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.

We spoke with Andre, one of the owners of Gym Time, a gym that has been operating for 3 years in Peru's capital city. He tells us how they have been moving forward with their business. How, as it progressed, it was possible to use Loyverse at every stage. How did you start your business? The business started three years ago, and the process has been radical, we started from one floor to two floors to three floors. Thanks to God. We have been making details and remodeling we have advanced step by step. Here in Peru, there are two big gyms that have many locations, and we see that their attention is not good, and we used this to improve our business. In the area, there is not this type of gym, so we try to do something better, something that stands out, and customers come and say: “that’s it, here is the one”. In these years, we have been managing it in a very old way, and we wanted to see ways to improve and also have more control over sales and inventory. We always did everything manually with no records, and it was complicated. Now we have a membership sales area and a cafeteria that are inside the gym facilities, we make all the sales of the cafeteria the protein, water, drinks, etc. How did you find Loyverse? A while ago, I was looking for a POS for a cafeteria, and I found it. After 6 months I was talking with my partner and since we need to implement things that we had left aside, he bought a POS that already had their system installed. But they forced us to continue with their service, so I looked for a way to uninstall this and install a different one. Then I found Loyverse again, and I went to YouTube to look for more information and see if it was compatible with the device and I installed it, and as it is more friendly to the public with all its functions, I started using it, and it worked for me using the printed receipts, the reports, the stock control, etc. How many Points of Sale do you have in your gym? Inside the gym, I have a POS that allows me to make sales from the cafeteria, but also I realized that more stores could be added. Then I made two more stores, a store for the sauna, since we have an inside sauna, and the other as a store for protein, in this way we can manage a record of each item independently. Is there something that makes your business stand out from the others? Apart from the facilities service, the ability of our workers to give good customer service, it is something that I rescue a lot here because among the competition they forget about it, they only worry about the sales. In our gym, we try to follow up in general with our clients. Here in the area the gyms have a lot of machines but they don't care so much about the aesthetic part, the visual part, in our gym the client feels satisfied, wherever he goes it looks nice, is pleasant to the client and in this way, we try to reach our goal. Together with my partner with whom we have started, we have other projects as an objective, to create another location, we are also starting a restaurant and we want it to become something like a chain with the same philosophy. Has Loyverse changed the way of operating your business? For sure, because we have better control of my business. We have a lot of trust in our staff, but we always need to have control of everything and with Loyverse it was very quick for me to do the shift management, cash control, stock control, and review all these things and I could do it from another device, from home, from wherever I am it is much more practical for me, for example, we sold some goods, I see my inventory control, with that I project how often I have to buy things, which is what I miss, which is what I sell the most. All this has made it easy for me to see if there are things that are not selling much to think of a way to accelerate their sales before these products expire, this gives me the facility to rise the sales faster. We use the CDS and with this app, the customer can see what he is requesting, see the prices, and everything else. It is much faster before it took too long to close the cash register and I had to be present, in this case not anymore, I can leave an employee and he does the shift closing for me, and he can send a photo to the internal group that we have of the company and the same I can review my application, be it the same day or the next day. The option of adding different payment types has also helped me a lot to improve or speed up things that used to take a long time. How do you see the future of your business next to Loyverse? We are on 2 projects to make a restaurant and a hamburger, in two different places and we are looking for a way to work with Loyverse since the system has the functions I need, it is helping me a lot, and it does not have any obstacles. Concerning the tools I have seen, inventory, and employee management, are the ones that catch my attention the most, and it's great, for example, Loyverse provide me with the sales per day, per month, the net of my cost, so I know how much I'm earning, and I can even see the refunds. Sometimes employees make mistakes when charging. For example, here we have two forms of payment, and sometimes instead of choosing the correct payment option they choose others and this makes a difference at the time of cash closing. I can correct it until before closing a shift, after the closing it does not give me the option to do anything. For this reason before closing the shift or even since it is a remote way that I can use from home or from the phone, my employees inform me if there is any difference and I see how to handle it from a distance. From that point on, it's like there was no more of that problem. Would you like to leave a message for other entrepreneurs? We started with the idea that step by step we were developing and being persistent because there are very good days, but there are days when you are left with nothing. In the beginning, we were quite discouraged because it was not what we thought, it did not move as we thought, but with time we realized what are the good dates and bad dates and as a result of this, we can project ourselves and know what to do and how to manage the business. After so much sacrifice comes a bit of peace in each one of us and the possibility of enjoying all that you have advanced. And the best satisfaction is to see the business stable, that it is bearing fruit, and that you can live a little more peacefully. There comes a time when it is nice to see that we started from so little and now we have great facilities, with other projects and the key has been not to be the same, to make a difference in the area we manage and move forward because we never stop learning there are still things that we will have to continue implementing and improving. Thank you very much for your time. GymTime Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/gymtimeperu/

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.

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 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 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/

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 this article, Pablo, from I Like Pizza, is sharing with us his story about the first pizza street stand that, after hard work and the right timing, it got expanded to 4 branches. Take notes because important decisions and partnership strategies were applied to keep such high-quality pizza and survive financially. How did you start the business? First, I’m so grateful to you because I have been using Loyverse for 2 years. The business started 13 years ago, as a pizza street food stand. After a lot of work and time, we could open the first branch and expand more until 4 branches. We realized that after having the 4th branch, the sales weren’t the same compared to when we opened the first branch. Step by step the sales were decreasing. So what we did was create a franchise. The managers of the branches are the same as the franchise, so they get a percentage from the sales. The breaking point is that when the franchisers want to make more sales, we also grow thanks to that. The quality of our pizza it’s excellent quality, and it has great cheese. It’s a cheese that has a unique consistency. It’s tasty but also expensive. That is why we’re trying to be thrifty as much as possible but keeping the quality on point as well. So that is why, compared to other systems, the price for the Advanced Inventory is reasonable. What features help you the most? The sales report of the Back Office and the Dashboard app as well, because I can see the sales at any moment on my phone. Especially the Sales by Item, I can see how much I gain per item being sold. What is the philosophy behind the business? First, no hurries; everything will come up at the right time. And second, do things well, there are no shortcuts. You have to love what you do because by doing so, you become more creative and even make more sales. And of course, serving the customer with honesty is part of the main values here. So the best slogan would be to create a better world through good work, no shortcuts. Could you share some advice for those who want to start a business? Become a good person, that’s the first thing; it’s not worthy to be rich, but without values and disgusting. Even less is to be poor, without values and disgusting. Start with treating yourself with generosity. For example, do exercise, go healthy and respect yourself. Then, we have to respect our closest circle or relationships, like family and friends. And for sure, be respectful of the neighbors and the whole town. Because doing good things will happen to good people.

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.

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.

