Case Studies

Tucked down a quiet side street in Perth’s CBD, MODU Bar & Kitchen brings a bold and vibrant take on Asian fusion dining. Inspired by early 20th-century Shanghai – known as the ‘City of Magic’ – owner Raymond Kwok and his team have created a venue that balances energy with elegance, tradition with innovation. “We wanted to create an Asian fusion venue that sits closer to the Asian side of fusion,” explains Raymond. “A lot of fusion spots tend to lean Western, but we wanted to stay true to our roots. MODU captures the magic and vibrancy of old Shanghai, bringing that mix of cultures and traditions into our food, cocktails and atmosphere.” MODU seamlessly blends traditional Chinese cooking methods with modern Western flair, crafting a menu that pairs perfectly with its innovative cocktails infused with Chinese ingredients. As the night unfolds, the venue transforms from an upscale lunch spot for corporate diners into a dynamic bar with live music. It's a destination where people gather, celebrate, and immerse themselves in an atmosphere that’s as refined as it is inviting. A polished solution for a sophisticated restaurant. As a thriving restaurant-bar in the heart of Perth, MODU needed a payment system that matched its style and sophistication. After struggling with traditional bank EFTPOS systems, MODU decided to make the switch to Zeller. “It’s been about a year with Zeller,” says Kwok. “Before that, we were with one of the big 4 banks, but we had so many issues – near-zero customer support, and having to do manual surcharge calculations was an annoying extra step.” One of the biggest selling points was Zeller’s competitive merchant fees and the (optional) built-in surcharging functionality. “With the big 4 bank, we either had to manually calculate the surcharge or press a special button on the POS system. Zeller makes it all straightforward – everything is automatically calculated. We don’t have to mess around with it.” MODU’s success with Zeller even led to Tony Roma’s, another venue owned by Kwok, switching to Zeller as well. Beautifully itemised bills keep the bean counters happy. MODU caters to a significant number of corporate clients who require precise billing transparency for expense claims. “The integration and clarity really help us,” explains Kwok. “Our POS system is Redcat, and having a seamless integration for things like tipping – where it’s clearly displayed on the bill – prevents discrepancies. If a finance department sees a $1,000 bill and there’s an extra 10% unaccounted for, that’s $100. Everything needs to match up, and Zeller makes that easy.” Striking the right ambience into the early morning. MODU’s atmospheric setting makes it an ideal spot for both dining and nightlife. With a 70/30 drinks-to-food sales split, the venue operates like a high-end bar while maintaining a full kitchen setup. “In the afternoon, corporate people come in for lunch. As the sun sets, it becomes a moody dining spot, and later it transforms into a late-night live music bar,” says Kwok. “Some people dine elsewhere and then come to us for after-dinner drinks or work drinks.” A partnership that powers growth. As MODU continues to evolve, Zeller remains a key part of its operations. With smooth payments combined with great customer support, Zeller has helped MODU focus on what it does best – creating an unforgettable dining and nightlife experience in Perth. “Zeller has been great for us,” says Kwok. “The EFTPOS system is seamless, and the customer support has been fantastic. It’s made our whole payment process much easier. I look forward to working with Zeller as we keep growing.”

First opened in 2022, Awaken Pilates and Yoga is a boutique fitness business that has already grown to three locations across Perth’s northern corridor – Yanchep, Ashby, and Mindarie. Founded by husband and wife duo Matthew and Gemma Taylor, the studios offer a mix of reformer Pilates, mat Pilates, yoga, meditation, and infrared sauna. We sat down with Matthew to learn the story behind the business and how Zeller has been able to play a small but positive role in its impressive growth. Building a boutique fitness community. “My wife and I have been involved in the fitness industry for almost 20 years now,” Matthew explains. “About three years ago, we started Awaken, a chain of boutique Pilates studios. We do everything from reformer Pilates to yoga and meditation, so we’re a fitness and wellbeing business.” Beyond instructor-led classes, Awaken offers 24/7 access so members can train independently. “We’re one of only a few in the country who do it,” Matthew says. “People get a 24/7 tag just like a gym. We’ve got screens set up where they can do on-demand classes, and the sauna is 24/7 as well.” At its core, Awaken aims to help members build a stronger connection with themselves, physically and mentally. “What we’re trying to achieve with the members is getting them to fall in love with fitness and focus on themselves,” Matthew says. “We’ve seen over the years how powerful it can be to have a positive relationship with yourself from a wellbeing perspective.” Making retail sales effortless with Zeller POS Lite. While most of Awaken’s revenue comes from membership fees billed weekly through their CRM system, retail sales (like grippy socks, apparel and protein powder) also provide an important secondary revenue stream to the business. Managing these sales efficiently, however, was a little tricky – until Awaken introduced Zeller POS Lite across all three studios. “A lot of our instructors are contractors who work across different studios.” Matthew explains. “So we needed a system that was super intuitive with no real training involved. Zeller POS Lite couldn’t be simpler. When someone wants to buy socks or some protein, the instructor just clicks on an image and it comes up straight away on the machine. They don’t have to work the computer or any sort of complicated point-of-sale system.” Stretching sales while reducing admin. The simplified sales process has made instructors more confident in processing transactions, leading to an increase in retail purchases. “Having that visual point-of-sale system on the EFTPOS machine itself just makes it a lot easier,” Matthew says. “Because it’s so easy to use, we find that the instructors are much more confident in selling the product for us instead of avoiding it because they don’t know how to use the machine or they don’t know the pricing of the product.” When the end of the month draws near, Zeller POS Lite’s in-built reporting function proves very useful. “We utilise the reporting function to gain a deeper insight into how our retail products are performing, what products are resonating with our members and where to better invest in our product offering for the future at each studio. This allows us to maximise the efficiency of our product management and also helps drive our marketing with relation to our retail products,” explains Matthew. Switching from Commbank to Zeller. Before switching to Zeller, Awaken used Commonwealth Bank terminals, but the fees and complex pricing structure quickly became a frustration. “I would never set up another business with a traditional bank again, because you’re paying a monthly fee and then all of your costs on top of that when you go above a certain amount. It actually is just a lot easier to have something like Zeller, which takes a little percentage on each transaction and has a nice, easy portal to navigate.” Beyond transaction fees, Matthew also found the process of upgrading or canceling bank terminals unnecessarily difficult and expensive. “They make it so hard for you,” he says. “You’ve got to pay for someone to collect it and all this sort of stuff. There’s fees and charges all the way through the journey.” A flexible, scalable solution. With transparent pricing, ease of use and a seamless experience for both instructors and members, Zeller POS Lite has helped Awaken eliminate banking frustrations while streamlining their operations. “We’ve got it sectioned into three categories – merchandise, casual sales, and supplements,” Matthew says. “It’s so simple for the instructors to navigate that, it works perfectly.” By choosing Zeller POS Lite, Awaken Pilates and Yoga has found a flexible solution that strikes the perfect balance between simplifying sales, empowering staff, and supporting business growth.

When Luke Stringer told people he was opening a new restaurant in an area surrounded by construction sites in the early days of COVID-19, people thought he was crazy. But fast forward four years and his modern Australian bistro brainchild is now a Sunshine Coast favourite, recognised by Delicious magazine as one of Queensland’s top steakhouses. We sat down with Luke to learn about the journey he’s been on with Market Bistro, and how Zeller has helped play a small but important role in that journey. Two hospitality veterans combine forces. When COVID forced Luke to return back to Australia from Indonesia, where he’d been running Mason, Fishbone Local and The Back Room for The Brett Hospitality Group, a chance conversation with famed Sunshine Coast restauranteur Tony Kelly paved the way for a future collaboration between the two industry stalwarts. "After long stints in high-profile venues in Melbourne and Brisbane, I moved to Indonesia to run some great fine dining restaurants over there” explains Luke. “But when COVID hit, I came back to Australia, and, being friends with Tony [Kelly] on Facebook, he saw that I was on the Sunshine Coast. He asked me to come on board to manage one of his other restaurants, Spero Greek.” “Within a short period of time we realised we were compatible and we wanted to do more together and he mentioned he wanted to open a bistro. As luck would have it, I actually had a bistro concept that I'd worked on a couple of years ago. So I showed him the idea I’d been working on and he said ‘Exactly that’. So we got to work to make it a reality.” Elevating dining in Maroochydore. Opting for local produce wherever possible, Market Bistro’s menu can best be described as a modern Australian take on a quintessential European-style bistro, specialising in woodfired steaks, fresh seafood, and house-made pasta. The vibe is casual yet stylish, elegant yet unpretentious. Staying true to classic bistro style, the restaurant doesn’t close between lunch and dinner, so guests can drop in anytime for a steak, caviar, crayfish, or a hearty bowl of pasta. The restaurant seats between 120 and 140 patrons and boasts a loyal clientele who return time and again. "The community has really embraced us and we’ve seen many of our regulars grow with us. First the wife is pregnant, then they’re in with a baby, then the baby is running around the restaurant. “I honestly hope in my heart that Market Bistro is the sort of venue that's still there in 20 or 30 years' time, because it feels like it could be. I want to see it become that reliable inner-city style institution where people go there, then their kids go there and so on. It’s very rewarding to grow with the community.” Ditching the ‘big 4’, switching to Zeller. After starting out with a traditional ‘big 4’ bank for EFTPOS payments, Market Bistro switched to Zeller competitor Tyro, but their widely-publicised outage in 2021 caused the business to reconsider its options. "Initially, we were with National Australia Bank. Back in the day, everyone went with a bank because that’s just what you did,” Luke explains. “But then new options popped up, like Tyro. This opened the door for people to stop going with banks by default. But when Tyro went down for three-weeks, we lost confidence in them and temporarily went back to using NAB.” “As a restaurant where 90% of transactions are through EFTPOS terminals , you need to know that if something goes offline, it’ll come back quickly. That’s where Zeller has really excelled for us. Their uptime and the ease of tipping within the Zeller system has been fantastic." Zeller – Australia's most reliable EFTPOS. With built in WiFi and SIM connectivity, Zeller Terminal boasts industry-leading uptime, plus: Fast nightly settlement to Zeller Transaction Account Built-in option for zero-cost EFTPOS Seamless tipping and digital receipts Integrate with Xero and 600+ point-of-sale platforms Low rates, no lock-in contract or monthly rental fees Learn more Reaching a tipping point. The move to tableside payments has been excellent for both restaurants and customers as it speeds up the process considerably, but a poorly-integrated tipping process meant diners were tipping a lot less. Thankfully, Zeller’s tipping function solved this problem seamlessly. "Tipping became difficult when people stopped signing at the table and started just pressing a keypad – it got lost. It’s just awkward to stand there after someone’s spent $500 and ask for a tip. A lot of tips were missed because of that – not because people didn’t want to tip but because they forgot or they felt like pressing the bank keypad was going to extend the awkwardness.” “I saw another restaurant using Zeller’s tipping function and thought, ‘Why aren’t we doing that?’ The NAB terminal we were using didn’t have that functionality. You had to awkwardly ask, ‘Would you like to leave a tip?’ which no waiter wants to do, especially not the business owner.” “Since switching to Zeller and using the tipping function, we’ve noticed a massive uplift in tips, at least 20-25%. It’s been amazing for my team, many of whom are career waiters. I’m in my 50s, and several of my key employees are too. We’ve been doing this for a living for years, and it’s nice to be rewarded for what we do." "Another phenomenal feature is the ease of splitting bills. We often get tables of 12 who want to split the bill at the end of the night, which can be a nightmare. Zeller makes it simple. You just key in the total amount, divide by the number of people, and take payments. It’s seamless." Luke also highlights the intuitive nature of the Zeller Dashboard, which makes it simple to track transactions and manage payments. "I’m not super tech-savvy, but it’s simple to log in and find what I need. That level of simplicity is invaluable."

