“I always thought that this place had lots of potential, but it was a complete surprise to find it up for sale.” Chris Norris used to visit Opus Coffee Brewers multiple times per week. It was only when he was on the hunt for a physical location for his pre-made meal delivery business that it came across his radar as a business opportunity.
With the pandemic amplifying the already saturated pre-made meal market, Chris decided to put all of his energy into Opus. Giving it a full face lift, fit out, and new technology. Opus Coffee Brewers roll between 90-140 bagels per day, and offer a wide selection of baked goods, plus specialty coffee. That’s some 264,625 bagels and counting!
With a background as a chef and an expert in processes, Chris wanted to step away from the kitchen and manage the customer facing side of the business. It wasn’t until his fit out timelines blew out of proportion that he realised he hadn’t thought about a POS.
“We blew out our fit out times and once the shop was done we realised we hadn’t even setup our POS system. I remembered that Square Reader always blew my mind because it was so small. I knew I wanted it. Everything else looked ugly on the counter. Even to this day one in every ten people will comment on our (now) Square Register – It’s the little things.”
As Chris dove further into Square and business. He unlocked new revenue streams that he hadn’t intended to create. “The more I dove into Square the more I realised how handy and user friendly it is. I saw Square had a wireless Kitchen Display System (KDS), so I jumped on it. We also implemented Square for Restaurants for table layouts and Square Online for online ordering and pickup.”
“I didn’t realise how integrated everything would be at Square. When I pick a cappuccino i didn’t realise I could have that item linked to my till and website without making an entire new menu. It took us two days to setup the website, complete with images and everything. It was so easy compared to other providers. It has opened up a different stream of business that we hadn’t originally planned on creating.”
Chris credits the previous owners for setting up the business for success. “Having the original business definitely set us up for success. Opus was originally in a shipping container and the past owners grew the business from the ground up. Knowing their figures and that the concept was working helped us take over with a new energy.”
But, knowing that businesses need to evolve Chris looked for new ways to grow. “We still have a regular customer base who order online daily to pick up in-store and we’ve implemented $5 coupon codes which are placed in take away orders. The QR code directs people to our website to order with the discount.”
“The monthly report from Square allows us to see how many customers have ordered online vs through the coupons and in-house. We’ve come so far from what I thought was a booming cafe and I can see that sales are now up over 300% since we took over. And we’re about to open a new cafe. My dream is to move to Sydney and open a location there”
You can learn more about how Square can power your cafe here.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. For specific advice applicable to your business, please contact a professional.
