales, manage shifts, and calculate working hours. Integration with Third-Party Services: Connect Loyverse POS with accounting software, e-commerce platforms, and other business tools for streamlined operations. 5. Mobility and Flexibility: Being a mobile POS system, Loyverse POS allows you to manage your business from anywhere. Whether you’re at the counter, on the floor, or even off-site, you can access real-time data and make updates as needed. This mobility provides unparalleled flexibility and convenience. Gaining Valuable Experience For businesses new to POS systems, starting with Loyverse POS offers an excellent opportunity to gain hands-on experience. Here’s how: 1. Explore the Free Features: Experiment with the free features and see how they fit into your business operations. This exploration phase will help you understand the essential functionalities for your specific needs. 2. Identify Pain Points: Using Loyverse POS will allow you to identify any pain points or limitations that might arise in your day-to-day operations. This firsthand experience is invaluable when it comes to evaluating other POS systems in the future. 3. Make Informed Decisions: After using Loyverse POS for a while, you’ll be in a better position to decide if you need to upgrade to the paid features or even switch to another POS system. You’ll have a clear understanding of what features you require and which ones you can do without, ensuring that any future investment is well-informed and tailored to your needs. Conclusion Starting with a modern mobile POS system like Loyverse POS can significantly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of your retail shop, cafe, or restaurant. Its freemium pricing model, user-friendly interface, comprehensive free features, and mobility make it an excellent choice for businesses looking to streamline their operations and improve customer service. By gaining experience with Loyverse POS, you’ll be better equipped to evaluate and choose the right POS system for your long-term needs. Embrace the future of point-of-sale technology and set your business up for success with Loyverse POS.

Nelson Osorio is one of the owners of OUSI, a company seeking to enter the clothing manufacturing, distribution, and sales market. Ousi has found in Loyverse the bond to continue to grow and make its way toward new goals. What makes OUSI stand out in the market? We are a resilient company eager to be recognized nationally and globally. We offer good service to our customers, who are the reason for our growth and essence. We are constantly looking for different strategies, and in this case, with Loyverse, we implemented improvements in the sales processes. We stand out for being a company with a hunger to grow and move forward with our project. We also stand out for the fact that everything we sell is our own brand; we are manufacturers. How long ago did you start the business? We have two physical stores. We have been working with the first store for two years and with the second one for one year, and we started implementing Loyverse last year for the two stores, which are located in different cities. At what point did you look for and start using Loyverse? Since we started with our first store, we saw the need to implement a system because manual sales are super time-consuming, especially since we do retail sales and wholesale. Manual invoicing is very laborious when there are many units. For this reason, we were looking for tools to facilitate this process within the store. Some systems had an expensive value, and for an entrepreneur who is starting out and has a lot of expenses, it was not possible to add an additional expense. After a few months, my partner’s wife, who owns an ice cream shop, recommended Loyverse to us. I searched the internet with YouTube videos. At first glance, it seemed very friendly for the entrepreneur, so we decided to implement it in the first store for testing; as it fits our needs in facilitating the sales process with our customers, we implemented it in the second store. Concerning the sales process, do you have any specific needs for your business? Mainly to give the customer his physical sales receipt because we use the receipt printer. Our relationship with the customer has changed because, in our business, it is advantageous to deliver this receipt; if the customer needs a refund or guarantee, he has his physical receipt to do this procedure with us. Additionally, we can use the Dashboard application to review the sales report in real time. In addition, the Back office reports per store help identify the store that sells the most, the category with the most sales, and the top-sold items. These are some of the many positive points that we find with Loyverse. When you started, how would you rate this first overall experience with Loyverse in terms of difficulty? It seemed simple to me. I am a curious person, and I like to experiment and explore. I explored the back office a lot, and if any doubt arose, I would go to the videos. You quickly become familiar with the system. We offer ladies’ garments of different types, and creating our products using inventory management tools and variants was quite simple. What was the tool that led you to choose Loyverse? In general, everything, but I would emphasize the option to give a printed invoice to the customer and customize this receipt. You can put the store logo and add general information about the store, such as address, phone, and social networks, in the header. It is also possible to review the purchase information because it is possible to add comments when adding an item, which serves as additional information for the customer. Another tool I liked was the refunds; if the customer needs a refund, we can add the terms and conditions for changes and guarantees on the receipt footer, which is also available in the free version. The customization of this receipt gives our business a big company feel. Has the information provided by Loyverse helped you make decisions within the company? Having access to a more detailed sales report has helped us save a lot of time and work. We have all the information at our fingertips. From the back office, the sales by item report gives us information on the top 5 products that are selling. From the dashboard application, we can also see the other items that have been sold. Apart from the top 5, we can see in the report sales by category how many units have been sold. All this information is essential for decision-making. Considering your growth process, how did your business management change after using Loyverse? Everywhere we look, there are positive points. First, when we made the sales, they were all done by hand. When there were too many garments, all the work was multiplied. It was also negative for the customer because the billing process was delayed, and the customer had to wait. On the other hand, discounting the garments, the general balance of sales, etc., was also manual. After Loyverse, all our work has become easier, mainly for me as owner and administrator. Before, I had to count each closing one by one. However, now all that information is available in the Loyverse reports, and I only take one day a week to review everything. Was your relationship with customers affected by the use of Loyverse? With Loyverse, our brand has grown in that aspect, and so has our relationship with our customers. Because in the type of business we run, delivering a printed receipt with so many details shows the customer the quality of our attention and service. Besides this, it generates curiosity for the customer and even other entrepreneurs because everything is handled wirelessly and gives an air of modernity to our business. How do you see the future of your company in the coming years? What are your short—and long-term goals? In the short term, initially, with the issue of the production of our garments, we want it to be faster; we are currently working on that. Our collections have been launched with very long lapses of time. Now we are bringing them out faster so that our customers find more variety whenever they come. In the medium term, we are going to improve social media marketing to improve physical sales, implementing sales through social networks and the Internet to increase our turnover. Do you have a final message for readers? The message we would like to share with all entrepreneurs is never to stop working on your venture; if you have already started, if you are there, do not give up; things do not happen overnight; to grow, it takes a lot of effort, sometimes with tears. To make a business go forward is a full-time job, and sometimes, there are moments when it seems we can no longer continue, and it appears that the time we invest is not worth it, but you must firmly believe in yourselves because every effort is rewarded.

When you're managing a start-up business and you don’t really deal with much volume of products, it’s easy to keep and track your inventory in your garage and make time to do the packaging and shipping yourself. However, fulfilling orders can quickly become a demanding task when your sales starts to increase, requiring you to invest in more storage space and additional equipment and staff. Fulfillment services companies are firms that provide assistance to your business in terms of receiving and processing orders, packing, labelling and shipping them to the customers. By outsourcing a fulfillment service company, you are saved from the trouble of hiring more staff and expanding your in-house capabilities. Therefore, this is a great business solution for logistical challenges faced by your growing business. How to choose a fulfillment service company The selection process of which fulfillment service company you would want to work with, requires you to thoroughly review your alternatives and prospects and to recognize your business plans, needs, budgets, and financial forecasts well. Here are a few factors to consider when selecting a fulfillment company for your business. How many warehouses does the company have? Companies with more warehouses give you a wider geographic footprint where you can carve up your inventory across these destinations. This can also result in significantly lessening the transition lifts and shipping expenses. How large are they? Larger fulfillment companies sometimes require their customers to meet a minimum order threshold, so they may not be an option for smaller or start-up businesses. Where are they located? It is important to consider the company’s proximity to your store and to your target audience to help you save on transition lifts and shipping charges. What is the length of the contract? Ideally, it is best to avoid getting locked into a long-term contract. A month-to-month plan gives you the flexibility to quickly switch to a new solution in case circumstances change. However, there are also some long-term plans that can still be flexible if there are designated penalties for forfeiting the arrangement. What is the fulfillment order policy for damaged items and shipping mistakes? As much as possible, you’ll want them to take responsibility for this. Some companies have “shrinkage” or “breakage” fixed into their contracts. For example, you’re responsible for losses up to a certain amount, and then the order fulfillment company will start paying for losses after that amount has been reached. Do they offer specialized and customizable services tailored to your business? If you want to add your own brand logo or specialized elements to your packages, or perhaps you may also be interested in “kitting,” which involves merging products with multiple stock keeping units (SKUs) together into one package with a single SKU, you will have to look for a company that accommodates these specific services. Best fulfillment service companies Now that you have a better idea of how to choose an order fulfillment company, let's review some of the top names in the industry. Each comes with different advantages and pricing models. Therefore, a good grasp of the fulfillment services and how they operate will influence your final choice. Ship Bob Ship Bob is one of the best fulfillment service providers for small and startup businesses that want to grow, expand and profit as they make sure the process is easy and straightforward for starters. Thanks to its reasonable pricing and fast shipping services, you can guarantee your customers’ satisfaction. Moreover, not only does this company offer qualified services, but it also offers discounts and affordable rates. By using ShipBob software, you can ensure that you will increase your conversion and boost your revenues. However, you should note that the overall pricing will depend on your business and inventory. Also, this company offers customers customized quotes tailored to their business needs. Cons: It doesn’t take-in items that require refrigeration. They only have fulfillment centers in the USA and Europe. Freight Pros Freight Pros is another provider perfect for small and startup businesses, most especially those that are new to the system and have limited knowledge in handling everything smoothly and smartly. They work closely with their clients and support them in discovering the most effective and cost-efficient ways to augment the onboarding process and lessen the shipping costs. They have a team of sales, accounts and management experts that will assist you in coming up with the best solutions and decisions. It also ensures that all their customers receive detailed and customized messages about the shipment of their orders. With that being said, the company takes the responsibility of managing the whole process themselves, making things much easier for you. Cons: They don’t offer international shipments. It works only within the USA. eFulfillment Service Since its launch in the year 2001, e-Fulfillment Services rose up in the industry as one of the most reliable and trusted fulfillment providers. Thanks to e-Fulfillment Service continuous development in terms of support, technology and consumers’ gratification, it deserves to be one of the companies you may want to consider. The company works closely with small to medium-sized businesses as well as startups that sell and distribute small packages shipments. This means that it has the capability to manage a vast array of different products at competitive prices. Order shipping wise, there are both domestic and international services. The international sphere includes Canada, Europe, the Far East, and Developing Markets. There are different ways of shipping and the company offers discounted choices. It also allows you to keep on track and update on your shipment process. Cons: Pricing is not available on their website FedEx Full In the last 35 years, FedEx Full has definitely become a household name as one of the leading companies when it comes to shipping and fulfillment services. It provides solutions to small businesses to grow fast and expand in bigger markets with their wide array of services which includes reversed logistics, packaging, storehouse, and order realization. Name it, FedEx got you covered. The company offers businesses great customer support and assistance by providing them with thorough solutions at competitive prices. With its over 220 distribution facilities network, the company ensures global expansion. Moreover, FedEx Full hires a team of experts to give you all the essential details on how everything is managed and carried out, enabling you to finish the entire process effectively and successfully. If you have an online shop, FedEx Fulfillment enables its clients to integrate and connect with preeminent and leading e-commerce channels such as Shopify and more. Cons: Minimums are not considered during the first 4 months of the onboarding process. Red Stag Just like Freight Pro, Red Stag offers cloud-based software for more effective and efficient operations. The company ensures transparency, the accuracy of order and inventory, and prompt delivery. Red Stag has two facilities in the USA. Red Stag works closely with its customers to enhance the protection, concentration, and stabilization of the different commodities inside each package, which helps in reducing the number of packages the customers have to ship therefore LESSENING the shipping costs. Long term contracts are not required. They have a user-friendly interface.The company also provides support to their customers in terms of managing their inventory and dealing with their logistical procedures. Not to mention that they take full responsibility if there is mispackaging, inaccurate shipping, delayed shipping, damaged, or lost products while they are in the facilities and more. Cons: Pricing packages are not available on their website. Phase V If you’re looking for a partner that guarantees an efficient fulfillment process for your customers then Phase V should be one of the most ideal for your small or startup business. It provides a large depot system, clear-cut pricing, seamless online market integrations, and reliable 24/7 support. The company works closely with its customers to customize and personalize their pick and pack shipping procedure and ensure their receivers will be receiving the orders without any unwanted issues. It situates logistic technologies to offer customized fulfilling services that are made uniquely for your business. Phase V is known for its protected, adequate temperature and humidity regulated facilities. Your customers will be updated with reports and detailed data regarding their inventor, and no hidden charges for both international and domestic shipping pricing. Cons: Only operate 1 warehousing located in Florida and no pricing plans available on the website. Fulfillment by Amazon Amazon, the marketplace that's second to none in the industry, takes pride in its fulfillment services that mostly cater to business with online platforms. You don’t have to sell on Amazon to use FBA, but it’s mainly geared for Amazon-focused sellers and multichannel sellers with a presence on Amazon. Instantly gain trust and confidence from your customers by hopping on Amazon’s well-built reputation. Plus, they offer free shipping services for members of Amazon Prime. Not to mention, their fast and affordable shipping services thanks to their vast warehouse network that puts products close to customers across the globe. If you’re considering FBA as your ecommerce fulfillment center, be sure to understand all of Amazon’s FBA fulfillment costs and service details. Cons: If your products aren’t labeled properly, you’ll face a relabeling charge. Amazon also tacks on hefty long-term storage fees for unsold stock. Shopify Fulfillment Services The Shopify Fulfillment Network is a new ecommerce fulfillment center specifically for sellers using the Shopify platform for website and multichannel sales. Any Shopify seller can connect this built-in Shopify service to their store manager dashboard in just simple steps. The Shopify Fulfillment Network is designed to meet the needs of startups and small businesses using the Shopify platform. Order minimums are very low, but the service scales up to accommodate plenty of growth. Currently, if you ship as few as 10 or as many as 10,000 orders per day, you qualify. This ecommerce fulfillment center service will soon be available to startups and micro-sellers averaging just three orders per day, as well as mega-sites shipping over 30,000 daily orders. The Shopify Fulfillment Network uses data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) technology to determine where to store your products within its warehouse network for quick and economical delivery to your customers. They also track your sales velocity and provide stock replenishment reports to help you avoid backorders and missed sales. Shopify has fulfillment centers all over the USA and Canada. Shipwire Shipwire has warehouses in the US, China, Europe, Australia, and Asia, with more storage facilities being built. The service uses a warehouse management system built for enterprises to provide clients with safe and secure storage for their products as they go through the procedures of shipping and handling. It efficiently selects the best shipping couriers, packaging options, and routes for customers’ products, helping reduce shipping and fulfillment costs. They also employ a cloud-based platform to enable businesses to boost their global logistics network through a combination of clients’ or Shipwire’s warehouses for international or domestic shipping. To provide support for B2B and B2C commerce, it utilizes on-demand and custom order fulfillment solutions. Built around a robust technology, the Shipwire allows customers to personalize and scale shipping solutions to fit their logistics requirements. BoxMe BoxMe offers an eCommerce fulfillment network across South East Asia, with warehouses in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia and China, as well as the United States. Working with businesses of all sizes, BoxMe is a great option if you’re considering to sell into the aforementioned regions, regardless of whether you sell tens or thousands of monthly orders. Another special feature is their temperature-controlled warehouses which enable different storage conditions - both normal (for conventional products) and cool (for goods such as cosmetics). Another benefit to using BoxMe is that there are no long-term storage fees or penalties, and they won’t charge you any storage fees for the first 30 days of using their fulfillment service. Should you need support with duties and taxes, or even a local presence in these Asian markets, this is also something that they can help with. Conclusion The ecommerce fulfillment industry is booming and fulfillment centers are emerging around the globe, making picking the best fulfillment center for your ecommerce business a challenging task. Costs, services, minimum requirements, and account management all vary greatly among providers, so finding the perfect partner takes some serious consideration, and a thorough understanding of your business’ needs and objectives.

