Ask a Square Champion: Devin with Fatback’s BBQ

[Tom]

Hello Sellers! 

I'm super excited to introduce you to @Devin3627 with Fatback’s BBQ! On August 25th, at 10am PT / 1pm ET, we're hosting a Q&A with Devin who will accept questions posted in this thread. Not only does he have nearly a decade of experience in the food & beverage industry—he builds websites & apps, and he's passionate about helping people start & develop their own businesses. Learn more about his story below:

Hey all! I’m super excited this week to host the Square Ask a Square Champion Q&A. To start, despite my age (21), I’ve been in the restaurant industry for over 9 years! I have had numerous experiences, from bootstrapping our own restaurant from the ground up, to serving and building others’ businesses through my marketing company. I am a fresh graduate from Samford University, where I studied Marketing and Entrepreneurship, while learning graphic design and software development all at the same time. Currently, I am a full time Software Engineer while still maintaining my duties alongside my parents restaurant.

That’s enough about me, because this week, I’d like to make it about you! We’ve possibly just gone through one of the most culture-shifting years in over a decade for not only our country, but the world collectively. In this “new” society that has bloomed, technology lives beyond the forefront of each of our days. Additionally, living styles, routines, patterns and habits of people have all changed–most of them don’t even go into the office on a regular basis anymore! So there are tons of things to think about when we talk about how to optimize your business and how best to reach your customers in this new-new digital age. 

I am welcoming any and all types of questions, whether it be about work-life balance, how to drive more customers using social media, or even how to create an appealing and enticing website. After all, this is a Q&A, so feel free to throw anything at me!

Lastly, I’d love to see you all there next Wednesday at 12pm CST! And if you can’t make it, feel free to reach out to me at any point @ devin@fatbacksbbq.com or you can connect with me via LinkedIn!

Example Questions:

• I want to turn my hobby into a full-time business, how will I know when the time is right?

• How can I improve my online presence and drive more customers to my website?

• How do you manage risks and decision making with your business?

Click Reply below to ask your question ahead of time, and he’ll answer as many questions as he can on Thursday, August 25th!👇

[Devin3627]

Super happy and excited to be here with you all! I can't wait to help(:

[TCSlaguna]

Awesome video! Congrats on earning your marketing degree! Looking forward to the event!

[Devin3627]

Thank you! I really appreciate it! I'll see ya there!

[pessosices]

Thanks so much for hopping on here, @Devin3627 , to answer some questions!

And your video was just fantastic too.

I'm super impressed by your story - definitely reminiscent of my own. 

I'm definitely curious about how you manage the full time software engineering gig on top of running the restaurant AND your own marketing company. It's hard enough doing any one of those three, but all combined is super impressive.

How do you balance the responsibilities and time commitments of all three?

What steps have you taken to simplify the restaurant business to make time for the others? And vice versa?

Which ones have had the biggest benefits to your life and your businesses?

What's something that's been on the top your list to do to improve your businesses but haven't gotten there yet?

Can't wait to hear more from you, and it's absolutely wonderful having you here with us!
Pesso

[Devin3627]

Hey @pessosices! Great questions, great questions! I'll respond here with a video soon!

[pessosices]

Thanks so much for all the kind words and the fantastic answers, @Devin3627 !

Really awesome hearing your experiences and wishing ya all the best in all the endeavors! 

[Minion]

Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do this Q&A for the Seller Community.

I know we have spoke before about some things, (yes, I have plenty of holes in my walls from running my head through them updating products 🤣) 

Anyways here are some questions that hopefully you are able to give your insight on.

Social Media is and will forever be now play a major role in business' success.  How does a business choose which platform to use?  Are there any free tools to utilize to get the most out of a social media post/campaign?  What are some ways a small company can compete with larger companies that are dropping thousands of dollars on marketing?

Marketing/Advertising is a necessity to business.  Is there, in your opinion a good amount or % that a company should aim at spending per year?  Or would it just be best for them to spend what they can afford?  

We appreciate your time  @Devin3627 

[Devin3627]

Hahhah, yes yes. I remember that issue! These companies really need to have a better way for this stuff!

Some great questions here, and it's always tough to know where to spend the right money at the right time, on the right things ahha! I'll drop a video with some stuff that's hopefully pretty useful to you and my take on marketing in this new new world. 

