The 10 Most Innovative Solution Providers in Food & Beverages 2019

Rony

EEattoLive?OrLivetoEat?

Itwon’tbesurprisingtosaythatnowadays,humansdon’teattolive,insteadtheylivetoeat.

Decadesago,foodwasjustanecessityofahumantostayalive.Butnow,itincludessatisfyingtheirsoultoo.

Consumershavebecomemoreinterestedandcuriousaboutthevarietyofthefoodtheyeat,andhence,tothem, tasteplaysacrucialpart.Similaristhecasewithbeveragestoo.Theloveforfoodandbeveragesamongpeopleis inexplicable.

Beitmeetingsomeone,celebratingthehappiestmomentsoflife,raisingatoast,oracravingforfood,wealwayscounton varietyoffoodcuisinesandbeveragestomakethosemomentsenriching.

Foodandbeverageindustryhaswitnessedasevereriseinitsgraphinpastfewdecades.Thisvastindustryencompasses varioussegmentsincludinggroceries,oilsandfats,foodadditives,functionalfoodsandbeverages,packagedfoods,health andnaturalfoods,cannedfood,bakedfood,babyfood,animalfood,softdrinks,alcoholicdrinks,energydrinks,and packaging.

Wheneverwetalkaboutleveragingtechnologyintothisindustry,weoftencomeacrosstheultimateconveniencebusinesses havebeenabletoprovidetoconsumers,whichtheywerelookingfor.Forinstance,fooddeliveryappssuchasUberEatsare enablingpeoplewithbusierlifestylestoorderfoodanytime,anywhereattheirdoorstepsaspertheirconvenience.

Aswearegraduallysurgingtowardsthedigitalera,certainlymoretechnologicalinnovationswillemergetoshapethefuture ofthefoodandbeverageindustry.Manyorganizationsarealreadyredefiningtheindustrybydeliveringcutting-edge

solutions.Withanintenttoshedlightonthecontributionsoftheseorganizations,InsightsSuccesshascuratedalistof“The 10MostInnovativeSolutionProvidersinFood&Beverages2019”.Theseorganizationsarenotonlycreatingvalueaddedofferings,butarealsoprovidingunprecedentedexperiencestoconsumers.

OakBarrelfeaturesasthecoverstoryofthisedition.Withthemissionofcreatingthenextgenerationofworld-class enterprisesolutions,OakBarrelSoftware,LLCistargetingProcessManufacturingissuesthathavebeenunaddressedbythe largesoftware/serviceleaders.Theorganizationisafoodindustrytechnologyproviderthatsolvesoneofthemostpressing businessissuesfoodmanufacturingcompaniesfacetoday:digitaldatamanagementtomeetalloftheoperationaland compliancerequirementsinthisindustry.

OakBarrelinventedtheterm“DigiFacturing”™touniquelydescribeallofitssolutions,whichincludeintelligentdocument conversionanddatacapture,processmanagementandpublishingdigitalcontenttoaddressninecategoriesofneeds. Intelligentdatemanagementandpre-configuredremindersautomateinformationhousekeepingtoensuredataaccuracy, compliancemanagementandongoingchangecontrol.

Also,makesuretoscrollthroughthearticleswrittenbyoureditorialteamandCXOstandpointsofsomeoftheleading industryexpertstohaveabrieftasteofthesector.

Let’sstartreading!

The love for food and beverages will never come to an end

“ “

Hitesh Dhamani

Rony Granros Founder & President

Oak Barrel Software

Oak Barrel Software:

OAK BARREL SOFTWARE SOLVES DATA FRUSTRATION VIA DIGIFACTURING

Food industry data management is different and we can begin to solve your formula tracking/creation, compliance mandates, auditing and storage expiration needs easily and as fast as 96 hours to see gains.

Oak Barrel supports the Australian Food and Grocery Council by creating a standard format to exchange technical food industry information.

Our game-

says this is easy now: just drop in one data doc at a time and continuously input as you go.

With the mission of creang the next generaon of world-class enterprise soluons, Oak Barrel Soware, LLC is targeng Process Manufacturing issues that have been unaddressed by the large soware/service leaders. The organizaon is a food industry technology provider that solves one of the most pressing business issues food manufacturing companies face today: digital data management to meet all of the operaonal and compliance requirements in this industry. Oak Barrel invented the term “DigiFacturing” ™ to uniquely describe all of its soluons, which include intelligent document conversion and data capture, process

management and publishing digital content to address nine categories of needs.