Meet Belinda, a genial, conscientious, and hard-working entrepreneur who is the owner of Get Waxed Indonesia, as she shares with us her venture of starting her very own waxing service business, her goals, and her aim for empowering women in her country. Can you briefly introduce yourself and describe the business that you have? My name is Belinda. I built my waxing salon about 6 years ago. Basically, the first reason is that my mother-in-law has reached her retirement age and so had to stop working. So, in order to make her spirit alive, we established our new business for her. That’s when I thought of starting our waxing business because it has minimum supply and only needed little human resources to think about. And moreover, I have a space rented by my children’s doctor. It was cheap because it is located on the 2nd story of the building. We thought that it completes the puzzle and so I decided to begin our business. Initially, when I started our business, I thought it was only gonna be just one outlet, quite simple. But today, we already have three outlets and will have our fourth one. Also, we started by having only two waxing therapists, but now we have ten and we are still searching for other candidates to be trained. Within one year, we want to establish two more new outlets. When did you start your business? My main business or what I do is not really in the business industry but in construction. I’m actually an architect. I design and build private houses in Indonesia. Today, I have been working as an architect for 17 years now, since I was in my 20’s. But as for waxing, I started around 6 or 7 years ago. What services do you offer? We give waxing services for the underarms, the legs, and the body. But we also offer Brazilian wax, which is for the intimate area. There’s a lot of competition here in Indonesia, especially since the pandemic. More employees are being laid off but I never laid off any of my employees. But other companies fired their employees and so these employees started offering home services. Our prices are already low, but the benefit of these home services is that the customers don't even need to go outside. So, I needed to find something new that other people couldn’t copy. We started offering a new service, which is a skin-brightening service. My father passed away because of cancer, so I think that beauty product must be very safe and natural. So, I searched for different products and found this product called ‘Bright.’ I partnered with this company because their owner used to have cancer which was why they wanted their products to be very safe for future use. We imported these products and sold them here (in Indonesia). Because of this, I saw how skin-brightening products were very popular in Indonesia. I thought it was a good opportunity to offer more skin-glowing products and searched for another product with the same vision as ours; Being safe, natural, and for women's empowerment. What was your main motivation for becoming an entrepreneur? For me, being an entrepreneur is like a game of life; I like to read graphs. With graphs, you see the customer’s behavior. There are times when the sales go down and the sales go up. Sometimes, the graph is affected by climate or political issues. And sometimes, it’s the service that you are giving, the hygiene. It’s something I find fun in life. Do you have any philosophy you follow in your business? Be honest and never take anybody’s money that they don’t know about. You have to be focused and love your business. That’s the most important thing because, when I was just starting my first outlet, it was located on the second story of our building. It was not very easy to take customers. You have to make the customers want to go upstairs. Also, if you love your business, you won’t feel like it’s a burden for you; it starts to feel like a game that you have to solve. You can try and you can fail but you never give up because you like your business. The most important thing, I want to make this business bigger because I want to give it to my children as a legacy. Because I started from zero and that was very hard. Do you have any goals for the next 5 years of your business? I want to have at least more than ten outlets. Not only in Java but also in Bali. And then, well, in my idealistic opinion, I want Indonesian women to become braver. In Indonesia, many women are controlled by their spouses when it comes to working and making decisions. I want to make more women in Indonesia independent. One of the reasons for this view I have is, as an owner, I have conversations with my therapists (employees) about their lives and ask them what they want to do with their future and they answer ‘I don’t know but my husband or my boyfriend makes the rules for me’. I tell them ‘ No, you have to go to work and earn money and have your own say and authority about your life’. It already happened to some of my employees and I’m very proud of it. This is one of the reasons that make me keep going when it comes to my business. How did you first learn about Loyverse and what features did you like most about Loyverse? My husband has a small burger/restaurant business and so we bought the necessary hardware from a local online store here in Indonesia. Loyverse was already the software installed in the hardware. So, I tried to know what it is and also how it is free because it’s very helpful for small businesses like us. After I learned all about it, I bought another piece of hardware just for my store and then installed it. It was not very difficult. I have a friend who also owns a salon and I suggested your app because it was free, helpful, and online every time. The technology for me is quite simple, and it never breaks down. Because sometimes (on other devices), there are always errors happening but with Loyverse, I never felt that. So, I highly recommend it to my friends. What do you think makes your business stand out from other competitors? I think what makes us stand out from other businesses is that we don’t just do this for the money, but we do it by heart. Also, a lot of salons in Indonesia just think of the business. They don’t think about the hygiene of their business. Since I’m an architect, I have a lot of manpower in terms of construction. So, whenever I see something wrong, I renovate it very fast. I keep the customers very comfortable and happy. Another thing is, my waxing services offer it at the lowest possible price. Because I don’t want the money to go to me. In salons in Indonesia, you usually get tips from your customers for the service your therapists offer. If the therapists gave a nice service, the customers will give more tips. I offer my services at a low price so that the extra money the customer has can be given as tips to my therapists. This is what I keep up, I’m not only earning but also my therapists earn a fortune as well. Also, from the surface, we don’t just sell things but we sell our services. Human resources are important. My employees also never ask for leave at all, they’re very loyal. One time, one of my employees left for another salon and then wanted to return. This was when I knew I was on the right path. Do you have any messages for other future entrepreneurs? First of all, you have to love your business. It’s not about the money. Being an entrepreneur is very hard. You have to be prepared 24 hours a day and you have no holiday. If you think you can do it, just do it. If not, just drop it. But never give up if you love your business and always remind yourself why you started this business in the first place. And the most important thing is humanity. Social Media Page: @getwaxed.indonesia

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.

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.

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.

In this insightful interview, we sit down with a dedicated Loyverse POS customer who operates a unique blend of businesses—an amalgamation of a bakery, a school, and a bustling bakery market. Over the course of the past 11 months, they have harnessed the power of Loyverse to streamline their diverse operations. Discover their journey as they share their reasons for choosing Loyverse, reflecting on the software's adaptability and scalability. How long have you been using Loyverse, and what type of business do you run? The Semilla Bread is a bakery, a school, and we have a bakery market. We have these different types of businesses and manage multiple stores on the same account in Loyverse, and we have been using the system for 11 months. What was the main reason you chose Loyverse? I was researching some POS systems, and Loyverse was the one that best suited what I needed at the time, first because I needed to start with a free software and secondly because I saw the possibility of growing along with Loyverse, using other tools such as employee management. How was your overall experience in terms of ease of use? What were the first tools you configured in your Loyverse account? Actually, the system is very user-friendly, and the information that Loyverse gives us from the help center allows us to quickly find the information about the focus you want to give to your business. In my case, the most important thing was the management of the inventory of items and how to make sales. What impact did Loyverse generate when comparing before and after implementing it in your business? Concerning sales management, the operating system is quite extensive. When I started with the business, such as in retail sales, in May and June, all sales were not handled digitally, so when we implemented Loyverse in August, we felt a significant improvement in the work environment. In relation to inventory management, what tools do you use in Loyverse? I do the inventory control of the items, the low stock notifications, and the Dashboard application has daily supervision of the sales and also review and make an inventory control with the list of items and the notifications that the Dashboard shows me, this information I use to know which items to order to my supplier. In the future, I would like to manage the Advanced Inventory because I need a tool that allows me to make purchase orders only with the items from my supplier that are in low stock. How has the information that Loyverse provides you, such as sales or receipt reports, helped you make decisions in your business? For my business, the sales summary and the sales report by category have been essential when it comes to adding more inventory to a specific category. Also, a tool that has caught my attention is the possibility of managing shifts and within Employee Management the option to enter the time when the employee clocked in at the point of sale and at what time this employee left. Finally, would you like to send a message to new entrepreneurs who may be inspired by your experience? Yes, when we start everything is new and we look for the best solution that meets our needs but that is also within our possibilities. Our business has been growing and changing hand in hand with the Loyverse tools that are improving over time so it has become necessary to use more and more resources and it has been very useful to have the support of the Loyverse team to understand and adapt our business. I can say that with Loyverse we have seen the transformation of our process since we went from making sales and writing them down on paper to a more technological system and each advance encourages us to move forward.

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.

There is always a supermarket next to a filling station, and it seems a filling station cannot be considered complete without a supermarket. This is the story of an oil company in Ghana, which has more than 15 branches of filling stations across the country and decided to complement them with supermarkets. Today they run a powerful business model and use Loyverse to manage their supermarket chain. Mr. Owusu shares with us how he found Loyverse and the features that simplified the sales process and inventory management in their supermarkets. Can you briefly describe your business? We are a supermarket chain. Initially, we have around 15 filling stations across the country. We decided to open supermarkets in each of these filling stations. We sell items such as soft drinks, alcohol, food items, and certain beauty items such as soups and deodorants spray, etc. We have some branches in Kumasi, Accra, central region, basically, we have branches all over the country. Because we had many branches, we had difficulties distributing the goods between them. We were using software that was not cloud-based. If we wanted to update the stock in any of the stores, we had to go there and update the stock locally. We were looking for a system to register the transfer orders and accept them in the same place and update the stock automatically in both locations. When we started with Loyverse, there was learning chaos, but we got the hand of it in 2-4 weeks and have been using Loyverse for 3 years. It has been a very very good experience so far. How did you first learn about Loyverse? I found Loyverse myself. I am an IT person. My boss threw a challenge at me. He said that he needed software which could be used to manage all of our stores in one place. I started searching online. There was a person that came from the US, and he was using one of the most popular POS there. He bought one of their machines and asked me to go and set it up. That is when I found out that there are POS that can be installed on Android and iOS devices which were amazing. The problem with this POS that my friend was using was that you could use them only with their hardware, so this did not work for us. I continued my research and found Loyverse. I decided to give it a try. When I downloaded it and decided to learn how to use it and how it operates, I fell in love with it and its simplicity and user-friendly interface. What features of Loyverse did you find most useful for your business? Advanced Inventory is a very powerful tool. We use it a lot. We update the inventory in one location, so when we have the goods, we update and send the goods to the store. It is very good that we have past information, meaning that since we start making the Purchase Order, the document will remain in the system. This means that if later I need to see this document, I can find it easily in the system. We use Employee Management as well. Being able to manage the access rights of employees is extremely important for us and Loyverse made this possible. Did you use the premium version since the moment you started using Loyverse? As I remember, we have always used the paid version because when you activate the Advanced Inventory, it gives you a 14 days free trial first and we used this trial. When the free trial finished, we immediately activated the subscription, and we have been using it until now. What devices are you using with Loyverse POS device? We are using Android-based terminals. When we started, we were using tablets. We had a router and connected a printer and the cash drawer to the tablet. Right now, we are using POS systems, an all-in-one Android POS system. We have installed Loyverse Dashboard as well. Loyverse Dashboard is a fantastic app. We have given access to the employees to the Dashboard app, so that in the morning, when they are closing the shift, they have to count most of the items so that another employee can take over. We have installed the Dashboard app on their phone, so they can check their sales for the shift and also check what items are low in stock and inform the management to supply their branch. What are your plans for the future? There are some locations of our filling stations that are not businessy advisable to open supermarkets. These locations are not in the city or are in remote areas. But we are opening new stations every 6 months, and with the increase of the fueling stations, the number of supermarkets will increase. We are currently working in 5 more fuel stations which will have supermarkets as well. What message do you want to give to young entrepreneurs? If you want to open a supermarket or any type of business, a recommend you to try Loyverse. The Loyverse app is an amazing tool for your business, it is easy to use and yet very powerful. It will help you manage your inventory and set different levels of access rights for your employees. I highly recommend Loyverse to anyone who wants to open a business.