In our exclusive interview with Ahmed Meligy, the visionary owner of the thriving restaurant Noi Metropoli, we delve into the inspiration behind his restaurant’s creation and the secrets to its remarkable success. As a seasoned professional in the events and entertainment industry, Ahmed transitioned into the realm of stand-alone lounges and restaurants, driven by the changing interests of his community. His passion for food and the desire to provide an exceptional dining experience led him on an enlightening journey from a guest’s perspective to becoming a restaurant owner. To streamline his operations, Ahmed adopted Loyverse, a point of sale and inventory management system, which he credits for enhancing order management, inventory control, and his overall understanding of the restaurant’s performance. Join us as Ahmed shares his insights and valuable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs considering a venture in the restaurant industry. What inspired you to open your restaurant, Noi Metropoli, and how did you envision its success? I have been working in events and entertainment all my life, and then after we grew up and finished university and got closer to my thirties, the interest of our community and our PR base went more to dine-in. Naturally, we moved our interest in business from doing parties and events to doing stand-alone lounges and restaurants/bars where you serve lunch and dinner. In addition to that, I have loved food all of my life. So, it was a field I had knowledge in, but as a guest, not an owner. I worked and turned that knowledge from the “know-how of a guest” into the “know-how of an owner.” We started by opening the beach bar in one of our holiday destinations in Egypt. I spent two years there. I was operating myself to learn everything from the kitchen, bar service, back end, etc. At that time, I was working on everything manually. Later, I moved to Cairo. I got an operation manager. Then, a friend of mine introduced me to Loyverse. He was using Loyverse for his bar. He explained how Loyverse works and how user-friendly it is, and when I opened my new restaurant, I decided to use it. And I really like it. It is really balanced between having something that gives you what you need regarding the Back office, but the POS is user-friendly. Even if it might not have everything you need from a system, there is always a loophole or workaround that you can use to get the same result. How has Loyverse helped streamline your restaurant operations, such as order management and inventory control? Loyverse has helped a lot in both these aspects. I use Loyverse as a point of sales system and as an inventory management software. One of the most valuable features is open tickets. This feature allows one to take orders, assign them to a table, and send the order to the kitchen. It is good that the open tickets can be edited; you can add new items and keep them open until the customer decides to make payment. Another helpful feature is composite items that allow one to track the ingredients of each recipe and manage costs. I don’t use the CRM features that Loyverse offers yet. But, I learned that it is possible to assign tickets to customers and later on check the purchase history of these registered customers. This was a feature that I was searching for, and I will start using it from now on. The loyalty program feature also seems very attractive. I will explore in more depth these features to learn how to use them in my restaurant best. Regarding reporting and analytics, how valuable is the data you obtain from Loyverse in understanding your restaurant’s performance and making informed decisions? It is precious, of course. It helps me to understand trends and plan my next moves. I also use the Dashboard app to have my data at my fingertips in real-time. Are you using the KDS app to send the orders to the kitchen? No, currently, I am using physical printers. I have connected six printers, one for each kitchen station. Each kitchen station receives only its corresponding items rather than the complete order. But, I have seen that you have an app that can show the orders in the kitchen, and I want to explore that as it would give a more modern look to the restaurant. You mentioned that you use Loyverse as an inventory management software as well. Are you using the Advanced Inventory service? Yes, I use the Advanced Inventory. All the features that it contains are very useful for me. I use them all. I record my Purchase Orders, Stock Adjustments and perform my Inventory Counts. I frequently check the Inventory Valuation report. What I don’t use so frequently is the Production feature. Is there any advice or words of wisdom you would like to share with aspiring entrepreneurs looking to start their restaurants? I would tell them to start small and ensure they work in all the departments themselves so they understand all the processes. The last piece of advice would be to offer something of good quality, which is diverse from what is around because it is essential that you stand out from your competition.

In this opportunity, we meet Mr. Ariel, who shares with us how, with his experience, curiosity, and planning, he has used the best resources at his disposal and has become a successful entrepreneur in his region. How long have you been using Loyverse? How did you manage the data of your business before Loyverse? Previously, we did all the business management manually, but due to the flow of the business, we needed to implement a different system. I was interested in a point of sale, as in my profession as a computer engineer, I knew the importance of adapting a system to the business. Therefore, I felt the need to opt for a type of online POS service. Asking some friends and searching on the internet, I found this program. I tried it for a few days, and I liked it. I even had contact with people from your company, with an online meeting and chat, they gave me a lot of information, assistance on every question I had. After a trial of the system, I settled on it. I also have some clients in my country who started using it after I recommended it. Could you tell us about that experience, any particular feature that made you realize that Loyverse was what you needed for your business? The software, with its tools, sales processes, and inventory, was important, however, what caught my attention was the workflow, the ease with which people become familiar with the interface. I say this because I am in one of the regions of my country that does not have many computer resources, but even if people do not have advanced knowledge of technology or have not handled a point-of-sale system before, Loyverse is a straightforward and simple option to handle in a few days of using it the staff already mastered the tools because the interface is very friendly. What type of business do you handle with Loyverse at the moment? We currently have different types of businesses, and we manage different stores in the same Loyverse account. Some of them are restaurants that operate on the beach, as well as beverage stores. We also have a warehouse from which we distribute the goods to the businesses on the beach. Do you think Loyverse has helped streamline the operations of the different types of businesses you manage? Of course, with Loyverse, I manage the inventory of all of them, and when making sales, we can add different devices to the system, such as scanners and printers, to speed up the sales. Mainly because our business is on the beach and there are times of the day when we have a very high flow of customers. If I have a line of people waiting in line, it is easy to process all the payments, record all the products on the ticket, and keep accurate inventory management. I use the Advanced Inventory version, which has helped me a lot in the day-to-day processes with the detailed inventory management of all the stores. We also work with the wholesale of the products since we have a store that works as a supplier for other businesses, and the inventory management is handled 100% with the Loyverse program. You mentioned previously that you have contacted Loyverse Customer Service several times; how was your experience with support? Yes, I have asked many questions. In the beginning, and since working with IT, I was inquisitive to learn more about how Loyverse works. If I had any questions, I immediately contacted Loyverse, and they answered me quickly and helped me with recommendations on how to use the tools I had not used before. Do you remember any of these recommendations that the team shared with you? Yes, one of them was related to inventory management. I wanted to modify some items, and I wanted to add a whole category from one account to another, the team recommended exporting the list of items, making some modifications in Excel, and then uploading that information with the changes directly to another store and it was very helpful. They gave me advice, and with the video tutorials that you have, I was able to follow the instructions, and it worked correctly. Regarding the analysis of the reports handled by Loyverse. Have you used them to understand the performance of your business? On a day-to-day basis, when a person starts a business, he/she has to rely on investors or the Bank to get started. In my case, since I started with an investment from the Bank, I always had to be clear about my goals and my metrics of what my monthly gross profit would be in order to be able to function correctly and organize both my payroll and the money from the investment. Also based on the reports, I can see what type of product is the leader that I have in my business, and thus understand how I should renew the inventory. With all that data at the end of a period, I can make decisions, and know how to manage the profits we get with our sales. How would you summarize the impact of Loyvers on your business? One of the experiences that my friends and employees have mentioned frequently is the improvement of having all the information easily in the palm of your hand; with any type of electronic device, be it Android or iOS, it is possible to make sales and keep track of your business inventory from anywhere in the country since it is online. Additionally, one of my favorite tools is that you can manage the employees’ working hours, when they clock in and when they clock out, and calculate the hours worked is fascinating. Many people who work here in the region have asked me about the program I use. I have recommended to them to go to the Loyverse website, and since it is a tourist area, they don't want to be left behind, and some of them have implemented Loyverse as well. I believe that Loyverse is a platform that is in constant development and that is always adapting to the needs of the clients, and I see a lot of benefits in the future. Would you like to share any message or experience for the people reading this article? Loyverse business owners can have all the data they need to make a financial projection and detailed and accurate inventory management, which is the most challenging part of the business. When we decide to have some kind of business, we must know that there was an investment capital, and it is necessary to know where that money has been used and, where that money is, and when you will have a return. With Loyverse you can make a deep analysis and a follow-up of your investment, with the Advanced Inventory, we can see the purchases that we have made to the suppliers, and we can also see the management or the modification of all the products. When we can make a detailed follow-up with the data we have from Loyverse, we can easily know where our capital is in a fast and simple way. Loyverse helps you save time, and you don't need to hire an external accounting person to do that job for you.