Intelligent date management and pre-configured reminders automate informaon housekeeping to ensure data accuracy, compliance management and ongoing change control. Oak Barrel offers three unique capabilies that currently aren't available today: real/provable results within 96 hours of licensing/using; an iterave data add/expand/change capability of any data (structured or unstructured) and business intelligence capability (with infused AI) to improve business decisions.

changer approach

Soware that Makes Life Easier

When it comes to products, Oak Barrel Soware offers nine specific categories of soluons;

Ÿ Supplier Compliance and Risk Management: Collaborave portal-based processes provide an easy way to connuously assess risk and remain in compliance of FSMA, ISO, GSFI and/or other quality/safety cerficaons;

Ÿ

Supplier Specific Management: A one-stop single portal combining technical data and documents, ePIF and other informaon for suppliers, brokers, distributors, co-packers and contract manufacturers;

gate processes to minimize cycle mes, project/idenfy issues earlier and meet customer service levels;

Ÿ Product Informaon Publishing: Unites mulple product content sources of customer, ingredient and technical data, plus key legal and specificaon documents to create customer specificaons or ePIFS, sales sheets, cost quotes and generate product informaon for websites, Amazon and Walmart market places;

Ÿ

Supply Chain Voyance: Risk and compliance processes and transparency across all products to the lowest level of the value chain to meet customer mandates, minimize risks and validate product claims. This includes open end-point web services, document-to- data transformaon and automated conformance validaon which minimizes the me to collect, validate and publish risk and compliance data at all levels of the value chain;

Ÿ Project Catalog and Configurators: A simplified catalog front end to products and guided level-by-level product configurators streamline product or component re-use. This minimizes the innovaon and R&D me to vet and deliver similar or redundant products and new (veed) products, and improves consistency and quality;

Ÿ Project Requirements Management: The ability to automate new or product change processes, samples or product informaon requests and stage

Ÿ Operaonal Quality Management: This fills the gaps between corporate PLM data and ERP/QMS quality applicaons, Gold Quality Steps, QAS sheets, SOPs, process flows, HACCP diagrams, magnet checks, lab equipment calibraon, chief table product creaon comparisons, approvals and publicaon. By delivering easy access to this wide-spectrum operaonal data, companies gain improvements in mulple areas like batch-to-batch consistency, minimizing spec batches and audit risks; Ÿ Operaonal Recipe and Spec Management: A comprehensive soluon for uning mulple recipe and specificaon content sources to easily spec and create plant/line-specific recipes. It leverages S95 equipment lines and includes general or site/line specific steps so that recipes can be flow-designed or assembled. This step assembly process minimizes variability and improves both quality, consistency and ulmately customer sasfacon; Ÿ Operaonal Quality Voyance: This is Oak Barrel's silver bullet for seeing, flagging and minimizing crical quality management issues through mulple processes and

technologies, including arficial intelligence. By “DigiFacturing” processes, converng documents to data, accessing PLM, ERP and Operaonal Quality data and automang comparison spec data, and automang communicaons, companies can immediately predict, catch and/or minimize bad outcomes. This module facilitates spec correcons, quarannes, correcon, out-of-tolerance noficaons, and streamlines rapid correcons. It includes automated noficaons to R&D, communicates SOP correcons and minimizes the impact of worst-case situaons like recalls that can damage brands. Deploying this module can save food manufacturers hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages or lawsuits and is crical for problem recognion, acon and risk migaon.

The Veteran Industry Leader

Rony Granros, Founder and President of Oak Barrel Soware, is an enterprise soware industry leader and manufacturing industry veteran. Mr. Granros was a forerunner in introducing a wide variety of technology industry firsts in the food and beverage industry, including new MRP, ERP, Data martbased analycs, PLM, SCM and EAM soluons. He is a progressive thinker with deep technical, product, sales, services and leadership experience across all aspects of process manufacturing.

Mr. Granros always stays on the cung edge of new technologies to solve real business issues. Therefore, in the fall of 2019 he will reset the bar for food and beverage industry technology soluons when he leads Oak Barrel into the formal launch of

his nine-part, mul-tenant, cloudbased soluon.

When Data Frustraon Inspired Leading- Edge Innovaon

When it came to inspiring the leading-edge innovaon behind Oak Barrel Soware's soluon sets for manufacturers, two words inspired innovaon the most; customers' “DATA FRUSTRATION”. The soluon for that data frustraon is DigiFacturing: effecvely, efficiently collecng, managing and changing data easily/accurately, as needed. This is not a new problem, it's been a frustraon for manufacturers since the first plant was built, and with the rapid growth of the food & beverage industry, the U.S. and Global

economy, complex trade agreements, even more complex regulaons and compliance requirements – manufacturers’ data frustraon problems has grown in size and scope.

Today, as new technologies have emerged supporng digital transformaon, Oak Barrel Soware's soluon takes another step forward to solve this problem.

The Next Thing

As a company that is always looking to leverage “the next thing” and not stay glued to old technologies and soluons, Oak Barrel Soware's single biggest challenge is not so much a challenge but an

opportunity. With each new wave of technology, industry capabilies and infrastructure is developed (for example, mul-tenant cloud hosng, mobile data communicaons, analycs, arficial intelligence, etc.)

