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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/

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. ¿Cuál es el tipo de negocio que manejan y hace cuánto 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 realizábamos ventas en ocasiones nos dabamos cuenta de que faltaba dinero, también queríamos saber cuáles eran los productos que se estaban vendiendo, platicando con mi socia concluimos era una información muy importante y para obtenerla necesitaríamos ayuda. Ya que todo lo manejábamos en un cuaderno y lo pasábamos a Excel. Fue en ese punto donde me vi a la tarea de buscar alguna aplicación y ya que no teníamos un computador, tenía que ser compatible con mi teléfono 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. También estamos en el periodo de 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 y 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. La herramienta definitiva que me hizo 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 también 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 individualmente. 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.

On this opportunity, Ed shares his experience of starting a new business in a new country, moving from Canada to Mexico, where, with an investment of time, heart, and energy, the business has brought its rewards. Could we start with a brief introduction to your business? We are in San Miguel, Mexico. We opened our business on October 31st, 2024. We struggled for a couple of months with the opening and were extremely busy until we found Loyverse. It has been an absolute game-changer for us. It has helped streamline operations, control costs, and improve the business flow. When we first opened in Cozumel, there were roughly 800 different places to eat. We opened a small pizzeria, hoping to sell 15 or 20 pizzas daily. By mid-December, we were selling between 65 and 80 pizzas daily. The software has definitely helped us with inventory control, customer invoicing, costing, and more. It has been a fabulous tool for us. Thank you for the feedback. Could you mention some of the challenges you were facing before using Loyverse? Initially, with the guidance of our accountant, we were using handwritten paper tickets and order forms. It was labor-intensive, time-consuming, and slow, with no way to keep up. With Loyverse, we now have a point-of-sale tablet where orders are entered, production tickets are printed, bills are issued for customers, and payments are processed with the integrated terminal. For a new and growing business, having the right tools early on was fundamental to staying profitable and meeting customer demands. How did you first hear about Loyverse? It was recommended by a teacher from the culinary institute where I received my certification. We found the point-of-sale system on Mercado Libre at a very fair price, and the tablet came loaded with the software. We have loved it from day one. We are now looking into expanding the system’s capabilities by adding customer loyalty and reward programs, as well as improving contact management. Cozumel is a tourist island, and since we are currently in the slower season, we have time to explore new features to meet our needs. We expect that our business will have grown by 150% by October this year compared to last year. Do you think Loyverse can help you reach those goals? Yes. Our focus is to expand the system and integrate everything possible within the business. It gives us a clear snapshot of profit and loss, daily sales, sales by category, and comparisons between dine-in, takeout, and delivery. We will also try expanding to Loyverse add-ons to have more information at our fingertips. These tools are fabulous. Did you encounter any challenges, or did you find it easy to learn how to use all the features when you started? No, it was very user-friendly from day one. We can import photos of every item, create and manage categories, and make modifications easily. Which features do you use most frequently, and which features are most useful? Every day, we use the category features to track sales by category and by item, which helps with inventory control. We also check sales volume and profit and loss statements. As a growing business, we use these reports to understand sales cycles and prepare accordingly. What changes have you noticed in your business since implementing Loyverse? Efficiency and user-friendliness. We can quickly enter an order, print a ticket for preparation, and issue a bill, completing the sales cycle with just a few clicks. This has freed up many labor hours daily, improved the customer experience, reduced errors, and made transactions faster. Did your customers notice the difference? Absolutely. We operated for about six weeks without the system, and on the very first day we implemented it, customers commented on the improved speed, clarity, and efficiency. Transactions that took several minutes were now completed in seconds. Have you seen specific improvements in areas like inventory control or sales decisions? 100%. We’ve been able to track sales by time of day, adjust our opening hours, and modify our menu based on sales history. The information at our fingertips is wonderful, and with proper analysis, the system becomes a silent partner in the business. Loyverse made a huge difference for us. My wife and I opened this pizzeria without prior restaurant experience. It started as a retirement project after moving from Canada to Mexico. The reception has been overwhelming, and with Loyverse we’ve been able to manage sales cycles, money, inventory, and operating hours. What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs not yet using a POS system? I think anyone would be foolish not to invest in this silent partner. It can help expand a business at a very affordable entry price. And about entrepreneurship in general? If you want to be an entrepreneur, you have to show up every day. This is an investment of time and heart. If we put in our energy and love, the business rewards us. Like most things in life, you get out what you put in. We give 100% effort daily, and I believe that’s been key to our success.

