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

Archidemia Ltd is a supplier of Professional Medical Scientific Books and Resources. They have an extensive range of books and can guarantee almost any title that you are looking for. Their specialist areas include Aesthetic Medicine, Plastic Surgery, Dermatology, and Dentistry. Archidemia provides a range of services, including prompt and efficient supply of books locally and internationally, advice on latest and forthcoming publications, access to an extensive array of publications, access to extra content and other online resources, etc. They incorporate various world-renowned books publishers who play a key role in content quality and book references. The founder of Archidemia, Mr. Italo Lofino, shared his experience using Loyverse POS in his business. When did you start your business? I started the business six years ago. I sell medical books online all over the world. I also sell face-to-face to customers at exhibitions in the United Kingdom, where I am based. I use Loyverse POS as a point of sale during the exhibitions. I find Loyverse very useful because it is very easy to use an almost complete point of sale for my needs. What makes Archidemia stand out from other competitors? I would point out our last release: Facial Injection Manikins. At Archidemia, we have always been proud of our dedication to excellence in medical education, anatomy in particular. In response to the increasing demand for high quality anatomy education aids for the medical aesthetic practitioner, we have recently presented our anatomically detailed Facial Injection Manikins. Our new range of human head models is intended to make the injection simulation training as realistic as possible. We have leveraged our experience in anatomy illustration and medical textbooks to produce these carefully crafted models to consistent and exacting detail. What are your plans for the future? We want to enhance our existing models of Facial Injection Manikins and extend our offering to other body part models, ethnicity and aging variants that the customers require. How did you first find Loyverse? I was looking for a point of sale for my business to record the sales. I tried several of them and I found that Loyverse was the best for me at that moment and now that I got used to it and I like the simplicity and how intuitive it is. I am also using SumUp now and since Loyverse is integrated with SumUp, this is very convenient for me. What feature of Loyverse do you like the most? I like the functionality to split payments. This is very useful. Sometimes customers ask to pay part in cash and part by credit card. I like that I can add pictures to my items and keep them organized by categories. I can easily upload items using a CSV file. I like that I can add variants to my items. Also, it is great that Loyverse can be connected to mobile printers and barcode scanners that I use to scan my books during sales. When I tried other points of sale systems before Loyverse, I found that one of them was not compatible with the printer, another one was not compatible with the scanner so when I found all these features that are very useful for me in Loyverse I was very happy. I recently learned that Loyverse Marketplace has now integration with WooCommerce and Xero. I use these two systems and I would like to check out how this integration works. What would you like to see in Loyverse in the future? I would like to be able to add the Tax number in the customer’s profile and print this number in the receipt in a dedicated line at the top of the receipt. Since we sell to companies as well that have a VAT number, they want this number in the receipt for tax purposes. Also, I would like to be able to print the receipt in an invoice format. What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs? If someone wants to become an entrepreneur, I would advise them to find a good product and put it in the market and you are ready to go. It will not be easy, of course. You might think you need to do many advertisements but trust me if you have a good product, you don’t need to advertise it. For example, if you sell cupcakes, you will find many competitors and this will make it difficult to stand out. In this case, it would be hard to sell your product. But, if you find something special and good, go for it.