The organizaon challenges itself to take advantage of the best of those capacies and deliver them to our customers as part of its soluons.

Helping to Seamlessly Collaborate and Manage Data

Oak Barrel Soware delivers precocious pre-planning for “what’s to come” and rescues customers from data frustraon woes without locking them down. For over 20 years, customers have been stuck with enterprise systems that largely

Oak Barrel’s multi-audience (role-based) data portals provide an easy, trackable and audit-ready way to manage the multiple food industry stressors facing executives.

managed data (and daily acvies) via excel, word and PDF documents. Both small and large food manufacturers are struggling with document control, but Oak Barrel Soware's competors' dataoriented soluons are complex, expensive, and difficult to change. They struggle to manage the escalaon of documents from disparate sources and on disparate formats.

Oak Barrel also allows food manufacturers to seamlessly collaborate and manage data and documents to eliminate re-entry of data. It also supports internal collaboraon, receives and inputs data from mulple systems, and manages the analysis and reporng.

Oak Barrel protects its customers from expensive mistakes like lost knowledge (from one-off, yet crical internal or external data sources), increases product quality controls, reduces compliance risks, and accelerates innovaon. This can result in significant boom and top line growth.

When it comes to the future, Oak Barrel Soware is leveraging the newest digital technologies to deliver to market a unique crically important food industry soluon that does not exist today, which is an industry game changer!

Client Feedback

“Oak Barrel understood that we could go directly from documents to 100% data overnight. Based on risk, we selectively rolled out data-oriented processes while improving our compliance gaps with digitized document control.”

- QA Manager, Food Copacker

“Oak Barrel's intelligent object and document date management and reminders allowed us to initially eliminate a large team of temporary staff and ramp from 500,000 documents to over 3,000,000 documents without adding staff.”

-PLM Business Owner, Food Manufacturer

“Oak Barrel's focus on ease of use for internal and our partners has results in 96% supplier participation and 90% first pass approval of supplier data.”

- QA Director, USA Copacker.

"Oak Barrel enables us to manage 24 pages of material specification content to the farm, ocean or ranch."

- PLM Business Owner, UK Copacker.

We call it the three 'I's: Input, Iterate and Insights; this is DigiFacturing. This is what we do.

Double Dutch Drinks

Redefining the Mixer Market in the Drinks Industry

Founded in 2015, Double Dutch is a UK based premiumtonicandmixerbrand,sellingoverhalfa millionbottlespermonthacross23countries,with more than 5,000 bar stockists across the UK alone. Using molecularpairingtechniques,DoubleDutch’sdrinkshave been specifically designed to enhance the taste of higherquality spirits, while offering an innovative alternative to standardmixers.

DoubleDutchwasthefirstmixerbrandtolaunchquininefreetonicandbeingunderpinnedbybothagenuinefounder story and credible expertise, they have established themselves as a reputable brand in the space, providing a refreshing and vibrant alternative to incumbent brands. Double Dutch aims to continue their growth by entering intonewinternationalmarketsaswellasmoredomesticontradevenuesandretailstores.

MolecularPairingTechniques

DoubleDutchcreatesarangeofversatilemixersthatcanbe drunkwitharangeofspirits,andtasteequallydeliciouson their own as they do in a cocktail. All their flavours are developedthroughmolecularpairingtechniques.This

technique identifies the chemical components and aromas sharedbetweenspecificspiritsandcertainingredients,withthe corehypothesisbeingthatingredientscombinebetterwhenthey share key flavour aromas.The process starts with determining and quantifying the aroma compounds of a particular ingredient.Thenextstepistothencombinethisingredientwith others that share the same intrinsic properties to create unique and counter-intuitive flavour combinations. This results in flavoursthatenhanceratherthanmaskthequalityofspirits.

ChallengingTheMarket

With consumers now becoming more and more health conscious,low-caloriedrinkpurchasesarecurrentlyaccounting for 27% of all drinks sales. Double Dutch’s drinks are all naturally low in sugar and only use 100% natural and organic ingredients.ThisisoneofthewaysDoubleDutchischallenging the original tonic and mixer industry and encouraging the market to become more diverse and consumer friendly. The

companyislookingforwardtoseeinghowthemarket continuestogrowandchangeandtheyplantostayat theforefrontofthesechanges.

PerfectlyBalancedLeadership

Double Dutch was founded by Dutch twin sisters, JoyceandRaissadeHaas,whohaveanaturalaffinity with superlative drinks and excellent blendings. Both Joyce and Raissa have continued to personally direct the brand from key positions, with Joyce overseeing

the financial and operational aspects of Double Dutch, and Rasisa looking after sales and marketing. Both have the perfect balance of overseeing the function-critical aspects of the business and are more than determined to bring flavour,funandexcitementtothemixermarket.