Bobble Pop is a business that operates as a kiosk inside a shopping mall, where they sell beverages, crepes, waffles, and some candy for the mall’s customers. They’ve been operating for two years, and the owner, Fredy, shares with us that the project still has a lot of room to grow, since their main product is beverages with tapioca, and in the Querétaro area, where they live, that has become very trendy. What was the starting point of your business, and what inspired you to take that first step? There’s an interesting backstory to it because I’m a lawyer, and my cousins owned the business, but they wanted to close it. So, I presented my idea of taking over as the one in charge. At the time, I had no money, but I had all the motivation to move it forward. That was two years ago, and it’s been one year since I’ve been managing it entirely. I also expanded the offer: they used to sell only drinks, and I added products like bottled water, sodas, and other small items to diversify a bit. At what point in that process did you discover Loyverse, and how was the implementation? I had a tablet at home that I could use, so I searched online for how to use a tablet to manage a business. During that search, I found options to set up a point-of-sale system and came across YouTube videos explaining how to use Loyverse. I watched a 40-minute tutorial that explained all the tools in detail, and after reading reviews from many users, I was convinced to try the app. At first, it was difficult to enter all the data, but it was worth it. Since then, I’ve worked much more peacefully. Did you face any specific challenges when you first started using the app? At the beginning, I didn’t really know how to input products like drinks or food items and all the related information, but I quickly learned that I could enter the cost each item represented for me and the selling price to the public. I even used artificial intelligence to do some calculations. For example, “If I use three ice cubes, and a 5 kg bag costs $25, how much does it cost per drink?” I did the same with water, the water jug, etc. That helped me calculate a standard price, which I adjusted with expenses like fuel or time, and that’s how I set the final price for each product: drinks, crepes, waffles—everything in Loyverse—and that gave me complete reports with all the information I needed. Do you currently manage employees? If so, how was it for your team to use the Loyverse POS? Yes. At the moment, I have another job and can’t be at the business all the time, so I have a permanent employee and some temporary ones on weekends. They register everything from the tablet. Since there is internet in the mall, I can view the reports in real time and also check the camera to make sure everything is running smoothly. It was very easy. Loyverse is well categorized: for example, there’s a section for milk-based drinks. You can also upload photos, which helps a lot. I leave them an inventory, and everything is very intuitive. They just have to select, charge, and close the order. Regarding Loyverse’s tools, which features are essential in your day-to-day operations? The discount feature. Many friends and colleagues come to buy, and we frequently offer them discounts. I also use a Mercado Pago terminal that I set up to manage my reports by type of payment. I also bought a Bluetooth printer that works along with the cash drawer; it’s very useful that when the ticket prints, the drawer opens automatically. This integration seems excellent to me. You mentioned that you check your Back Office frequently. Have you noticed improvements in inventory or sales control? Yes, especially in inventory. Even though the business is small and I can tell when something’s missing, the system alerts me precisely when a product is about to run out with email notifications, which helps me a lot. Regarding sales, I really value the dashboard information. I used to do all those calculations by hand; now I can see how much I earn net at any moment. It gives me a very clear view of the business. Do you think customer service has improved since you stopped taking orders on paper? Definitely. Maybe the customer doesn’t notice it immediately, but when they receive a printed ticket, the experience changes. It looks more professional. Could you describe the biggest impact that implementing Loyverse had on your business? Peace of mind. As an owner, knowing that everything is recorded correctly, that the system calculates the change at the time of sale, inventory, and discounts, it gives me great confidence. We even have reusable drink