Drawing inspiration from contemporary Japanese cuisine and dining culture, NONDA in Brisbane's Gasworks precinct reimagines traditional Japanese cooking with a modern twist and local flavours. The result is a menu that’s highly innovative yet deeply rooted in tradition. We spoke with NONDA’s manager Anna-Sophie Pinter to understand more about the popular eatery and how Zeller helps keep it running with Japanese-style efficiency. At NONDA, sharing meets caring. “Our concept is very open,” explains Anna-Sophie. “As soon as you look at the menu, it’s clear it’s all about sharing. That’s what we love. People come in — couples, friends, big families, or smaller groups — and they order whatever they like, throw it in the middle, and everyone gets a taste of everything. It’s just a nice way of eating.” NONDA’s sharing-style dining philosophy is perfectly suited to their menu of classic Japanese dishes reinterpreted into new favourites. Signature dishes include the wagyu steak with teriyaki butter and enoki mushrooms, and the crispy pork belly with potato floss and chilli bean sauce. Other highlights include the Mooloolaba king prawns in shiso butter and prawn head oil, and the eggplant tempura served with fragrant soy caramel and chinkiang vinegar. Each dish is designed with the seasons in mind, prioritising the use of fresh, local ingredients. “The name ‘NONDA’ itself is a celebration – that’s why our concept is rooted in sharing,” Anna adds. Dining in style. Housed in a moody, industrial-chic space, NONDA offers an ambiance where good food pairs perfectly with good drinks. Alongside a thoughtfully curated selection of wines, beers, and cocktails, guests can enjoy rare and unique Japanese whiskeys and sakes. Anna’s attentive team is always ready to help diners find the perfect match for their meal, and the level of service does not go unnoticed by customers, with many leaving a tip directly on the Zeller Terminal . “A lot of people tip to be honest, which is very generous. The inbuilt tipping function works great and definitely makes a difference,” explains Anna. Taking payments, tableside. As a Zeller merchant for two years, the restaurant has reaped the benefits of streamlined payment processing. “It’s fun to work with,” says Anna. “Zeller is very easy to use. We usually take payments at the table, which makes life a lot easier. All the calculating and stuff is gone, so we’re quicker and more efficient.” The sleek design of Zeller’s terminals also gets high marks from Anna. “I have to say, the old EFTPOS machines were like huge bricks you had to carry around. Zeller’s terminals are such a nice change.” More than a meal. For NONDA, dining is more than just eating, it’s about celebrating shared experiences. With its casual fine-dining menu and the support of Zeller’s innovative technology, NONDA continues to redefine what it means to connect over a meal in Brisbane’s bustling food scene. Anna sums it up best: “At NONDA, we’re about bringing people together. Zeller helps us do that even better by making the payment side of things seamless.”

Mother Mary is a one-woman baking powerhouse based an hour south of Melbourne on the Mornington Peninsula, cooking up cakes, crackers, biscuits, granola and more for her loyal fans and stockists. Wherever possible, Mother Mary Bakes opts for locally-grown produce and organic ingredients in all her products, delivering them across the peninsula several times a week. In addition to her mouth watering baked goods, Mother Mary also runs semi-regular baking workshops, often with a focus on the fine art of sourdough. We sat down with the founder of Mother Mary to learn about her business and why she switched her business banking from Westpac to Zeller. What’s the story behind Mother Mary? “Well, I should probably start by saying that my name is actually Hannah, not Mary. It was my grandmother Mary who got me into baking, and the business is named after her. When I was a teenager, nan and I would bake up all her old family recipes that had been handed down from her mother, and that’s when I fell in love with baking. I started the business as a bit of a hobby-slash-side-hustle with my cousin who also loves baking, and the thing that connects us both – as well as being great friends – is our grandmother, so when the name was first suggested, it just felt right. After several successful stalls at local markets, I decided to make Mother Mary my full time business. My cousin lives too far away for it to be a full time thing for her, but she’s always more than happy to do some taste-testing whenever she visits.” How did you set up the business? “Once we had our brand name in place, we got an ABN and headed off to our first market stall with a car packed full of goodies we’d baked in mum’s kitchen, a fold out trestle table and a metal cash box, thinking everyone would be paying in cash – but that didn’t last long at all. We quickly realised that less than half of our customers were carrying cash, but luckily most were happy to pay into my personal Westpac account using PayId on their phone. It wasn’t ideal, but it was workable temporarily. We noticed many other stallholders were using mobile EFTPOS readers, so we bought one of those pretty much straight away, although it wasn’t a Zeller one. It only took a few stalls for me to realise mum’s kitchen wasn’t going to be big enough if I wanted to make Mother Mary a full-time gig, and mum very kindly offered me the use of a shed at her place, suggesting I could turn it into a dedicated bakery. My partner is an electrician and lots of his mates are tradies too, so it wasn’t long until we’d connected power to the shed, added plumbing, plastered and painted the place, and fitted it out with ovens, benches, fridges and other equipment from Facebook Marketplace. So in a few months, the business grew from mum’s kitchen and a cash tin to a purpose-built bakery with a website and a way to take card payments. It stopped feeling like a hobby and instead felt like a proper business – it was very exciting. A few months later, tax time rolled around, so I connected with a friend-of-a-friend who’s an accountant. They were very encouraging about the business in general, but not overly delighted about the fact the business finances were mixed in with my personal finances.” You mentioned Westpac. What made you switch to Zeller? “Well, despite my accountant not being thrilled with it, I continued running the money side of the business via my personal Westpac account for a couple more years because…I guess I just didn’t have the time or energy to go into the bank and set up a business bank account . I know that sounds silly, but when you’re running a small business, standing in line at the bank with a million pieces of paperwork just isn’t appealing…so I put it off. Then a couple of years ago, a friend showed me her Zeller Account on her phone. I noticed there was money in the account, and I asked her which bank she was with. I thought the app was somehow showing her balance from her bank account. She explained that Zeller has its own transaction account built in, so you literally don’t need a traditional business bank account. Then she showed me her Zeller Terminal, which was much better looking than my old EFTPOS machine , and I thought, ok, this seems like a better solution, and it will make my accountant happy having things separate, so I downloaded the Zeller App then and there.” What’s your favourite part of the Zeller product suite? “I love that it’s an all-in-one solution, so I don’t need to be switching between multiple apps or tabs – it’s all in one place. As far as what’s my favourite part, well, I guess I switched to Zeller for the transaction account originally, then when I got the Zeller Terminal, I realised the transaction fees are a fair bit lower than what I’d had, and that was nice too. Another good part is the Zeller Debit Card . It means whenever I buy ingredients or petrol for the delivery van or anything else for the business, I just use that card and it’s immediately visible in my Zeller account, so it makes tracking my spending very easy. Virtual Terminal is also brilliant for taking orders over the phone, and I can send out payment links and invoices from the dashboard. Plus the business earns interest on its savings with the Zeller Savings Account. When you add it all together, it’s an all-in-one solution that does absolutely everything I could want it to and more. It’s so much better than what I had before.” What advice would you give to other small business owners considering switching? “Well, one thing I can say is that I absolutely detest paperwork, so the fact I could sign up for a  Zeller account without having to visit a bank branch or fill out any painful forms was a big plus. It was very easy to switch, it made my accountant happy, the tech is excellent…so my advice would be to just do it. When you run a small business, time is money, so I understand people thinking it’s easier to just stick with what you’ve got. But with the cheaper fees, the debit card, savings account, virtual terminal, invoices and everything else built into an all-in-one solution, it’s a no-brainer.”

Steeped in the historical infamy of Sydney’s Kings Cross, The Roosevelt has a colourful past going back decades. Originally operating in the 1940s and 50s, the venue was once controlled by the notorious underworld figure Abe Saffron – dubbed ‘Mr. Sin’ – whose powerful influence over Sydney’s nightlife included the original Roosevelt Club. Fast forward to today, and The Roosevelt has been lovingly and creatively reimagined with an American diner meets old-school nightclub-style aesthetic, and is now proudly under the stewardship of Ben Hickey and his partner Naomi Palmer. Hickey has been involved with the venue for over a decade, and since taking ownership eight years ago, has helped transform it into a destination for cocktail lovers, whiskey connoisseurs, and locals looking for a unique experience. Some of The Roosevelt’s most famous offerings are its signature martinis, served ice-cold and with plenty of panache thanks to the power of dry ice. “We do a lot of classic martinis, but we use liquid nitrogen to get the glass as cold as absolutely possible,” says Hickey. “So, you get a really, really cold martini, plus the effect of the liquid nitrogen smoke spreading everywhere.” Also a standout is the eponymous Roosevelt Blazer cocktail. “For this one, we use Diplomatico rum, plus PX that has been infused with date, fig and cinnamon, then serve it flaming at the table. It’s a great winter drink with the  kind of theatrical presentation people love.” A food menu with finesse While The Roosevelt is best known for its drinks, it also boasts a full food menu featuring a variety of share plates and main courses. Two of the most noteworthy (and droolworthy) options on the menu include the Sydney rock oysters with champagne mignonette and the sirloin steak with cannellini bean, leek, & black pepper jus, both popular choices for guests looking for a refined dining experience. Those with a sweet tooth might opt for the treacle and almond tart with Laphroaig whisky cream or the ‘Noir Nightcap’, made with Jameson Black Barrel, coffee, stout reduction and Frangelico, served affogato style over brandy ice-cream. Zeller’s Bill at Table: worth the wait. The Roosevelt’s relationship with Zeller started a few years ago when a friend of Ben’s suggested Zeller could likely offer a better rate than their provider at the time. “When we switched to Zeller, we got a really good rate, so that made the switch well worth it. But now Bill at Table is here it's even better, because it makes the billing process that much smoother.” Tipping the scales in favour of gratuity. Tipping has always been a nuanced topic in hospitality. “Tipping is always tricky. It depends on the group and the situation,” Hickey shares. “Some people always tip, some never do.” With Zeller’s Bill at Table, guests are presented with an itemised bill on the  Zeller Terminal screen before making payment. They can also choose whether they’d like to split the bill and leave a tip with a single tap. “People are definitely more likely to tip when they’re still sitting at the table. If they get up to pay, the feeling of traditional service evaporates and the magic is gone. The awkwardness is removed from the tipping process as the system prompts the tip, meaning the staff don’t have to. It’s seamless.” More covers means more revenue. Since implementing Bill at Table, The Roosevelt has experienced a tangible improvement in patron experience at the end of a sitting. “Before Bill at Table, we had way more people coming up to the till to pay. Or we would drop the bill off and then they’d be holding their phone – but were they ordering an Uber, for example, or ready to pay? It was often awkward,” Hickey reveals. “But with Bill at Table, there’s no ambiguity. It makes the experience much smoother.” For staff, the transition has been intuitive. “Most of our team has worked in hospitality for a while, and even if they hadn’t used this system before, it didn’t take them long to learn.” For The Roosevelt, the way Bill at Table streamlines the payment process makes for quicker table turnover and thus more patrons served. “Now pretty much 95% of our payments are taken at the table,” says Hickey. “On a busy night, when we’re doing 160 covers, the feature is particularly great. People don’t need to worry about their friends forgetting to PayID them or not having the right cash, the bill is settled then and there and then they’re off into the night – and we’re onto the next table.”

After a 20-year career shaking and stirring behind the bar and in the boardroom of some of Sydney’s most revered venues, Joong Charpentier is today the General Manager of Tanuki. Since its opening in January 2024, the Japanese restaurant and cocktail bar has become a wildly popular haunt in the harbourside suburb of Double Bay. Drawing on his wealth of experience in fine-dining restaurants, pubs, five-star hotels, nightclubs, and bars, Joong is leading Tanuki to success with a combination of the right team and the right tech. “My family immigrated to Sydney from Belgium in the early 90s and opened a French restaurant in Manly, so I’ve just always been around hospitality, ”  explains Joong Charpentier. After cutting his teeth as a kitchen hand, he worked his way up through back-of-house, front-of-house, and management, to where he is now, at the helm of Tanuki. Named after the mischievous raccoon dog, known in Japanese folklore for leading humans astray, the venue is an invitation to stay a little longer than you should. “It combines everything I love: cocktails, fine-dining, and an atmosphere that turns into a bit of a party later on in the evening. It has all those elements rolled into one,” Joong says. With those three elements comes the need for multiple teams and careful coordination in order to provide consistent quality and service throughout the venue. “Staffing is the biggest challenge,” says Joong, “Finding the right team members and maintaining consistency. Whether it's your product offering, trading hours, messaging, or back-of-house policies: consistency is key. And you need to find the right people to achieve that,” he explains. Thankfully, the hospitality industry is producing more professionals today than ever before, and offering them opportunities to learn and grow within the industry: “We invest time and energy into training our team members,” says Joong, “Because people now understand that this is a professional industry. You can apply yourself and have a successful and rewarding career, it’s no longer just a weekend job or something you’re doing to put yourself through uni." Parallel to the professionalisation of the industry, Joong has also experienced the shift in technology available to restaurateurs. Being able to access data today, enables venues like Tanuki to hone in on and optimise different areas of the business – from customer service to inventory management, and pricing. “The more information that we have on the way a guest likes to enjoy their time in the venue, the better the experience we're going to provide,” says Joong. “We use  SevenRooms  to manage our reservations. It syncs up to our point-of-sale system, H&L, and allows us to track everything the guest orders and allows us to make profile notes. So, if you come back in six months time and say ‘I had a really great wine here last time’, we’ll be able to track it down for you,” explains Joong. The flow of data between separate providers has been a key development in recent years, unlocking even more opportunities for hospitality professionals to speed up their processes and conduct richer analysis. One such integration was that of  H&L  point-of-sale system with  Zeller ’s payment platform, giving rise to  Pay at Table : a solution that allows wait staff to view open tables, see outstanding bills from across the entire restaurant, accept payments and close tables — all from one device, while keeping the point-of-sale free for other staff to use.