In our interview with Saddam Shkair, the proprietor of a Syrian sweet shop located in Brussels, we delve into the story of a unique culinary venture that combines traditional flavors with modern business acumen. Saddam's journey began while studying management at the university, where he hatched the idea of introducing Syrian culture to the international community through the sweet delights of his homeland. Four years ago, he realized his vision, opening his first shop in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode and subsequently expanding to a second location in Ixelles. Throughout this entrepreneurial journey, Saddam has relied on the Loyverse POS system to streamline operations and gain valuable insights into his business. Join us as we explore the challenges he faced, his inspiration for embarking on this sweet endeavor, and the Loyverse features that have played a pivotal role in his success. Can you briefly describe what type of business you have and how did you start your journey? I have a Syrian sweet shop in Brussels. The idea to open such a business came when I studied management at the university. I thought presenting Syrian culture here in Brussels, in the international community, was a super idea. I started this business four years ago. The first shop was in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, and recently, I opened one in Ixelles. The second store has been open for eleven months. Since the beginning, I have been using the Loyverse POS system. What inspired you to open a sales point for pastries? I studied the market before opening my first shop. I noticed that there was no such business in the market before, making me think I had an excellent opportunity. Also, I wanted to open such a shop to introduce the traditional desserts of my country. These sweets are trendy in Syria, a perfect combination of sugar and nuts, and I wanted to bring that high quality of sweets that can be found in Syria to my community here in Belgium. What are some of the challenges you faced while opening your shop? One of my biggest challenges was the lack of raw materials to prepare the sweets. There is not even a word for these ingredients in the French language. So, I had to search a lot in the market and find the ingredients that were most similar to the original components. Since you have opened a unique business, does it mean you have no market competition? There was no competition in the beginning. Now, there are a few more stores that sell similar products, but still, I am differentiated from them with quality and originality. Are any specific features or functionalities in Loyverse that have been particularly useful for your store? The reports are handy. I can find, filter, and export all the reports I need into Excel. Another significant advantage is the remote control of sales. It does not matter where I am; I can always check what is happening in my store. Adding items and organizing them in categories has helped me a lot to make the sales process much faster. I can find the items easily on the sales screen, filtering by categories. I have found the shift report feature as well. This report allows me to quickly and accurately do the cash reconciliation at the end of the day. Another important feature that I use is the split payment feature. Sometimes, the customers want to split the payment, and I have used this feature, which is really good. Of course, all features that Loyverse offers are excellent and valuable, but these are the ones that come to mind right now. Do you use the Loyalty program for your customers? I saw it but still needed to implement it in my business. I will leave it for a later moment. Do you use the Loyverse additional Dashboard, KDS, or CDS apps? Yes, I use the Dashboard. I like it because it gives me quick access to my sales analytics without opening a browser. Customer Display is not so important to me at the moment. I usually show the customers my screen, and they can see the ticket there. Do you track the stock of your items? I track stock of some of my items. It is not possible to track inventory for all of them. For example, I have an item called “Sweet mix,” and the customer can choose different sweets from the shop to combine. Since each customer chooses different combinations, I can’t track the stock using the system. Is there any advice or words of wisdom you would like to share with aspiring entrepreneurs looking to start their own business? Loyverse is an excellent way to start managing your business. It has helped me a lot to reduce the time of the administration. I suggest anyone starting a business get Loyverse from the start. I did not use Loyverse in my first shop, and now that I used it when I opened the second shop, I can see the difference. Loyverse helped me to understand trends and make business-informed decisions. I noticed from the graph, for example, that I was making few sales on Thursdays. Now, I close the shop on Thursdays and work on other, more profitable days. My advice is to implement a good system such as Loyverse!

In the dynamic and ever-evolving world of entrepreneurship, the journey of Little Jinja, a charming restaurant located in Uganda, stands out as an inspiring tale of resilience and adaptability. Founded seven years ago, this venture initially embarked on an entirely different path, attempting various business endeavors, from supermarkets to salons. However, it was their pivot to the restaurant industry that ultimately propelled their success. In this exclusive interview, we delve into the story of Little Ninja and how their adoption of Loyverse, a modern point-of-sale system, transformed their operations. Join us as we explore the insights and experiences of the visionary owner behind this thriving restaurant. Can you briefly describe your business? Little Jinja is a restaurant. The restaurant was opened seven years ago. Before starting our restaurant, we tried to open different types of business. In 2016, we settled on what we really wanted to do with the place that we owned. What inspired you to open your restaurant, and how did you initially envision its success? When we started, we planned to have something other than a restaurant. Our first idea was to open a business in an area that we owned. Eventually, we decided to go with the restaurant because, among the businesses that we tried, the restaurant was the most profitable one. The other two businesses we tried, a supermarket and a salon, were less promising. The name Little Jinja stands for the town where my parents grew up, which is called Jinja. This was an excellent way to reminisce about what it was like growing up, going into a nearby refreshing area, so we decided to bring that experience closer to home since we moved closer to Kampala city. This is the original story of our restaurant. Did you or your parents have any experience in the restaurant industry before opening this restaurant? No, none of us had any previous experience. We had to learn everything from scratch, which has been quite challenging. We tried to hire a manager several times, but it did not work. It all stands out to lack of visibility, lack of understanding of the sales figures, what the customer prefers, etc. Now that we have started to use Loyverse to track all operations, I cannot believe we could have run the operations in such a transparent way. Also, having real-time data has been quite impactful. I am a lot more optimistic now because we have a more precise understanding of what works, what doesn’t, what we have in inventory, who is coming in, who our customers are, how much we are spending, price changes, etc. There is so much we are seeing now in just 15 days, which is the crazy thing. Many years ago, we had a laptop with an old and very mechanical system. It had very complicated features, which maybe a business owner must know, but for us, it was too much at that time, and nobody could keep us with this system. Because of the complexity, we all dropped the idea of a POS system and converted to paper. So, it has been quite a journey, and this is where we are now. When did you first learn about Loyverse? It has been about a year since we started actively looking for a POS system. I began making inquiries for local point of sales terminals because that was the subsequent significant development since we were going through improvements in our business, trying to put things right. So, I started to look for a POS app. My main questions were whether it was online or if I could see data through an application. Few of the systems I encountered were capable of providing that. Two months ago, I started contacting some suppliers from China because I was focused on finding the device that I had envisioned: it has to be a handheld device. But then, I was searching for the proper POS software to install on these devices. I looked at some of the local POS suppliers, but I did not like it. I had used that application before, and the user experience was not good. After these experiences, I just went online and really started to look. I signed up for several POS systems and started testing them. Then, Loyverse showed up. We decided to give it a try. I liked that the application was available in the Play Store and had a Dashboard. The applications made sense. As I mentioned before, we did not get formal training in managing restaurants back, so we needed something that could obscure the business jag and make it super simple. Also, when we are hiring stewardesses, we have two; we don’t have to ask them if they are tech-savvy. It never comes up this question. That’s why the POS app needed to be as intuitive as WhatsApp is. Maybe I can give you a 10-minute intro, and you can immediately start using the app. This is what I have been able to achieve with Loyverse. I never receive calls anymore from my employees; they just fill in the data and understand what is not working. It has been a big win. The user-friendliness had been a challenge with all the other POS I tested, and Loyverse surpassed it amazingly. The onboarding was also frictionless. We did a ten-commodity test, and by the end of the evening, we had figured it out. It was great because now we had ten commodities listed. We were able to see sales information in the Back office. Three days in, we decided to do a full inventory count. We were used to doing inventory count physically, but then we realized how huge step this was. The application and the Back office were so intuitive that we wanted to put everything in there. By the third day, we increased the number of items from ten to sixty-three, and there was no looking back. This was exactly what we needed. The training was also super simple. I spent five days consistently there, being around in case my employees would have any questions, but they learned it very fast. Are you using the additional apps: Kitchen Display system and Customer Display system? Not yet. I want to get the kitchen onboard. It was just not enough time to get the kitchen onboard. I was focusing more on adding my items like drinks that are fast-moving, and we really want to make sure we are not making mistakes, or if we do, we catch the mistakes soon. This was our priority. But, naturally, it will come the right time to start using the KDS. Is there a specific feature that has been particularly useful for your daily operations? From a business owner’s perspective, I would say that the most helpful feature is the landing screen that gives the metrics. Just that summary of how we are doing in sales, the percentage showing the improvements or drops, is so helpful. Back office reports are, for me, like a business health dashboard. It is even better to go more in-depth with the other reports, like sales by item or category, but the Sales Summary is key for us with the data and graph representation. This comes also from comparing what it is like to have this report and not having this report, as we were operating before. Now, when we think we had a good night, we can see the number and evaluate if it was a good night based on the sales. We had never had such closure before; we had only doubts. We saw there were people around, but we weren’t sure if they were making orders or not. Second to that, from the employee perspective, it is the user-friendliness of the system. I remember that initially, we started with light mode on, and at night, it would become very bright. Being able to have dark mode and continuing keying in data is helpful. It is good that such small things that make an impact have been through as well. Have you created separate profiles for your employees with special access rights? Yes, I have added my employees with their corresponding roles and access rights. What feature do you think must be added in Loyverse to improve your workflow? It may be too soon to tell. What I would like is to be able to perform a purchase order from the app in addition to issuing it from the Back office. How do you advertise your business? 100% of advertising is done via WhatsApp. If we have special events happening, we notify our users on WhatsApp stories. Is there any advice or words of wisdom you would like to share with aspiring entrepreneurs looking to start their own business? There is a quote that says, “You can’t improve what you can’t measure.” So, having the right tools to measure how your business is doing is the best advice I can give. Especially something real-time. You can’t respond at the correct time if you use a tool that doesn’t give you an instant feedback loop. My advice is to measure everything and have the right tools to measure things in real-time.

In the world of small businesses, the journey to success often involves overcoming numerous challenges. Meet a dedicated entrepreneur whose journey has been significantly transformed with the help of Loyverse. This exclusive interview provides insights into the experiences of a loyal Loyverse customer in the automotive industry. Dive into this inspiring story of success as Mr Sadiq, the owner of Jioni Automotive, offers valuable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs on the cusp of their retail journey. Can you briefly describe your business? We are an automotive business. We are selling repairing parts for three-wheelers. I started my business around three to four years ago, and at that time, I was not using Loyverse. I chose this type of business because, at that time, I was not employed, so I started looking for something to help me get income. When I started this business, it was giving a good profit at the start. The main problem that appeared was how to manage the shop. I started as a small shop. Initially, I used Excel to record my sales, but I could not check the profit with Excel. This is why I started to look for another program. Two years later, I found a POS software I thought would help me. I was required to buy a computer to use this program. While searching for a laptop, I came across a friend, and as I shared my situation with him, he introduced me to your system. This is how I started to use Loyverse. Officially, I implemented the software in my business in April of this year. How has technology, specifically the Loyverse system, impacted your retail operations and overall business efficiency? Loyverse has helped me a lot. Now I have an employee working in the shop, and I can pay him the salary on the 25th of each month. Now, I don’t have to give the employee different dates or come up with different situations like this day is not a good day, but now I know my business; I know what I am doing. I know I am making a profit for the first time in three years. The Back office reports have helped me a lot to understand what is happening. I like that Loyverse compares each selected period with the previous one, so I can know if I did better this month than the previous one. Having the reports at my fingertips has allowed me to have long-term goals. Knowing how much profit I make monthly, I can make predictions and take new steps, like applying for a loan and knowing I can pay it. Loyverse has also given me the opportunity to manage my business remotely. Even now that I am talking to you, I am not in my country, Tanzania; still, I can see what is happening in my store, which items have been sold, and even know which items are in low stock. Your software has changed my life. Now, I can see the business from a different angle. For almost four years, I was doing business just to provide money for food. But now, using your software, the tools you offer, and the reports you provide, I can really say that I am a businessman. Are you using Loyverse in one or multiple stores? I actually have three stores, but they are small stores with a limited number of items. Each store is set up to serve a particular customer base. I always wanted to have a chain of stores, but many times, I have thought of closing two of the stores and keeping only one because I thought I needed more money to afford the three of them. However, using Loyverse and seeing the reports and the profit for each store, I understood that the profit I was making in each store was covering the costs. So, I had no reason to close any of the stores. Loyverse made my dream of having multiple stores up and running a reality. I can see that the features that made a significant impact on your business have been the reports in the Back office. Is there any other Loyverse feature that has been useful for your business? The most important features are the Back office and the Dashboard where I can check the sales daily. In addition to that, I want to mention the inventory management feature as well. I can see the stock of my items quickly and easily, and the system notifies me whenever an item is low or out of stock. This feature is essential for me because my stores are small, and I have one item of each kind in inventory. When this item is sold, I must go to that store and substitute it. Did your employees need help learning how to use the Loyverse POS system? No, they did not have any difficulties. I uploaded all the list of items in the system. My employees need to go to the sales screen, see the list of items, and make the sale. I also connected a barcode reader to the system. All my items have barcodes; the employees just need to scan the barcode to find and add the item to the ticket and charge. Also, I did not have to worry much because if my employees faced any difficulty, they could get assistance from Loyverse immediately through live chat support. That is one of the most amazing things Loyverse offers. You will get your reply within one minute. I have never experienced this before with any other company. They always limit the questions you can ask them or reply very late. Nothing compares with your customer service. I have searched to find a loophole, and I have not been able to find any. Now, I am helping my friend to install Loyverse in his business. He has been testing Loyverse for a week and can already see the positive impact. Have you created a customer base in your Loyverse account? Yes, I have added my customers in Loyverse since we have a regular customer base, and of course, we also have new customers coming in every day. I have introduced customers to the Loyalty program. We have customers from different cities, and they sometimes ask for a discount. In such cases, I have trained my employees to offer customers to register in our system by providing some basic information. They will get bonus points for every purchase, which they can use later to get a discount. Customers really appreciate the Loyalty program, and they can understand what we give them compared to other shops. Loyverse has helped us to stand out from the competition with this feature. Customers are used to having a loyalty program in the supermarkets, and they are astonished to find such a feature in a small shop. What are your plans for the future? I want to continue improving and expanding the stores with the help of the Loyverse system. In the future, you never know; I might also open a different business. If I do, I will use Loyverse there as well. Before using Loyverse, I was always jumping from business to business, thinking that I must try different businesses to see which is more profitable. And I did not understand that the business I had could be profitable if I managed it properly. By using Loyverse, I have understood that if you put effort into what you are doing, it will make money. Is there any advice or words of wisdom you would like to share with aspiring entrepreneurs looking to start their own retail business? I can say from my experience that when you start a business, you try your best not to use a lot of money because you don’t have money to spend. But there are some things that you need to spend money on so that they can help your business. For example, a good investment is the Loyverse POS system. If you use a system since the beginning, you can measure the results of what you are doing. I learned about your system three and half years after I started my business. I wish I had known about your system before. For new business owners, my advice is to use this system. If you use it, it will help to grow your business.