options, and every time someone brings their own container, the discount is applied automatically. I didn’t have to train anyone; just using it a couple of times is enough to understand. It’s very intuitive. Before concluding, as an entrepreneur, what advice would you give to others who are starting their own business? Don’t be afraid or ashamed. The world is meant to be built and rebuilt. If you make mistakes, you’ll learn along the way. If you want to manage your business intelligently and without complications, Loyverse is ideal. It can be used on a tablet or a computer, it can connect to printers, cash drawers, and it gives you statistics and data quickly. There are no more excuses not to start a business. You just have to be consistent—consistency is the hardest part, but also the only thing that guarantees a reward. Con Loyverse, la información clara da la tranquilidad de delegar el negocio sin preocupaciones. Bobble pop es un negocio que funciona como una isla dentro de una plaza comercial, donde venden bebidas, crepas, waffles y algunas golosinas para los clientes de la misma plaza. Llevan trabajando dos años, y su propietario Fredy comparte con nosotros que el proyecto todavía tiene mucho por crecer ya que nuestro principal producto son las bebidas que llevan tapioca, y en la zona de Querétaro, donde vivimos, eso se ha puesto muy de moda. ¿Cuál fue el punto de partida de su negocio y qué lo inspiró a dar ese primer paso? La historia es curiosa porque soy abogado y mis primas eran dueñas del negocio pero ellas querian quitarlo. Entonces les presenté mi idea de quedarme como responsable, en el momento no tenía dinero, pero sí toda la motivación para sacarlo adelante, de eso ya son dos años, y un año en que yo estoy al frente con toda la gestión. También fui ampliando la oferta: antes solo vendían bebidas, y yo incluí productos como botellas de agua, refrescos y otras cositas para diversificar un poco. En qué momento de ese proceso conoció a Loyverse y cómo fue el proceso de implementación? Tenia un tablet en casa para poder usar, así que busqué en internet cómo usar un tablet para manejar un negocio. En esa busqueda encontré opciones para montar un punto de venta y encontré videos en YouTube que explicaban cómo usar Loyverse. Vi un tutorial de 40 minutos muy detallado sobre todas las herramientas y trás leer las opiniones de muchos usuarios me convencieron de probar la aplicación. Al principio fue complicado ingresar todos los datos, pero valió la pena. Desde entonces, trabajo mucho más tranquilo. ¿Tuvo alguna dificultad específica al empezar a usar la app? Al principio no sabía bien cómo cargar los productos, como las bebidas o los alimentos y toda la información, pero aprendí rapido que podía ingresar el costo que a mí me representaba cada uno y el precio de venta al público. De hecho usé inteligencia artificial para hacer algunos calculos. Por ejemplo “Si le pongo tres hielos, que vienen en una bolsa de 5 kg que cuesta $25, ¿cuánto cuesta por bebida?”. Lo mismo con el agua, el garrafón, etc. Con eso sacaba un precio estándar, lo ajustaba con gastos como gasolina o tiempo, y así establecía el precio final de cada producto: bebidas, crepas, waffles, todo en Loyverse y eso me generaba mis informes completos con toda la información que necesitaba. Maneja empleados actualmente, de ser así como fue para su equipo manejar el POS de Loyverse? Sí. En este momento tengo otro trabajo y no puedo estar en el negocio todo el tiempo así que tengo un empleado fijo y algunos temporarios en fin de semana. Ellos registran todo desde la tablet. Como hay internet en la plaza, puedo ver los reportes en tiempo real y también reviso la cámara para asegurarme de que todo marche bien. Fue muy fácil. Loyverse está bien categorizado: por ejemplo, hay una sección para bebidas a base de leche. Además, se pueden cargar fotos, lo que ayuda mucho. Les dejo un inventario y todo es bastante intuitivo. Solo deben seleccionar, cobrar y cerrar el pedido. Sobre el uso de las herramientas de Loyverse ¿Qué funciones son indispensables en su día a día? La de descuentos. Muchos amigos y colegas vienen a comprar y les ofrecemos descuentos frecuentemente. También uso una terminal de Mercado Pago que he creado para poder manejar mis informes por tipo de pago. Tambien compré una impresora de Bluetooth que funciona junto con la gaveta del dinero, es muy util que al imprimir el ticket, se abra automáticamente. Esta integración, me parece excelente. Mencionaste que revisas tu Back Office con frecuencia ¿Has notado mejoras en el control del inventario o las ventas? Sí, sobre