When the opportunity came up for husband-and-wife team, Briant and Monica, to take over a bar in Darwin City, they seized it, signing the contracts and opening the doors all within the same week. Discover how fostering a community and creating an efficient tech stack helped them get a stellar start. Holding down full-time government jobs in international marketing and law enforcement, Monica and Briant weren’t exactly planning on the career change that came their way in September, 2023. They were familiar faces at  The Last Supper , a bar and restaurant in Darwin City, where Briant had been running a comedy club on Friday nights. Monica had also become known for her  Pasta Parties  — a side hustle teaching people how to make fresh pasta. So, when the owner of The Last Supper decided it was time to sell, the couple were the perfect prospects. “When the owner approached us, our first thought was, why would we want a bar? That's a terrible idea,” laughs Monica. But, buoyed by the fact that their comedy and pasta class events were already attracting good numbers, they decided to take up the challenge. “We signed the paperwork on Monday, paid the money on Tuesday, got the keys on Wednesday and opened on Thursday,” explains Monica, “We hit the ground running,” says Briant. In just three days, Monica and Briant needed to get set up with a solution for taking payments and managing their money. Their natural first step was to open a  business bank account  with Commbank. “They really messed us around,” says Monica, “We had to go into a branch, we waited an hour for an interview, and then they wanted all this paperwork,” she continues, “We were already customers of theirs, and we simply wanted an account to deposit money into. They just couldn’t make it happen in time.” That’s when they researched their options and found  Zeller . “Monica literally just jumped online, and opened a  Zeller Transaction Account ,” says Briant. They bought  Zeller Terminals , and set themselves up with virtual  debit cards  on their phones straight away. “Setting up Zeller was very easy. We were able to provide all the company paperwork once we were already up and running. It was just so easy. So then we thought, well, why change?” Since then, they have continued to use Zeller as their primary financial management tool, incorporating a  Zeller Savings Account  to earn interest on idle funds,  Zeller App  to monitor sales when they’re not on site, and  Zeller Virtual Terminal  to take deposits for large bookings. The benefit of launching a business in today’s age means being able to build a tech stack with all the latest innovations, rather than dealing with incumbent solutions. From day one, Monica and Briant have sought to “work smarter not harder”, integrating a number of other platforms into the business. “As well as Zeller, we use  TryBooking  for our events,  Wix , for our website and to manage reservations,  Swift POS  is our point-of-sale, and soon I’ll use it for managing our takeaway orders too. Plus we use  Harvest  for time tracking,  Deputy  for rostering, and  Xero  for accounting,” explains Monica. Using technology to keep their operations efficient, has given Monica and Briant more time back in their day to work on the strategic aspects of the business. “A lot of what we do is about building community and connection,” Briant says, “Events are a big part of our business.” Indeed,  The Last Supper’s ‘What’s On ’ page offers an impressive line up, with no less than 46 events running over the last three months of the year: from comedy and karaoke nights to painting and cooking classes, gastronomic-themed parties, reading clubs, concerts, and more. “At the events, we walk around and talk to our customers. It’s quirky, it’s inviting. People love coming here and hanging out,” Briant says, “Some people who came in on the weekend for one of our Pasta Parties ended up making friends and stayed here for eight hours!” Briant laughs. By building a strong local following, Monica and Briant have avoided being reliant on the seasonal tourist trade that dictates the success of many hospitality venues in Darwin. “We thrived through the wet season, when the tourists weren't here,” says Briant. But the popularity of their events didn’t just happen overnight: Monica’s carefully defined marketing strategy has been instrumental in keeping people coming back. “We do a lot of paid socials. We've got an e-mail database that we've built up through events and through our website. We're very active on our Google Business Profile and that helps our SEO. And we’re part of a number of organisations, such as Tourism Top End and Hospitality NT,” explains Monica. While Monica and Briant have harnessed a variety of modern tools to help alleviate their workload and speed up operational tasks, it hasn’t resulted in a hands-off approach. On the contrary, it has enabled them to be even more hands-on in the areas that matter the most: getting to know their customers, building a community, and creating experiences that serve them again and again. Having just celebrated the anniversary of their first year in business, you can rest-assured, their last supper it most certainly isn’t.

This year, Zeller launched the inaugural Zeller Regional Small Business Grant , offering four regional Australian businesses a share in $10,000 to equip them with the technology, resources, and funding they need to succeed. Meet this year’s winners and learn how they will be using the money to grow their businesses. New point-of-sale hardware for a bakery in Warrnambool, Victoria. William Jane has been a baker for eighteen years. After doing an apprenticeship under the late Piero Brunetti – the founder and namesake of Melbourne’s iconic cake shop – William cut his teeth in bakeries across London, Chennai, and Byron Bay, before returning home and opening his business,  Jane Dough , in Warrnambool. Filling a gap in the market, the artisan baker quickly won the hearts of locals with a core range of doughnuts, pastries, and sourdough breads. Initially a wholesale-only business, the COVID-19 pandemic led William to add a retail arm, which has been increasingly gaining momentum since its 2020 launch. Despite having diversified the business, the rising cost of goods has put a significant strain on the bakery for the best part of the last two years. “We used to buy butter sheets for $200 a box, they’re now $350. And we’re constantly getting hit with 15-25% increases on the cost of flour,” says William, “It’s been way more challenging than the pandemic.” Thanks to the Zeller Regional Small Business Grant, the bakery will be able to upgrade its outdated point-of-sale hardware for the front and back of house, “Our current POS terminal is so old we can’t load the software onto it properly,” says William, “The grant will help us pay for a new tablet for the counter and for the staff at the back, as well as some new signage and awnings.” A water tank for a gin distillery in Foster, Victoria. By day, Jane Searle and Lisa Branch are teachers in Melbourne. By night, they’re gin distillers in the small Gippsland town of Foster. What started as a fun idea discussed over dinner, evolved, officially, into  South Gippsland Gin Co . in November 2023. “Before this, our only experience with gin was drinking it!” laughs Jane. “But we're both pretty driven, so we did some research and bought all the materials we needed, and just started playing around with recipes, infusing different botanicals into each run,” she explains. Since then, they’ve honed their craft, and now offer a range of four gins, each named after their favourite places in Wilsons Promontory. The women operate the boutique distillery from Lisa’s property in Foster, and have plans to open a gin school and a cellar door, but there are a few upgrades that need to happen first. “Each run of gin takes about 230 litres of filtered water,” explains Jane, “But the old dairy where we are operating from doesn’t have filtered water. At the moment, we either have to transport it from my house, which is a ten-minute drive away, or buy bottled water.” The Zeller Regional Small Business Grant will allow them to buy a rainwater tank and filter their water on-site. “That will be a game changer,” says Jane. A tech upgrade for a nursery in Gresford, New South Wales. Noel Jupp opened  Riverdene Nursery  in 1956, and has never looked back. The now 90-year-old continues to work seven days a week, sowing seed and propagating stock alongside his daughter Rosemary, who joined the family venture 34 years ago. The long-running success of the business can largely be attributed to Noel’s encyclopaedic knowledge of plants and his unwavering work ethic. “He's got a remarkable ability to recognise species,” says Rosemary, “and he used to put in a 16-hour day”. Over the years, the nursery has carved a niche for itself, catering to land care organisations or local councils that require native plants adapted to specific climates and growing conditions. While Noel is still very active in the business, his deteriorating health has forced him to slow down, and as a result, Rosemary is looking to improve efficiency in other areas: “Once upon a time, Noel would have wandered around and made a mental note of what stock was getting low,” shes says, “But now, we’re writing paper lists and then inputting them into an inventory system. It’s not efficient.” Thanks to the Zeller Regional Small Business Grant, they intend on purchasing an iPad which the staff can use to input the data directly while walking around the nursery. “It would just remove those extra unnecessary steps, and allow me to focus on other areas of the business,” Rosemary explains. A dining room refurbishment in Northcliffe, Western Australia. If you’re walking the Bibbulmun Track or riding the Munda Biddi Trail through the southwestern shire of Manjimup, there’s a chance you’ll stumble through the small town of Northcliffe, where Penelope Wood runs her restaurant – Naughty Noodle Bar. “We're a real end-of-the-line kind of place” she says, “It’s big forest country. We have luscious soils and we benefit from that coastal climate,” she explains. A climate that allows her to sustain her restaurant primarily using home-grown produce. Opened in 2021, Naughty Noodle Bar, caters mainly to the tourist trade, serving up a variety of fresh and seasonal meals, all cooked by Penelope. However, dwindling accommodation in the area combined with poor weather means that customers can be few and far between during the winter months. To bring in more revenue, Penelope has diversified her offering, opening up a bed and breakfast as well as a small antiques shop, but she’s seen a steady decline in the demand for antiques, which she attributes to online competition. Having been awarded the Zeller Regional Small Business Grant, Penelope intends to redecorate the room she was using as a shop into a more spacious dining room. “Having the budget at a time of year when income is really limited, is a huge help. It means I can take this opportunity to redo the space, and get it ready for the busier trading period over summer.” Zeller is here to support Australian businesses. Zeller is a Melbourne-based financial services company that gives Australians the tools they need to run and grow their businesses. From EFTPOS to accounts, cards, and invoicing, our tools are designed to make financial management simple and affordable, so that you can focus on what you do best. If you’d like to learn how Zeller can keep more money in your business,  find out more here  or  speak to a member of our Sales Team  today. Sign up to Zeller’s newsletter and follow us on   Facebook   and   Instagram   to find out when applications open for the Zeller Regional Small Business Grant 2025.