In the world of retail, where adaptability and efficient transaction management are key to success, the story of Grondsels shines as a beacon of entrepreneurial ingenuity. Nestled in the heart of an agricultural and camping equipment business, Grondsels, helmed by the dynamic duo of Janetta Sikken and Jan de Morrée, has flourished over the past three and a half years. What sets their journey apart is their strategic embrace of Loyverse POS, a versatile point-of-sale system that has been at the heart of their operations for more than three years. Join us as Mr. Jan shares the remarkable tale of how Grondsels found its path, the integral role Loyverse played in their growth, and the invaluable lessons learned along the way. Can you briefly describe your business type? We are in the retail business. We sell agricultural products and camping equipment. We also import electrical wheelbarrows. We have been running this business for three and a half years. We have been using Loyverse for three years and a quarter. What inspired you to start this business? It came more or less in our path because we also have a campsite for the camper vans. I do some repair work on the electrical system of the campers. Then we started to import our electrical wheelbarrows. This business was growing. This business was going on for about 5-7 years. We were growing so much that we needed some more space. All of a sudden, the farmhouse across the street became available. We bought the farm, and there was already some kind of shop in it, which was not doing so well. But, we started it over and adapted to our own way of thinking and our own ideas. So all of a sudden, we had a shop! It was not a big plan for us to have a shop like that, but it came in our path. Do you have a business partner, or is it a family business? It is a family business. I do this together with my wife. Both of us are enthusiastic about it. My brother-in-law is also living in a part of the farmhouse, helping us from now and then. So, it is a real family business. What did you do before starting this business? I am still, to this day, a business consultant, working between the cooperation of businesses and educational institutions. My wife is an IT project manager. How did you first come to know about Loyverse? I found Loyverse searching online for POS systems. I thought I needed something to record transactions. I googled online what available systems are there to record and track transactions. We were just starting, so I tried to find a system that was easily available, with no high cost, and adaptable to our needs. I selected three or four systems initially to try them out. Loyverse stood out among the options that I had, so we went with Loyverse. We tried the system. First, with caution and evaluating if this is what we need, if it did what he wanted. Loyverse worked just fine, so we went along with it. What are some of the features that Loyverse had that have been most useful for you? The core is that we can add all the items we sell. This allows us to have a trackable record of all our sales. It is very convenient that it is available on phones. My wife, my brother-in-law, and I have the Loyverse POS app on our phones, so we always have the transactions system with us at any moment ready to use. Loyverse is growing along with our business. We added 5000 items to it, and Loyverse functions well despite this large amount of items and data. It also has the capability to export the reports to my liking, so I can export the receipts and work with the file in Excel and, in the end, have them in my accounting program. Do you track inventory with Loyverse? Not yet. Sometimes, I think about it. But then, I think it is too much of a hassle. That could be one of the functionalities we will use, but I don’t think it will be within the next six months, perhaps in one or two years. How do you utilize Loyverse’s reporting and analytics features to make informed decisions about product assortment, pricing, or promotions? We are focusing on the reports now more than before. There is also the other app, the Dashboard. We use that frequently. It is very nice to have. It is also more or less our way to see the inventory because, in the Dashboard app, you can see what you sold this day or this week. When we see this data, it triggers what we should buy next. The report I check the most in the Back Office is the receipts report, which I also export with the option “export receipts by item,” as I mentioned previously. Another helpful report is the sales summary, which comes with the graph representation. I am missing the graph representation for the sales by item since I would like to see how the sales of a particular product have changed over the year. Now, I have solved this by exporting the sales and building my own reports in Power BI. The reports are becoming increasingly important since our business is luckily growing, which means we have to be more sharp in what we are doing. What features or functionalities would you like to see added or improved in Loyverse to enhance your retail business operations further? What I would like to be added is a breakdown of taxes in the exported receipt report. We have multiple VAT rates like 21%, 9%, 0%. Within one receipt, there will be multiple taxes. But, when you export the receipt report, only the total tax amount appears. It would help if there is a breakdown of the tax amount into each VAT rate applied in that receipt. Is there any advice or words of wisdom you would like to share with aspiring entrepreneurs looking to start their own retail business? I was amazed when we started with Loyverse at how well the system is built, and the uptime is excellent. If I hear people who need a transaction system, I immediately suggest Loyverse. You just need to start your business, and then Loyverse makes it possible for you. You can start small and continue adding products or services along the way.

It might seem easy for passive income businesses like laundromats to start one and let it run. However, when we talk about expansion, there are some key points that must be integrated to avoid making big mistakes. Joel has shared his experience with us, and hopefully, he will provide you with some insights before you make such a decision. A short introduction about yourself: My name is Joel, and I'm from the Philippines. I have been involved in the laundromat industry for four years. What was your motivation for starting this business? Well, my motivation was essentially to have another source of income that's more passive and not as time-constraining or time-consuming as the other businesses I've been involved with. What do you expect to achieve this year? For this year, we plan to add at least 3 to 4 more branches by the end of the year. We are currently expanding all over the Philippines, reaching other provinces and cities. How do you properly manage branch expansion? The main point is to acquire and implement the right tools, processes, and personnel. We've found that trying to manage numerous branches manually can lead to chaos and excessive time consumption. What is the philosophy behind your laundromat? It's a combination of being customer-centric, emphasizing product quality, and promoting teamwork. It's essential to address the concerns of each segment of the business correctly. Focusing solely on one aspect won't suffice, as all these components must be balanced for the business to thrive. Success is essentially the result of this balance. In what way did Loyverse help you the most? Loyverse POS has been instrumental in easily monitoring branch performance, customer records, and product sales for each branch. It has allowed us to identify our top-performing branches, our lowest-performing branches, and our most valuable clients, enabling us to address their specific needs. Loyverse provides us with the tools to access this critical information, and the sales reports offer valuable insights. It's user-friendly, compatible with various platforms, and cost-effective, making it almost free. For instance, the employee management add-on helps me control employee access rights. What advice do you have for those wanting to start a business? As I mentioned at the start of our interview, you must establish the right tools, processes, and assemble the right team to create a balance that addresses the needs of every stakeholder and component of the business. It won't be easy, and there will be numerous challenges, but Loyverse is one of the best tools available to help you efficiently scale your business. With a single account, you can manage multiple branches effectively, which is a great advantage.

Kijani Beach Villas, a charming boutique family hotel nestled along the pristine shoreline, offers a haven of tranquility and indulgence. Each villa boasts a distinctive vista, allowing you to awaken to the mesmerizing sunrise right from your bed. For added relaxation, take a refreshing plunge in your private rooftop Jacuzzi or partake in a sunrise yoga session on the enchanting first-floor deck of the sea-view restaurant. Families with children will find joy in the pools, playground, and kid-friendly menu. This exquisite Zanzibar retreat has harnessed the power of the Loyverse POS system to enhance its operational efficiency and elevate customer service. In this interview, Mrs. Laroy reveals how Loyverse has transformed their business. Can you briefly describe the story of your business? We are running a Hotel and Restaurant in Zanzibar, Tanzania. We started our journey in October 2021. We decided to open this type of business because we wanted to challenge ourselves and do something different in life. We moved from the Netherlands to Zanzibar in 2019. We have had plans to build our own piece of paradise for a long time, and in 2021 we were finally ready to welcome you all! We started using Loyverse in December 2022 because we thought it would make our life easier, and it is. We came across Loyverse in another restaurant that my friend is managing. I was in search of a system like this at that time, so when I saw it, I thought it could be something cool for us. You managed your hotel and restaurant for a year without a digital system, and then you started using Loyverse. It has been almost a year using Loyverse. How has it helped streamline your restaurant operations, such as order management, inventory control, or employee scheduling? Loyverse made a huge difference because we were doing everything using pen and paper, and now everything is much easier. Which are some of the features of Loyverse that have been most useful for your business? We are using Loyverse in the restaurant to create all the tickets for the customers staying in the hotel and for customers who are coming only to the restaurant. It is like two situations: The outside guests come to spend half of the day, they come for lunch or for dinner, or sometimes they come for a few drinks. This is like the typical restaurant use. They order the food and drinks, stay for a while, and then pay and go. On the other hand, we have our inside guests who stay in one of our villas. In this case, we use the system to keep the tickets for them, so everything that they eat and drink during their stay we record in the system. They pay the F&B bill at the end of the stay. This is our main use. Of course, in this case, the most useful feature for us is the open tickets functionality and the KDS app that we use to send orders to the kitchen. In addition, we use the stock tracking features to track the available stock behind the bar. We have yet to fully use the stock system, because we are trying to figure out what makes sense for us. As a new and growing business, we have yet to figure out everything we need from a system. We will eventually start using the Advanced Inventory subscription that you offer. Are you using the Employee Management subscription at the moment? Yes, we are using the Employee Management. We have our F&B manager who has management level of access rights. We have just hired a general manager, and I created a profile for her with the necessary access rights. We have a login for the cashiers who serve in the bar who are allowed to take the orders and receive the payments. Did you face any challenges training your employees to use the Loyverse POS system? No, it was really not difficult. The system is quite easy to understand. It works very intuitively. The most challenging part was the rules that we had to implement for our business on how to keep tickets for guests that are staying for multiple days; how are we dealing with outside guests in terms of table numbers or names for the tickets etc.? These are the challenges we faced that do not relate to the system but are related to the rules we want to implement in our business. In terms of reporting and analytics, how valuable is the data you obtain from Loyverse in terms of understanding your restaurant's performance and making informed decisions? Yes, the reports have been very helpful. As I mentioned, we are not fully using the benefits of these reports yet as we are still improving our menu and changing things, but in general, they have been useful. This is because it is very easy to read and understand these reports. We can easily find information about the sold items and identify the most preferred dish. It is very helpful to see analytics like this. Having the Dashboard app is also very helpful. What channels do you use to market your business? We use multiple channels. We use booking.com, and Tripadvisor. We have also set up a website and our social media pages, and a lot of customers find us mainly by word of mouth. What made you decide to move from your hometown, the Netherlands, to Zanzibar to open a business? There were multiple reasons—mainly good business environment, nice weather, good people, beautiful beaches, etc. You need to challenge yourself to do something different someday; it is very advisable. Is there any advice or words of wisdom you would like to share with aspiring entrepreneurs looking to start their own business? Mainly: Just do it! It will be difficult at times, challenging for sure, but you will grow in your life, so really just go and do it.