todo en inventario. Aunque el negocio es pequeño y me doy cuenta cuando falta algo, el sistema me alerta con precisión cuándo se va a agotar cierto producto con las notificaciones que llegan a mi correo, esto me ayuda mucho. En relacion a las venta, valoro mucho la información del dashboard. Yo antes hacía todos esos cálculos a mano, ahora puedo ver cuánto gano neto en cualquier momento. Me da una visión muy clara del negocio. ¿Cree que ha mejorado la atención al cliente desde que dejó de tomar pedidos en papel? Definitivamente. Tal vez el cliente no lo nota de inmediato, pero cuando recibe un ticket, la experiencia cambia. Se ve más profesional. ¿Podría describir el mayor impacto que tuvo implementar Loyverse en su negocio? La tranquilidad. Como dueño, saber que todo se registra correctamente, que el sistema calcula el cambio al momento de las ventas, el inventario, los descuentos, me da mucha confianza. Incluso tenemos bebidas reutilizables, y cada vez que alguien trae su envase, se aplica el descuento automáticamente. No tuve que capacitar a nadie; con usarlo un par de veces ya se entiende. Es muy intuitivo. Para terminar, como emprendedor, ¿qué consejo le daría a otros que están comenzando? Que no tengan miedo ni pena. El mundo está para hacer y deshacer. Si se equivocan, aprenderán en el camino. Si quieren gestionar su negocio de forma inteligente y sin complicaciones, Loyverse es ideal. Se puede usar en tablet, computador, se puede conectar a impresoras, cajones de dinero, te entrega estadísticas y datos rápidamente. Ya no hay excusas para no emprender. Solo hay que ser constantes, la constancia es lo más difícil, pero también lo único que garantiza una recompensa.

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

Horom Sushi started in a small place in September 2019, despite the difficulties they faced a few months later with perseverance, its owner, Mr. Rodolfo Ornelas, tells us how in those challenging moments they saw an opportunity to continue, offering their customers food to go, at a time when many restaurants had to close their doors. Today, they want to help so that more and more entrepreneurs and families in their region can get ahead. Could you introduce us to your business, how long ago and how did you start? We started in 2019 in a trailer, selling sushi and boneless in our neighborhood. When we started, we looked for an alternative to register the orders and payments since it was very complicated for us to write down all the orders. Thank God, at the time we started we did very well, we were on the avenue, this location helped us a lot and the demand grew, as well as our business. Our kitchen space was 3 m X 1.50m, it was all we had. There we washed dishes, cooked, prepared food and got paid, so Loyverse helped us a lot to take off by managing our orders, and having a kitchen tablet, without the need to use notes because it was very complicated to manage all this in that space. Loyverse was the most viable option because it could be used on a tablet and not necessarily on a computer, we didn't have the space for this. Does your business currently run the same store? We now have 2: Long Sushi and King Kong which serve fries and cones, and we have another 2. So we have 4 restaurants at the moment, all running on Loyverse. How did you find Loyverse and what tools have you used? At that time we found it in the play store by chance. I was looking for a flexible point of sale and the best option was Loyverse, it was the one we liked the most and we stayed with it. Now we use the employee management tool, the role settings help us a lot. I also use the customer display application, because that way we avoid doubts with customers about their orders. We use the shift feature, for almost everything except advanced inventory. On paid add-ons, we use employee management for the cashier. About Loyverse, of all the tools you use, which one has helped you the most? The one that benefits Horom Sushi the most is the kitchen screen, for example, I have 2 cashiers at the register, they take the orders and they have their kitchen tablet, this tablet is called “Assembled”, and that is where they receive all the orders. When the kitchen sends the orders, they form the package with their kitchen tablet. It works because we have several stations to prepare orders, the sushi bar has a kitchen screen that only receives sushi orders. The other stations are the Fryer that is behind the kitchen and the Chinese Food station, each one works with its screen and prepares only its part of the order. Each kitchen station prepares its order, they