OvercomingChallenges

One of the biggest challenges Joyce and Raissa faced when they founded Double Dutch was they hadnopriorexperienceintheFoodandBeverage industry which meant they also had limited industry contacts. As many start up brands, their budgets were very small compared to their big corporatecompetitorswhichmadeithardtoreach

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We are committed to supplying our customers with the most refined and highest quality ingredients.

COMPANY OF THE MONTH

the massive MOQ’s for production runs in a big brand landscape.Therewasalsothechallengeofbeingstockedby Wholesalers.

Joyce and Raissa overcame these challenges by building a large brand presence on social media as well as constantly increasingtheirnetworkofindustryinfluencersandinvestors who have been able to directly help the brand. Joyce and Raissawillalwaysundertakealotofpersonalresearchbefore makingbigdecisions,forexample,theirworkwithagencies islimitedastheyknowthatinternallyundertakingworkhasa personaltouchandthatpeoplealwaysreactbetterwhenyou maketheeffortyourself.

FutureAspirations

Double Dutch aims to revolutionise the drinking experience! Along with leading in flavour and innovation Double Dutch is looking to leave a positiveimpactontheenvironmentbyensuringthey become 100% carbon neutral. They are also continually exploring new flavours to add to their range as they believe there are still many flavour profile opportunities. It is through this flavour development that they plan to take on the leading brandshead-onwithsuperiortastingproducts.

Seasonality,lowcaloriedrinksandhealthylivingare threetrendsthatthecompanywillbefocusingonfor thenexttwoyearsasitlookstoalignwiththetrends that are driving consumer behaviour. Continued international growth is a big focus as well. Double Dutch wants to be easily accessible from all around theglobe,soaswellascontinuedexpansionintheir currentmarkets,theyarealwayslookingtoenternew markets.

HOW TO DO YOUR BEST WORK WHEN YOU'RE NOT ACTUALLY WORKING!

Tessa Clarke Co-Founder & CEO OLIO

InmyroleaschiefevangeliserforOLIO–the world’sonlyneighbour-to-neighbourfoodsharing app–Ispeakaboutourworkandjourneyatalotof events.AndwithoutfailI’malmostalwaysasked somethingalongthelinesof“Howdoyoujuggle havingafamilywithastart-up?”Whilstthisisan extremelyvalidquestion–andittouchesonatopic that’sveryclosetomyheart,itreallyfrustratesme becauseI never hearthesamequestionlevelledatmale peers.Asaresult,thisseeminglyinnocuousquestionis ladenwithanenormousamountofgenderbias, generallytotheexclusionofmen.Iwouldsuggestthat ifwewanttoachieveafulfilledbalancedlifeforall–maleandfemale–we have toensurethatwe’reall participatinginthisdebateaboutwork/lifebalance,and thatinclusivityneedstobethestartingpoint.

Anotherchallengeinthisareais,funnilyenough, thegenderbiasexperiencedbymenwhochooseto bethe“stayathomeDad”!Severalyearsagomy husbandandIdecidedthatgivenourrespective careerpathsandmotivationsinlife,itmade senseformetobethe“breadwinner”andfor himtolookafterourtwokidsandhome, whilstdevelopingpropertyinhisremaining time.Thishasgivenmetheflexibilityto pursuetheopportunitiesforOLIOwithfull vigour,andhasbeenabsolutelyinvaluablein termsofhelpingmetoachieveabalanced life.However,sadly,myhusband experiencesmorethantheoccasional disparagingpassingcommentandhaseven beenasked“Whenareyougoingtogeta properjob?”Thankfullyhehasnoself-

Maintaining a personal and professional life balance

esteemissues,andthinkshehasthebestjobintheworld! ButIhighlydoubtthatinthisdayandageanyonewould everdaresaythistoawoman;andsowhytoaman?If womenaretobetrulyequalintheworkplace–andto achieveabalancedlife,thenweneedtoadjustour perceptionsofwhatitmeanstobeamaleinamodern society,andacceptthatthiswillrequirementotakingonan increasinglyprominentroleinthedeliveryofchildcare–whichistothebenefitofallinvolved,notleastthechildren!

