Matthew Baysinger has a deep affinity for creating fun, shared experiences. As the CEO of the umbrella brand Swell Spark, which encompasses three recreational entertainment brands: Sinkers Lounge, Breakout KC, and Blade and Timber, Baysinger has been bringing family, friends, and communities together across the Midwest and Hawaii for a decade. And he uses Square to power the entire enterprise.
Blade and Timber, in particular, is an axe-throwing business with seven locations — the most of the three brands — and is especially popular with the communities it’s based in. Originally, Baysinger just wanted to create something “fun and out of the ordinary for the sake of entertainment,” but after reading customer reviews online, he quickly realized that he created something much deeper: a one-of-a-kind adventure that’s creating lasting memories and connections. For over eight years, Blade and Timber has relied on Square tools to build upon this adventure for customers and staff alike.
How it started: Going from concept to open for business in 60 days
According to Baysinger, the business initially started in an old warehouse in Kansas City, Missouri, to test the concept of beer and axe throwing to see if it’d catch on. “One of the beautiful things about Square is it’s so easy to get going quickly. We went from idea to open in probably 60 days back in mid-2017 as a proof of concept,” explained Matthew Baysinger.
One of the challenges he ran into early on was that certain jurisdictions required the business to serve food to serve alcohol. While Baysinger never saw himself as a restaurant owner, he had to pivot to maintain the integrity of his vision. This pivot meant new operational headaches, but he quickly found a solution in Square for Restaurants. “We had to learn, and grow, and expand to be able to run a full-fledged restaurant. The fact that we were able to do that using the same platform that we already had was a huge bonus to not have to switch around and do this whole other restaurant POS,” Baysinger explained.
The added complexity of including food gave way to other nuanced challenges, including differing tax rates for alcohol compared to food in certain jurisdictions. Baysinger cited that the ability to completely personalize and customize the POS system to their business made Square an ideal partner for the business as they expanded their concept.
How it’s going: Scaling to six locations in eight years
With the success at their home base in Kansas City, Blade and Timber blossomed into six locations in eight years. Baysinger cites the initial impact on staff as an integral part of creating the confidence to scale. “The fact that we can hire someone and onboard them on how to use our POS, and then within 48 hours we can have confidence that they’re going to be able to check a customer out, and to do so well, and to do so without mistakes [is huge],” Baysinger explained.
This confidence ultimately empowers staff to hit the ground running as locations come into play, equipping them with everything they need to do their job. “When we opened up the stores in Seattle and Hawaii, the consistency of how intuitive it is for anyone [new on our staff] coming in can be like, ‘Okay, yeah, this makes sense, because this was built for me,’” Baysinger added.
Another key component to Blade and Timber’s scaling journey is the ability to acquire customers with ease. According to Baysinger, 30-40% of the business’ sales are B2B invoiced sales, due to the fact that they handle a number of large events, including birthday parties and corporate outings. Baysinger notes that his industry has a lot of competitors that customers can always turn to instead, but the painless way Square Invoices has allowed him to capture sales has created a tangible impact.
We believe that if we can give customers the ability to pay faster [and more seamlessly] than other businesses, that we’re more likely to get those sales. Without Square Invoicing, we wouldn’t make it, really … As far as non-traditional, understated things that make a huge impact for us, that’s probably the one for us that has been a real game changer.”
Matthew Baysinger → Swell Spark CEO
The resulting impact: Testing and blending business concepts seamlessly
Using connected tools allows Baysinger to find operational efficiencies within each of his brands, like Blade and Timber, but it also allows him to find opportunities to bring some of his brands together. In October 2024, Swell Spark opened a new location that combined the brands Blade and Timber and Sinkers Lounge (a mini golf and cocktail lounge) into one.
“We have a single POS serving both brands now,” Baysinger said. “Having a platform where we can try new things pretty quickly and assess if they’re working or not in real time is a huge benefit. And we don’t have to onboard a whole bunch of new processes or technologies. We can just use what we already have,” he added.
Being able to lean into the Square suite in a variety of ways has been crucial for Baysinger as he manages Blade and Timber and the other Swell Spark brands. With multiple brands that have multiple locations, Baysinger can easily click between businesses and see real-time reports to keep track of the overall health of each business at any time. Whether he’s in a meeting in his office or going camping with his family, his entire enterprise is at his fingertips and it keeps him mobile, making it a bit easier to manage the demands of home and work life.
“There have been times when my wife will field a phone call as we’re driving to go camping. She’s able to use the Square Invoicing app on her phone to send a multi-thousand-dollar invoice and close a sale while she’s trying to keep the kids quiet in the backseat,” Baysinger explained.
“Square is built for real-time, and it’s built for real people … the fact that 95% of what we need to do on Square is also available on our phone from anywhere on Earth. It’s like, this is pretty good.”