send the prepared food to the cashier, and in the cashier station with its kitchen display screen, check who the order belongs to and assemble the packages, then we have five tablets working with the Kitchen Screen with a single tablet in Loyverse POS, that is very comfortable for us. During your time using Loyverse have you needed any help from Loyverse support? Yes, in fact, when we started one of the problems we had was the modifiers. When we started exploring Loyverse, we noticed it is very practical and very intuitive, but we did not find a way to add modifiers, we had configured them as variants, in that time we used the chat to ask and the assistant told us that modifiers existed and explained how to use them. Also in another case with a small failure that we had with the application, they answered us, they solved us and it was ready to use! What is the long-term goal of your business for the next few years? In the long term, we want to have a presence throughout the city, fully cover the needs of our customers, be at the forefront of distribution platforms, for example, Rappi, and more than anything else, be at the forefront of the sushi businesses that are beginning to open, that is beginning to develop in our neighborhood. Once we started, many similar restaurants opened in our neighborhood. We have supported each other, but unfortunately due to inflation and insecurity in the city, many have closed. We would love for all of us to go hand in hand. For example in my case when I found out about Loyverse I shared it with my relatives, from other nearby restaurants, and it also worked very well for them, so that is our plan, to support others restaurants. My next question has to do with what you just said, what would be the value that you want to contribute to society with your business? Our restaurant was created in 2019 and during that time, the pandemic went through, one of our main mottos for our clients was that if at any time you don't have a place to eat, you can go to Horom Sushi, we offer food. We want to be part of the community. During the time we were working, unfortunately, there was a fire in a home called Emanuel, so Horom Sushi promised to help them, a certain amount of money was donated to them and apart from that a collection of clothing, food and everything that our clients wanted to contribute, we collected and delivered it on behalf of our clients. At the end of every year, we contribute with a Christmas dinner for a family that needs it, a turkey and their dinner. That is our way of thanking our customers because thanks to them we are here. Would you like to send a message to entrepreneurs, who are just starting out now, who are perhaps experiencing some difficulty? My message to new entrepreneurs is not to be discouraged. Unfortunately, we are in difficult times, ending a pandemic, with skyrocketing inflation, that is what has hurt us the most, but do not be discouraged, good times will come, and not everything is bad. We all start with great motivation but the moment of discouragement arrives when you see that either you do not have clients or your utility is not arriving as it should be, do not be discouraged, look for a way, there is always a way to solve things. Always. For every problem there is a solution, it's just a matter of looking for it, focusing, and putting all your effort and motivation. We live in an unfortunately insecure city, which disappoints us a bit, but something that never disappoints us is our people. Our people are faithful, are good, and there will always be someone to support you, someone to help you. So, my message is don’t be discouraged and move forward. We thank Mr. Rodolfo for his time and for the opportunity to learn about an inspiring story. We invite you to visit Horom Sushi's social networks: https://www.facebook.com/HOROM.ALIMENTOS.JRZ

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

TESCONI is an online-based business that operates in Mexico. It consists of the sale of computers, gadgets, computer equipment, assemblies, laptops, cell phones, smart home products, all in technology. TESCONI started its journey nearly one year ago. Even though it was a difficult year, this business developed, and its owner, Iván Flores, is planning to open a physical store soon. We had a short meeting with Mr. Flores to learn more about his experience and how they are using Loyverse. -How did your business start? Why did you choose this type of business? It all started because I saw that in Mexico, most people continue doing business in an old-fashioned way, in a physical store. I