Genderissuesaside,Ispendaconsiderableamountof mentalenergyworkingtowardsachievinga‘balancedlife’. Iprefertheterminologyofa‘balancedlife’ratherthan ‘work/lifebalance’,becausewhenyou’reanentrepreneur (andespeciallyanentrepreneurworkingfromhome),the twocanbecomeverymixed!Andtosuggestthat‘work’ and‘life’aretheantithesisofoneanothersurelyisn’twhat weshouldaspireto.Intheveryearlydaysofsettingup OLIO,itwasprettymuchimpossibletoleadabalancedlife becausewehadtoachievesomuch,insolittletime,and withvirtuallynoresources.Aswe’vegrownthebusiness andtheteamhowever,bothSaashamyCo-FounderandI haveachievedamuchmorebalancedlife–whichis important,becausethestart-upjourneyisaseriesof marathons,notasprint,andsoit’sessentialtoavoid burnout.Wefindthatworkingpredominantlyfromhomeis extremelyhelpfulinachievingbalance(5-10hoursper weekgainedbackthroughnothavingtocommute!),andwe bothcarveouttimeduringourworkingdaystoexercise.In theearlydaysweusedtofeelquiteguiltyaboutexercising whenwe‘should’beworking,butnowwerecognisethatif we’retoperformatourbestthenweneedtobementally andphysicallyfitandexerciseisabsolutelycriticalforthis. Plus,IfindthatIhavemanyofmybestinsightsand inspirationsforOLIOwhenworkingout,soitreallyis killing two birds with one stone!

Aswellasworkingtowardsabalancedlifeforourselves, we’vereallybakedthisintotheDNAofthecompanytoo. Andthishasmanifesteditselfinacoupleofimportant companypolicies.Thefirstisourholidaypolicy–wehave nocaponthenumberofday’sholidayanemployeecan take;howeverwe do haveaminimumandinsistthat everybodyhasatleast20daysoff.Thisisbecausewesaw researchfromothercompanieswhohadadoptedalimitless holidayspolicy,anditactuallyshowedthatthenumberof daysworkedbyemployeesincreased,notdecreased!We alsothinkit’sreallyimportantfortheteamtohavea collectivebreakovertheChristmasholidayssoeveryone canreallyrelax,confidentintheknowledgethattheiremail inboxisn’trapidlyfillingup!Wealsoensurethatinevery

employee’sinduction,wetalkabouttheimportanceofa balancedlife,andinourlinemanagertraining,westress thatthelinemanagerisresponsibleforworkingwiththeir directreportstoensurethattheyareachievingabalanced life.Whatthismeansisthatonadaytodaybasisourteam chatwilloftenshowsomeonewalkingthedogatmid-day, someoneelsewiththeirkidsat3pmandothersheadingoff toswimoryoga.Eachteammemberisresponsiblefor ensuringthattheirworkisdone,accordingtowhatever schedulebestsuitsthem,andasaresult,wehavean incrediblymotivatedandproductiveteam,themajorityof whosaythatworkingforOLIOisthebestjobthey’veever had!Ifyouaren’talreadytalkingabouthowyoucan achieveabalancedlifeasindividualsandasacompany, thenIcanhighlyrecommendspendingsometimeonit,as therewardswillbeenormous!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tessa Clarke is the Co-Founder and CEO of OLIO, a free app tackling the problem of food waste by connecting neighbours with each other, and volunteers with local businesses, so that surplus food can be shared, not thrown away. Since its inception in 2016, 850,000 people have joined OLIO and have together shared over 1.2 million portions of food.

OLIO also publishes ZeroWasteWeekly.com, a website and newsletter that aggregates all the best zero waste news from around the world. Prior to founding OLIO,Tessa spent 10 years as a digital Managing Director in the media, retail and financial services sectors, and gained her MBAfrom Stanford. Tessa is passionate about the sharing economy as a solution for a sustainable world, and is equally passionate about the importance of leading a ‘balanced life’.

Technology,technique—nameit, theworldhasbestowedsome remarkablyadaptive implicationsandstimulatedtheminto becomingaglobalbrand.Yet,many organizationsarestrivingtoattainthe fullbenefitsofbeingaglobally recognizedbrand.Tostretchout confinements,variousorganizations oftenofferfranchiselicensesto franchiseownersinpotentially profitableregionsforacquiringabetter customerapproach.Insteadofstarting fromascratch,anindividualcan purchaseafranchiseandstartwitha provenbusinessmodelthathasamore probabilityofachievingsuccess.

Withadequatemanagementand guidance,onecaneasilyflourishinthe businessworld.Franchisebusiness strikesdowncertainhardshipsand strugglesthatmightbefacedinthe start-ups.Choosingfranchise

businessesoverastart-upcouldprove asabetteridea,asithasmorefruitful benefitsthatofanyinitial-staged businesses.

AnEstablishedOpenSystem

Unlikeanystart-ups,afranchise businessallowsanindividualtocarry outtheoperationdirectlyfromthe establishedfoundation.Frombrand cultivationandmarketingtofuture plansandcustomerbase,anew franchiseownerisblessedwithalmost everything.Anoutletofafranchise ensurestheideaoffollowingthe similarbusinessmodulesand operationalmethodscanbemore effective.And,implementingsome newtweaksinsuchabsoluteaspects makesthetaskeasierforadistributor.