Follow along to learn the success story of a local restaurant in Nigeria. If delicious meals are what you want, Commint Buka is the right place for you with its array of well tasty local cuisines. Commint Buka offers it all: a serene and welcoming environment, great service, and tasty meals. To learn how it all started, we invite you to read the following interview with the IT of the business. Please briefly describe your business. We are a restaurant located in Nigeria. The restaurant is called Commint Buka. Buka in our native language means a place where you can eat. We started some years ago. I developed a Windows application for the company, which was used in day-to-day transactions. While trying to improve this application to its best version, I did a test run on the Loyverse application and we decided to use Loyverse instead since it fulfills our needs. I have been friends with the owner of the business for 19 years. We were trading. Nigeria is a peculiar country, the government policy can be very funny sometimes. When we understood that the government policy is not favoring us in making money, we thought, what else are we good at, and what other business can we dive into? One of us mentioned that one thing that we love to do is cook because we had one cook that cooked for all of us in the company and a dedicated kitchen where were prepared specific dishes for each of the staff members. So we thought, why not open a restaurant? We gave it a shot, and today we are not regretting our actions. What challenges did you face during your journey as a business owner? It can be really stressful, especially the government policy. But we are handling it. Our priority is customer satisfaction. We wanted something that would help us turn time around and handle the customers. We also manage customers phoning in and placing their orders. We tested your system on how we could adapt it so that it can work with customers placing orders via phone. We were able to manage this, and we see that we can use your app. What is your philosophy in business? Our philosophy is “Customer satisfaction is the most important thing.” If a customer comes and says, “I didn’t like the food that you served us yesterday”, we don’t ask questions. We send them a new order. We apologize for it whether the customer is right or wrong. First and foremost, we send a new order because that keeps the customer. When we would do that, we would take the batch of food that we have prepared, if we still have it, and test it in-house, or we call other customers for feedback. Sometimes we found that the customer was wrong. For example, the customer was ill, and the taste buds had changed. We have been able to communicate with some customers and share with them that we have returned the food, but please do some checks. Some of the customers thanked us for this feedback because they got tested and found that they were growing in temperature and falling ill. This is us, customer relationships are our priority. So, every app or system that we decide to use must be able to take us to the next level. We have an in-house app already, a local cash register that famous Fastfood chains use but we wanted to go way beyond like managing the staff and taking the customer order using a mobile. We want to have 10-15 counter staff taking orders from the customers. To put it shortly, we are aiming to use systems that would improve our servering and turn around time. That’s why we have been very slow to adapt the Loyverse app, but we have found it to be very good. Do you offer other cuisines in addition to the Nigerian one? The Buka name comes from local cuisine, which means local food. We don’t do continentals foods. Is the chef in the restaurant the same chef that cooked for your company staff before opening the restaurant? Now we have over twenty chefs and we have a recipe so there is always consistency. How did you first learn about Loyverse? I am an IT person and used Loyverse for my own personal business. I render my services to other people. I used the Loyverse in another business before with one of my clients, and when the Commint Buka owner said he was searching for a point-of-sale application, I remembered that I had to use your application before and we started testing Loyverse in the new restaurant. What features of Loyverse do you think have been most useful in your business so far? Basically, Nigerian love reports and Loyverse offer very useful reports that give insight into the business and most importantly these reports are exportable offering the possibility to elaborate them further. In addition to this, the option to create accounts for employees seamselessly is extremely important for us since there are some unskilled employees who can be unloyal. The skilled ones are the most stable but the unskilled ones are not. Having this in mind we want to create something that is not tied to the employees but we have ownership of it. We want to be able to create an employee profile without having to go through the email of an employee. Loyverse interface is very easy and intuitive to use. It did not take me more than 10 minutes to train my employees on how to use the application. We do also do delivery and Loyverse offers the possibility to print the customer’s address in the receipt which is a very useful to us. We have also used workarounds in case a customer does not want to receive the order in the address he has registered in the system. I have created an item called “Delivery location” with 0 price. When I prepare the ticket, I add this item and add as a comment to it the address of the customer. The possibility to assign a dining option to each ticket is also a very convenient feature that we use. What makes the Commint Buka stand out from other restaurants? Taste and service. What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs? Dedication and service. There are three Cs: 1- Content - something to deliver, something good that would make the customer want to come back 2- Container - how you present what you have to offer 3- Consistency - doing in the same way over and over again There is one addition: your market should be your macro set. Once you have a market, the sky is the only limit, you have volume.

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.

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.

Pets Yard is an online retail business that sells different kinds of pet products and services with various animal supplies and pet accessories. Founded from the love for pets, they are growing every day. The owner of the business, Mr. Mohamed, shares his experience using Loyverse for more than 2 years. Can you briefly describe your business? Our business is about pet products. We operate online, and we also have a physical store in Egypt. We started the business three years ago. We chose this type of business because, first of all, we love pets. Secondly, we had a very good relationship with the best vendors and suppliers of pet products. But this is not our only entrepreneurship. What inspired you to become an entrepreneur? First of all, I like doing business. I started my first business 20 years ago. After several years, I decided to open this new business. What is the most challenging part of being an entrepreneur? The biggest challenge is to have the right knowledge regarding the process of each business. Different businesses have different processes, and to succeed, you need to know them well. Secondly is customer satisfaction. It takes a long time to get to know the customer and their preferences and be able to satisfy them. Customer satisfaction is very important to create and sustaining a successful business. We usually try to be innovative and offer new products and rewards for our customers to increase their engagement. How did you first learn about the Loyverse POS system? I found Loyverse online two years ago, searching for a good POS system to manage my store. I tried a lot of POS systems before deciding to use Loyverse. The first thing that attracted me to Loyverse was its simplicity. There were no complications in setting up the system and learning how to use it. The process of adding items is very straightforward. I think Loyverse POS systems fit very well small and medium businesses. What features of Loyverse had the most impact on your business workflow? The first thing I will mention is the fact that Loyverse is a cloud-based system. I am very comfortable knowing that all the information is saved in the cloud and that I can access it from everywhere. In addition to the Back Office, I use the Loyverse Dashboard app, which is very useful for checking sales analytics instantly. This has facilitated me as the owner to manage my business remotely. Another feature that is very important for us is the loyalty program. As I mentioned previously, customer satisfaction is very important for our business. The loyalty program that Loyverse offers has helped us to build better relationships with our customers and make them feel appreciated. Lastly, the user-friendly interface that Loyverse has is something that has definitely improved the workflow in our business. There are other features as well, like using barcodes to identify items and the CDS app, that I would like to explore more in the future. Have you used any of the add-on services that Loyverse offers? I am using Employee Management. I have one employee, and it is good that he has his own login so I can easily track his performance and working hours. What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs? My advice would be to be patient about the profit/revenue. They need to control the costs from the start because this would affect their sustainability and profitability. In addition, we need to pay a lot of effort and attention to customer engagement. This will help to increase the business. Thank you for your words and for sharing your experience with the Loyverse community.

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.