We had an interview with Mr. Sebastian Carranza, owner of La Formula Café and Servicentro Cabañas located in Guatemala, who was looking for ways to facilitate the management of his two businesses and found a great ally in Loyverse. How long have you been using Loyverse? And what made you choose Loyverse's point of sale and system? I have been using Loyverse for 6 months for two types of business, one is a restaurant and the other is a gas station. I was trying to manage all the inventory, recipes, sales, and expenses in Excel and it was getting complicated because the two businesses handled a lot of things, for example for the recipes, I had to do a lot of formulas, so I started searching on the internet for inventory systems and I found Loyverse. When I found it, I created the account and registered the gas station store first, and I found it to be a very good system, it had all the tools I needed at that time. Regarding your overall experience, how would you rate the ease of use of Loyverse? The interface of the application is quite user-friendly, I think it has what we need to keep control of the business, and it is very easy to use. It was also explained to the employees, and they quickly understood how to use it, therefore I think it is quite understandable and easy to use. Since you have different profiles for your employees, could you tell us what was the main reason for subscribing to this add-on? I use employee profiles because they don't have access to the back office and they have access to record sales and expenses for each shift without the need to access more extensive information about the business. How have Loyverse's features helped you optimize your restaurant's operations? Mainly with the orders, it was something that we did manually and we took the orders on paper and at the end of the day, it was very difficult for us to balance the sales. With Loyverse, we just take the orders and there is no need to keep any paper that can get lost or thrown away. At the end of the day we have the results of the day's sales and all the information is in the reports. I don't waste time counting each order or doing the math. The prices are also defined in the system, the employees don't need to know and memorize them, at the time of charging it makes it much easier to charge the customer and even when they start ordering in a group and at the end they want to split the bill, it is very easy to split those bills either by item or by the amount of money, without the staff needs to do manual calculations. Are there any specific features of Loyvers that have been particularly helpful to your restaurant? Yes, the Open Tickets and the KDS application have helped us to speed up our order preparation time. For example, in the past, the waiter would manually take the order and if he had two more tables to serve, he had to choose between serving the next table or delivering the order to the kitchen for them to start preparing the order. In both cases, the order was delayed. Today, with Loyverse's point-of-sale system, the order is automatically saved and sent to the kitchen screen. The waiter can quickly go to the next table or do some cleaning without going to the kitchen to bring the information. In terms of the reports available in Loyverse. How valuable is this data in understanding the performance of your restaurant? Have you used it to make any pricing decisions in your business? Yes, all the sales reports, the fact that we can review them depending on the categories the report by item allows us to see which are the best-selling items and thus we can create our purchase orders to suppliers. With this information, we can know which are the items we need to buy more and also know which are the ones that are not sold very often so that we do not buy them so much and so they do not lose their validity. This way, we optimize our purchases and expenses as well. You mentioned that you manage your two stores on the Loyverse account. How has Loyverse helped you with this organization? The restaurant is separated as another store in order to be able to separate the sales of one store from the other because in the beginning, all the items appeared automatically in the POS. In order to be able to separate the goods and sales of each point of sale, we created two stores since they are two different environments. Would you like to leave a message for entrepreneurs who are just starting up? I think that as an entrepreneur, the important thing is that the business is profitable. Profitability is obtained from what you sell and what you buy, so it is something that must be controlled in the business. Loyverse gives us tools so that we can have this control of all these administrative processes of the business, have that clarity of the numbers, good control of sales, and with the Loyverse reports, it is quite easy to see the reports by month and also understand the trends of different periods of the year and at the end of the year to identify the sales seasons where sales go up and understand that in every business there are ups and downs so it is important to know this information for your business to always be growing.

Bars might be a tempting idea for hanging out and getting some drinks. However, some owners, like Mr. Min Jin, want to go beyond the status quo and further grow their businesses. How about a brief self-introduction and an overview of your business? My name is Min Jin, and I am a civil entrepreneur involved in various businesses, including real estate investment, hotels, and hospitality. Our resto-bar relies heavily on the Loyverse POS system for our operations. Can you tell us how it all began? We entered the hospitality industry in 2019. Despite facing the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we emerged stronger. We weathered the difficulties of the pandemic, and now we’re in the process of rebuilding and moving forward with our bar. It’s not just a place for drinking; it's an activity center where people come to have fun and engage in games like pool, air hockey, shooting games, and arcade classics. We're also excited to launch a bingo game and provide a platform for comedians to add to the lively environment. How did you discover Loyverse? Back then, a colleague of mine was assisting us in finding the right solution. We explored many different POS systems, but my colleague introduced us to Loyverse. Could you explain the philosophy behind your business approach? My philosophy centers around selling more than just drinks; it's about offering a complete way of life experience. Our bar serves as a gathering place for friends to create lasting memories together. While there may be more economical ways to get drinks, people come to our bar for the atmosphere, enjoyment, and camaraderie. It's a social hub and an entertainment destination. In what ways has Loyverse been instrumental in your venture? The strongest aspect of Loyverse is its user-friendly interface. It's easy for people to get on board and learn how to use it, particularly at the front end. This simplicity played a crucial role in our decision-making process.

Discover the remarkable journey of Harivony and her husband, an entrepreneurial couple from Madagascar who transformed their co-working space into a thriving restaurant sensation. In an exclusive interview, they share their inspiring tale of how a simple realization about catering services led them to embrace the culinary world. From navigating the challenges of a pandemic-hit opening to harnessing the power of Loyverse POS to streamline operations, their story exemplifies resilience, adaptation, and the pursuit of culinary excellence. Join us as we delve into their insights, experiences, and the meaningful role Loyverse played in their culinary venture. What inspired you to open your restaurant, and how did you envision its success? We were a co-working space first here in Madagascar. Our co-workers would look for food during the break and always go outside to find something to eat. We had a lot of events like training or people holding different types of events in our co-working space. Due to this, we had to call for catering services, and then we realized that the catering companies were making more money than we were making. And through this crazy idea, we got to start our restaurant. We thought at first that it would be only for our co-workers. Now, the restaurant works more than the co-working space. What is the meaning of the name of your restaurant: Serendipity? Serendipity means happy coincidence. Is it a family restaurant, or do you have any partners? It is only my husband and I. We started the business together. Did you have any previous experience working in restaurants? We were in the United States before. When we came back to Madagascar, we missed the American food. My husband took courses and classes online to learn several dishes, and we tried to remake the food we missed so much from the USA. This is how it all started. We learned everything from the ground up. We had to learn everything, starting from how to calculate the food, how to make the pricing, and how to prepare the menus. We had to learn everything from scratch. How long has it been since you opened your restaurant? We started at the end of the year of 2019. What were some of the biggest challenges you faced during these three and half years? The biggest challenge was COVID-19 because it started at our very opening. We were open for 2-3 months and then got hit by Covid. Here in Madagascar, we had restrictions where no one was allowed to leave the house. We had to improvise and quickly change into delivery services and create products that would boost the immune systems of our customers, like juices and so on. This: opening the restaurant at the very start of the pandemic was our biggest challenge. Crazy enough that it worked out fine. Another challenge has also been the marketing. We had to inform people about us since we first were a co-working space and needed to inform our customers that we were now a restaurant. It took us around six months to start making a profit. Has the stressful part finished, or does being an entrepreneur mean co-living with stress daily? It never ceases to be stressful. But, as you gain more experience, learn along the way, and start using tools such as Loyverse, the stress is more manageable. What inspires you to continue your entrepreneurial journey, and have you ever thought to give up? It has crossed our minds :). The one who is in charge of all operations is my husband. He loves making people happy by giving them food. He is passionate at the end of the day and inspires me, too. How did you come across Loyverse POS? We came across Loyverse online. My husband was researching the best tools to manage a restaurant (as I mentioned earlier, we studied a lot on how to do this new challenge we started). He immediately loved how Loyverse was set up since it was straightforward. We also did not have difficulty teaching our employees how to use Loyverse. How has Loyverse helped streamline your restaurant operations, such as order management and inventory control? Loyverse has made a positive impact since the start. As I mentioned, it took the restaurant six months to become profitable. We were searching for a system that would allow us to track the sales and expenses. Loyverse helped our business to become better. Primarily, we love that we can track the inventory of our items and always know what items we have available. But, of course, the whole process of how we use Loyverse: from the moment we take the order, send it directly to the kitchen, serve the food, and close the ticket is very seamless. A feature that we have found really useful is splitting the payment. Most of our customers are youngsters, mid-30, they eat with their friends and prefer to split the payment at the end. We were happy to find out that Loyverse has this feature and is very easy to use. It is rare in Madagascar to find a POS offering such a feature, making us stand out and feel cool. Regarding reporting and analytics, how valuable is the data you obtain from Loyverse in terms of understanding your restaurant’s performance and making informed decisions? It is very important and valuable. I use the Back office reports that Loyverse offers to reconcile with our bank. When we have to do the end of the fiscal year here in Madagascar, the reports in the Back office are very helpful to keep track of all our activity and understand what has been going on, trends, and things that need improvement. We can see from the reports how much we made, whether we made a profit or a loss, whether we should change some prices, etc. The graph representation is also very helpful because it shows what changes had a good impact and really worked. We need to keep track of the prices of the items since they are changing all the time, so the reports are very advantageous to decide what steps to take to avoid mistakes and go into loss. Are you using any of Loyverse add-ons? Yes, we are using the Employee Management and Advanced Inventory. We use the Purchase Order to order items from our suppliers and calculate the average cost since the cost constantly changes. Is there any advice or words of wisdom you would like to share with aspiring entrepreneurs looking to start their own restaurants? My advice would be not to give up. It needs a lot of resilience in whatever you decide to do in a restaurant or any other business type. Remember that it is OK to fail too sometimes. But the key is, as my husband says, “Don’t give up!”. Take everything as an experience, and nothing is lost because you have learned, and you will use this knowledge to guide you in new adventures to get better and avoid the same mistakes. And, cheer up, it is going to be fine :). Follow Serendipity Co. on: Instagram: https://instagram.com/serendipityco?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Serendipitycoo?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Welcome to our inspiring interview with Gedion Yego, a successful entrepreneur hailing from Kenya. Gedion is the proud owner of a General shop that sells both food items and nonfood stuff at retail and wholesale prices. Taking over the family business in 2021, Gedion embarked on a journey of discovery, learning the ropes of entrepreneurship along the way. In November 2022, he discovered Loyverse POS, a game-changing point-of-sale system that revolutionized the way he manages his business. Join us as Gedion shares his experience with Loyverse, its impact on his business, and his valuable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs seeking to make their mark in the retail industry. What type of business are you running and in which country are you operating? I am Gedion Yego and I am from Kenya. I am running a shopping mall, wholesale and retail. We are dealing with mostly foodstuff, but we are selling other types of items as well. When did you start your business? The business has been running for quite some time. It is kind of a family business. I took over the management of the business in 2021. When I finished my studies, I didn’t know exactly what it meant to be an entrepreneur. It was by chance that I took over the family business, and now I operate it and learn more about entrepreneurship during this process. I plan to expand the store in the future and turn it into a big supermarket, and if possible open other branches as well not only in my local area but in other places as well. Did you implement Loyverse in your store or was it already being used before you took over the management? We started using Loyverse POS in our store in November 2022. I was interested in finding the best point-of-sale solution for my store. I went to the Google Play store and tested several apps. I came across the Loyverse POS app, it looked interesting, and after testing it resulted to be an amazing app. Since the moment I downloaded and started testing it, I never stopped using the software, and I am using it today. What made the Loyverse POS app stand out from the other point-of-sales system that you tested before it? I liked and appreciated that Loyverse is a simple-to-use and understand app that offers such powerful tools to use for business management. I found in your app the exact features that I wanted for my store. Other points of sales that I tried were very complicated, and I failed to operate them correctly. When searching for your point of sale system, was Inventory Management one of the features that you required to be included in the system? Yes, when I got the system, I subscribed to all the add-ons, including the Advanced Inventory, and I tried all the features. I understood that the free inventory features were enough for my retail shop at this stage of the business. I have activated the track stock option for my items and added the initial stock which gets deducted after each sale. I use the Loyverse Dashboard app to get push notifications every time an item goes out of stock or low in stock. I really like this feature because it indicates in real time what items are missing from my store so I can restock them. It is an amazing and very useful feature, and most importantly, it is available for free. Have you added your employees to the system? Yes, I am using the Employee Management subscription to create a profile for my employee in the account. Did you have a hard time training your employee to use the Loyverse POS system? It is not difficult at all. I just showed once the employee how to use the point-of-sale app, and he embraces it immediately. It was very easy for him to understand the process. I have assigned him a role with specific access rights so that the employee cannot see all the information I can see. He has access rights to the POS to make sales, but he cannot edit information or see the Back Office. Have you created a customer base and activated a Loyalty program for your customers? Yes, of course. This is one of my favorite features of Loyverse. I have registered almost all of my customers in my Loyverse account, who visit my shop frequently. They have been earning loyalty points from their purchases. Customers have really embraced this feature, they feel appreciated when they earn bonus points and can get discounts for their next purchases. This has been a feature that has boosted my business. It has transformed my store. Before, I used to have a small number of customers. But, since I implemented Loyverse and started using the Loyalty program, the daily sales have increased. I am really grateful and want to thank the Loyverse team for this feature. How would you describe your experience with Loyverse's customer support? Have they been responsive and helpful in resolving any issues or answering your queries? I have not found any difficulties using the Loyverse support chat. Whenever I have some difficulties, issues or problems, I have raised the issue, and it has been resolved in a very short period of time. That helps me to progress well with my business. What features or functionalities would you like to see added or improved in Loyverse to further enhance your retail business operations? There is a popular mode of payment in Kenya called M-pesa. It allows customers to pay for their goods directly from their phone. If Loyverse could be integrated with this system, it would be very helpful for my business. Is there any advice or words of wisdom you would like to share with aspiring entrepreneurs looking to start their own retail business? I take this opportunity to encourage any entrepreneur, especially the youth that in this digital age, there is much more than we can do as youth. With the kind of support and digital systems such as Loyverse, it really makes the business to be much easier. If one starts the business and implements such systems as Loyverse, one will grow, and the business will progress well, you will develop more and get more customers. By doing so, you will develop yourself and transform the life of others as well.