Inaddition,italsoallowsprofessionals tooverviewthebusinessreportsand keyperformanceindicatorswhichaid

onetoadaptandmakeappropriate businessdecisions.Besides,astrong supportsystemisoftenanecessity ratherthanawant.Itsupportsan individualinmaintainingbalance betweenbothindependentideologies andthebrand’sbusinessmodules.The supportmostlyincludesthevast knowledgeaboutthefranchiseandan expertiseoutlookonproducts.With suchsystem,manynewbusiness personalitiescanperpetuallysustainin themassivemarkets.

LessriskfactorandHigherSuccess Rate

Oneoftheprimaryconcernfactorand themisconceptioninfranchise businesslieswithinthelimitationof autonomy.Unlikeindividual enterprises,afranchisebusinessmight befacingsomeproblemsregarding receivingafullscaleautonomywhich canbeoverruledthereafter.Itrequires

compassionoverchoosingafranchise whichismoresuitablewitha purchaser’sbusinessethics.This reducestheriskofbeingdominatedby franchisorsandotherinvestorentities andhelpsindraftingownrulesto followon.

Thoughafranchisecomeswithawellestablishedplatform,itdoesrequire consistenteffortsonbringingthe organizationupwards.Accordingto variousreportsandfacts,ithasbeen alsostatedthatthesuccessrateof franchisebusinessisquitehigherthan anindependententrepreneurial venture.Asfranchiseesoperateundera systematicbusinessmodel,theygetan indirecttraininginmarketingaswell asstaffhandling.Withalarge-scale marketing,thefranchiseescan promptlyattainmorecustomer attractionresultingintoahigher growthrate.

InstantCustomerAccess

Customerengagementisoneofthe mostcrucialanddifficultprocessesina businesstobear.Togainmorenumber ofcustomers,anorganizationhasto investtheirtimeandeffortson processingvariousmarketingaspects. Incaseoffranchisebusiness,theodds arequitesimilarbutwithfewerefforts. Asmostoffranchisebrandshavea nationaloraglobalrecognition, franchiseesarerequiredtocontribute intoa“marketingbudget”through whichtheparentcompaniescould processoutanextensivepromotion campaigns.Meanwhile,franchiseecan alsostartanindependentcampaignin ordertogaininstantcustomer engagement.

Belowaresomemethodsthrough whichfranchiseescanupliftthe business,independently. Focusingontargetaudiences—instead ofexaggeratingovercustomer approaches,onecannarrowdownthe targetaudiencestohighlyqualified prospects.Itallowsbusinessownersto concentrateandcomeupwithbest prospectstodeliver.

Return-policy—beingthemost traditionalandeffectivewaytoattract customers,utilizingreturn-policiesin franchisebusinesswillaidthe franchiseestogetbettercustomer approach.Providingsomethingin returnandofferingvariousschemes helpsincreatinganadversemarketing network.

HowFranchiseBusinessworks?

Quiteafewrequirementsareneededto befulfilledbyaprospectivefranchisee ownerinordertogetqualifiedfor licensingthebrand’sname.The qualificationrequirementssignificantly varyfromonefranchisortoother.It oftenincludesmaintainingahighernet worthandagoodcreditscorefora largerinitialinvestment.Inaddition,a franchiseemustbehavinganother sourceofincomealsoan industry/managementexperiencefor guidingbusinesseffectively.

Subsequentlyconsideringallthe factors,thefranchisordetermines whethertheprospectiveowneris worthyenoughtobequalifiedforthe businessornot.

AFranchiseagreementincludescertain setsoftermswhicharerequiredtobe followedbythefranchisees.After beingqualified,anindividualsignsan agreementwherehe/shehastopaya franchise-feeinordertoacquirethe licensetousethebrandsnameandits businessprocesses.Simultaneously, thefranchisorassistsfranchiseeswith allocation,supplierconnections,storemanagementandstafftraining. However,italsobestowsvariousfacets likespecifictestedoperatingsystem, withcreativemarketingstrategies.

Initially,theopportunitiesof implantingreinventioninfranchise businessarenarroweddownasthe focusofafranchiserisondeliveringa consistentexperienceacrossallthe locations.Amultiplefranchised locations,afranchiseecaneasilyattain increasedpurchasingpower.Also, Franchisebusinessallowsbusiness personstobeflexibletotrynew productsorservicesinordertotestin thereal-timemarketscenario.Thusby consideringaboveaspects,itcanbe concludedthatthefranchisebusinessis mostsecureandbestoptionto investin.

Driftless Glen

Driftless Glen

Delivering Unprecedented Experience of Unique Spirits

Foundedin2015,DriftlessGlenDistilleryisaGrainto GlassCraftDistillery.MostrecentlyratedbyWhiskey Advocatewitha“90”forBourbonWhiskey,thecompany hasbeennamed“WisconsinDistilleryoftheYear”,byNewYork InternationalSpiritsCompetitionandsharedasa“TopTenUS SpiritsBrandYouMustTry”,byLondonSpiritsCompetition.Its Americanspirithasover5,000barrelsagingon-sitemakinganame foritselfNationallyandInternationally."GraintoGlassandbackto Farm"isthecompany’sphilosophywhichmeansitisa0%waste distilleryintermsofthecreationofthespirits.