We met with Fabio Mariño, the technical and systems manager of Surf and Yoga Costa Rica. Surf and yoga have customized vacation packages, great accommodation alternatives, transportation services, and full assistance before and during the visit to Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. How long ago you started using the Loyverse application? We started with one POS for testing about a year ago and then we contracted the Advanced Inventory for 2 stores. Beyond the use of Loyverse, we were developing our own system but at some point, we make the decision to implement the options offered by Loyverse to use everything that Loyverse has built, so that we would not develop the whole module ourselves. The decision to use and interact with Loyverse was because there were already some interfaces set up, where clients and guests are automatically loaded, and we also make the sales from Loyverse and update to our system. Could you tell me about how and when you started the business? An Argentine started going to Santa Teresa as a way to escape from the daily hustle and bustle of Buenos Aires, he was working for big companies in the marketing area. At one point, he preferred to isolate himself a bit and went to Santa Teresa and realized that there was a big movement of people interested in relaxation tourism. He was in a cabin in the jungle doing surfing and yoga and saw that many people were interested in his way of taking the situation and were encouraged to do it because he had done it, so he started a small tourism agency, then he found an opportunity to manage a hotel. This started 5 years ago, and now the hotels are already his. Each hotel has a yoga place where guests can practice yoga and also learn how to surf, so it is a hotel, it is oriented to people who want to relax and want to be in contact with Santa Teresa, that is not to lose the philosophy of being in connection with nature, so all the services offered by the hotel are related to that. The hotel has some restaurants that offer healthy food, and then, well, Loyverse allowed them to quickly start to have that control of the orders. They saw the usefulness of having the order directly in the kitchen, as they were taking the orders, and that was very useful and had a very fast start. So they immediately adopted Loyverse and now the idea is to get more benefits out of it, to take more advantage of it to be able to use all the options that Loyverse offers. You said that the business started almost 5 years ago, and you have been using Loyverse for 1 year, right? Yes because the administration itself and the growth was happening and with the pandemic in between, the hotel had a big explosion in May or June last year where they needed a tool to help them with the high demand of work, so that's where they stopped doing it manually, they tried technological tools that help them to grow, because the idea is to be in constant growth, obviously they had to automate and use the tools because it could not be that they continue working like that. That is why I also started to get into Loyverse, because I am trying to exploit to the maximum the utilities provided by each of the tools. How did you find Loyverse? They were looking for different point-of-sale software and Loyverse seemed to be the fastest and easiest to implement, and it covered the specific need of the person taking the order and the order was already automatically in the kitchen. And they use it that way, they do not have a terminal in the kitchen, but they work with a printer in each restaurant and in each kitchen and they work with that. Besides the advanced inventory, what other features have you used in the Loyverse? We create 5 POS that are being used in phones with the application, and we are also trying to implement the Production using the composite items, because in the kitchen the employees prepare some products, there are some formulas that are used to prepare these products that are stored for later use during the week to make pancakes for example. In some moments it was complicated to create composite items because the unit of measurement of the items has a lot of variety, for example the oil has different containers, or the fruit for example a kilo has different quantities and it is complex to be able to keep the stock of a kitchen, where these products are not sold. It is complex to use, not the Loyverse system, the creation of composite items is something we must pay attention to in order to have that control, but it is possible to do it. And in addition to the point of sale we are using the Dashboard application to review reports and sales. We also use the Back Office from where I can log in anytime and anywhere to access the reports. And I have checked that the KDS would replace the printout of the order, the order going to the kitchen, but we have not implemented it yet. That would be some of the tools that you use the most in Loyverse. What is the more helpful tool that Loyverse is providing for your business at the moment? At the moment it would be the option of being able to take orders at the table directly with the phone and, to have the control of the orders. Lately what the staff are using are the discount options because sometimes they go to families, or for the staff, or teachers, each one has a pre-established discounts so you can assign the corresponding discount and you can apply it and then you can also control the discounts that were applied. What are the long-term goals of your business? And it would be good to know if Loyverse is included in your plans. Our goals are to continue growing. We are at a point of great growth where the goal is to maintain the flow of people we are working with and to be able to incorporate new services from the technology side. To give additional value, where the guest does not have to interact so much with the hotel staff. And from there, Loyverse would also allow us to place our guest order, add some information to the order and perhaps define a time when he will come for breakfast and when he arrives, he will already have his breakfast ready based on what he ordered through the interface. So that he does not have to wait until he comes to have it prepared. Would you like to leave any advice for people who are starting some kind of business and can read it in the article? The reality is that if you are interested in a business, from whatever place you are interested, see yourself as a customer in that business you want to go into, and think about what you would like the business to provide to satisfy yourself, because that also has a question of empathy in terms of, When you provide a service that you would like to obtain from a third party, it is more the way in which you can contribute. When you get into a business that you do not know and that they told you that it is good and that you have to invest in it, but that you do not feel identified, it is not the same relationship that you have with the growth of the business, so let's say that this would be a good point to start with. Then, obviously, to get advice and to use tools that can be useful in the business and that are already armed and to try to see why it is useful to so many people and to find the reason why it is useful to so many people. So do not invest time in things that may have already been solved before, as long as they are in line with the need they have. Mr. Fabio, thank you very much for your time in the interview. We wish you much success in all your plans for the future. Believe Surf and Yoga's Social Media: https://www.surfandyogacostarica.com/

Cafe Mariette emerged from tenacity and persistence, more than a cafe is a meeting point, a gourmet concept that serves coffee of the highest quality. Located in the area of Coatepec Veracruz in Mexico City, where many small businesses share good experiences around a square. We interviewed Mr. Leopoldo Sánchez the owner of the cafe, and he shares his unique experience of running the business. When did you start your business? My business started five years ago and like many things that happen by chance. I was an employee all my life, I worked in different companies, and one fine day I lost my job. I have always liked the subject of coffee, as a consumer but well, I thought that at some point I could have a business that was related to coffee, so I decided to open a cafeteria. But what is special in this cafeteria is that we offer freshly baked bread, which is a somewhat different concept from what is usually handled because the bread comes from Europe, which is a frozen bread that is already made, it is pre-fermented and it arrives frozen. We finish fermenting it, defrost it, and bake it. That's how our business called Cafeteria Mariette, was born. Like any business, at first, it was very complicated, but fortunately, even after everything, the world has suffered from this pandemic, where many businesses, unfortunately, had to close. We decided somewhat out of stubbornness to continue with it, and fortunately, in this almost post-pandemic stage, we are doing well. So basically, our business is a cafeteria where we offer freshly baked bread, it is a business that is installed in a place where it is easy to contact people from the same place, it is a cafeteria as the neighborhood likes to call itself, we know our clients, our clients know us, some of them are friends. What do you think your customers love most about your coffee shop? Since I started the business, the idea was never to lose sight of the customer. Like everyone else, we are customers in different places and I have always wanted to project that, that they get both the service and the quality of food or drinks, what we offer, or the products, and what people expect as a customer. So that is a philosophy that I have maintained in the business and that has led people, my collaborators, and those who work in the cafeteria to have the same idea. Mariette is a cafeteria where people feel comfortable, since they arrive, we greet them by name, we know what their favorite drinks are, and how they drink them. Something that also distinguishes us is that at some point we handle the idea that we prepare coffee the way you like it. So, we know that there are different tastes, although there is a procedure to make an espresso, a cappuccino, or a latte, because there are those who like it more loaded, less loaded, with different types of milk, sweetened. We pamper the customer and prepare not only the coffee, but everything we offer as the customers like it, so in the end, it becomes a space where people are very happy. Our clients have been clients for years, which we have been doing little by little, and that shows us that the idea, the philosophy of doing a business where people feel good, that it is not just a place where some attractive products are offered, a delicious coffee, a very good quality bread, but also a warm place, practically family, of friends, and I think that has been the basis of the success of this business. And in the middle of that trajectory, how did you find Loyverse? Well, just at this stage, as a novice entrepreneur, I started looking for point-of-sale systems, among many other things. I even acquired one, at first I bought a license and started working with another system, however, I began to find a series of problems because there was no support, suddenly the system didn't work well, it doesn't work online, so other alternatives have been looked for. Looking for a point of sales system on the internet, Loyverse attracted my attention, firstly because it was a free system, which suited me perfectly as a new entrepreneur I had to look for tools that were not expensive, and in this case, I was very surprised that It was free. I visited the website, and I saw many reviews from people like me, from entrepreneurs who have used the system, and it gave me a lot of confidence, so I changed, I left the point of sale system that I had acquired, and that's how I started with Loyverse. That was five years ago already. I know that the free services that Loyverse has are quite attractive, but do you have any of the paid services? Not at the moment, they seem very attractive to me and I have begun to investigate their characteristics and benefits. The inventory module seems to me that it is already for the type of business that I have. In the beginning, I myself carried out my inventory controls in Excel pages. Fortunately, we have been growing, in fact, I already have a small branch of this business, and I see that if it becomes necessary to have additional tools, for example with the inventory module or the employee management module, it is something I am considering and surely I will do it soon. Could you say that Loyverse somehow changed how you were operating your business? Having the reports that Loyverse offers us also seems extremely useful to me to eventually be able to make decisions about which products are offered more, what frequency, and what time, in short. All the tools that Loyverse offers, if used, seem to me to be important decision-making elements for any business. Through your words, I see that you have a vision for the future together with Loyverse. Totally, I must say, my business is located in a small square where there have been changes of businesses and I have recommended all my colleagues and entrepreneurs who settle in that square, or whoever asks me, I highly recommend this system. Finally, would you like to send a message to entrepreneurs, for those new entrepreneurs who are starting this journey? Of course, my message would be that every entrepreneur, regardless of their experience, is always very good to have help with tools that facilitate this process Being an entrepreneur is complicated and patience is required, a lot of perseverance is required to continue, but throughout this process, it is important to have the best tools, and when it comes to the point of sale system, Loyverse has definitely been an important ally for me in this process and in what is now my business. We invite you to visit Cafeteria Mariette's social networks: https://www.facebook.com/Mariette-101791288726785/ Instagram: @mariettecafe

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.

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!