A new generation of beauty and hair professionals are forging their own paths, choosing to work independently rather than seek traditional employment. It’s a shift driven by new technology, social media, and a growing number of specialised co-working spaces. We spoke with Brisbane-based hairdresser Alandra Flatley and Melbourne-based skin and beauty therapist Emily Keane about their decision to go freelance, and how they're using technology, like Zeller, to streamline the transition. On first impressions,  Level 10, The Studio , in Brisbane’s inner suburb of Teneriffe, looks like a regular – albeit beautiful – hair salon. Clients sip lattes with a view out to the river while the team around them cuts, colours, and blow dries. What you don’t notice, however, is that most of the stylists are running their own business. This collaborative work environment, made up of freelancers, contractors, and a handful of employees, represents a significant shift away from traditional top-down business models, and one that is being embraced across the hair and beauty industry. The future looks good. “It’s the way of the future”, says  Alandra Flatley , a hair stylist who has been working from the space since November. After being employed in a salon for 17 years, she decided to go out on her own in early 2023 . “I just wanted more freedom and more flexibility,” she says. “I was keen to get out of that traditional environment and work somewhere where I could see the clients I wanted to see, work the hours I wanted to work, and be able to earn more.” Not ten years ago, this idea might have been a radical one, but with hair and beauty professionals now able to amass a network of followers (and potential clients) on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, and rent rooms or chairs within specialised workspaces – the barriers to entry aren’t what they used to be. Service over sales. For Emily Keane, a Melbourne-based skin and beauty therapist specialising in holistic skincare, the decision to become a sole trader was an ethical one. “When I was working for different spas and skin clinics, I wasn’t able to be authentic and fully care for the client,” she explains, “there was a huge amount of pressure on sales… we were told to get customers in for as many treatments as possible as often as possible, and then upsell any sort of products that would work for them… the sentiment was, ‘no matter what treatment they are getting, there's always something to sell them’. Which I just don’t agree with,” Emily says. It came down to the choice to either pivot into beauty education or open her own salon. She chose the latter. After leaving full-time employment, Emily launched  Cared for Skin & Body  from her rental in Caulfield North. “I really expected there to be way more roadblocks… but it just all kind of happened very quickly,” she says. “I can create my own rules and tailor everything to the client, rather than making them fit the box that suits the business.” – Emily Keane New tech tipping the balance. Indeed, both Alandra and Emily are amongst a cohort of first-time business owners who are benefitting from the latest tools and technology available to help them get set up. “Technology is affording so many more opportunities and giving people so much more freedom,” says Alandra, “We’ve got keyless entry into the co-working space, everything can be digitally locked, and there’s so much support now with companies like  Zeller  for managing your finances,  Hnry  for filing your taxes,  Timely  for booking appointments…” she explains. Emily, who also uses Zeller and Timely, agrees, “It's a lot easier now. Services are way more accessible for everyday people who aren’t tech wizards or have studied business. There's a lot of guidance within the companies as well, and a lot of support, so you don't need to be an expert in everything… You can give it all a go and you learn very quickly.” Flawless financial management. When it came to managing their finances, these digital natives were both quick to choose Zeller, citing the ease of creating an account online and the ability to manage their funds all in one place as motivating factors. “I also loved the fact that the  EFTPOS terminal  was such a good price and that I got a bank account and a debit card attached to it,” says Alandra, “Plus the  Zeller Savings Account  has such a good interest rate. So I started putting my tax and GST money in there each week.” Emily agrees, “A lot of what I needed was integrated within just the one tool which has been really important to me. I can do everything primarily through Zeller, including putting money away for tax and savings. It's very easy to keep my finances organised and see what's happening within the business,” she explains. As for accepting payments, Zeller’s range of solutions has also helped give them the flexibility they need for their modern businesses. For Alandra, accepting payments on her smartphone with  Tap to Pay  has given her one less device to charge (or forget at home!), while for Emily, it’s facilitated taking payment on the go when she does product drop-offs at her clients’ houses. Additionally, Zeller’s  online invoicing  solution has meant Alandra can charge the salon when they need help with extra clients, and  Zeller Virtual Terminal  lets Emily send payment links to customers who wish to pre-pay for their appointments or buy gift vouchers. The beauty of being able to accept all their payments and have their money settled nightly into their Zeller Account, means that they get a clear overview of their incoming and outgoing funds. “It shows me more in-depth information on where my money is coming from. I can track my sales and see what days are more popular,” says Emily. “Sometimes I might want to try a specific product but I'll wait until I see my cash flow for the week on  Zeller App  before deciding whether or not I should hold off on the order,” says Alandra. Everybody wins. Armed with modern apps like Zeller, these fiercely independent businesses are able to function efficiently and affordably – which in turn, reduces the pressure on bookings and sales. Both women agree: a lot more income can be generated by working alone. But it’s the clients who are the real winners. “Some people just want to come in and relax. It's a special treat. They don't want to be sold a bunch of stuff or be pressured to rebook at the end. They should be able to just enjoy that experience,” explains Emily. Similarly, Alandra believes that having independent stylists creates more accountability: “If you’re employed, you’re getting paid no matter what. But I know I’d prefer to have my hair cut by someone who really wants to be there, rather than someone who is just showing up for work.” By doing away with outdated sales tactics and sidestepping operational barriers thanks to new technology, these entrepreneurs are taking a modern and refreshing approach to business. And it’s reaping benefits for both them, and their customers.

When an architect and a banker met while volunteering at a charity raising money for cancer, it set in motion a friendship and a project that has helped rehome over 1,800 families in need. We sat down with Renuka Fernando and Ben Stammer of Sydney-based not-for-profit,  ReLove , to talk about addressing a social problem with an environmental solution, and how Zeller is facilitating new revenue streams for the organisation. For the past six years, power duo ‘Ren and Ben’ have been active participants in the not-for-profit sector in Sydney. Having met running and volunteering at  CanToo , they quickly realised their heads were in the same place. After accompanying a fundraising group to the New York Marathon, they went on to set up a social running group that offered participants practical ways of giving back to the community. The Run for Good Project kicked off at the end of 2019, connecting runners with local grassroots organisations that help people in need and address important social issues including homelessness, asylum seekers, domestic violence, mental health, and First Nations causes. Home truths. When COVID lockdowns scuppered their social running plans, Ben and Ren held steadfast, finding new projects and initiatives to mobilise their community. While the stay-at-home orders were a good impetus for some to spring clean their homes and replace outdated furniture, for others less fortunate, it exacerbated a housing and domestic violence crisis. “We just connected the dots,” explains Ren. “We had gone out to visit one of the women's refuges in Sydney, and realised that, while people could still access social or transitional housing, they lacked the resources to set up a home,” she says. The duo began collecting donated furniture and homewares from friends and family with the goal of helping set up five women. Three years later, their initiative has evolved into ReLove , a registered charity and critical support service in Sydney that has helped rehouse over 1,800 families. “We thought it was a COVID problem, but it turns out it's actually a really critical problem that continues today,” says Ren. Recycle, reuse, ReLove. Since it began, ReLove has saved over 2,250 tonnes of furniture and homewares from going into landfill. “We've created an environmental solution to a social problem,” explains Ren. ReLove collects commercial grade furniture and homewares at scale from corporate relocations, companies with excess stock or return stock, hotels, film sets, property stylists, and individuals. Thanks to an army of volunteers, donations are sorted, stored, and distributed in the charity’s warehouse in Sydney’s South East, also known as the ReLove Free Store. It’s here that people who have been referred to the organisation by caseworkers can walk around and pick out everything they need to set up a home, for free. “We want to give people this really joyous experience… and allow them the opportunity to picture a new life the way they want it,” explains Ren, who says that 75-80% of the people they support are women who have experienced homelessness or domestic violence. Keeping the lights on. While ReLove is well on track to reach its goal of supporting 1000 families this year, the founders’ dream to scale the organisation nationally, starting with Melbourne and Brisbane, is at the mercy of funding. “It costs us half a million dollars a year just to pay the rent,” explains Ren, "but we can’t do what we do without a warehouse.” With the exception of six professional removalists and one operations manager, ReLove is entirely volunteer run, but it can’t stay that way long term. “We can't maintain and scale and make this national until we get funding to pay some staff,” says Ren. Philanthropy, grant rounds, and corporate sponsorship account for the majority of the organisation’s current funding, but Ben and Ren are actively building out alternative revenue streams that can generate income and help keep the lights on. In the past year, ReLove has begun running fundraising events and corporate volunteering programs, selling merchandise, and launching its Shop for Good – a store offering a selection of donated furniture pieces, which can be purchased by the public online or from the warehouse. Tap to pay it forward. Keeping costs down while also streamlining and maximising opportunities to take payments was what led Ben and Ren to Zeller . “We watch every single dollar,” says Ren, “and Zeller’s fees were way lower than what we were paying with the bank.” When they launched their first event in November last year – attended by 220 people – they needed a solution to accept payments for raffle tickets, merchandise, donations, and silent auction purchases, without footing the bill for dozens of EFTPOS machines. “We had our 20 volunteers using their phones to accept payments with Tap to Pay ,” explains Ben, “the ability to scale it up really quickly was fantastic.” Rather than paying for a single EFTPOS machine, the group simply had to download the Zeller App on each of the volunteers’ phones and enable the function. “That flexibility has been brilliant,” says Ren, “We also use Zeller to take payments at the Shop for Good and because we have so many volunteers, it needs to be simple. Zeller is so user friendly. I love it.” Lower fees and flexibility. Ben, who has spent over thirty years in investment banking, including a 17-year stint at Deutsche Bank, is no stranger to the financial sector. It didn’t take him long to recognise the shortcomings of the big four banks in providing not-for-profit organisations with the support they require. “The monthly fees, the ongoing transaction fees, and just the lack of flexibility were the reasons we switched to Zeller,” he says. “At the bank, for something as simple as switching on or off surcharging , you have to make a phone call, you can’t do it on the app… or when we needed to roll over an existing term deposit into a new one, we had to provide board approval. It’s just too much,” he explains. ReLove settles funds into Zeller Transaction Account and sweeps any excess funds into a high-interest-bearing Zeller Savings Account . “Setting up our Zeller Account was very very easy and straightforward,” says Ben, “Plus our team also uses Zeller Debit Cards as fuel cards, and they work really well for us.” The missing link. Working with limited financial and human resources, charities and non-profit organisations have a pressing requirement to identify and mitigate inefficiencies or profit leaks. As Ben and Ren have uncovered in their work, one missing part is enough to undermine a whole. “There’s a lot of funding that goes into crisis programmes around mentorship and trauma recovery… but none of it works when you're sleeping on the floor,” says Ren. Finding the missing links – in society, as in business – is the key to success, and so far, the founders of ReLove have demonstrated a remarkable aptitude for doing just that.

A varied cultural programme with multiple venues poses a unique set of challenges for event organisers, but it shouldn’t for payment providers. For more than 60 years, Adelaide Festival has been delighting audiences with a mix of theatre, music, dance, writing, and visual art from local, national, and international scenes. The two-week long event – which encompasses both Adelaide Festival and Adelaide Writers’ Week – has become an unmissable event on Australia’s cultural calendar and this year’s record numbers are testament to its ongoing allure. Bank services in terminal decline. Just one month out from the launch of the 2024 season, however, administration and payroll officer, Prue Miels, found herself in somewhat of a dilemma. As online ticket sales flew out the door, venues geared up for the influx of visitors synonymous with ‘Mad March’, and international artists and authors prepared to make their long voyage over to South Australia, the festival’s finance team were scrambling to find a way to accept in-person payments. “Our bank just told us, we're not doing this anymore, we're moving to another provider. They'll look after your short-term rentals,” explained Prue. “But when I contacted the new provider, they informed me that they only offered 12-month rentals,” she continued, “Yeah, great.” Zeller takes centre stage. For a not-for-profit organisation whose event runs for two weeks of the year and requires at least seven EFTPOS machines , paying monthly rental fees for these to sit in the cupboard for 11 months was out of the question. And so it was that they found Zeller , “I thought it was too good to be true,” says Prue, who was able to get a Zeller Account set up online instantly and terminals delivered within a few days. “It really saved us,” she adds. In an industry where decisions are made fast, and often at the last minute in the lead up to launch date, having a merchant facility that can be flexible and agile is essential, but increasingly difficult to find. Goodbye receipts and spreadsheets. As a government-run entity, Adelaide Festival is audited by the Auditor-General, meaning that every transaction needs to be accurately accounted for and able to be explained. Up to as late as last year, the process for this required Adelaide Festival staff to print and store every single EFTPOS receipt, after which it was Prue’s laborious task to reconcile each one. “I used to have about 20 brown paper shopping bags full of receipts, which I would have to go through and sort into date order,” explains Prue. “It wouldn't always line up… for example, if someone borrowed an EFTPOS machine from the book tent and used it at the box office without taking note of the machine’s merchant number, we’d have no way of knowing what transactions came from where. It was so much work,” she explains. Raising the curtain on efficiency. With Zeller Dashboard, every transaction can be stored and tracked in one convenient, easy-to-access online portal. The transaction amount, type, status, date and time, and site (where the transaction was processed) are all viewable and filterable. Plus, each transaction can have a receipt, transaction note, tag or category assigned to it to assist finance teams with reporting. “It's all so much easier now, because I can log in to Zeller Dashboard and look up the transaction,” says Prue. “We’re no longer guessing, so there’s much less chance of human error,” she says. No longer having to print every EFTPOS receipt has also helped align the payment process to the festival’s sustainability goals, “This year is the first year we’ve actually saved paper,” says Prue. “To say I am excited about Zeller is an understatement. It’s been so great.” More than a support act. When events are planned year-round, but their window for generating revenue is limited to the few days or weeks that the event runs, organisers simply cannot run the risk of losing sales to unexpected issues. It’s in this regard that Zeller’s local support gave Prue and the team peace of mind. “Someone came in and sat down and helped us set things up. That was just phenomenal,” Prue says. Having spent the last five months trying to change the authorisations on their bank-issued credit card, Prue is accustomed to the state of play with traditional banking services. “It’s just been so nice that Zeller is Australian and that there’s a person you can talk to. It was amazing customer service.” Powering Australia’s event payments. Adelaide Festival stands as Australia’s premier international festival, each year delivering a city-wide programme that spans two weeks and more than 25 venues. While operationally speaking, events of this scope and size pose their own set of challenges, Australian financial institutions have an important role to play in supporting them. Today, new payment technology can offer event organisers more flexibility than ever before, with an increasingly granular overview of sales data, which can be used to inform strategic decisions for the future. Zeller understands the needs of events-based businesses and is proud to be working hand in hand with them to support their growth.