Terminal Juarez is a culinary market with food options from many parts of the world, high mixology, and jazz and stand-up comedy forum. The founder of Terminal Juarez, Mr. Carlos León, has been using Loyverse for more than a year and shares his experience in the following interview. Can you briefly describe your business? I have a bar. The place where the bar is located is like a food market. There are 8 different food options the customers can choose from. We have Argentinian food, Indian and Bangladeshi food, some dishes from Venezuela, hamburgers, one option for healthy food, and one bakery. We run a little bar with a little stage, and we give shows of jazz music and stand-up comedy. My business is the bar and I rent the space to these food-related businesses and we share the same space for the customers. When did you start your business? We started in 2019. Before that, I had another restaurant that I opened in 2010. Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur? I cannot say for sure. When I was studying college for business administration, I used to work in Starbucks. I think from that experience I started to like the service and food industry. What is one characteristic that you would say is crucial to being successful as an entrepreneur? You must work hard. The food industry, where I am, is very hard. You need to be really passionate about what you are doing and handle the competition and don’t give up. When you have passion for something, you need to have the courage to study, learn all the small details about the topic, and work hard. There is no magic formula in this business except working every day, being good to people and focusing on training and developing your employees. How do you advertise your business? We are focused mainly on Instagram and Facebook. What is unique about your business that makes it stand out from other competitors? I would emphasize the jazz music in the bar. We look for new and talented jazz musicians. As I mentioned before, I rent the places to the businesses that offer different types of food, but I am also a coach. I get involved with the way they prepare the food. This is the first business for these people. I think this is what makes Terminal Juarez special: the fact that there are a lot of new business owners who are really passionate and are doing really well. How did your business handle the pandemic year? Some of the participants left during this pandemic year. We used to have 13 different concepts of food, and now we are only 8. I had to sell the empty spaces, and my business shrunk during the last year. How did you first learn about Loyverse? I found Loyverse searching online. Before, I used another old point of sale system that was especially for bar and restaurant businesses. But, it looked like this system was stuck in the past and there were many server errors. I got tired of it and started searching for a new system. This is when I found Loyverse and I am very happy with it. I have been using Loyverse since last year. What feature of Loyverse has been most useful for your business? I like that Loyverse is a cloud-based system, so any change you make in your phone or tablet is synchronized with the Back office instantly. This change for me, in comparison to the old system, is very helpful. I find Advanced Inventory very useful. I use Employee Management as well, which makes it easy for me to track the activity of my employees and restrict their access rights. What is something you would like to see in Loyverse in the future? I would like to be able to create invoices via the app. At the moment, I am using another separate system specifically for creating invoices. When I close the shift, I have to create a receipt for the people who didn’t ask for a receipt so that the government can track my activity. I have to pull out the information of sales from Loyverse and use this information to create the invoice in the other system. If I could make these bills in Loyverse, it would be very very useful. What message would you like to give to the Loyverse Team? Keep up the good work. I accepted this interview because I really like how the program works and the help tutorials and videos on YouTube that explain the features make everything very easy. Keep doing what you have started and fulfill the needs of different businesses. Because I think Loyverse is not specialized for a specific industry, it can be used in different types of businesses. Loyverse has worked really well for my bar. I hope you keep developing more and more.

Barbara Syyap runs a Japanese franchise store called Takoyadon that is located on the ground floor of Venice Grand Canal Mall, Taguig, Philippines. Their menus consist of authentic Japanese cuisine that is a hotspot among customers who are searching for delicious, reasonably priced Japanese food. Can you briefly describe the business that you have? Takoyadon is a franchise business we franchised in December 2021, and it has been in operation for 6 months already. Takoyadon stands for “takoyaki, yakisoba, and donburi”. Our products are mostly Japanese food and it falls under the fast food category. We have a branch in Venice Grand Canal Mall (Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines), and right now, I am on the road and I just finished a meeting for another branch that we plan to open this month. What was your motivation for becoming an entrepreneur? I have been working for the last 30 years in a corporate job and retired. The money I received I used some to invest in a business. Because you cannot be an employee forever right? So I decided to move on with becoming an entrepreneur. Do you have any philosophy that you follow in your business? Based on my 6 months in business, I can say that when you take care of your customers, they will take care of you. You have to provide them with quality products and services and make sure that they come back. They themselves willingly become an ambassador of my brand. What do you think makes your business stand out from other businesses? I think in Venice (the mall my store is located) there are very few food & beverage stalls in the food court where we are located, and there are no other Japanese stalls there. So I think it is an edge for us. Unlike when you go to other malls, you have several stores that sell the same products. Apart from that, I am very prolific when it comes to joining programs with FoodPanda that I’ve become one of their favorite merchants. Usually, when you become a merchant of FoodPanda, they’ll remit you the payment one week after. But since I’ve become a favorite merchant, now I get my remittances the following day, right away. I would also say that I am very prolific in digital advertising. I have a Facebook page that is very dynamic. I would always have digital advertisements at least twice a month. I am also well updated with new menus and promos that come almost every week. And of course our food, I can really say that it is delicious, very Japanese and very authentic, and the prices are very reasonable. What is your goal for the next 10 years? My goal for the next 10 years (if I’m still alive), I hope to have more branches for Takoyadon. Or if there will be an opportunity for me to become a franchisor, since I’m only a franchisee at the moment, I think that should be a nice goal in 10 years or less. How did you first learn about Loyverse and which features have been most useful for your business? Loyverse was actually introduced to us by our franchisor. I actually never heard of it before but I found it very user-friendly. It was so easy to use and navigate. Especially when I export reports to excel, I can easily navigate my way through it. In terms of the reports the app generates for the owner, it is really good. In fact, when I compared it with the POS system that my friend (another franchisee of Takoyadon in Megamall), she was telling me that Loyverse is better than the POS system that she was using, which was a more expensive POS system. Do you have any last words/ messages for other future entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs in general? There are a lot of birth pains when it comes to becoming an entrepreneur. I retired from a corporate job of 30 years. When I worked in a corporation, I was in a sales and marketing position. You have a quota, you have a target, and you have to manage people. And you don’t really own your time. They say when you are a business person, you own your time and don’t have a target, but it is also not. There’s more to it than just saying, “Hey, I am my own boss”. It’s not really true. You don’t own your time because you also need to manage your staff and kitchen crew. It is very different from managing fellow professional people in a corporation. There are a lot of challenges, birth pains, as well as surprises. Especially when you are a tenant in a Mall. My husband and I were both surprised to find out that apart from the rent, we also have to pay for other utilities as a tenant. And of course, the challenges of an entrepreneur, especially when you are in the food & beverage industry, is the cost of goods. Now all the goods are increasing in terms of cost. That is what’s killing us in terms of the net income. Basically, my message is that when you’re in a corporation, you’re kind of spoiled. Everything is provided for you and you just have to wait for your salary every month. But if you are an entrepreneur, it’s really different, although you get the net income that you deserve which is based on your efforts.

In the northwest side of Spain, we have a hardworking chef David from A Coruña, who started his entrepreneurial journey cooking in 5-star hotels. Due to the stress of such labor, he decided to quit everything to find a place and especially the time to cook for love and work enough. Let’s see how such a transition, the restaurant “Casaperucho” came to exist. What is your business about and how did you start? My business was a life-changing decision. I used to work as an executive in five-star hotels and similar places, managing a large team and dealing with a heavy workload. I wanted a change and tried to find a less demanding job, like being a cook or something simpler, but nobody would hire me. I kept searching and found a restaurant near an industrial area where I could work from Monday to Friday and change my lifestyle, from working 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, having evenings and weekends off, and doing what I love, cooking. That was the beginning of my journey. It took me a long time to figure out how to make this lifestyle change because working conditions in the hospitality industry are tough – only one day off per week, standing for long hours, and dealing with a lot of stress. Do you think your skills have improved during that transition? In terms of management, it was something I already had experience in, you know? Managing kitchens with 15 cooks under my supervision prepared me well. However, in this new venture, I had to step back to take two steps forward. Previously, I focused on more gourmet cuisine, but now I cook homestyle dishes using everyday techniques. As a result, my stress levels have decreased significantly. When did you start? We started in March and have been open for five months. We are very happy with the progress, serving an average of 90 meals daily. We still need to renovate a bit since some parts are quite old; the tables, for instance, date back to 1995. What is the core value of your restaurant? Cooking with love and providing excellent service. Since the beginning, I aimed to offer good working conditions to my staff – working mornings from Monday to Friday. These excellent conditions have made the team happy and motivated to work well in the restaurant. Our philosophy revolves around providing dignified working conditions. How did you discover Loyverse, and what are your favorite features? My brother, a programmer who develops programs for hospitals, introduced me to Loyverse. He found it on Google and thought it would be perfect for my restaurant. We really like the reasonable cost of Loyverse, which has been a tremendous help in starting up, especially compared to other expensive programs. The features are user-friendly, such as sending orders, generating sales reports, and managing employee tasks for the waiters. What advice would you give to those who want to start a restaurant? I would advise them to research and crunch the numbers thoroughly. I did a lot of calculations and, even with 15 years of experience, made some mistakes. Step by step, I adjusted the numbers and carefully managed expenses to ensure success.

Today we interviewed one of the owners of "La Lavandería Company" located in a tourist city in Peru. They started as a touristic entrepreneurship, but due to the pandemic and the lack of tourists, they decided to take a risk and expand for local customers. Could you tell us how you started your business and what your experience has been over the years? We have been working for 4 years in Arequipa, a city in the south of Peru. In the city, the main customers were tourists, we were located in the historical center where many tourists arrived, and because of their needs, we realized that it was a good opportunity to create a laundry that delivers the service on the same day. Everything was going well until there were no more tourists because of the pandemic, and we had to close, but it was a push that led us to think about offering our services to local people. And that's when we opened in other places around the city, and we did quite well, at the moment, we have 3 laundromats. Now the tourists are coming back and little by little we are also covering that sector again. In relation to Loyverse, how did you find it and how did you adapt the Loyverse application for your business? I have been working for 10 years in the area of technology, in the area of networks, and communications, it is not the first business we are starting, but it is the one we have been running for the longest time. When starting a business, it is always necessary to look for tools that are already available, so I tried several programs, but every time something was missing, and I found some limitations such as needing a computer, needing an internet connection, etc. until I found Loyverse. I used it day and night, the first requirement we needed was the printing of tickets, I looked for a printer, configured it, and it worked perfectly, also in our business the customers in some cases pay in 2 days, I solved this with the Open Tickets feature. When we were opening the other store, we found a problem, since the employee would use the app, and we did not want him to have the same access as the owner, for this reason, we took the option of employees which is fabulous, we manage which tools the employee can use and which not. I have also used the kitchen printing tool, in our case, there is no kitchen, but we use this option for the laundries in the back, and there we can print customer orders. Since Loyverse adapted very well to what we needed, after some time we created several stores in the system, and we got the reports of each of them in excel files. Now I want to learn more about integrations and APIs to be able to connect our business with other programs. What is the feature you like the most, and the feature you use the most in Loyverse? There are many things that I like, but for the relationship with the customer, which in my opinion is what has generated the most revenue for us, are the impressions and personalization of the tickets, every day if we want we can add information on the receipt. I can quickly write a promotion or information from the Back Office, and in a simple way when the receipt is printed, the customer receives the information about the promotion of the day or whatever I want to transmit. I use the footer, or the final part, where I add promotions or little messages like "thank you for visiting us" or phrases that can encourage and change someone's day. This works very well for me from a marketing point of view, customers are happy to read it. As we create the branches in the system, we create and customize the tickets for each location. This would be the option that I like the most because, in other applications, they don't allow you to be adding anything or just a small text and that's it. Something that I particularly like a lot is also the reports, at any time of the day I have access to them, in real time I can review the sales of my employees, and these reports help me to analyze, for example, the dates in which one service/item is more sold than another, that helps me to plan for the future, how to continue to improve our service. We are in good sync in every sense with your system because, for example, when the internet is not available we can continue working and when the internet comes back everything is synchronized. We make our deliveries, we go with the cell phone, with the hand printer. Everything is great, that's what I can say. Thinking long term, a goal you have for your business? Our goal, for now, is to have new stores in a neighboring city, which is Cuzco, and that is our goal as a company, and of course, I would continue with Loyverse, I already manage the methodology, and I have even created a document that I send to my workers on how they should use the app. Finally, if you want to leave a message for the readers and those starting a business, what recommendation would you give them? I can tell them that Loyverse is a system for entrepreneurs, for those who want to start Loyverse, adapts to each stage, the free version to start, and then using the employee management tools as in my case, to have more and more control over your business, I think it is one of the first tools that an entrepreneur can find. And with the topic of recommendation, I can tell you that Loyverse is very functional and very simple for anyone, no matter the age. In my case for example, my family has seen how I use the app, and they ask me how it works so I have also installed the application for their business, they have a restaurant and cafeteria, and they are doing great with the app. This is my experience for 4 years now, always looking to improve and learn. Thank you Mr. Jesus Nicolas for your time and for sharing your experience with us.