Ichinoyu is a 391-year-old company that keeps providing hot springs throughout 16 generations. Fortunately, we could reach out to their representative and listen to their secret of business success. - Thank you for taking your time today. Could you please explain about your business shortly? We are a hot spring called "Ichinoyu", which means "the first hot spring", running since 1630. One day, the founder saw a dream which told him that he should dig the ground of Hakone-tounosawa, and when he did, the hot spring came out. This is the beginning of our company. We are named "Ichinoyu'' because this is the first-found hot spring around this area. Currently, we have 8 hotels, providing 1-night stay with 2 meals, within 100 USD. We hope all our customers enjoy the trip and come to us more than one time. （Ichinoyu is drawn in a historical drawing by Hiroshige） - May I know more about your company’s culture? Even though we are a traditional company, we keep our mindset more flexible. If someone in the company has an idea to improve our service, we can immediately implement it. Using Loyverse POS is also one of such ideas. I think this is why we could keep our business for 390 years. - May I know the reason why you chose Loyverse POS? We were using Lenovo Android tablets for our internal company manual. When we were looking for tablet POS, there were not many POS working on Android, and we could find only a few POS applications. While testing different POS, we found that Loyverse is the easiest one to start with. Right after registration, we could already start using it. Probably this is the biggest reason why we chose Loyverse POS. - Could you tell me what is the biggest benefit of using Loyverse POS? Before Loyverse, we were using an old-style cash register. In fact, we were typing the prices of items each time, and it was a mess. It also produced a human error. Now our employees are all happy about Loyverse because it solved all those problems. In addition, the UI is quite simple, and our elderly cashier has no problem using it. Before Loyverse, we needed to check all journals and count the inventory every month. But now we can know the inventory in real-time. Variants are also useful in managing our item list. - Thank you so much. Location: https://goo.gl/maps/7YnkVC6KRbUL49Md7 Website: https://www.ichinoyu.co.jp

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.

The Boss Bakes_Fairview is a home-based business created when the mall-based business got hit by the pandemic. As an anti-Covid strategy, the Manliclic family started this online business from their small kitchen in Fairview, Quezon City. - Could you introduce your business? We are The Boss Bakes_Fairview based in the Philippines, started in October 2020, and now we are reaching our 1st anniversary. We offer home-baked products, with coconut pie as our main product. - It is interesting that you started a new business while the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing. Actually, It is started as a COVID-19 project. Our main business limited its operations due to the pandemic. During that time, sales had a steady decline because of less foot traffic inside the malls as the government restricted people from going out and so most of the sales were done online. We had a lot of wastage of raw materials which were primarily coconut products. The Boss Bakes_Fairview was born out of our desire to lower the operational cost of our existing business by reducing wastage from our daily mall operations. Our family started this small home-based business; sharing our classic baked recipes from our kitchen in Fairview, Quezon City. The main product is the Boss Buko Pie (coconut pie) which resulted to a 95% reduction of wastage by making use of the excess coconut meat from our mall stores. This addressed the problem of operational cost and at the same time, became a source of additional profit for the family members during the pandemic. There were even times when we had more sales coming in from baked goodies compared to our mall-based business. - What is the common goal of your family? We are keen to achieve customer satisfaction. Especially, this is a business that started within our family. We want to serve our customers quality home-baked products just like we would bake for our family and loved ones. We also do customer care after their purchase to know customer satisfaction and their feedback. We are proud of our quality and continuously improving our products to fit customer’s needs. We aim to expand our market reach by boosting online sales and reseller's program. We want to add value to our local community by simply providing quality home-baked products at a lower cost and creating an alternative source of income for our partner couriers and local resellers during these challenging times. - What is the benefit of using Loyverse for you? Loyverse has always been a helpful tool in managing our business. We have been using it in our mall stores and we made sure that Loyverse was on top of our tools' list when we launched The Boss Bakes_Fairview. Reports and the dashboard are readily available which help us in decision-making, creating projections, and even considering potential business expansion. The sales are reflected in real-time with the intuitive app providing a wide array of data cuts and views. We love its user-friendly dashboard feature. Thank you for sharing this awesome tool with our growing business community. - Thank you so much. Facebook - The Boss Bakes_Fairview

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.

Nature’s Bar Co is a company dedicated to crafting quality skin and hair care products using high-performance ingredients that nourish your skin while being earth friendly. They ensure, to the best of their ability, that the ingredients are naturally sourced, sustainably produced, cruelty-free, and ethically traded. A product is only as good as the ingredients used to make it. To this end, Nature’s Bar uses the best ingredients to make the best safe and effective skincare products available. Follow along to learn how this company started with a single thought of the founder, Mrs. Vivan. Can you briefly describe your business? The name of our business is Nature’s Bar and it is all about natural skincare. We started by making hand-made cold processed soaps, but until now we have grown to include facial toner, face and body oil, facial serums, body butter, body scrubs, and facial masks in our range of products. When did you decide to become an entrepreneur and why did you choose this type of business? Prior to getting started, I had no idea that I could have or run a business even though I have an accounting background and a master's degree in international business, but my mindset was that I could not really start a business. This is due to the business types that I was exposed to where you see people owing to one another, so I just didn’t have that belief. But, when my mentor, Myles Munroe, passed on I started reading his books while mourning him and listening to his podcasts, and I remember one of his podcasts when he talked about time and all that you could do with your time even though you have a 9 to 5. After listening to him for a period of time, my mind actually started changing, and I started thinking that even if I don’t have my own business, I could do a franchise to be part of the business chain. Fast forward to a few months later, in December, I was in Dubai for a holiday. My friend was shopping for toiletries and another friend, and I just followed her. There I saw this really beautiful bar of hand-made soap. It was nicely wrapped with a ladybird on it. Normally, the first thing to do is to smell it, and it smelled so good. The first thing that came to my mind was to ask for the franchise of this product since this type of business was not so familiar back in Nigeria. When I went back home that evening, I was so excited. The company that produced the soap was located in Spain, so I had to do a little research on Instagram to get their contact information where I would send my message. In the process of searching for them, you open videos and a lot of articles which basically informed me that I could make soaps by myself. I still sent the message to the company that I was interested in franchising their products in Nigeria. Right after sending that message, I was back on Google reading all the articles and viewing the videos on how to make my own soaps. In the morning, I shared with my family that I will open a business, and I was now aware that I could make soaps. I had been in that phase when I was detoxing from using toxic products and using only natural products for my skincare, and I was using a really nice skincare brand at that time. Skincare was already on my mind, but for personal reasons. When I saw all the processes about it, like cold processing soap making, how you could do it on your own and how you can ensure that your soaps are clean and healthy, I was fascinated. And exactly that night, I got the idea about the company that I would open and the name would be “Nature’s Bar”, where you can come in and have a cater of options when it comes to skincare. The next morning I went out with 200 dollars and I bought my first set of ingredients for this dream. The rest is history. I went back home from the holiday, I kept on studying, downloading recipes, and buying the equipment that I needed. And in about 3 months' time, I made my first batch after studying carefully how to create a harmless product. Later I went to London to study in Little Soap School. This is how the business started. The first two bars of soap I bought in Dubai in 2014, I used them very carefully. I opened the second one very recently. How many employees do you have? Actually, I have been making soaps myself from 2015 until 2021. Then I hired a production manager. Prior to that, I had other staff that handled the packaging, marketing, and sales. But in terms of production, I was doing all the production. Starting from last year, I had to train and get staff for the production of the soaps to handle the demand from our customers. Do you have a physical store or operate online? Our first store was the Instagram page. We open an Instagram account and start posting pictures of our products and processes. After hearing really good feedback from family and friends, since they were our first customers, I started to understand I was doing a good job. There was a particular friend who claimed that my bar was better than most companies in Nigeria and she ordered a full batch of products as a bridal gift. That’s how we officially started selling. We used Instagram as our sales channel for over a year until we got our first office space in 2017. Since then, we had an office space, but the model of the business is that we engage with customers online through social media, Instagram, Facebook, etc, and we have a website as well. Customers can reach to us via all these means, and then we deliver to them since we are partners with a delivery company as well. We are shipping to every state in Nigeria and our products have gone as far as London, Malaysia and Texas. We have a physical store only in Abuja and partner with another store in Lagos to deliver our products, but our customers can easily shop online. This business model actually was a blessing during Covid when te customers could not come to physical stores, but they can easily shop online for their favorite products. What is the best advice you have received from your mentor about business? I have had several mentors while running my business because the thing I have come to realize in the business is that before you come pushing to the next level, you would usually have to have a change in the way you think, in your goals in your mindset. My first mentor said something that stuck with me and made me start the business because I realized that I had more to offer. He gave a story about the graveyard being in the chest since they are people who die with their dreams and visions that they never brought to reality. It made so much sense because all through my life, if you were to ask me, I was never a person that was going to start a business, and I had no clue about making skincare. My inclination would have been toward fashion more than skincare. This was a totally different sector for me, but actually, that challenge has made me and developed me. Another of my mentors that I have come across is Jim Rohn. There is something he kept saying: When you change, everything around you changes. I applied that to my life personally and also to my business. When we have a meeting with my staff, and we have a challenge, and we are trying to decide what to do. Instead of looking out for excuses or whom to blame, we have the mind that if we change, meaning that if we change the way we offer our services, our pricing or the quality, it all starts with us, so when we change, everything around us changes. Sometimes the change can be the target of the month, and we usually will either meet that target or come really close to it. But before that, if we hadn’t had that mindset shifts that everything is possible, we would usually be comfortable with the previous sales that we have been having. These are the two things that have stuck with me and helped me personally, in my career and in my business. To keep this mindset, I expose myself to new things, go to training, buy every new book on soap making. With more information I change, our products change, improve and adapt. When did you first learn about Loyverse, and how did it influence your business? I started the business in 2015. One day I listened to the phrase: “Accounting is the language of business” and “What is not measured does not grow”. At that point, we were using invoices for our customers. We didn’t have a system that at any time I could check my numbers and see how the business is going.That allows us to see who sold what, have customer data. Also, for some reason I was looking to offer my customers some kind of reward for the purchases in my store through points and all. I had checked through the market and was not really getting what I wanted or what I found cost a lot of money. I remember that at the beginning of 2019, it was the first week of the year, very early in the morning on Saturday. I woke up, and I was like “God, I need something. There must be a software out there for me to help me record sales, capture customers’ data (their emails, their names) and also be able to reward them with points”. I went to Google after praying, I googled the keywords about customer points, and Loyverse came up. I checked and saw that for $5USD/month I could do all the things I needed. I didn’t think twice. That very day I signed up and it has been a beautiful journey since then. Why? Because it gave me all the things that I wanted. Loyverse has also been one of the reasons the business started growing immediately. I would attribute it to Loyverse because immediately I was able to measure, I was able to see the growth, to have customer data, we were able to start rewarding customers with points and sending their invoices. The important thing was that the staff had their own login and I had my separate login, we could track what each person was doing. Since I am an accountant, I loved that I could indicate the cost and prices for each product to see the gross and net sales. By doing this, when you run the report at the end of every day, week or month, you see what your profit is. Many businesses have money coming in an out but they aren’t really aware if they are making a profit or a loss. With Loyverse, you can see this data and have everything under control. Loyverse helps us keep track of products that aren’t really selling using the Sales by Item report and we take informed decision on how to push or improve a certain product so that its sales will grow. We have a policy to reward the best customers at the end of the year. Loyverse helps us identity easily the customers who have made most sales during the year and we contact them to reward them. It is very easy to track the performance of your employees, how many receipts they issues or how many customers they signed up, and reward them appropriately. Do you track stock of your items? Yes, of course. And we have activated Low stock Notifications so that we are always aware when the items are low in stock. Loyverse has helped us in the inventory management as well. We produce a certain amount of stock and we are aware of these numbers and can track all the movement. At random times, I would do a check to reconcile the physical stock with the stock that the system was showing. What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs? My first advice is if you can think about it, you can achieve it. The greatest battle is in your mind. Having only one stream of income is risky, it is almost a death sentence in this economy. I would suggest to anybody that is thinking to start a business to actually start, start small, start with anything you have, but most importantly: Start. Secondly is to keep improving yourself and make use of resources out there that can help you. One of these resources is Loyverse. It is customer friendly and economically friendly for a company that is just starting.