DriftlessGlenrecycles100%oftheby-product.Thespentmash andgraingotofeedlocallivestock,whilethewastewaterissent off-sitetoananaerobicdigester,convertingitbacktoenergy.The usedbourbonandwhiskeybarrelsaresoldtobreweries,cideries, andwineriestocreateuniquebrewsorarere-purposedbylocal artisanstoenjoyintheirhomeswhichmakesthecompanyan environmentallyfocuseddistillery.Moreover,AtDriftlessGlen,the creativitydoesn’tstopwiththespirits.Italsooffersdistillery inspiredcuisine,amenuwithdeliciousfoodcreatedwithitsspirits aswellasuniquemixologybyusingitsoliveoilsandbalsamic vinegars.

Driftless

Glen is set just around the hillsides of the Baraboo valley, purposely.

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AnEminentLeader

ReneeBemisistheCEOandCo-Founderof DriftlessGlenDistillery.Sheleadstheteam workingwitheachmembertomakeexecutive decisionsandassistwherehurdlesarepresented. ReneeistheElectionsChairmanfortheAmerican CraftSpiritsAssociation.Sheandherhusbandhave beenawardedwiththeprestigioushonourofbeing featuredinanupcomingpublicationasInc. MagazinesTop5,000FastestGrowingCompanies,

asanEntrepreneur360CompanyandReneehasspoken atmanyBusinessConferencesandWomanEmpowered LeadershipSummits,sharingherstory,leadershipand successeswithinthespiritsandfoodandbeverage industry.

DeliveringExperience

DriftlessGlenbelievesthatitsimpactonitscustomersis drivenbytheirexperience.TheyexperienceDriftless Glenfirst-handwhentheyvisitthedistillery.Bourbon

Renee Bemis CEO, Co-founder

andWhiskeygroupsarefindingtheenterpriseonlineand socially,reachingoutfortheirownprivatebarrelpicks. Consumersarehearingaboutitontheradioandthrough othermediaoutlets.TheteamatDriftlessisconstantly promotingitsspiritsatevents,withonandoffpremise locationsineverystatethatcarriestheproducts.

StereotypicalAdversities

Accordingtothecompany,oneofthemajorchallengesthat itfacesrightnowisthemisconceptionthatBourbon originatesonlyfromKentucky.Apparently,thereisasaying thatgoes,"Youcan’tcallitBourbon,Bourboncomesfrom Kentucky."whichthecompanybelievesisnotaccurate. Yes,themajorityofbourboncomesfromKY.,butthatis duetothepurewatersourcesthatareavailablethere.Pure watersourcesmakeforthebestbourbon.Thewaterusedin Driftlessregionissweetandcleanasitflowsthrough700 feetofsandstoneandlimestone,oneofthepurestaquifers, thisnaturalresourceofadoublefilterforthewaterwasone ofthereasonsthecompanybuiltitsdistilleryonthe Barabooriver.

Anothercurrentchallengeiseducatingtheconsumerthat notalldistillerieshandcrafttheirspirits.DriftlessGlenis competinginthemarketplacewithpopularproductsthatare massproducedinaplant,andthensourcedtothecraft distilleries.Thereisnoinitialinvestmentofallthe equipment.Thosecraftdistilleriesputtheirownlabelon theproduct.

ThoughtfullyPlannedGrowth

DriftlessGlenenvisionsthoughtfullyplannedgrowthand expansionforsharingitsspiritsthroughouttheUnited Statesandbeyond.Itcurrentlydistributestotenstatesand willalsosoonbedistributedinCostaRica.Thecompany

hasconsideredadditionallocationsfortastingroom experienceswithinthestatesitisdistributed.Itsfocusison thecoreregionstoensuresuccessasthebrandawareness continuestogrow.

ClienteleAssessments

“Driftless Glen is more than craft; they are pumping out a lot of Bourbon and Rye with over 5,000 barrels aging which is a huge number. Some smaller craft distillers have in the range of 200-300, so this is an impressive operation. We did a special blend and called it First marriage. It is really good. If you are looking to step out with a new craft distiller, this is a good one to go with.”-BlakeRiber, Seelbach.comandBourbonRReview

“Review Tasting Notes - Driftless Glen Bourbon WhiskeySome unique things going on here with a beautifully designed bottle with thumbprints on the side. A unique Bourbon Nose. Spicy, and well done!! Rich flavour and melts away. No real burn or bite which you would typically find from a 48% ABV. You can really start to find the barrel and the brown sugar. Unique flavors. Damn Good Whiskey.”-DanielandRex-WhiskeyVault

Moving Towards Transformation of Industries

n the recent years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has

transformed various industries and helped to perform better and achieve success in their respective arena.An idealamalgamationofhumanintelligenceandmachineshas proven that it can create wonders in the businesses. This attachment of human intellect with the machine assists businesses, to automate their day-to-day activities, to understand customer behaviors, to decrease work expendituresandtocreateoccurrencesonanindividuallevel.