Mwingi Kenya Limited is a social enterprise in Kenya that was incorporated in 2019 and is establishing a unique last-mile franchise chain in Kenya. By this, MWINGI empowers local entrepreneurs and increases the availability of affordable quality products for thousands of families in rural areas. Manuela, one of the co-founders, shares how MWINGI started the journey and what are their future plans. Thank you for taking the time for this interview Manuela. Can you describe your enterprise? Mwingi Kenya Limited is a social enterprise in Kenya that provides essential food to very remote rural areas in Kenya. Many people in such areas don’t have access to essential food like maize meal or cooking fat because the few shops in those areas often run out of stock. As a consequence, people are often malnourished. Women sometimes pass away during giving birth because of malnutrition and even the babies start their life journey malnourished. The communities in these areas are threatened by different serious illnesses that are present there and malnutrition makes it difficult to fight against those diseases. MWINGI wants to solve the problem of undersupply by establishing its own franchise shops in very remote rural areas where there are no car roads, no electricity, and no fluent water. These villages are somehow forgotten by the world, nobody goes there. But MWINGI is going there, and we open shops with the promise to our customers that we will never run out of stock (MWINGI is Swahili and means "plenty"). Last February we had eight shops, now we have already 92 shops, and we are further growing by 10 shops month by month. We always choose a woman from these villages as a shopkeeper, very often, this is the very first job in their life. This helps them to earn their own money, and they really appreciate it, as it changes their life tremendously. Why did you choose Kenya to start the journey of your enterprise? We plan to go to other African countries as well, and maybe even to Latin America. Our goal is to be present in all countries where people are suffering because the demand for food can't be fulfilled. However, we are still a start-up and first need to become profitable before we can reach out to other countries. We chose Kenya as our first country because Kenya has a big population, and people are very entrepreneurially and hard working. But as soon as we succeeded in Kenya, we will move to other countries as well. Were you doing other business before you started this social enterprise? I worked for a solar company in Africa. There I learned about the problems in very remote areas. Many companies offer solar solutions but nobody is really trying to solve the undersupply of essential food in very remote areas. That’s why I started this company together with three other founders. When did you first learn about Loyverse? I think it was in 2020. We started our business in 2019. In the very beginning, we used another point of sale system which we found was not optimal. Then, in 2020 we moved to Loyverse. We found Loyverse on the internet. Our main requirements for the point of sale system were to be able to work on- and off-line and to connect to a mobile printer as connectivity and power are not always available in Africa. Loyverse was the only POS in our price range that could meet these requirements and also run on Android phones. Another important feature that we checked when choosing our POS was that you can buy a full sack of rice and then partition it into smaller pieces. This is important because we deliver to our shops full sacks of rice or full sacks of sugar, but they need to be repacked and sold in smaller packages. People in the villagers have 1-2$ to spend per day for the whole family, so they usually buy eg. 200 grams of sugar and cannot afford a full kg or even a sack. Are you managing all your 92 stores under the same Loyverse account? Yes, we manage all stores under the same Loyverse account. We have actually 2 accounts, one that we use for testing and training and one that is our productive system, which we use in our stores. Have you created profiles for the employees in your Loyverse account? Yes, we have added 50 employees to our account who work with Loyverse's back office. In addition, we have 92 shop operators who are managing our shops. The 50 employees in Nairobi manage all the processes: adding products, doing purchases, transferring items to the stores, changing prices and so on. We have created profiles for them in Loyverse and give them different access rights according to their role. However, I need to say that growing further, we would need larger variety of access rights as we have many different roles in our company. How do you manage the stock in Loyverse? We are using the Advanced Inventory subscription. We use the Purchase order functionality, which is created by our managers in Nairobi, who receive the stock in the main warehouse. Then, they use the Transfer Order to transfer the stock to each of our 92 stores, where our shopkeepers continue with the selling process. We also use Stock Adjustment to record adjustments made to stock eg. for damaged goods. Being such a big enterprise, I believe that you have workflows that require specific functions that are not available in Loyverse. How are you managing this? We are using Loyverse API and Integrations service to add functions that we need for our business. Via API we get the data from Loyverse which we then use in other apps. One program eg. uses an algorithm to automatically calculate the replenishment for all our shops. It automatically generates delivery notes for our shops as well as purchase orders for our purchasing department. Another example of how we use the API is for the Inventory counts. In retail, it is a good practice that the one who is counting, should not know the correct numbers. We, therefore, developed an app for the shopkeepers to count some items in their shop every day. They enter the counting result into our app which is then automatically compared with the stock in Loyverse. If there are variations we implemented further processes to deal with it. Very often, the shopkeeper just forgot to enter a sales, which she will now correct. Such functionalities are very helpful for us and we only could create them by using API. So the API is very, very important for us. A big plus of Loyverse is that you can configure the POS in a way that shopkeepers don't see the amount of stock that is in Loyverse. We don’t want them to see the stock, because you cannot ask a person to count the stock if they already know the stock, that is supposed to be there. That’s why for us, it is really important that you can manage the access rights in such a way that the salesperson can make sales but cannot see the remaining items. To still be able to let them perform stock counts we created this app via the API so that they do an inventory count every day without knowing the expected stock in the system. This is the reason why we appreciate a lot the API feature, as otherwise, we could not program such additional business processes. That’s good to hear. Did you face difficulties teaching your employees to use the Loyverse system? Not at all. Even though our employees are not so high educated, because we are in deep Africa, the app was relatively simple for them to learn it. We also have to teach them how to use the POS quickly because they are not used to smartphones. Using Loyverse for them is simple, more challenging is to teach them how to use a smartphone. If they know how to use a smartphone, then learning how to use Loyverse is very easy for them. What other features in Loyverse were helpful in your business? I personally like the response of the support. Another big advantage is the availability of Loyverse. There are other systems that are down from time to time, but this is never the case with Loyverse. If there is a maintenance, we always get notified and the maintenance usually takes place in the middle of the night for a very short time without interrupting our operations. The availability and consistency are extremely good, I must say. Loyverse is very reliable, and for us, this plays a huge role. We have used other software and they might be down for a day and nobody is getting back to you, so we didn't know if the system is gone for good or if it is ever getting back. What are your short-term and long-term goals? We want to continue with additional 10 shops per month. We then will open other regions in Kenya and plan to have 2000 shops within 5 years. And of course, we want to become a major retailer in Kenya and later in Africa. Who are your investors? We have investors mainly from Europe, Asia, and US. Our investors are impact investors who invest in companies that provide impact but are also highly scalable. Scalability is important, not only because it increases the returns but also because by this also the impact becomes scalable. All our investors want to end poverty in Africa and they see MWINGI as an important player to get closer to reaching this goal. What was the biggest challenge that you faced in your enterprise these three years? The biggest challenge was the drought last year. Many cows passed away because of the drought. People did not have money anymore and they could not afford to buy items from our shops. This was for us a very challenging moment. Luckily now the drought is over, and we are now on a good track. Also, for a startup, a big challenge is to raise money to further grow. We have really great inventors on board, they are all impact investors. It is really amazing and inspiring to work with such people. What is your advice to other entrepreneurs in the retail business? Retail business is all about knowing the details. Therefore, a point-of-sale system with an inventory system is very important. If you don’t know how many assets you have, you will easily get lost. You also must be very disciplined. You must update all data like purchase orders, transfers etc. timely and accurately. Then the system becomes extremely helpful. If you have a larger organization like MWINGI, to set-up all processes accordingly is an absolute must. If you start losing this traction, then the system loses its purpose. But with tight internal processes and a good and stable system, you will be able to run a successful business.

Kiki’s Pot is a food vending and delivery business located in Ghana that was founded in 2016 by a single woman with a great vision. Mrs. Mandy envisioned a successful business and worked hard and with determination each day to achieve what she has today. Follow along to learn her story and her experience with Loyverse. How did your business start? We are a service provider, we deal only with food: fast food, a little bit continental and local on the side. Our business started in 2016. When we started this online and delivery service, this type of business was less prominent in the Ghanaian market. Customers used to go to the facility and pick up the food. I started thinking, why not offer a food delivery service to facilitate the people who might not have the time to pick up their food? Prior to that, we were going only to a food festival which happens once a year. The festival is called Chale Wote Festival and is a big festival where many vendors participate and sell all kinds of things. After the festival, people called our number and asked us to prepare them dishes they had tried at the festival. This was the motivation to start. We started the business at home. First, we had a small number of orders, but later the demand increased, and we had to hire a lot of riders to fulfill all the requests. We deliver the food to offices or homes, wherever our customers feel comfortable having lunch. As time went on, we had to move out. Our first pick-up shop was opened two years ago. How did you first learn about Loyverse? One of our biggest challenges was finding the app to use for sales, inventory, and all of that. When we started, at the end of the day, we would manually write down all of the sales, including information such as Customer name, Customer contact, the order details. Later on, we move to Excel as our tool to keep a record of the sales. After three years, we met a local company that had software for us to use. We used that software for a while, but we understood that it was not giving us what we wanted: the sales analysis, the customer number, the number of visits for each customer, and sales by item for a selected period of time. Because of the lack of these options, it was becoming frustrating to work with this software. At that time, I started to search online for better alternatives. I found an app that I liked, but I had to call them because they were not from Ghana, they could not understand my English, and it was very difficult to communicate with them. Disappointed, I continue searching. Then, I found Loyverse POS app. I studied the app myself to understand how it works, I did a couple of demos, and I thought, “This is it, this is what I am looking for”. This is how we started with Loyverse. Of course, I had to build everything from scratch because I had to add my items and arrange them in the correct way according to my menu. One thing that I found very helpful was the online customer service. I could type a question, and they would guide me step by step. I read the tutorials carefully to understand how everything works. It was something exciting for me because I had somebody 24/7 guiding me. It was risky as well because I could not see the end result clearly, but it was worth it. One of the questions I reached out to customer service was how to add delivery fees. They explained to me that I could add the delivery fee as an item and indicate the price or leave the price empty to indicate the moment of the sale, and this worked. Loyverse has dropped that stressful feeling during the day when you think of all the things you have to do and how to track the sales in the restaurant. Now I don’t even remember the last I was there, but I can use the Back office to track all the activity of my business in real-time from anywhere. What has been a challenge you had to face as an entrepreneur? I would mention the pandemic period. During the pandemic, we had to shut down completely. It wasn’t easy at all, because most of our workers work with us. I also have children, and my mother also lives with me. I could not risk someone geting infected and spreading the virus, so we shut down completely. During this time, there was also a lockdown in Ghana. After the lockdown was removed, we started the business again. The economy has changed now, everything has become very expensive. The inflation has reached a very high level, but we cannot increase the prices of our products because the price of the ingredients is changing every day, and if we increase the prices of our products accordingly, it will result in the increase in prices 5X which does not make sense for the business. We have just been coping and taking it one step at a time. How do you advertise your business? We use Instagram to advertise our business. We have a huge customer base on Instagram. We have a WhatsApp customer base as well, and there we advertise our products using WhatsApp stories. We also use bloggers. We send them products, and they display them with their audience, and this brings traffic to us. We also do Facebook. Are you using any of the add-on services that Loyverse offers? Yes, I am using Employee Management. I have added employee who now has his own login. I can track his sales and his working hours. I have a subscription to Advanced Inventory as well. The feature that I am using most is the stock adjustments. Not because the other features are not useful but I needed more time to explore them thoroughly. I have a regular job besides the restaurant. But, as much as I had time to check, Purchase Orders and Inventory counts seem very good features. Did you and your employees have any difficulties learning the system? Not at all. All the items that we offer in Kiki’s pot I have entered myself from scratch. I studied the system and was able to master it. An advantage that Loyverse has in comparison to the old POS system that we were using is the Margin. I really wanted to see the Margin for my items, and I am really happy that Loyverse has this feature. It has really helped to streamline the raw materials. Now everything that goes out: a portion of rice with chicken, we know the number of chicken lefts, the number of portions of rice left, and the number of cups used. All these features were what I was looking for and did not find in other software that I tried prior to Loyverse. Also, as I mentioned, the possibility of managing my business remotely is a dream come true. Learning the system was easy because you have your manual. If I want to use or learn a feature, I go to the manual. I wish I had the time to sit and go through the whole user guide, but since I don’t have so much time, I check the tutorials for the features I am interested to learn. Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur even though you are already working somewhere else? What really pushed me was a situation that happened in the corporate where I work. Most of the senior managers come and go based on politics or connections. They come, stay for 6 months or a year and go, usually because they have links to another company. Me, even though I am a senior staff, I am not a manager and do not have many connections to other companies. If something happens, where would I go? I started my business so that if something might happen, an emergency, something unexpected, I have my business to rely on. Building my business gave me the opportunity to offer jobs for other people as well. Of course, being an entrepreneur comes with challenges, and sometimes you wonder if you are doing the correct things. But, when you speak with other entrepreneurs and understand that they are facing the same challenges and these challenges are common, you have more determination to work toward a solution. What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs? My advice to young entrepreneurs is: Make sure you are determined and focused. Be aware that things will not go all the time according to your plan. Things will happen, and you will get shocked. You have to be focused and love whatever type of business you are venturing into. If you don’t love it once there is a shake, you will give up easily. So just be focused and determined and love what you do. Thank you for your time and for sharing your experience with Loyverse Community.