Neve Cordero, the owner of the Brainstorm and Brews Café in the Philippines, has a clear mission: to feed abandoned dogs and cats at least once a day and provide jobs for the youth, expanding the branch around the Cavite area. Let’s see how Loyverse is helping her already to achieve this goal. Tell us about your business and how did it start I'm Neve Cordero. I am the owner of Brainstorms and Brews cafe. And we started this business with the thought of contributing to the community because of our family. We rescue dogs and cats, and then at the same time, we travel, so when we travel, we go to different coffee shops, and various cafes. So the coffee recipes we taste when traveling, we want to bring them here. At the same time, we wish that wherever we have a branch, despite the location of the store in the community, we reserve food for strays (dogs and cats). Like the one that we had in Naic (branch). When we started building there, we had reserved food for dogs and cats. We were surprised by the number of strays that went there every day and we made water available to them. We aim to be able to help stray cats and dogs so that they may eat at least once a day and that they have access to clean water as well. What POS were you using before? So we used to use another POS before, wherein we had to pay an expensive subscription fee, so when I put up the business, of course, anyone who puts up a business wants to use the best tools. You want to use the best equipment, so if you're out of budget sometimes, you do it because you think that this is for the efficiency of the business, to track the inventory and all. After all, the POS subscription was very expensive. And then, when we tried the POS, it was so complicated; it was difficult to navigate. The support was available 24/7 like whenever you need help support is there when you need it, like in Loyverse. But it would be better if you could do something by yourself without asking for support at every step. Which features help you the most? So, I started to look for other POS. And then we found Loyverse, so when we tried Loyverse, I liked it because it had features that I didn't see in the one we used before. For example, for the CDS and KDS, we don’t need to pay extra for their features and there are no hidden fees; it’s very straightforward. When I started paying for one employee, I found everything I needed was there. I love Loyverse, it gives me visibility of what's happening in both stores, even when I'm not physically here or there. Also, when we travel, I don't have to call them and ask, “What do you need there? what are the running lows there?” because just with the Loyverse Dashboard app I can already see it. Loyverse wants to provide an efficient product where you don’t have to break your back and it doesn’t ask for expensive fees for every single feature like the previous one. That is what I like about Loyverse! With Loyverse actually, it's been four years since we started using Loyverse; I never had to contact your support, never! Because, it's very straightforward if you need something, it’s there. You can just Google everything or read the articles from the Help center and follow the step-by-step tutorials. For example, connecting to a customer display, we just looked up the help center and how to do it. Where did you find Loyverse? It was referred to me by my brother. When we tried it, in the beginning, I couldn't believe it was free, that those features that I used to pay for were free. With Loyverse, you just pay for, you know, the number of employees that you need and then you can manage their access rights. What is your goal in the future like after 5 yrs? We want is to saturate the entire Cavite area, because when we think of expanding, we also think of the jobs that we can make available to the people. When we hire, what we look at is their willingness to learn, giving chances to everyone, so in the next five years, maybe my goal is to saturate the entire Cavite area, maybe like to open 7,8, or 9 stores.

Kabisa is a convenience store located in Rwanda. The owner believes that getting something you need when you need it makes you happy, that’s why his goal is to offer the best quality products for his customers and contribute to their happiness. Mr. DeBarego shares his story of how he started his entrepreneurial journey and how Loyverse helped on the way. Can you briefly describe your business? I have a convenience store. I started this business 2 years ago. We live in a rural area in Rwanda. There were very few convenience stores in the area and even the existing ones were not meeting the market requirements. We wanted to create something new where people could conveniently get what they wanted. We offer groceries, fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, and other products. When we started, we were really small that’s why we found Loyverse very convenient for us, especially on the pricing aspect. Now our business is growing. We started with only one employee and now we have five. At the time I started, in July 2022, I did much research on the internet and ended up trying out so many popular POSs that are known. I found Loyverse to have all the functionalities I wanted at the beginning and be cost-effective as well. These two characteristics made me decide to start using Loyverse at the beginning. Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur? I am grown in a business environment. When I was in graduate school, I was more interested in business. It was the time to take an adventure and see how it would go and how it would contribute to my life. It was a risk. I was not expecting it to be successful, but it was part of the vision that I had for my life. What was your most challenging situation as a business owner so far? Challenges happen all the time. I had issues with space, for example. Because of the limited space, I could not put all the products I wanted in the store. It can become really frustrating sometimes. The other challenge is managing the staff. It is hard when you train people for three months, and then they decide to quit. But when you see the business growing, and then when you discuss it with your people, friends, and colleagues and you understand this is the normal journey a business goes through it is kind of comforting. In addition, when you see the profit curve go up over the year, it is kind of promising, and you get motivated to go on. When the business started, I used to use my own car to get the products but now we have managed to buy a van which is a good sign that we are in the right direction. How has Loyverse helped your business? Loyverse has helped me monitor the sales that have been going on in the store. I am also using the Dashboard app, which allows me to quickly access my reports. The good thing about Loyverse is the connectivity it has. My wife is the manager of the shop. I do other jobs on the side. Loyverse allows us to monitor our business online without any issues. What features of Loyverse do you find most useful for your business? I am using the full version of Loyverse, meaning I use the add-ons: Employee Management and Advanced Inventory. I have employees entering the system with their credentials. I like the Purchase order from the Advanced Inventory functionalities. It allows updating the stock and the cost of the item. Prices fluctuate a lot nowadays, so a purchase order gives the possibility to enter the purchase cost and calculate the average cost of the item. Inventory history is also a very useful tool that allows seeing how the items have been moving when you are trying to do the controls. I love Inventory count and stock adjustment as well. I do logistics so I think that the Advanced Inventory features in Loyverse are really nice. The only thing I am not using now is the Integrations, but it is in my plans to explore this functionality in the future. What plans do you have for the future? I plan to open a restaurant and I am thinking to use Loyverse to manage it. Thank you for the interview, any last words/message for other entrepreneurs? My advice would be first to know the business you are going in and understand your market and what they need. Focus on giving your customers the best product and the best service possible. Secondly: rely on data. Take decisions that are really informed based on the data you have. Use specialized systems to get this data. Do not rely on the data you might have in your head. These are the pieces of advice that I would like to give. For example, I now know my best-selling products based on the report Loyverse provides me: Sales by item. I invest really heavily in these products and I can see the margin. I make sure to invest in these items and not waste money on random products without any results.

