New industry, new venture for us.... but we're excited!!

[CareyJo]

I've had a little bit of chit-chat with @Lovewell and @TheRealChipA about our upcoming venture and we're getting much closer now to making it a reality, so I finally decided that I should join this group and start learning some things.  So, I'm looking for input.  On all the things.  But, first.... here's what I know and what I need to learn.

1.  I've got some experience.  I was a shift leader in a pizza restaurant for more than 3 years.  I ran the inventory there and the inventory in our current business.

2.  I've got over 35 years experience being self-employed.

3.  I ran the food program for 8 daycare locations in Phoenix many years ago and know how to shop in bulk, price shop and create menus.

4.  I've taught classes on how to make 30 meals in a day and shop for it.

5.  I was a manager in Tupperware and sold for about 5 years, I'm super at storage and organizing.

6.  I run our current business.  I manage every aspect of it but I know there will be new things that I need to learn.

What I know I need to learn, here in Square, that I haven't yet researched:

1.  Having a second business after already having one here.... something about more than one profile???

2.  Getting our POS system and learning all of the tools that Square offers, that will help me run our new business.

3.  Learning which of those tools will be most beneficial to us and how to utilize them to our greatest advantage.

4.  Lastly, what I don't know that I need to know.  For those of you in this industry, if you were to start over today, with what you know, what would you have done differently?  

Tell me... All. The. Things.

[VanKalkerFarms]

Congrats on the new adventure.

1. Sign up with a new email, create a Gmail account for the new business.
2.  I am fond of the Square stands with iPads, as you aren't locked into Square-specific hardware, as the iPad can be useful if the stand is phased out, but you can't use the fancy Square register for anything else other than Square.
3. and 4. Our bakeries aren't on Square, so I can't really help there (the Franchise has a mandatory POS (that is a true piece of S#..) but I would love to use Square in there and save thousands and thousands.

[CareyJo]

Thanks for the info.  We're an Android family and I hate Apple, so I may not go the route of an iPad but will consider it.  At least for us, if we don't use one, it would be no biggie because we wouldn't use it for anything else, so being 100% Square would be okay.  Sucks that you can't use Square at the bakeries!  I'm seeing more and more Toast systems in stores now that I'm paying attention.  The shop we're purchasing has an older Toast system in it that they want to sell with the building.  I said I don't want it because I don't think I could sell it and I fully intend to use only Square!

[ryanwanner]

@CareyJo Good choice with leaving Toast alone. I'm using Toast at the pizza shop I'm managing, and I'm really not a fan. The UI on the tablets is cluttered and not really designed for touchscreens (the dining options and employee chooser buttons are right next to each other and I continually hit the wrong one). The back office has a metric ton of reports but it seems like each one wants to spawn a new connection to the servers and there is no UI consistency. It's like the dev teams thought of something new, built it independently, and jammed it into the server code. And I won't get started on their fee structure......

[CinderBistro]

Like you, we're an Android family and use Android tablets for our KDS stations. However, we've also gone the route of using iPads with Square for Restaurants. I could be wrong but I believe it's just a matter of time before Square makes the POS available in Android. 

As for Toast, I've tried it (along with several other POS systems) and they couldn't pay me to switch. Seriously, even if the gave me their proprietary equipment, I wouldn't switch. 

Hope that helps.

[Lovewell]

So excited for you! 

[CareyJo]

Thank you!  We've made an offer on the building!!!!!! 😱

[Lovewell]

LET’S GOOOOO! 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[VanKalkerFarms]

It is just going to keep getting more real no.  Don't forget in all the stress and stuff to have some fun.

[Lovewell]

This has been a huge talk with my sister and I. We form the sake of our mental health and everyone around us let this business consume us. We have to continue to have fun! Have boundaries. 

[ChickenRacer]

Couple things from me, I just went thru this at the start of the year. So may work for you

- whatever web browser you use, create a seperate profile for each, that way you can have autofill on, passwords, and open both venues at the same time

- depending on your turnover, talk to Square about help with hardware and fee %'s

- manage your time (haha)

[Minion]

I feel like i've seen you mention it this month but I can't remember where I saw it but what venture are you going into, Was it a coffee shop?

[DinaLRosenberg]

Congrats!!! 

That is so exciting! No advice but good luck 🙂

[SVLFever]

Congratulations @CareyJo !

The advice I can give is;

• Use technology to your advantage and work smarter and not harder.   Use a system that consolidates your data and shares it for you automatically so you don't have to do "busy work".  For example, ShoGo is a 3rd party software that interfaces to Square and other POS systems that can consolidate your data into Quick Books.  It's automated and one less thing that I need to do.
• I see you mentioned "making an offer on a building".  If you renovate, no matter what your GC says, plan 10% to 20% for cost overruns.  You'll thank me later.
• Youtube is your friend.  I was asked to beta test Square for QubicaAMF and I had used the QubicaAMF software as my POS for over 20 years.   I learned as much as I could on Youtube before hand so I could hit the ground running.   

Good luck and we are all here to help as needed!

[doc_choc]

Congratulations and best of luck with the new venture.

For me I would say get good people around you in your team. We have a small, enthusiastic but highly motivated team. You can't do everything so have one or two super talented people at your side, it really catapulted our business. 

[ryanwanner]

@CareyJo Congrats on the new venture! Anything dealing with foodservice is the most rewarding, most soul killing, most frustrating, and most fun I've ever dealt with. Every day will bring something new, sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes financially horrible. But that connection you get to your fellow human makes up for everything bad you'll ever experience.

For Square, definitely have an intuitive flow to your items. This is even more important when operating an online ordering platform. For example:

Drip Coffee

     -Variations for cup sizes

     -Required Modifiers for coffee type

     -Required Modifiers for cream, sugar, etc

     -Optional modifiers for tweaks (extra hot, double cup, extra sweet, etc)

I do recommend investing in the upgraded online ordering sites if you're going to have them. Having the option for your customers to view and reorder prior orders is extremely nice to have.

Employees will be the bane of your existence. Be sure to trust your gut, don't be afraid to let them go if it's obviously not working out, and have well documented policies and procedures in place for them to follow.

And if you're needing a coffee supplier, I may know a guy... 😉