Starting your own business is a daunting undertaking for anyone, but arguably more so when you’re doing it solo, in a foreign country, at just 24 years of age. But Sebastian Fernández Mackenzie has done just that, launching a mobile car washing venture after noticing a gap in the market. Turning to Instagram, Airtasker and Zeller to market his business, find customers, take payments and manage his finances, this digital native is setting the tone for a new generation of app-wielding entrepreneurs. Where others may have seen red tape, prohibitive overheads and an unknown market, Sebastian Fernández Mackenzie saw an opportunity. The young car enthusiast moved to Melbourne from his native Chile in 2021, following his partner who was relocating there to study. “I wanted the time that I have here in Australia to be spent doing something I really like,” he explains. “I love cars. When I was younger, my dad was always restoring cars, I used to help him clean them and polish all the parts,” he explains. Having learnt how to detail his own car from YouTube videos, he began offering the service to his family. It wasn’t until he arrived in Australia, that the hobby evolved into a business idea: “I realised that there were a lot of mobile car detailing businesses, but very few that also provide water and power. That's where I saw there was an opportunity. So I thought, “I’ll just go for it.” Shoulder to the wheel. And go for it he did, at full throttle. He worked for two years as a food delivery driver and a labourer on construction sites and unloading shipping containers to finance the business, then bought a car and sourced all the materials, “I had to buy the hoses, the air compressor, the generator, the water tanks, the cleaning products… all that came to about $3000.” Eventually he registered his ABN under the new name, Seb’s Mobile Car Wash . Then he started building his network, through word of mouth and by applying for jobs on Airtasker – an online platform that connects people who need tasks done with skilled workers. But he wasn’t in a hurry to recoup his costs just yet, he was prepared to work for free simply to help him build up his content, “I just wanted the opportunity to take photos that I could post to Instagram,” he explains. Rather than a website, he plans to use Instagram to build his following and drive new business to his online booking system. “I want there to be a lot of communication with clients through social media,” he explains, “Eventually I’d like to start sharing car detailing tutorials as well”. Premium service down to the last detail. While Seb is still growing his social media presence, his dedication to premium quality service is what has already gained him a steady stream of loyal clients, including a team of Albert Park real estate agents. When they entrusted him with a 2023 Porsche Cayenne GTS, Seb couldn’t pass up the opportunity to give it the full detailing service, for the price of a regular wash. “They were stoked with the service,” he says, “They knew I’d given it the attention it deserves and cleaned it the proper way.” For those less automotively informed, the “proper way” to wash a car is to use cleaning products specifically fit for purpose. “You have to use a pre-wash to remove the dirt, then a soap, a special cleaner for the wheels, for the glass, for the seats,” says Seb, “When you go to bigger commercial hand car washes, they buy their products in bulk, and most of the time, they’re made with strong chemicals that can be really harmful for the paint,” he explains. For Seb, attention to detail also extends beyond just the car; he leaves his customers small gifts such as bottles of water, mints and lollies, and ensures his clients never receive the same gift twice. Driving positive cash flow. To complement the seamless customer service, Seb adopted Tap to Pay with Zeller App as soon as it was released in Australia. He knew that this technology – that lets you use your smartphone like an EFTPOS machine – had been available in the US for a while, so when Zeller announced its launch in October, 2023, Seb signed up immediately. “I’d already spent thousands of dollars on setting up my business, I didn’t want to have to pay for an EFTPOS terminal . I’d rather spend that money on cleaning products, plus it’s not convenient for a mobile business” he explains. Before using Tap to Pay, Seb was receiving payments in cash, via bank transfer and via invoice, but none of them gave him the security or the convenience he was looking for, “Back then I didn’t have my regular clients, I was sending invoices to people I’d just met. I’d have to send reminders, and one person took three days to pay me,” he explains. “I don’t like to carry cash, and I don’t want to have to send people to an ATM.” Now his clients simply tap their card or mobile wallet to his phone, and the payment is processed instantly. Meticulous money management. Having signed up for Zeller on his phone while on a lunch break, he knew that managing his finances through the platform was going to be simple: “I just followed the link and started signing up. It was really easy. It wasn’t a headache with lots of details and IDs and stuff, it was really quick.” Now he manages all his business finances from his phone using the Zeller App . “I settle funds into the Zeller Transaction Account , it means I don’t have to wait for them to be transferred to another account. It’s really convenient,” he says. Being a foreigner, he’s extra cautious about declaring his income, and ensuring his finances are in order: “I don’t want to have any issues with taxes. I want to keep a clear record of all my transactions,” he says. As such, his Zeller Debit Card is loaded into his mobile wallet, which he uses for all business-related expenses and to which he can upload notes and receipts to help his monthly reconciliation. For sole traders and entrepreneurs like Seb, modern apps are removing the barrier to entry to launching a business. Where once it would have been near impossible to open a business bank account without extensive paperwork and branch visits, Zeller now lets you do it from your phone in a matter of minutes. And while it would have once been inconceivable not to have a website, online platforms like Instagram and Airtasker are proving more than sufficient at driving awareness and finding new clients. As is the case with Tap to Pay, more tech tools are still emerging that are changing the way we approach doing business, paving a new frontier for entrepreneurs and business owners of the future.

When Som Banerjee first visited the Sydney Produce Market, he was dressed in his regular business attire. At four o’clock in the morning, he was shadowing the buyer of his new venture – Johnnies Fruit Shop. By 9am, he was clocking on for his day job as Head of Operations at a global data, analytics, and technology company. While his profile might not fit the traditional bill of a greengrocer, Som’s strategic approach may be exactly what’s needed to revive this small business to its former glory. “You’re going to have to change your boots!” exclaimed the flower vendor to Som, at the sight of his dress shoes amongst all the vegetable scraps and market debris. It was September, 2023, and Som Banerjee was learning the ropes from the produce buyer for  Johnnie’s Fruit Shop  – the business he had just acquired. Located on Avenue Road in Mosman, the shop has been a local institution since 1962, when Cristina (still the current landlady) and her husband laid the foundations for what would become a trusted and dependable place for locals to source fresh fruit and veg. Jimmy’s legacy. When Jimmy and Toula Koustoubardis took over the shop in 1984, they filled it with oregano, olive oil, and a palpable Mediterranean warmth from their native Greece. Johnnie’s quickly became synonymous with Jimmy’s and the shop enjoyed continued success for thirty five years, thanks in equal part to the family’s good nature, the quality of their produce, and the iconic 60s décor for which people would cross the city to visit. However, when Jimmy and Toula finally retired in 2019, the two consecutive owners failed to keep the couple’s spirited legacy alive, removing much of the shop’s historic charm and losing many loyal customers in the process. Then arrived Som. Having spent twenty two years in the corporate world, working in financial services in California and New York, private equity and hedge funds in the UK and Turkey, and technology and data and analytics since being in Australia, Som’s most recent career move is indeed a surprise. “I had been looking for something that would give me a sense of fulfilment, carrying on a legacy and serving the community, ” he explains. Even before Som had put pen to paper on the purchase of Johnnies Fruit Shop, he was already in communication with locals. “Everybody talked about how disappointed and how saddened they were when Jimmy left the business,” Som says. With such big boots to fill, it’s lucky he is more of an Oxfords guy. A people-first approach. The first thing Som did when he took over the shop was implement the feedback he’d received from the locals: “The new owners had renovated it so that it now looked more like a supermarket. They said, "If we need to go to a supermarket, why would we come here?” Unable to revert the interior back to its much-loved 60s style, he instead hired a local mural artist to come in and decorate all three walls. He added shelves, and brought back some of the pantry essentials that had been discontinued. Then he printed out business cards asking customers what they would like to see at the shop. “I said please give me your honest feedback, here's my number, send me a text or an e-mail… And quite a few customers got back to me. That was very heartening” he says. Som’s people-first approach doesn’t stop at his customers. He’s retained all the staff and has even brought back an eighth-grader – whose contract was terminated by the previous owners – as his social media manager. Even though optimising the business’s efficiency is high on his agenda, he wasn’t willing to draw the line at the long-serving staff, Roy and Louie, both in their late 70s, who have been working in the shop for the last 20 and 40 years, respectively. “This industry and this community attracts an older demographic, and getting them to change is quite challenging. So, I just have to adapt to their ways of working.” he explains. The freshest tech. Knowing he needed to cater to an older demographic was one of the reasons he was initially attracted to Zeller. He was looking for a payment terminal that would be easy to use, and where the numbers on-screen were clearly visible. “Also, as the owner, I wanted to be able to access the data and analytics coming out of the terminal,” he adds. Coming from an operations and technology background he was quick to see the advantage of managing all his finances through Zeller: “I was very impressed,” he says of his initial conversations with the team, “Then when I saw the dashboard, and how easy it was to open an account, and the ability to pull reports and see day-on-day transactions, I knew that Zeller was the right fit.” Service you can bank on. It wasn’t a snap decision though. Som conducted a comprehensive comparison of financial services providers, boiling it down to three finalists: Westpac, Suncorp and Zeller. What sealed the deal was Zeller’s flexibility and accessibility: “The banks are large, bureaucratic organisations. They’re not catered to serve small businesses. I tried to open an account with one of them, but it meant going into a branch. I'm working 9-5, they're open from 9-5. When do I go?” he explains. Now, Som manages all his finances through Zeller: money that comes through the EFTPOS Terminal is settled into his Zeller Transaction Account each night, ready to be spent on his Zeller Debit Card the next day. “The funds are always there. There's never been a delay and it is so easy to transfer. I don't really see a need for settling into a different bank account when everything can be consolidated in one piece and that helps with my reporting as well” he says. Apples and oranges. Som logs into Zeller two to three times a day to see how the sales are going and to analyse any trends. “When I go onto the dashboard I can see how sales are tracking compared to the same day of the previous week, if it’s different, I can question why… Already I’ve noticed that weather is a big factor. This demographic is a bit older, and if it’s raining outside they don’t step out. So I'm trying to counterbalance that by seeing if I can deliver.” It’s clear that what Som and his predecessor, Jimmy, don’t share in history, they make up for in their desire to serve a community. “I really do want to serve the needs of the customers who have been coming to this shop for such a long time,” says Som. He doesn’t have 35 years of local knowledge, but he does have an eye for technology that can help him quickly understand the likes and dislikes of this tight-knit community. You can’t compare apples with oranges, but you can be sure you’ll still find the best at Johnnies Fruit Shop. To read about other Australians growing their businesses with Zeller, head to the Zeller Business Blog and sign up to our newsletter to receive stories straight to your inbox.

From splitting payments to surcharging, tipping and sending digital receipts: the functionality of the modern EFTPOS terminal goes above and beyond just settling the bill. We sat down with Bradley Olsson, owner of the Ascot Vale Hotel and Mona Castle Hotel , to talk about using Zeller EFTPOS Terminal, and what specific features have changed the game when it comes to processing payments at speed, improving customer experience, and tracking sales. Payment technology has come a long way over the last ten years. How has your current payment terminal made your experience better than what you’ve used in the past? Bradley: When we started, we were just using the EFTPOS terminal provided by our bank. We were having to deal with a lot of paper dockets, which meant constantly keeping track of them and storing them. We did that for the first 6-12 months, but after a while it just got too hard. When we moved to Zeller the whole process became a lot more streamlined. We were able to send receipts via SMS or email, while still having the option of printing them if a customer wanted one. It meant we only had to have about 10 rolls on site. That was definitely one of the biggest improvements on our old system. How does tracking sales via the payment terminal help you run your business day to day? B: With such fast-paced venues, especially the Ascot Vale Hotel, our staff don’t always have time to put orders through the POS. We have six or seven Terminals, and when it gets really busy, they just get passed around, it’s like hot potatoes. So, it’s crazy how big the discrepancy can be; sometimes, at the end of the night the EFTPOS terminal will have recorded upwards of $6000 more than what has been processed through the POS system. Being able to track the sales through Zeller allows us to reconcile them against those that have been put through the POS, which helps a lot with our P&L at the end of the month. In what ways does Zeller Terminal help you deliver a better customer experience? B: The interface is a lot clearer for the customers. They can see what they're paying for, including the surcharge that's involved. Our bank terminal had such a small screen, plus you’d always have to plug it in, whereas Zeller Terminal is just much more approachable. Zeller has recently introduced a ‘Split Payments’ feature, how has this improved the payment process in your pubs? B: In our dining room which seats about 60-70 people, it really helps. If things are busy, the last thing you want to do is start adding things up in your head. With [Zeller Terminal’s] Split Payments you're just able to offer your customers the option to split it evenly, and away you go. It just helps with processing the payment efficiently, and accurately. Why is it important that your merchant services provider is an Australian company? B: At our venues, we really pride ourselves on that personal approach and knowing someone when they come into the pub. So, I guess it's pretty similar with Zeller. I have personally met a lot of the people who work there. It’s nice to always be dealing with the same people. There’s a personal side to it, and that aligns with what we want to achieve in our business too. Finally, how easy was it for you to get set up with Zeller? B: It was really easy. Someone came in and helped us with the implementation, and the Terminal is pretty self-explanatory. The maintenance looks after itself and when we do need something replaced it's easily done. The app is also very approachable. With one low flat fee of 1.4% per transaction for all card types, including American Express, Zeller is not only helping businesses streamline their payment process, but is also softening the blow of rising overheads. To learn more about Zeller’s all-in-one payments solution, visit www.myzeller.com or contact sales@myzeller.com to negotiate an even lower custom transaction fee, if your business is processing over $250K annually in card payments.