Clean Stop offers professional car valeting services in Swords Plaza Car Park, Dublin, City Square Car Park, Waterford and The Courthouse Car park, Summer Street, Limerick. Aiming to make a difference in the market, they are working hard each day toward this goal. They have been using Loyverse in their business since they started and we are happy to share their story. Can you briefly describe your business? We are a business Clean Stop, based in Ireland. The business started around 3-4 years ago. We provide car valeting services. Our management team has over 10 years of experience in the car valeting business. When we decided to open a business, we had a strict vision of what we wanted to achieve. We didn’t want to be another car valeting service provider company since there are a lot of these and they are pretty much the same: just clean the car, some guys will wash it and off you go. We wanted to be something more since there is new technology and new options possible these days and obviously, people’s lifestyles have changed. To that understanding, we would be providing online booking for our customers so they can choose their time, date, and package. They can review all the packages we offer and choose the one that they want. They would know at what time they would pick up their car, it is all up to them to choose. To be honest, the online booking platform exceeded our expectations because when we told them that it would be a random decision to pull in their car, it permitted our customers to plan out their day and it worked really really well. Of course, in this business, locations are very important. We are located in iPairc Car Park, which is located in Dublin, Waterford and Limerick. That works perfectly for us because IPairc Clean Stop assures the time course. iPairc provides clean and self-parking facilities, is very user-friendly and the environment is in a very convenient location. That brings people to the car park and these people will obviously visit our car valeting places as well. How many employees do you have currently? Due to the pandemic, we are working in low capacities. Each location has 2 employees currently. As the restrictions will be eased, we are looking forward to increasing the number of our staff as the demand will increase as well hopefully. Was the online booking platform an idea that came from the pandemic? The idea was before the COVID. When we started Clean Stop, we already had the online platform ready. The pandemic accelerated things and put more attention on it because obviously a lot of people went contactless and instead of calling and asking for the packages that we offered, they can easily check and choose independently from the website. They need to have contact with the staff only a few seconds when they drop off the keys and a few seconds when they pick up the keys. From the safety point of view, this method worked perfectly for us and the customers. We also offer online support if any customer wants to call us. We are happy to help and explain to them all the packages in detail. Packages are adjusted to each city, they are very flexible. We also evaluate these packages regularly according to the customers’ feedback regarding what they would like to be added or removed from the packages. Packages are adjusted so that they can meet all the demands of the customers. How do you advertise your business? We use the online platforms: Facebook, Instagram and we also do on-site advertisements. We collaborate with shopping centers as well and advertise the business on their platforms. Sometimes, we use newspapers as well. With the time being, quality works in your favor. That’s why we are pushing quality rather than quantity. A lot of customers have visited us because their friend or their family had had a good experience with us previously. This is very crucial, we aim to clean and pamper each car as best as we can to achieve customer satisfaction, otherwise, they would not recommend us to their friends. One of the reasons we look after our brand is people. Looking from my own perspective, if I were to bring my car to a place to valet, I would look for a place that looks decent, which can represent themselves. I couldn’t trust someone who can’t look after themselves. That’s why we try to keep our brand strong. I believe that one of the reasons the customers choose us is because we have decided to work only with industry leaders and the best chemical providers companies. And if any of our customers inquire a bit more about their car will be looked after, we are proud to say that we are using only brands which people have heard about and know that their products are good quality. Also, when we use chemicals we are using the best products in the market. Using these brands makes our job easier because it allows us to finish the job in the shortest amount of time possible. This makes customers happy as well. We have our own clean stop academy in place. We make sure that each staff member whom we employ, is highly trained and has a high understanding of what they are doing. When we employ, some experience is always preferable but sometimes it is better to train someone from scratch rather than retrain to your needs and your requirements. What are your business goals for the next 5 years? What we are looking for is that we don’t want to stop in our current few locations. We want to go nationwide. We are looking for new extra locations where we can start our business. It can be quite challenging these days, but we want to bring new innovations, new technologies and become one of the leaders in the car valeting area. This is something that is achievable and I believe we can deliver the message to our customers that quality matters. How did you first learn about Loyverse and which features have been most useful for your business? We were looking for the best and yet simplest POS system and most importantly that could work in multiple locations rather than one since I mentioned before that we have several locations and plan to expand even more. Before, we were using a system that could be installed only on a PC. The positive of Loyverse is that it can be installed on a tablet and operate really well. Besides, I believe that we could be the only ones or the rare ones that accept card payments with Loyverse and SumUp. Normally, when people think of the car valeting business, they think of cash. But, we are very proud to have this option and our customers are very surprised when we tell them that they can choose if they want to pay by cash or by card. This is very important, especially these days where most people are trying to avoid cash payments. We are very satisfied with the integration of Loyverse with SumUp. We are using Employee Management. We find it really useful to manage the access rights of our employees so we can protect sensitive information. One of the features that I like the most is the Back office which makes possible that all the data we need to be available at our fingertips. On a daily basis or even hourly basis, especially now that we just restarted after the restrictions, we check the figures in the Back office and we love that we can have the data there just in a few clicks. We can filter the report by period of time and store very easily. We can adjust our packages in just a few clicks whenever we want. In addition the system is very easy and our employees get familiar with it very quickly. We might spend half an hour or an hour in training and the employees understood the app and were ready to use it. I have asked them if they needed additional training and the answer has always been NO. The system is very straightforward. I think training my employees for Loyverse has been the shortest training I have ever provided. In our business, we also need discounts and Loyverse has this option and it is very easy to configure and trace. I am absolutely delighted about it. What would you like to see in Loyverse in the future? So far Loyverse has reached all our demands. I would struggle to answer this question now. Keep up the good work. I believe that you have done very good research because the interface and everything is so user-friendly which is really rare these days. Normally when you want to acquire something that will meet your demands, it gets complicated. Your team has managed this rare combination to keep the system simple and yet deliver a great product. Well done, guys.

It would be nice, if you could make integration of work of customer facing big screen on Sunmi T2 device, so that it would show the customer receipts.

I'd like to explore the possibility of using it to develop an online ordering system so that we could have customer space and pay for collection or delivery orders, direct from our Loyverse Menu and send orders to our KDS for preparation.

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 met with Leopoldo Sanchez Brito, Galil's manager and representative in Mexico, who told us how his company makes great contributions to the community and how Loyverse has helped to consolidate his business in a practical way. Welcome, and thank you for participating in this space. Could you tell us about your business, what do you do? Our brand name is Galil, and the company is Galil Mieles. We are a microenterprise, dedicated to producing and commercializing honey and honey derivatives. Located in the south-central part of the Mexican Republic, we bring honey from all over the southeast of Mexico. We bring honey from Yucatan, Tabasco, Campeche, Veracruz, La Escala, and from the same region of Puebla. This honey is 100% natural, there is nothing processed, we bottle it and sell it on a small scale through social networks and home delivery, practically only in the region of Puebla and Mexico City. How long ago and how did the business idea start? The company has been here in Mexico for 4 years, and our founder and current director is originally from Israel, his father and grandfather were beekeepers in Israel. He knows everything related to the work, he likes working with bees and honey. He wanted to start this business here in the region where he has lived for ten years. The business is born romantically, for love for the bees, for the work of apiculture, and obviously, what we are looking for is to be a good business. We have not yet reached the level we want to have, but we are advancing step by step. How did you find the Loyverse application, and how did you adapt it to your business? I was looking for a program that would help us to organize all the sales administration with the respective reports, and I looked for other options, some more complicated, some very simple, and others very expensive for our company. We found that Loyverse adapted very well to our budget and the size of our organization, for this reason, we decided to start with Loyverse and we have been using the application for 4 months. We are still learning how to use it, at the moment, we have 3 stores registered with Loyverse, we are using the trial period for Advanced Inventory, and we would like to start with the subscription soon. In relation to sales, it has helped us a lot, mainly with the reports we get and the period of time we can customize. What are the tools you use most from Loyverse? At the moment we have 2 employees, so we use employee management. And as I mentioned before, we use the reports that give us the sales by product. We like the versatility of registering each sale, the way the products are registered is very practical. I find the reports that are in the database by customers very useful. Another thing that we also use are the points that each customer accumulates with their purchase, we are using it as a trial because we are creating a fan club of bee and honey lovers, so we want to implement loyalty points for all those who join the club. This last one is what we liked the most, the easy way how we can assign points, redeem points or edit the Loyalty points. Also, the graphs we get from each report. I don't use the cash part yet because we never open and close shifts, so there is no cash cut-off, however, I would be interested if I could have a cash report. A feature I have recently discovered is the Pay-in Payout report, so the following step is to implement it and practice it in our business as well as record expenses. What is the goal you have for your business in the long term or medium term? We have many projects in the process of development, and others are still dreams. But one of the goals is to consolidate the business commercially, stabilize sales and make them grow exponentially. That is to say, we want to sell our product in large stores, and as long as it is profitable, we have to find a balance. Also, to be able to sell online in other regions of the country, and in the longer term to export, is a long-term goal, in about 7 years. We have a project which is the rescue of swarms. The swarms are messy and are installed on the roof of your house, on the terrace or in a boat in the attic, etc., for this it is necessary to call the firefighters and they remove and kill it. Well, we want that not to happen, the goal is that they call us instead of the firemen, and we rescue it and take it to our apiary, take care of it and reactivate it so that it is orderly and produces honey and those bees are not killed. We are already doing this, but the project has to grow on a large scale. This also allows us to contribute to the environment and, by the way, to our growth as a company. Finally, our great dream is to develop biological corridors, we want to extend this circle of activities because the bees need a favorable environment, flowers, trees, less use of insecticides, that is to say, and less harmful things and more favorable, so the great dream is to promote with the municipal and state governments, the union of the 4 ecosystems that are around the volcanoes Popocatépetl, La Malinche and Pico de Orizaba. In order to develop the region so that there are trees, flowers and water, necessary elements for the bees, and this, in turn, allows other species such as birds, plants, insects, etc. This is a big dream because it is a very big challenge, it depends on the government, the economy, and the communities, among other things, but well, in ten years, we could be working on this biological corridor. This is a long-term goal we have in about 10 years. In addition to these projects, how your business seeks to contribute to your community? Of course, we have a sustainable project, we have a project to support farmers so that they can open beekeeping production units, that is, honey production units. We are already doing it as a pilot project, we trained a group of farmers in the region, and we taught them how to manage the bees, how to take care of them, and how to make their hives productive. They have already harvested their first crop and collected the honey, which has become an economic aid that complements their income from the field and diversifies their activity. We want to expand this project, we even buy the honey from them and market it at a fair price so that we can sell it in our commercial network. We have a small school called “Bee School” that does not have a physical location, but we hold meetings in schools, colleges, or with families, so we show them the process of honey production, we take them to see the apiary, and to handle the bees, that is, we are teaching children and adults the importance of bees and how to take care of them, and what to do in case they need help, so this project is very nice, it has already been working for 3 years. Children love to work with bees, they wear special protective suits and are in contact with them without any risk. So this school project, we also hope it will grow, and we hope that Loyverse will help us to grow in all the projects we have. As you can see, our goals are quite ambitious and optimistic, and we would really like Loyverse to be part of us to help us grow, so we thank you for this space and suggestions on how to use Loyverse better to make our life easier and allow us to focus on what is important and not waste time on little things that are easy to solve and a tool like Loyverse can help us to be practical in the management and administration of our business. Thank you very much for your time and attention Galil Social Media: galil.mieles Galil de abejas y miel