Anderby Beach Cafe brings you a story meant for those who are launching a seasonal business It’s well known how tempting is for tourists to have their summer vacation in a place where good food, rooms, a beach, and why not some souvenirs are just in front of them. But building such an “All-in-one” seasonal business definitely is not an easy task. Let’s see what tools Jason Foster and his team did in order to conquer the Anderby Greek Beach in the UK. Why and how did you start your business? We bought an existing business, a café business with a gift shop and a licensed bar as well, and also sell Ice cream and confiture things. We were looking for a POS software system to encapsulate all the business, including the food ordering and the retail side. It was great to find Loyverse and find something that, first, was free and secondly, was so simple to use. What is the unique point of your business? I think because we are a diverse business; we got an inside area where people can come in. Next, there is the beach which is one great thing. People visit the beach so they can sit inside and eat food or sit outside in our garden and have a drink. We also have a gift shop where people can buy souvenirs and if they want an ice cream they can take it to the beach. With the Loyverse system, we can cover all those aspects. People want to order the fish and chips in the bar, so we send them straight to the kitchen; we use the KDS with two iPads in the kitchen in different areas, one area prepares the sandwiches and then cooks the burgers and the fish, etc. Even we have the KDS in a different room for sauces, knives, and forks. There is another one nearby the coffee machine. That display is for hot drinks generally. Also, the CDS, where people can see the ordering; Loyverse just works for us. The great point is that we can connect multiple KDS as you may know; we could send orders everywhere so everybody knows what’s happening. We don’t have papers anymore, because we can just write comments on the ticket. The paper is quite antiquated. How do you survive in out-season times? We’re a seasonal business so we operate between March and November; the wind periods are quiet because there is nothing where we are. We are not in a town or in a city, so people come to visit the beach. Those periods of out-of-season when the weather is not that good, we close. We open a little bit around Christmas and new year's time for the people who want to take a walk. But mostly, we are a seasonal business. What is the philosophy behind your business? We want people to enjoy their time. We just use three main words: “Eat, shop, stay”. Because we can feed you, you can buy some gifts, have some ice cream and we provide accommodation as well, so if you want to stay we can give you a nice apartment to stay in here for a couple of days. We just want people to have a good time, we are in a very special place. We are not in the business to take the money and become profitable but also to be kind to the customer. We’ve got our staff already for a few years, didn’t change it at all. We build relationships without returning customers, so that’s really important. How did you find us and what features do you like the most? I was looking for a solution to use for the business in Google. I have found Loyverse and I just used the free side of it and it was always good. But once I found out that it was great for stock control, we can see what we were selling. With Dashboard, we can check the daily sales in different categories and more. All that part is just fantastic. For a few years, I have been paying for Employee Management. Our staff clocked in when they arrived so we were able to keep tracking their hours if you don’t have any casual staff then I create a login and they were able to login into the system and clock in on it. So that kind of thing really works for us. The access rights also seem to be complete. Most of the time I give the administrative rights to one of them so they don’t need to keep looking around for me when I’m busy, so I think it works very well. What would be your suggestions for the development of Loyverse? I requested a long time ago for the graphics aspect of our logo; we most use seaside blues and think like that so I wanted Loyverse to be able to print the logo in colors as well, not black and white printing. Also to be able to customize the customer display for the bar. To make it more like our colors. What would you advise other people who want to become entrepreneurs too? I have been doing this many times; if the people come in and get their business during Covid times like our business that we were just serving people at the table with just an iPad. And for those businesses who were in a similar situation, I always say to them, “please, go and check out Loyverse. You will be amazed by the things that will do for you and what provides what you could wish for”. I truly thank you for the design of the system and in general what you have done for us.

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

Miel Bakery started 4 years ago in London making sure that the ingredients and the teams are at the top of the field. In this article, the owner shares his experience and brief but powerful key points outstanding from other competitors regarding the good smell of fresh bread. Why and how did you start your business? We launched it together with my wife 4 years ago. She has a high level of baking, she went on a baking course with high-level people in France. So she wanted to open a French bakery in London where she also taught baking workshops. We didn’t know much about launching a bakery, so I had to research a lot over there even looking for the right point of sales system. What makes your business stand out from the other bakeries? The special ingredient is actually that we use special ingredients. Our product is very high quality for a few reasons. Number 1, we have really the best ingredients; we purchase them from France and Italy for very high prices. It’s not like someone says everyone uses bad ingredients but actually no, we don’t buy the ingredients from the supermarket. We use very special sources. The second thing is the technique. We have very professional, experienced bakers who know what they’re doing and have done this for 5, 10 years in France. The third point is that we use very good equipment. Our product is very strong, making us stand out from others. What is the philosophy behind your business? There are multiple philosophies that are considered. The two important ones are, number one: the customer goes first. So there is a customer obsession philosophy. But it doesn’t mean that the customer is always right, but it means we need to work backward understanding what the customer wants, to see what can we do to fulfill that customer needs. That involves listening to the customers. To listen to the customer means the people who are baking who are not really close to customers compared to the sellers or baristas, they need to talk to each other and there is where the second philosophy comes from, to be kind to each other. The employees in our company work with each other very well, which helps to communicate information among the team members. This is how the information flows from the customers to the people who are baking and then changes the product based on what the customer wants. Where did you find Loyverse POS? I just Google it. I started a business, and I spent a lot, so I was looking for a point of sale that would be cheap, and it can do the things that I need. So I didn’t need staff management or inventory management. I need such basic things as someone on an iPad who can tap on some items and gives simple reports. So when I researched, I found Loyverse, I saw the testimonials and made a few tests. And the best thing is freemium, is not forcing me to buy because the add-ons are optional. Ultimately, I end up buying one of the features of the Employee Management What features help you the most? Reporting. The blue app with the lives sales, the Dashboard, is very important. When I’m up there in the shop I can see what is going on, so it is very busy, I can go there and help them. The secondary is the Back Office reporting is important as well. It shows me all the sales, I can export all the receipts and import them to Excel, play around with it and figure out which products are doing well and from what time. Would you like to share some advice for those who will start a business too? Make sure that you have two things very well. One is a good product, second is good business sense. The combination of both is very important. There are a lot of artists who have a very good product, but they might not have a very good business sense. For those people, I would say to try to read a lot, learning a lot about the businesses that are succeeded that are failed. To do a few business courses, meet some people and ask them questions. The people who have good business sense but not a good product, it’s even harder. For example, MBA, or bankers who have a lot of experience but have never run a coffee shop. So they have to become experts themselves, not only hiring the employees to do it for them but also being able to do it by themselves. Thank you so much!