Walking along Military Road in the Lower North Shore village of Mosman, you’ll be stopped in your tracks by a sweet smell of freesia and hyacinth, or by a friendly Italian shouting your name. Either way, you’ll know you’ve arrived at The Floral Craftsman. The man behind the craft is Matt Bisaro, a stalwart identity of the busy shopping strip, who’s floral arrangements have been gracing the homes, weddings, and offices of Sydneysiders since 2003. Taking to customer service like he does to a delicate orchid, Matt’s warmth and careful attention is a large part of what’s kept the business thriving for so long. And in an industry that’s not only physically demanding, but also fluctuates with the ebb and flow of discretionary spending, perennial success is hard to come by. Matt spoke to us about the changing face of floristry, the importance of relationships, and how updating his payment technology helped him navigate a challenging economy. A business rooted in relationships. “Hi Jenny! They’re $15 a bloom!” Matt’s voice booms across the shop. Mid-way through explaining what he believes is the key to The Floral Craftsman ’s long-running success, this interjection says it all. “It's just relationships,” he affirms. “Mosman is a village… they're very community and family focused. I come from a really big family, so it's normal for me. I like it, I like knowing people.” His infectious laugh and exuberant energy make it no surprise that people like knowing him too. And it’s not just his customers: “Staff love it. I do tend to keep them for a good five years or more… They might go away for a few years but all of a sudden I'll get a phone call and they want to come back! That has happened a lot with multiple staff. We always say there's a revolving door here. ” Investing time into training and supporting his staff while also building a strong rapport with his customers has fostered a supportive community that has helped propel the business through more than one economic downturn . Passion, hard work & quality. Reflecting on the tougher moments in the business’ history, he recalls the global financial crisis: “We survived the GFC. I thought we would go under,” he says. “That day that everything crashed, the phone rang and rang and rang. It was corporate clients and regular customers saying ‘cancel my credit card’, ‘cancel my order’, ‘cancel the flowers’... in one day, everything went.” Matt’s tenacity kept The Floral Craftsman afloat in 2007, as it did again when multiple seasons of drought and flood plagued the industry, and again when the global pandemic put a stop to all his event orders. “You just have to work hard,” he says, “I've always had that instilled in me.” But he insists it's also about passion, “I love what I do. They say if you love what you do, it doesn't feel like work. It does. But I still love it. 20 years later. I still love it.” Matt’s dedication to his trade doesn’t go unnoticed by his customers. The Floral Craftsman has become a trusted institution by individual and large corporate clients alike. “It's got to be about quality… these people know quality,” he says of his customers. “Even if I receive stock that’s not as great as what I’d wanted, I’ve just gotta wear it and try and use it elsewhere or buy something else. I cannot give that inferior product,” he says. The changing face of floristry. While Matt’s passion for floristry hasn’t changed, the industry has. Having started out as a “lackey” doing deliveries and cutting his teeth in the workroom, Matt’s initiation was starkly different from those entering floristry today. “Now, everyone does a course and then becomes a freelancer,” he explains. “Back in the day, we all had portfolios. Now, it's all on your social media feeds.” The younger cohort are bypassing the experience of working in bricks-and-mortar florists, which is not only making it difficult for Matt to find staff, but he believes it’s also not equipping them for a long-term career, “There are only a few freelancers in Sydney that have been around for a long time… they might last a couple of years, but the burnout rate is pretty big.” The other significant change is cost. Twenty five years ago, the Sydney Flower Market was the meeting place for hundreds of independent growers, today, it is largely a wholesale market. “Wholesalers put a markup on whatever they buy from the little guys,” Matt explains. “The other thing that's happened is that 60-70% of that stock in the flower market is all imported. From Holland, India, South Africa, Asia, New Zealand… so the costs have gone up again because of freight.” Add inflation into the mix, and you can understand why the bunch of tulips you were buying for $35 a decade ago now costs $65. “They should be about $70-$75 but I can't do it.” Matt adds, “I just can’t do it. For 10 stems of tulips, $75 dollars… It’s kind of laughable. They’re just flowers at the end of the day!” Fresh cut costs. In response to rising overheads, Matt says he’s always looking for new ways to cut costs. “But it's hard,” he adds, “I've had to increase some prices and then I've just got to bear the brunt.” One area, however, where Matt has managed to make considerable savings is through his payment process. Since using Zeller Terminal , he has not only reduced his merchant fees to zero through surcharging , but he’s also been able to welcome back customers using American Express “My favourite thing with Zeller is that I get the same merchant fee for AMEX. Because they do use AMEX more here. I used to have to refuse AMEX payments, and I lost people over it.” What’s more, being able to track his cash flow using Zeller Dashboard, and Zeller App on his smartphone when he’s on the go, has aided Matt in maintaining steady income, “What I love with Zeller is that I can just check in on my phone and see how the sales are going,” he explains, “For example, if we’re getting close to Thursday, I check how much we’ve done so far to make sure we’re on target. It's been the best merchant facility I've had over the years.” Coming up roses. “The one thing about this shop is that it’s got my name on it,” says Matt, “It is me, so it’s quirky and unusual and it changes all the time and there are no set rules.” Indeed, putting his name, as well as his pride and passion, behind the business has been The Floral Craftsman’s biggest strength. Having never relied on any traditional marketing, the business has instead invested in care: for its product, its customers and its staff. In conjunction with a lot of hard work and savvy decisions around cost-cutting and tech upgrades, Matt Bisaro has ensured that even in the most difficult of economic climates, The Floral Craftsman has always come up roses. To read about other Australians growing their businesses with Zeller, head to the Zeller Business Blog and sign up to our newsletter to receive stories straight to your inbox.

When Lyndon Kubis isn’t digging for the next best vintage in a cellar somewhere in Europe, he’ll be found travelling the wine roads of Australia or pouring his new favourite drop at any one of the six wine bars he runs in Melbourne. Championing natural and minimal intervention wines since before they were trendy, Lyndon has been instrumental in introducing Victorians to some of the world's greatest growers and vignerons. From the courtyard of his newest venture, Clover wine bar in Richmond, he spoke to us about building his brand, navigating a tough economy, and the secret to being in six places at once. Lyndon Kubis is quietly building a wine empire in Melbourne, but he doesn’t see it as such. "It's not much of an empire," he says coyly. To his name, he holds six wine bars across Melbourne and an online bottle shop. At the very least it’s an impressive resume, especially for a thirty-something-year-old. Starting on the till at Toorak Cellars straight out of high school, Lyndon learnt the ropes from his first boss, "He was amazing. Extremely passionate, I learnt a lot from him." says Lyndon. After escaping to the European ski slopes for a season, Lyndon returned ready to start a new challenge. His boss at Toorak Cellars had subsequently moved on and the new owners were much more hands-off. "When I got back, I told them that I wouldn't be coming back, and then I said flippantly, 'unless you want to sell it to me.'" Lyndon explains, "They took me a bit more seriously than I thought they would, and sold it." At the time, it was just a suburban bottle shop with one table at the front. In other words, a blank canvas for a young, aspiring bar owner. Follow your nose. Over the years that followed, Lyndon paired up with a friend, found an investor, and opened Milton Wine Shop in Malvern. Then The Alps Wine Shop in Prahran. Then came The Moon in Collingwood, The Hills in Surrey Hills, and more recently Clover on Swan Street, Richmond. With an eye for comfortable, chic interiors and a nose for a good drop, Lyndon found a winning formula but has always made sure to adapt each venue and its wine list to the area. "The philosophies of the producers don't change, but stylistically, things change," he explains. This opportunity to explore has undoubtedly had a hand in expanding our palette to natural and minimal intervention wines, which Lyndon has been championing for over a decade, and which have had their moment recently. "Wine is fashion, for sure. It always has been, for centuries… what were considered ‘wild wines’ 10 years ago are certainly now mainstream, and it's probably now been pushed all the way to the end of the spectrum of strange and weird wines," he explains. "We just always try to champion the producers who we believe in and who we want to see on every corner of Melbourne." Every customer is individual. By the time Lyndon had opened venue number five, the plans were already in the works to launch an online retail store and wine subscription program. However, when COVID-19 hit, it brought those plans forward. "We started DITC [Diggin’ In the Cellars] on day one of lockdown," Lyndon says. "Our graphic designers pretty much moved in," he laughs, "they held our hand through a lot of it. Setting up the store, the newsletters, the subscriber software, the inventory software, all that kind of stuff," he explains. Having a well-established community greatly assisted in getting it off the ground quickly, but its success is also owed in no small part to Lyndon’s level of care and attention to detail. "As with hospitality, every customer is individual, so there were a lot of emails back and forth trying to provide that individual service as much as we could with an online store," he says. Focus on what's important. Bolstered by the confidence of having survived a global pandemic with five venues still afloat and thriving, Lyndon and his team were ready for their next challenge: opening a new bar – Clover – amid spiking inflation and a cost of living crisis. "Even compared to COVID, this is probably the most challenging time to be running a hospitality business," Lyndon admits. "There are headwinds on all sides." Notwithstanding, the cosy 48-seater bar and restaurant opened in the ‘Paris end’ of Swan Street in late 2022 with a pared-back approach that lets the team focus on what’s important. The bet paid off, with Clover receiving rave reviews, and being immediately recognised as one of Melbourne’s top new wine bars. "It’s about not spending money on things that aren't important compared to things that can give value," he says. "For example, we leave the bottle on the table, the chefs run food… it just means that you don't need the full army of staff. Here, water stays on the table, and in certain restaurants that's unthinkable… but does someone else pouring the water really enhance your experience? It just means there's more time for the important stuff." Cost-saving tips & tricks. At Clover, everything from the linen to the ultra-seasonal menu has been carefully considered to ensure money is used wisely, and in a way that adds maximum value to the customer. Switching to Zeller was another lever Lyndon pulled (across all his venues) to save on unnecessary costs, thanks to a competitive rate, surcharging capability, and the ability to recognise and reward staff through increased tipping. At Clover alone, their tip value reached 4% of their turnover in July this year. " Zeller Terminal has a very inviting interface, so it certainly welcomes tipping," says Lyndon. In fact, it was the interface that initially attracted him to Zeller in the first place, "Some friends of mine, the Marquis of Lorne group guys who also have Union House, Mount Erica and The Royal Oak, were using it in their places and I just liked the interface as a customer. I also liked the speed of it… at Toorak Cellars where it's order-at-the-bar, that speed is especially handy." Surround yourself with the best. Spreading his time between the six venues, two sourcing trips to Europe a year, and days on the road wholesaling, it’s any wonder that Lyndon has time to sleep, but, he says the secret lies in being hands-off. "Surround yourself with people who are infinitely better than you! That’s the key," he explains. "Especially when it’s more than one or two venues. You need people who are much better than you. Which is quite easy… It’s way better when I’m not around!" he laughs. While many others would enjoy taking credit for a six-strong fleet of wine bars and an online shop, Lyndon is quick to deflect praise. "All our managers at each place are extremely strong. We wouldn’t have been able to do another one without them." It’s perhaps this humility that is his greatest strength. That, and having a knack for smelling out the world’s best wines. To read about other Australians growing their businesses with Zeller, head to the Zeller Business Blog and sign up to our newsletter to receive stories straight to your inbox.