Frutos Frescos is a business that started its journey because of the difficult times we are living in nowadays. Currently, everyone's focus is their health. As the saying goes "We are what we eat", we are paying extra attention to the foods that we consume. Frutos Frescos offers fresh fruits and vegetables, fruit juices, salads, vegan food, cereals, and more. One of the founders of Frutos Frescos, Liliana shares her story as a business owner and how she implemented Loyverse there. When did you start your business? We started the business 11 months ago. The reason why we chose this business is the pandemic. Before I worked in industrial and sales canteens, but it was closed because of the COVID. Fruit shop is a type of business that doesn’t close and is considered to be a first need type of business. My husband and I have been working in distribution all our life. We decided to approach the fruits and vegetable business and offer these products to communities where the demand is very high. We aim to offer the products at a lower price than the supermarkets and on the other hand, the products are fresh and natural, not refrigerated and of better quality. How did you first learn about Loyverse? We searched the web and noticed that on different websites Loyverse was a recommended point of sales system. We used Loyverse in our previous business as well. I tested other POS systems but decided to continue using Loyverse in my shop because I was already familiar with the way of managing the inventory, making sales, and so on. What feature of Loyverse would you point out as most useful for your business? Currently, I am using both Advanced Inventory and Employee Management. I like the inventory management features. In my opinion, it is really good. I used it in my previous business as well. I have added my employees and managed their access rights using the functionalities that Employee Management offers. What would you like to see in Loyverse in the future? I would like to have only one shift report at the end of the day. At the moment, every employee is using his/her own device and at the end of the day, there is a shift report for each device. I would like to have only one shift report from the main device at the end of the day with all the information synchronized so that I can see the summary of all sales, payment types reports and know exactly how much cash we should have in the cash drawer. But, I can work around this because I can check at any time the summary of all the sales in the Back Office statistics, which I found very, very useful. Another point we would like to have is the possibility to install the Loyverse POS app on a PC. I have read that this is possible using an emulator, and I want to explore this option, but, as far as I have understood, this is an alternative way and not recommended by your team. What is your business goal for the next 5 years? I am planning to open more stores, maybe create a franchise. I want to start in Mexico first, but in the future, who knows, we might go internationally as well. What is the value that you want to bring into the community via your business? We are committed to good food. Our major priority is a combination of quality and price. This is not offered by other similar businesses here. They might offer quality products but at a very high price. We want to make it possible that everyone can afford healthy products. We offer not only fresh fruits but also fresh fruit juice, healthy salads, vegan food so that everyone can have the option to eat well and take care of their health. Also, we offer delivery services. Thank you so much!

Donde la Kathy is an online business that sells beauty, cosmetics, and personal care products. The business started at the peak of the pandemic. The business consists of the sale of various brands via catalog. Some of these brands are Natura, Yist, Viogrin, Leonisa etc. Due to the good marketing skills the owner of this business demonstrated during the first year of operating, today there are a lot of other brands that reach out to her to sell their products. What was your motivation for becoming an entrepreneur? I live in Chile. In December 2019, there were protests here, various manifestations happened. This caused issues to my previous company and it couldn’t operate every day. Afterward, due to the pandemic, the company couldn't operate at all and this forced me to close that business. Since I was unemployed and it wasn’t the best period to start looking for a new job, I decided to start this business which would generate me income and help copy with the fixed expenses that I had. I am working alone. I do all the processes, from receiving the product from the suppliers and sending them to the customers. If there are days I am very busy or I cannot go out because of the quarantine, then I would hire someone to deliver the products to the customers. How do you advertise your products and services? I am using Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. I am preparing a website, but it is not functional yet. The most useful tool for me until now has been WhatsApp where I publish the products and promotions. I have earned many clients in this way and then they order again. I must say that I live in a neighborhood that offers a lot of opportunities to sell your products. I started first to sell to my friends and close neighbors and then I could expand in a wider area. How do you stand out from other competitors in the market? There are other people that do the same business as me and even sell the same brands, but what I do to differentiate is maintain stock. I invest a lot in products so that I can deliver a product to my customers as soon as they order the products. My competitors usually work based on orders, meaning that when the customer orders a product, then they order the product from the brand, wait for it to arrive and finally deliver it to the customers. This process takes some time. I always keep stock so that I can deliver to my customers. This fact makes me stand out from the competition. What is your business goal for the next 5 years? My idea is to create a website that will facilitate the advertisement of the products and the orders, so I don’t have to do this manually on WhatsApp. I have some brands that are multilevel too. My idea is to increase the number of brands I collaborate with and keep expanding. How many hours a week did you work when you started the business? I can't say a fixed number. I worked from Monday to Sunday, from 9 AM until later in the evening. Whenever a friend or customer needed a product for themselves or as a gift, I was always ready to deliver the products. There have been occasions when I have been delivering items until 11 PM. It is actually a very prolonged schedule I don’t have a fixed schedule like 9-5, but whenever the customer asks for the product, I must send it to them, or they will come and pick it up in my home. What is a characteristic of your personality that you consider the most important to have success in this business? I am an easy-going person, sympathetic and this has made me have a lot of friends who also share the word with their friends. I get on well with people, they remember my name. Now, it isn’t so necessary to publish the product because my loyal customers will ask by themselves if I have a certain product or not. Or my loyal customers advertise my business to their friends. This has helped me a lot: to have good relationships with people and be memorable. How did you learn first about Loyverse? I started using Loyverse in 2020. I had more and more products, and it was becoming really tiring for me to make all the calculations of stock manually in excel. I also forgot to add something, which caused miscalculations and errors that I couldn’t traceback. I found Loyverse online and started to test how it worked, and it solved a thousand problems because it is super simple and efficient. I could easily track the stock of my items, enter sales, manage the customer base, see how many items I had left in stock and I loved all these features. I tested other point of sale systems as well, but all of them became very complicated. What feature of Loyverse is the most useful for your business? I like the inventory management and I also pay for the Advanced Inventory add-on. I like the option to add customers and have a Loyalty program for them. In addition, I like very much that I can manage my customer base, have their information saved and check their purchase history at any moment. Another feature that I like is the option to create a product and if it comes in different sizes or colors, I can add variants to have the items organized. In my opinion, the system is very complete. I like the Back Office, the visualization of the sales in the reports. What message do you want to give to the Loyverse team? I want to thank you first for the support. Each time I have contacted the support team, they have been very friendly and explained in detail the answers to my questions. The help is always very rapid, it is very easy to follow the instructions that you give. I am very happy with the service.

Kaffé Koffee is the first 24/7 coffee shop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania that roasts its coffee freshly every day and offers authentic coffee with options of non-dairy and original desserts. Muntazir Hussein, founder, and owner of Kaffé Koffee talks about his business. How did you start your business? We started on the 1st of July, 2020 as a coffee shop and then invested in the roastery to get into the small-scale industry within the country. There were hardly any roasters who had the facilities to provide a good coffee supply not only to the locals but also to the export market. So far, we have been expanding into different locations since the establishment was very well accepted by the current market in Tanzania. We are the official under 10 roasters recognized by the Tanzanian coffee board. We currently have 3 locations, two in Dar es Salam and one in Zanzibar. We plan to open a second roastery in Zanzibar because of the international and local market. We are partners to different franchises to which we supply. What is the competition like in Tanzania? Being the first Tanzanian to own a roastery in the country, it becomes a challenge in the market because I'm competing with foreign investors. Nevertheless, the quality and service that we provide are exceptional. We, in Tanzania, have one of the best coffee that is out there in the world. As a result, not only do we compete locally but also internationally. We have several international coffee companies that come and buy coffee from us such as Starbucks and Costa. As we expand, our vision is to grow country-wide with coffee shops and also supply coffee internationally. How did the pandemic affect your business? I started when the virus was still out there and everybody was closing their businesses. I felt it was the best time to create a business that would entertain and give people hope in life. We started with around $2,000 worth of investment and now we are grossing over a billion shillings in revenue. The pandemic did not affect us because we had people that always came and supported the business. We also had some that stayed back home but continued to order products from us. Tanzania always fought against the whole notion of the virus. Our late president, President Magufuli sort of denied the fact that we needed certain measures to protect ourselves. He proposed that we would rather take a different route towards the virus, focusing on keeping our immune system healthy through physical activities. He believed that if you divide and block people especially in a third-world country, people would die of starvation and the economy would suffer greatly. This helped us a lot to continue doing business. Our late president passed away as a result of heart conditions and we now have the first lady president in Tanzania. Mama Samia Suluhu, our president, has been doing an amazing job so far. She has taken a different route. She takes all extreme measures to protect our country and our people and especially with the foreign investors. Our economy has been booming and we have been doing business very comfortably. The pandemic gave us more time to grow. Do you have an online presence? The world is moving fast, people want everything in a click. From the first day, we established our businesses on social media. However, there are certain few drawbacks because Instagram and Facebook still don't have online shopping in Tanzania. We developed our app which you can download and place orders from anywhere. We continue to see how we can develop further and improve online sales. In Tanzania, the culture is such that everyone is still learning about the new trend and technology is not at the highest rise. People want to go out, touch and have that physical feeling of things. As a result, we have more people coming to our physical stores compared to the online platforms. As a business owner in this industry, what is your philosophy? I believe in providing the best quality that is available on the market. Being consistent when it comes to the quality of products we offer across different locations. Having a service that complements the quality and consistency and finally, a price that must be matched with the quality of the product. How did you find Loyverse? I was referred to Loyverse by a colleague of mine. Once we gave it a trial, we were satisfied and happy. Especially the part where you can see the sales reports and manage inventory. Although there are certain things that we still haven't explored yet, we have had a great experience so far and are interested in partnering with Loyverse in the future. What advice do you have for other business owners? It would be of course to take up Loyverse not only as a startup but also intermediate level or an expert level. I think Loyverse is an extremely friendly platform, the customer support and the right features are there for any business to use. I have personally referred Loyverse to several businesses.

I have 3 special needs sons, during their therapy sessions we noticed that they were much at ease while playing board games and so we used them in our every day life, to help them. When my eldest son finished school, he was unable to find a job because of his autism. That’s when I decided to open Boards & Brews. So we can teach young adults with autism spectrum disorder job skills and help put them in permanent employment in the community. The board game aspect of it is to help everyone come together and play together, despite disabilities. Could you describe to us a bit about your local community? The Isle of Man is a small island in the Irish Sea. We are best known for the TT motorcycle races every June. How did you find Loyverse POS and why would you recommend Loyverse POS to other retailers like you? I started this cafe with only £1000 of donated money, there was no way for us to buy a till. Without Loyverse POS, the kids were stressing, as a calculator is hard to use for some of them. Loyverse POS for business has really been a godsend. We found it by searching and trying different apps in the App Store. It does everything that other apps can do and is customisable. The fact that it helps with my book keeping is amazing, and I would definitely recommend it to other retailers. What is the goal for your business and what are your plans to achieve this goal? My goal is to have enough business to be able to pay the ASD young adults a wage for their time here and to help approximately 5 young adults a month find employment. We are trying to advertise as much as we can so this can happen. Do you have any advice for retailers such as yourself? -E.g. Something that you wish you had known earlier. Don’t stress. That’s the biggest one. If you stress it becomes harder to figure out the solution to the problem. Another one would be don’t be scared to ask for help, you can’t do everything by yourself. I learnt that the hard way.