Content marketing is an excellent way for small businesses to engage with their customers. November is an important month for small business marketing, second only to December. It is packed with important holidays, celebrations, and big marketing events as people start shopping for Christmas. You can use all these events to post relevant content and amp up your content marketing strategies. To take advantage of these opportunities, you must plan ahead- especially if you want to do something bigger, like host an event or hold a huge sale or a giveaway. In this article, we share ten content marketing ideas your small business can use in November 2022. What is Content Marketing for Small Businesses? Content marketing is curating or creating blog posts, podcast episodes, or videos to attract, engage, and retain customers. It is the most powerful when it provides helpful, informative, or entertaining information that works with an effective search engine optimization strategy. Content marketing has been around for years now! When a term is used so frequently, it can be hard to focus on the more significant meaning and even harder to determine its application to your small business. However, content marketing is a necessity for today’s small business owners. For small businesses, content marketing can result in a six times higher conversion rate than non-content-marketing users. Here are some inspiration and ideas for November to help you come up with great ideas for marketing campaigns and social media posts. So, take a look at the special dates this month, then start planning your social media calendar! 1. Celebrate Vegans November is World Vegan Month, and November 1 is World Vegan Day. For some brands, this presents an opportunity to connect with a moderately small but dedicated audience. There are reportedly approximately 79 million vegans worldwide, including 12% millennials. Dietary vegans or strict vegetarians consider veganism a healthy eating strategy that avoids all animal products — basically having a plant-based diet. They willing to invest in products and services that fit this specialized lifestyle. If vegans are part of your small business’ target market, consider posting content supporting those choices and calling out the vegan items you offer. 2. No-Shave November November is the perfect month to grow a beard or mustache and create content about it. No-Shave November is a global campaign asking people to withhold shaving to raise cancer awareness. This observation is specifically for issues in men’s health, such as testicular cancer, prostate cancer, and mental health. The campaign encourages men to grow mustaches or beards throughout November. Your small business can participate in the No-Shave November campaigns by producing content that promotes the cause and inspires people to donate to related charities. For example, you could write blogs about the importance of men’s health, share stories about how cancer has affected people you know, or produce social media posts showing mustache and beard styles men could try. Your small business could also donate a portion of November sales to related charities. 3. Dear Santa Traditionally, schools ask children to write letters to Santa Claus to ask for Christmas gifts during the second week of November. Therefore, the second week of November is “Dear Santa Letter Week.” For content marketing, you could publish engaging posts featuring your customers' or staff's Dear Santa letters, or you might feature such letters from celebrities or famous personalities. A great approach would be to host a contest wherein consumers submit their Dear Santa letters to your small business for a chance to win. All submitted letters could be used as user-generated content on your site. 4. Small Business Saturday Small Business Saturday is celebrated on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving, and it is a content marketing opportunity for small businesses that sell online and from physical shops. The observation was started in 2010 by American Express as it encourages people to shop at smaller firms. Small Business Saturday is a content marketing option for small business owners to publish content that focuses on their business’s contribution to the community. Share some interesting facts about your business and how you started, ask customers to share their favorite memories with your business, or discuss what small businesses mean to your local community. Being a small business owner isn’t easy, so use this opportunity to highlight your business's importance and encourage your followers to do the same. 5. Last-minute Gift Guides Some shoppers will wait until the last moment to shop. The 2022 holiday shopping season usually begins in October. But don’t forget about the procrastinators in your audience of customers and prospects. Many folks will wait until the last minute to do their gift shopping. Aim at this group with a series of last-minute gift guides. Target specific recipients, such as “Last-minute Gifts for Moms” or “The Procrastinator’s Guide to Shopping for Your Favorite Niece.” 6. November 11th – Singles’ Day Where are all the single people at? November 11 is the perfect day to spotlight your single customers! Businesses usually make a huge fuss and put so much hype around Valentine’s day, so why not make a big deal about Single’s Day? You could give away a table for one at your cafe or restaurant or host a “singles only” event for your single customers to engage and have fun! 7. November 13th – World Kindness Day Any small business can celebrate kindness. On this day, you can actually do something kind on behalf of your business. You can do this by giving a portion of your profits of the day to those in need, offering someone a warm meal, or asking your customers to donate clothes they don’t wear to your local charity. Take responsibility and work with your customers to be kind. Use this opportunity to stand up for a cause by setting an example of kindness. When you do, your customers will see your values and feel closer to you. 8. November 19th – International Men’s Day You can celebrate International Men’s Day by doing something nice for your male customers. You can give them a discount, a special giveaway, or host an event. You could also use this holiday to raise awareness about a subject important to men, create workshops, videos, live chats, and forums on your social media or community page, or even dedicate a series of posts on social media. Use this day to show the men some love and help them relax or treat themselves. 9. November 20th – Universal Children’s Day This isn't just the day to celebrate our own kids; it is also a perfect opportunity to raise awareness for struggling children worldwide. Your small business can celebrate by creating posts, coming up with fun games for kids to enjoy, or giving parents ideas of special things they could do to spend time with their kids. You could also host an event for children and donate some of your profits to an organization supporting underprivileged children. If you can, use your business to encourage your followers to join you in helping those in need, especially this year when people might be struggling more than ever. 10. November 23rd – Espresso Day Coffee shop owners, this is your big moment! Create a sale on your espresso drinks, or curate a limited edition new drink just for that day! Host a fun social media giveaway and award the winner with a gift card. And who says only coffee shop owners can celebrate this? Even if you don’t own a coffee shop, you can collaborate with a local one to do a giveaway. Because really, who doesn’t love coffee? The free caffeine is a surefire way to win over new customers and create fans for life. Planning Out Your Content Calendar These are fun holidays and days of observance; you might feel tempted to celebrate all of them, but we suggest you choose only the ones that make sense to your business. For example, you might LOVE coffee, but if you own a small clothing boutique, you might not be able to celebrate World Espresso Day (unless you get really creative). There are probably plenty of other options that make sense for your business to participate in. We hope that this list has given you some ideas and inspiration for this month’s content. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Urgente que se pueda vincular con SII en Chile. La app es muy buena.

Saludos a todos. Me gustaría que Loyverse pueda sacar para Chile la certificación para poder emitir boletas y/o facturas electrónicas autorizadas por el Servicio de Impuestos Internos, ya que a partir del 24 de agosto de este año, todas las boletas van a ser electrónicas en mi país.