Hailing from Brisbane, via Barcelona, Adele Arkell burst onto the café scene in 2001 and has been shaping our tastes ever since. The founder and owner of St Kilda’s popular Radio Mexico was a trailblazer in Melbourne’s burgeoning breakfast circuit before turning her hand to chilaquiles and tacos. We sat down with the hospitality veteran to talk about BLATs, barbacoas, and the secret sauce to a successful restaurant. When Adele Arkell started running cafés, the menus were big and English. “Everything was all about big breakfasts and eggs Benedict.” she explains. “As a self-taught chef, I had my own ideas about what I liked to eat, so I didn't really follow the convention of what was already available.” Armed with a fierce conviction, she and a group of friends from her home city of Brisbane made the bold move to open a coffee shop directly next to a well-established competitor “It was massive, it was a really big deal. It’d been there for about 5 years and was killing it. And we opened up right next to them because we wanted to do something different.” At the time, Melbourne’s coffee culture was still burgeoning; lattes were served with skim milk and you’d be hard-pressed to find one topped with ‘art’. So when Adele’s team started pouring full-cream and soy milk coffees adorned with hearts and rosettas, it didn’t take long for the word to get out. Champions of breakfast. It was in these early years that Adele’s signature style for ‘everyday eating’ began to take form. “We wanted to make food that you could eat every day… Something simple, something that was easy to eat, really yummy, but something you wouldn't really make at home.” Perhaps the archetype of Adele’s everyday cuisine came in the form of the beloved BLT remixed with avocado. “It's really ubiquitous now, but we actually introduced the expression BLAT”, a dish that now graces café menus all over the world. This fact of making an otherwise simple breakfast a little bit fancy was what Adele and her team became known for, setting a tone for the way that café culture would develop over the next few years, and inadvertently joining the founding members of Melbourne’s world-renowned breakfast scene. Off the back of their success on Acland Street, the group went on to open more than a dozen cafés over the next fifteen years, breathing new life into old, dilapidated spaces before moving onto something else. “We'd do the café, we'd build the clientele, then we'd renovate it and then we’d sell,” explains Adele, “we worked very hard. It was very bootstrap.” Through this process, however, there came a point when she realised she was ready to focus her attention on something else. By accident or by design, while on a trip to New York, she discovered Mexican cuisine. “I wanted to keep doing casual dining, with high quality, accessible, healthy food that you could eat every day… and Mexican fit that to a tee.” The birth of ‘Mel-Mex’. Adele spent three years researching Mexican food. A fluent Spanish speaker, – having spent several years living and working in Barcelona – Adele was able to delve deep into the cuisine, rather than relying on the Tex Mex influences that dominated the English-speaking search results. “I’m not Mexican, I don’t have a Mexican grandmother who can tell me all the secrets, I had to work it out on my own. I had to meet people and search YouTube videos. I had to read cookbooks in Spanish, because I wanted to get to this thing that was really unique and different.” She opened the doors to Radio Mexico in St Kilda in 2012 with a menu that boasted myriad flavours from all over the country: barbacoa tacos from Guadalajara, classic Yucatan cochinita pibil pulled pork, and tacos al pastor, a popular dish from the capital. While Adele has always strived to do justice to the original dishes, she understands her market, and has always kept her customers front of mind. “We try to hit authenticity from a different angle. Our food is not ‘authentic’ per se, you'd never find this in Mexico, but there are so many influences that only come from there.” What she wound up with, is what she deems today as “Mel-Mex”, a distinct hybrid that takes Mexican flavours, and combines them with Melbourne’s unique dining culture. A restaurant is what your customers make it. Located a stone’s throw from St Kilda’s iconic Palais Theatre and Luna Park, and surrounded by the neighbourhood’s newly developed residential highrises, Radio Mexico’s clientele is unique. “We get a lot of people going to shows, but we also have a lot of regulars with the high-density population. So, we cater for people who just want a beer and a taco, but we also cater for people who want to sit for a few hours.” Responding to the needs of her clientele didn’t happen by chance. In each venue Adele has run, she has worked to uncover its individual character, something that can’t always be forced, but that develops in response to the people, the location, the space, and with time. When asked what she believes is the making of a successful venue, she repeats the idea of sustainability, “It takes so much effort to build these restaurants, you want the idea to be something that can really take root in people’s sensibility in the area, particularly your locals.” Find a product that is approachable, accessible, and high quality, and stick with it, she advises. “It's sticking to something that will actually make it really refined… Sometimes you’ve gotta go through the pain, but I really think the best long term sustainable choice is to just stick with it, because no one can run it like you.” When asked if she’s ever considered selling Radio Mexico, she admits that she has, but that not selling it was the best decision she’s ever made, “I'm here forever. I've decided. I'm committed for life. I'm married to Radio Mexico.” she laughs. The true meaning of hospitality. A sustainable business that continues to service the community into the future doesn't just come from good products, it requires good management. “You want to employ staff that you can keep for a long time, you can’t work them into the ground. Everyone's gotta be part of the organism.” Adele says. Over her career she has worked tirelessly to develop her own style of operating, and in each venue she’s run, has made sure that everybody is on the same page. “Twenty years ago I’d get these young male chefs coming in and calling me ‘chef’. I’d say "Let's drop it and just focus on the food instead of the hierarchy.”” Not having come up through the traditional chef training, Adele has lent more on her instincts than her technical skills, and she believes it’s what more women in hospitality should be doing. “Women have a feel for the true sense of hospitality.” she says. “Hospitality is often approached as an accounting proposition, but people forget what the word ‘hospitality’ means… it’s all about collaboration and interaction and face to face.” Something she believes women do inherently well. “I would just say to any woman in business, do it in a woman’s way. Do it in your own way.” To give good service, you need to receive it. As an active member of the service industry, Adele knows how to recognise good service, and she doesn’t stand for anything less than the best. “Service is a big deal for me. That’s why I love using local startup companies because often I'm in contact with the people who are very close to the development of the business… so I can relate better.” Her question to any service providers, be them suppliers or tech companies, is always “If I have a problem, will somebody pick up the phone?” Since transitioning to Zeller in early 2022, someone has always been at the other end of the line. “Zeller’s service is very good,” she says. “What's really important is that the Terminals work, they don't fail, they're fast, they connect. And also I love being able to easily search transactions in a hurry… we could never do that through the bank terminal.” For a fast-paced business like Radio Mexico, being able to visualise their cash flow has also been a huge advantage, especially when it comes to recognising dips or spikes in revenue “I use the Zeller Dashboard a lot. It’s a great back-of-house tool and it’s very easy to use… It’s a great way of getting that information that you most likely wouldn’t have searched for, but because it’s there, you might notice something that you’ll want to follow up on.” If Adele Arkell were to write a book about opening a restaurant, the chapters might read something like ‘carving out a point of difference’, ‘defining your own style’, and ‘sticking with it’. However she knows more than anyone that to be truly successful in hospitality you have to work hard, and you have to love what you do. As she says, “hospitality is to care for someone, to give service, to be of service, and to listen”. Indeed, taking a seat at Radio Mexico is to feel truly looked after, and it’s this feeling that might just be the secret sauce that keeps people coming back year after year. To read about other Australians growing their businesses with Zeller, head to the Zeller Business Blog and  sign up to our newsletter  to receive stories straight to your inbox.

Watching Malcolm McCullough behind the counter at his Victoria Market delicatessen, it’s hard to believe that just seven years ago, this same apron-clad shopkeeper was sitting comfortably, suited up in a corporate office. A natural-born trader, you’d be forgiven for assuming he’d been serving customers his whole life. And in a way, he has. After cutting his teeth at Target in the late 80s, Malcolm went on to open the very first Bunnings store in 1994, later assuming the title of Managing Director for the Disney stores across the Asia-Pacific. After a stint at Starbucks in the USA, he was eventually headhunted for the role of CEO at the Queen Victoria Market where he was instrumental in putting together the plan for the market’s new redevelopment. However, a desire to get back to his roots sparked a career change, and when he got the inside scoop on one of the market stalls going up for sale, it was all the convincing he needed. In 2017, Malcolm and his wife Anna took over Bill’s Farm – a stalwart of Victoria Market’s iconic deli hall that’s been dispensing cheese and cold cuts for nearly three decades. When asked what it was like swapping an executive office for a cosy 32-square-metre shopfront, Malcolm says the move was natural: “Managing 600 stores and 6,000 staff is obviously more strategic as opposed to hands on, but you're still in the stores. Most of my roles have been operational, spending time on the ground, seeing the staff, talking to them about what's working, what's not working. So none of that was any different other than the fact that I’m actually spending a lot more time with customers.” Measure twice, cut once. While you can take the man out of the strategy, you can’t take the strategy out of the man. Malcolm’s approach to business leans heavily on his years of corporate retail experience. From customer service to stock rotation, staffing and business development, nothing is left to chance. When COVID hit, Malcolm was quick to come up with a strategic roster: “We had two teams of staff with two different weeks. One week on, one week off, but we still paid them every week. It just meant that if one of the people on one team got COVID, that whole team would go away to isolate, and the other team would come in and run the business. So, we were never in a situation where we had to close.” This highly considered approach is implemented across every facet of Malcolm’s business and it shows. “We manage our stock extremely well to the point that we have 26 stock turns a year. So we turn over the stock in the whole store every two weeks. We have very minimal wastage.” An enviable result and one that Malcolm and Anna have achieved through employing the ‘open-to-buy’ approach, a common retail strategy that ensures your inventory remains balanced at the perfect level to meet demand, and avoid over or under stocking. “We know exactly how much dollar value we can spend each week. We're not just going and buying. We also take the kitchen pantry approach: we have 510 products, but we're not going to get Kellogg's cornflakes in until we've taken Coco Pops out.” Going with the cash flow. Closely following every dollar that goes out and comes in, is one of the keys to the deli’s success, but Malcolm doesn’t do it alone. His armada of tech tools – Xero, Zeller and Atria point-of-sale – integrate together, allowing him and Anna to track every transaction and expense down to the cent. “With the POS, we know how much margin we make per product per day. It's just phenomenal the data that you can get.” he explains, “I think there are a lot of businesses out there that don't understand how much things cost and don't have an opinion on how their business performance is going. We look at it every week. We know exactly where our profit is going to finish at the end of the financial year, and then we'll forecast for the next financial year. We'll measure it every week to see how we're going against that budget.” For Malcolm and Anna, a key component of this analysis was unlocked when they transitioned their EFTPOS to Zeller Terminal . “Our merchant fees in the 2019-2020 financial year totaled $28,000… it was just out of control.” explains Malcolm, who became exasperated by the banks’ lack of flexibility especially when cashless payments skyrocketed during COVID. Thanks to their new EFTPOS solution, they’re spending less on merchant fees and saving money through strategic staffing: “The Zeller Dashboard is really handy for giving us information about when those transactions are happening. If they are varying at certain periods of time in the day, it means that we've got a requirement for less or more people. So we use it to help our rostering.” A changing demographic. If the ebb and flow of customers are worth monitoring anywhere, it’s the Queen Victoria Market. From the sudden halt of tourism at the beginning of the pandemic to the surge in people working from home, and the swelling local population living in new high-density developments, customer trends have changed significantly in recent years. “We no longer get that regular lunchtime customer who’s working in the city… and there aren’t as many tourists as there used to be. But we’re finding that we’re picking up new customers every single week from people who are moving into town, especially young university students but also just people living in the city.” Malcolm explains. Despite the market’s near 150-year history, running a successful business within it comes down to understanding the value it brings to today’s customer. The shifting demographic is having an impact not only on when customers are coming, but what they are buying. “We're finding that customers want to see what the new cheese is, what the new product is… they're looking for something different. They don’t necessarily want to do what they did yesterday.” says Malcolm. Having worked in other densely populated cities such as Hong Kong and Singapore, the retail specialist understands exactly why this is: “When people live above the shops they shop in, you need to constantly change your offer to make something different, better, put new stuff in.” he explains. Think big, act small, start now. Looking ahead, Malcolm has no plans of slowing down. He’s closely following the five-year business plan that he established when he took over Bill’s Farm, which includes growing their online orders and corporate catering. In-store, he’s intent on continuing to keep his customers and staff happy, and for that, he’s always prepared to change tack. “One of the things I love about retail is that you can change something today and see the results immediately. In other businesses it sometimes takes a long time to get through that process of strategy becoming reality.” Indeed, agility has proven to be the pillar of success for Bill’s Farm, which has held steadfast through a pandemic and now a cost-of-living crisis. “All you have to do is think big, act small and start now.” Coming from a retail veteran whose strategies have served him at Disney as they have in the deli, his maxim is one worth remembering. To read about other Australians growing their businesses with Zeller, head to the Zeller Business Blog and sign up to our newsletter to receive stories straight to your inbox.