[Devin3627]

Hey @Minion! I hope the video helped a bit haha. Kinda big picture! But I hope it helps:). Let me know if there's anything you wanna drill deep on! I'd be happy to help!

[Minion]

Awesome Video no doubt @Devin3627 .  Very useful information throughout the whole video. Thanks again man!

[OurCupCakery]

Thanks for sharing your story.

Your presentation is super timely for us as we plan to adjust our business services and all the topics mentioned in your video are topics we are researching to implement.

Unfortunately I'll be driving at the time of your presentation but trying to see if I can at least listen in.

We are a unique Mom and Pop micro bakery that has 4 revenue streams: Weddings (30%) all occasion custom desserts (30%) events  (parties, classes and kids baking camps) (30% pre COVID) and a small store front (10%).  We've been in business for 17 years and moved into a new bricks and mortar space to expand events offerings 4 months before COVID hit.  We were fortunate to only be down about 24 % last year due to strong customer support, creating new products and delivery methods for events, and just working our buts off.

We started using Square 9 months ago because they added ecommerce.  Our Square Ecommerce is still on the back burner but we want to get it activated.  We've been using EZcaterer online for now.

We're planning to close our retail store operation and replace it with online ordering and pick up and MAYBE 3rd party delivery.  This will shift staffing to prep real orders and not potential orders. It will also provide us space to offer more classes that use part of the retail space.

Q What tips do you have for activating square online?

Is there such a thing as SEO like for a website?

Q We're trying to decide if we should move our web site to Square online.  I'm concerned if it's the right fit for us since we are pretty content heavy. Would we lose our rankings on the search engines with a new URL?  Our website is currently wordpress through Godaddy?

Q How to not pay 3rd party delivery fees when they say we can't change prices on those purchases.  We've been courted by many 3rd party delivery services but we've stayed away because of their high % fees and because we are primarily custom order and don't need to sell pre made baked goods sitting cases due to our unique serve method.

Q Online event registration and management.  We currently us Eventbrite and wonder if Square could accommodate that too.

We've got lots more questions but don't want to abuse your time.  Thanks again for your willingness to share your knowledge with the rest of the Square community of small businesses.

The OCC team where we 'Create Memories Tastefully"

[Devin3627]

This post touches my heart:). I may need a whole video just for this. I'll respond soon with a video to help clarify hopefully:)

[akreidly]

Thanks for taking the time to do this Q&A. 

My main concern and I heard this a lot from other food truck vendors who share the same pain point:

So many times especially at wineries breweries concerts etc customers order and then wonder around. It'll be great if square implemented an SMS notification letting customers know their order is ready for pickup. I'm referring to in person orders not online orders. Square response was: ask the customers who are standing in your face to order online! Really? Toast has that feature and square has it for their online ordering how hard is it to port that feature to in person orders. 

My question to you is, do you have any workarounds for SMS notifications? Pagers get lost and bullhorn isn't always effective. Thank you

[Devin3627]

Absolutely understandable! I have also had to do quite a few workarounds! I'll post a video and hopefully provide some insightful advice!

[Devin3627]

Hey @akreidly! I hope you find even a little bit of value in my proposal:). If there's anything or any help that you need pulling together a solution, I'd love to help out! Also, it was a bit confusing in the video, so feel free to pester me with questions.:)

[abbakery]

Will the event take place on this page? If not, where can I find the link?

[Devin3627]

Hi @abbakery ! Actually, I'll be responding to questions here! I will most likely record a response video to the questions since we can't yet do a live stream:)

[abbakery]

What is your favorite Square feature, paid or unpaid? I've been using Square a little over a year, and recently discovered the Team management upgrade which allows employees to send invoices in their own login which has been great for us. I'm sure there are many other features that I haven't discovered yet. 

-Shellane, Co-Owner of Apple-Butter Bakery, a family-owned community bakery that specializes in custom and wedding cakes. 

[Devin3627]

Absolutely! There are so many things haha! But I'll definitely drop a few in the video coming up!

[Devin3627]

Hey @abbakery! I hope you got to check out the video and see a couple of my fav Square features! On demand delivery is amazingggg! And Square online! Let me know if you have any questions!:)