foresaw the tendency that all was going to be online. My business is all online-based. I sell only via Facebook, Amazon, and Mercado Libre. I saw the opportunity, and I seized it since I know directly most of the suppliers of the brands that I sell. It was an opportunity I could not let pass me by. - How was your first year in business? My business started strong because there is a high request for the products I sell. There have been many occasions where my clients have ordered products that I didn’t have in stock, but I could manage really well as I have contacts with the wholesalers. - Do you have any employees or you run the business alone? At the moment, I am working with my wife, who handles the accounting part of the business, and my nephew, who helps me with the delivery of the products and the upload of the products in the marketplaces. - What is your philosophy in business? I didn’t think in philosophy actually. I am a very small business and just started my journey. What is important to me is to keep the customer happy. If my customer buys the product today, he will receive it within the day. I think this is the dream of every customer. I live in the center of the city, which gives me good opportunities to manage my orders and deliver them at the right time. - How did you find Loyverse? I found Loyverse searching online. When I started to research for the point of sale system I would use in my business; I researched for a system with a free trial period to test the system and see if it would fit my needs. My requirements were that the system was cloud-based and I could access all my data and manage all from a mobile device. I tried several applications, but they didn’t fulfill all my requirements. Since I started a new business that I wasn’t sure if it was going to work, I was happy to see that Loyverse offered me the possibility to use the platform without any charge. It was a great help for me. Now that my business has developed, I want to use the Advanced Inventory, and I would be ready to pay for the platform. I see that Advanced Inventory offers the possibility to add suppliers to the system and create Purchase orders. I deal with my suppliers on a daily basis, and this feature is very useful for my business. I also learned recently that Loyverse has integrations with different e-commerce platforms, and I would like to test the integration with Amazon so that my workflow will be more seamless. - Since all your business is online-based, how do you use Loyverse, and what is the feature that you find most useful and convenient for you? Loyverse POS is a very intuitive and user-friendly system. I learned it really fast, and this is what amazed me at first about it. I add the products in the system when I sell them because there are many times when I don’t have products in stock, but I play around a lot with the wholesaler’s stock. For example, I don’t have the laptop, but I sell it, then I go to the wholesaler, and I buy the laptop from him and immediately I pass it to Amazon to deliver it to my customer. When this process occurs, I add the product in Loyverse and indicate how much it cost me and the price I sold it for. I also add another item called “Amazon’s commission” that has a price of 0 but has a cost. If I also have to pay for the transport, I add another product named “Transport cost” and again insert only the cost equal to the amount I have to pay and put the price for it 0. Then, I create the receipt with the product, Amazon’s commission, and the Transport cost, and I am able to see my margin. This is how I manage the process. If the item was added previously in the system, I just need to change the price or the cost. The prices of my products are flexible and I am happy that Loyverse has the option to leave the Price field empty and I can indicate the price of the item at the moment of the sale. This is very helpful for me. Another feature of Loyverse which is very convenient for me is the possibility to send the receipt by email. When I sell via Facebook, I ask the customer to share their email with me and immediately send the receipt to my customer by email. This feature is ecological, I don’t waste paper, and I think this is a really well-designed feature. - What feature would you like to see in Loyverse in the future? I think it would be nice if in the printed and emailed receipts would appear the pictures of the items that were uploaded in the system. Apart from that, the system is really good. I want to thank the Loyverse Team and wish you all the best.

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.