If you were wearing a vintage pair of Levi's in the early '80s, there's a strong chance they were sourced by Tina Lowe and Ross Waddington. The founders of vintage clothing store, Route 66 , were arguably the first to bring second hand American fashion to Australia. Forging a community of devotees not just through clothing, but through the musical subculture it serves, the couple has created a 40-year legacy that continues to thrive in Sydney's inner west. Today run by their son Leroi, Route 66 has no plans of slowing. We sat down with Tina and Leroi to talk about selling old school fashion in the age of technology. From America’s heartland to Greville St, Prahran. Route 66 started on the eponymous mother road that crosses North America, connecting the East to the West. Cruising through beautiful grasslands and sun-scorched landscapes, Tina and Ross spent six months in their Chevy station wagon chasing swap meets and collecting vintage treasures through America’s heartland. Back in Melbourne they opened their first shop on Greville Street, Prahran. Far from the clean, gentrified image the street exudes today, the run-down highstreet of 1983 boasted cheap rent and a community of musicians, artists, students and hippies: a market primed for their haul of anti-fashion. Route 66 was one of the very first retailers to introduce Australians to classic vintage American fashion, and helped change the public’s view on used clothing, which until this point was exclusively available at the Salvos or St Vincent de Paul. “I wanted to get people to understand buying vintage clothing. Clothing that’s been imported and selected as opposed to opp shop clothing. So I made sure that everything was absolutely clean, presented on really good hangers, and displayed really well” Tina explains. Ross’s passion for American roots music, from pre-war blues to '60s garage, drew in even more people, helping to make this iconic store much more than just another clothing outlet. “It gave us a point of difference, by creating a sub-culture around the music we played. So, it became really popular and that’s what we became renowned for. It was about sharing the things we loved.” says Tina. The winning sartorial strategy. Following the overwhelming success of the Melbourne store — Tina moved to Sydney five years later, in the summer of 1988, to open Route 66’s second store on the iconic Crown Street strip in Surry Hills. Tina says it’s here that things really took off, in large part thanks to the Sydney-based magazines that featured them, but also owing to Tina’s more strategic approach, “In Sydney I started buying and mixing in new clothing with the vintage so that customers could buy a complete outfit. Because what’s difficult with vintage is finding the right sizing, especially with jeans and pants.” Well before the ‘buy better, buy less’ mantra entered the common vernacular, Tina was championing timeless fashion. “It’s always been about finding that classic item that you’ll love forever, it’s not disposable fashion. That’s why even with the new stuff I try to select items that still have a vintage, timeless feel, you know like Levi’s 501s. So, I guess that's always been my concept without even really thinking about it, I just did it instinctively. Retailing on the right side of history. “I didn't think I was going to last this long” says Tina, “but now with this whole movement away from fast fashion, people are more aware. Buying vintage has become much more accepted and people actually feel better buying things that are not going to landfill.” The growing environmental consciousness has led to a boom in the pre-loved clothing industry: a study by Reluv reported that about 75% of Australians purchased secondhand clothing last year. Yet even with this growing trend towards sustainable fashion, Tina knows they can’t rest on their laurels, “We still have to stay on top of a certain style, we can’t just sell any old second-hand clothes.” At Route 66, each piece is hand-selected, cleaned and pressed, offering customers not only a collection of unique styles from eras gone by, but garments that have and continue to stand the test of time. “I love it when someone comes in and they've had their favourite jacket or pair of jeans for the last 10 years, I think that's fantastic” says Tina. Old threads meet new technology. Boasting the biggest supply of second hand 501 Levi’s in all of Sydney does indeed come with its difficulties. “With the dollar fluctuating all the time and shipping costs going up, that’s really very challenging. Not to mention rent and everything else that’s going up” explains Tina. To combat rising prices and streamline their operations, Route 66 has been using Zeller Terminal since April 2022. “I'm so old school, I used to do everything on paper… But I’ve found Zeller has made taking money so much easier, and having a record of it. I can log in at any time to see how they're doing at work. Which is really fantastic, I couldn't do that before” explains Tina. Additionally, being able to track sales has allowed them to optimise their rostering, “We can see what days are the busiest during the week, and make comparisons... it’s really good to be able to check when it’s busy when you're not there” explains Leroi. Having a system that can easily support refunds, work wirelessly, and provide additional branding also proves to be a boon for any business dealing in vintage wares, “if something breaks, I can refund someone and it’s very easy to do” says Leroi, “and it's great that it’s got a SIM card in it so I can go anywhere with it, which is very handy when we’re doing a market or an event. Plus having the logo on the receipt makes it a bit more individual.” Invest local, think global. When Ross passed away in 2011, it marked the end of Route 66’s presence in Melbourne. However his son Leroi has his sights set on reopening a second store in the brand’s founding city within the next few years. Until then, he is focusing on growing the online business and getting more people through the door in Newtown. Following the legacy that helped build the brand’s profile in the '80s, Leroi has been organising music events and free shows in-store: an out-of-the-ordinary marketing tactic that’s paying dividends. “The council helps us out a bit with putting on live music and then we partner with Young Henrys and Heaps Normal to provide the drinks. It helps to build a bit more of a community vibe.” And it’s not the only way Route 66 is investing back into the community, they regularly donate gift vouchers at the local pub’s spin-the-wheel competition to further embed their brand name into the local culture. In conjunction with an active Instagram presence, Route 66 has successfully built more than just a brand, it’s built a cultural institution, “We mostly get returning customers” says Leroi, “there are a lot of artists or musicians who hang around the area, and they’ll always pop in.” Paradoxically, by investing so heavily in their community and supporting the local arts scene they’ve garnered a loyal network of followers that extends much further than their postcode, “We get people coming in from Melbourne or interstate or even overseas… the Instagram presence makes a big difference." For a business dealing in old school clothing, Route 66’s approach to retail is far from dated. Keeping their offering fresh and accessible, fostering a community and embracing new technology have kept the Waddington’s family business alive and thriving for over four decades. A winning combination that you might just say, is the road to success. To read about other Australians growing their businesses with Zeller, head to the Zeller Business Blog and sign up to our newsletter to receive stories straight to your inbox.

When a customer in New York placed an order with Australian menswear label Christian Kimber, he wasn’t expecting to receive a call from the designer and founder himself. Yet, this white-glove approach to customer service is how Christian Kimber has built his business. Starting with a small run of shoes and soft accessories, the UK-born Australian designer has grown his brand from the ground up, opening two stores in Melbourne with more on the way. We visited the leafy Armadale shopfront to talk to Christian about the power of the retail experience, slow fashion, and dressing the Australian man. Bootstrapping a business on the right foot. Christian Kimber grew up in the UK and moved to Australia in 2011. Having studied fashion and worked in men’s tailoring and footwear he says “I initially struggled to find my way and my place in fashion... But I’d always loved menswear and retail.” So shortly after making the move to Melbourne he began designing and selling footwear. “We had a spare room full of boxes of shoes,” he says.He bootstrapped the business — which at the time was predominantly wholesale — and quickly began winning clients in Paris and New York. Recalling the early days, he says “it was growth for growth’s sake. Yeah OK I was in Paris and was having these amazing meetings, but it just wasn't where my heart was. I came home and with my wife we decided strategically retail was the way to go, particularly given there was a clear gap in the market for what we were doing.” With an increasingly successful e-commerce website, Christian was meeting up with five customers a day. “It got to a point where I said to myself, we’re ready for the next step. So we opened a store northside where most of our cult following of clients lived at the time.” Aligning himself to his customers’ needs has largely been the key to Christian Kimber ’s success, and he puts it down to the lessons he learnt early on: Sure we didn't have that Tom Ford money to start” [laughs] “but I think it’s been the best thing for us, because it’s more real. It has allowed us to figure out exactly who our clients are, what they want and the right products for them. We’re not growing for growth’s sake, we’re growing organically based on the evolving needs of clients and increasing demand. Moving the needle in a complex fashion climate. Transitioning from a purely online business to a bricks and mortar shop front in the heart of Melbourne’s Fitzroy didn’t come without its hurdles. “The challenge, as with many small businesses, is that it takes about five years to be established, really”. But above all, Christian says running a small business is a mental game: It’s just about the grit and determination that you need to find in yourself in order to keep going… It really comes down to whether or not you love it. When you find something you love, it doesn’t feel like work; you have to feel that, otherwise you’re not going to have the grit to keep going. From the attention and care that Christian channels into every piece of clothing and every customer interaction, the love for his job is patently obvious. “It’s just about the grit and determination that you need to find in yourself in order to keep going...” The collection — which now spans clothing, footwear and accessories — is produced in small family-run factories in Italy and Portugal where Christian can guarantee premium quality and the wellbeing of the workers. There's nothing industrial about what we do. At our knitwear factory there’s a total of 15 people working there… Our key is finding partners who are focused on quality. Provenance is also so important. My wife and I always ask ourselves, would we want to work there? And if we would, then it’s a good fit. The brand champions the ‘buy less, buy better’ ethos, with enduring pieces that serve customers for life, not just the season. Christian is very conscious of the rock and hard place between which the fashion industry sits in the sustainability debate. “To be truly sustainable is really a hard ask. It's almost impossible. Essentially, we can just be as authentic and transparent as possible. We use Australian wool, we use a lot of European cloth. The calibre of the fabrics we use are made in mills that are at the cutting edge of sustainability and thoughtfulness.” While many other players in the industry compromise on quality as their brands scale, for Christian that tradeoff is non-negotiable: I’m not interested in making anything in a way that I wouldn’t feel comfortable with, it’s just not our direction and I’d rather stay small forever… I would never compromise on product and experience. Retail brings real respite in the age of digital. While Christian Kimber may not be reaching to dominate the global market, his expanding customer base at home is driving the brand’s growth locally. Having opened a second store in Armadale at the request of his long-time followers, he’s now feeling the pull to open a third in the CBD as well as one in Sydney, where online sales are compelling. Rather than pushing to open in markets with untapped potential, the expansion of more stores is entirely led by customer convenience, to allow his devotees to enjoy the retail experience that Christian so fervently stands by. Nothing beats feeling the products…. What I want is that when you feel our clothing, your heart skips a beat. Whatever that feeling is, it’s just lovely… I could never produce a photo good enough to elicit an emotion like that. Further to the tactile aspect, he believes it’s the interaction that keeps men coming back. Working out of his second store in Armadale, Christian encourages customers to stay for an hour — as much to try on the garments as to have a chat. “We sell confidence, we don't sell products,” he says. “When people leave, they feel a certain way, and that's what I get energy from. If they come back, we know we’ve done something right.” When he started the business, Christian’s passion was creating the products. Now he says that has developed into experience and client satisfaction: I want people to feel loved and to feel great in our stuff, and I think that it's not just about products, it's about making sure it works for them. As well as the ready to wear collection, Christian works with his customers to design pieces from scratch or even redesign garments they’ve had since the 80s. “It’s a very intimate experience, and we could never do that online.” “We sell confidence, we don't sell products.” Prior to signing up with Zeller, Christian had never considered the customer experience associated with a payment terminal, because it had always been the same. His decision to sign up for Zeller was a purely financial one: “we’re a small business, so in the end it just came down to who had the better rate.” A competitive flat fee — inclusive of American Express — and a hassle-free set-up was what initially attracted Christian to Zeller Terminal , but it was the customer experience that won him over. I love it. I really love it. Someone might call up and change their mind on the product and I can just immediately exchange it or refund it. They don’t have to come back in. For us that’s great. I just think it’s a lovely experience, and that’s what we’re all about. Defining Australian style. While the physical expansion of the brand will be a key focus for 2023, Christian is committed to keeping the label’s style fresh and new. Since its inception, the aesthetic has sat somewhere in between formal and casual. And conveniently, the Covid19 pandemic propelled menswear in that exact direction. No longer needing to wear suits to work, but tired of the sweatpant trend of 2020, Australian men are looking for outfits that strike that balance, which Christian says, “is what we’ve always been about”. Looking to the future, the designer intends to continue trying to define Australian style, which he asserts is one inspired by lifestyle. “It's a different lifestyle to anywhere in the world, and so the way men dress here is different. We want to stand for Australian style.” Designing all the garments himself, Christian works to mirror the colours of our landscape, using textures that feel casual yet sophisticated and shaping silhouettes that are laid back but still refined. “Only when it comes together does it feel Australian,” he adds. Slow and steady wins the race. When asked what he would go back and tell his entrepreneurial younger self, Christian says “take your time”. In any business, you spend the first three years just figuring it out. So you don’t want to dive too much into one area because you might change your direction. I’d tell myself you don’t need to grow as quickly. Now we’ve figured out what the right pace of growth is for us: snail pace.” he laughs. He adds that it’s important to “get things right and do things for the right reasons, to grow organically.” This honest approach to business is a refreshing perspective in an industry that so often centres around ephemeral profit-driven trends, at the expense of quality and customer satisfaction. So it’s no wonder that word-of-mouth has been the brand’s most effective marketing tactic to date. Ironically, remaining humble and not overextending has been Christian’s biggest strength. Through passion, grit, transparency and care, Christian Kimber has built a brand he’s proud to put his name behind. To read about other Australians growing their businesses with Zeller, head to the Zeller Business Blog and sign up to our newsletter to receive stories straight to your inbox.