Therefore, business individuals need to keep a close eye on the latest developments occurring in AI industry. This informationcanbevitalastheycanutilizeAIinareaswhereit cancreateprofitforthem.

There are various industries that are already utilizing AI in theirrespectivebusinessfunctionsandaregettingbenefited. Followingaresomeoftheleadingindustriesthathaveutilized AIasaninstrumenttooptimizetheiroperations:

1.Healthcare Healthcaresectorhasshownapositiveresponsetoassimilate AI in its field. That is the reason; Healthcare has received enormous funding to develop and execute AI. The modern day machine intelligence is assisting healthcare sector to examine medical data extracted from X-rays, CT scans and variousothertests.

Segregation of this information is important as doctors go through the patient's history to check and diagnose illness. Healthcareexpertsaredependentontheiryearsofexperience and prefabricated algorithms to acknowledge the symptoms of an illness. However, sometimes they overlook and make mistakes unconsciously. A BBC report titled 'AI Early DiagnosisCouldSaveHeartandCancerPatient'statedthat

nearly 20% of experienced doctors make mistakes while diagnosingpatient'sillness.Therefore,thisarduousaswellas dauntingtaskiscertainlymadeeasierbyAI.

TherearefamousexamplesofutilizationofAIinhealthcare sector.TheBabylonAIdoctorappavailsspeechrecognition to interact with patients cross-examines carefully against its database and provides necessary treatment. Another interesting healthcare AI, Molly by Sense.ly -virtual nurse app- links patients to scientific recommendations and help, withtheassistanceofproprietarycategorizationenginepays attention to the patients and replies appropriate response to them. Microsoft's Hanover project utilizes machine comprehension with natural language processing to forecast productivecancerdrugcompatibletothepatient.

2.AutomobileandLogistics

Automobile industry is witnessing crucial shifts such as autonomousdriving,connectivity,electrificationanddivided mobility. It is anticipated that the automobile industry will experience rise in economic growth by shifting from conventional to disruptive technologies and unconventional businessmodels.

On October 14 2015, Tesla announced that it is going to launchanautopilotcari.e.acarwithself-drivingcapability. Thecarisexpectedtodriveitselffromcoast-to-coastwiththe helpofautonomousnavigation.Othercarmakersareaiming to implant AI services like Amazon's Alexa. This will authorizepassengerstoself-commandcartechnologieswith thehelpofnaturallanguagevoiceorders.

German premium car maker Mercedes-Benz has deployed voicecommandpersonalassistantinCESshow2018heldin Las Vegas. Its arch business rival BMW followed the footstepsanddecidedtoadoptAlexaanditsassimilationinto itshandpickedBMWandminiautomobiles.KIAMotorshas alsoproclaimedthatitisthinkingaboutassimilatingGoogle assistantinitscars.

Itistheneedofthehourforanybusinesstoperformbetterin its services and increase profit as much as possible. It is expectedthatmachinelearning(ML)willempowersystems toanextentthattheywillcomprehendthedataandutilizeitto increase their performance.This is whereAI comes into the picture. The association between AI and ML can create wondersinlogistics,wheretimeisaparamountentity.

The logistics sector gathers extensive data from diverse sourcessuchaswebsites,smartphonesandvarioustelematics tools. Predictive analytics not only rearranges delivery schedule but also predicts subsequent orders which gives logistics sector an advantage to utilize its resources effectively.

Interestingly, AI does not stop there. It assists in semiautonomous driver assistance, autonomous fleets for ride sharing, engine overseer and forecasting maintenance for automobiles.

Also,AIhasbeenassistinglogisticssectortoconstructsupply chains beforehand with the help of advanced systems. This computer assistance in automobiles delivers goods in the efficient manner which is essential for the success of a logistics company. The forecasting helps logistics to avoid disastrous calamities such as difficult weather situations, trafficdelaysandmanyunexpectedoccurrences.

3.MarketingandAdvertising

Marketing sector has changed drastically over the years. Customers anticipate for a personal experience and it is the need of the hour for marketing sector to change itself and adjust accordingly. They are required to leave the conventional methods of marketing and concentrate on enhancingtheircommunication,executedemandsaswellas aspiration.ThisadaptationofAIisvitalformarketingsector as reluctance to implement this new technology can lead to lossofbusinessforthecompany.

AI assists marketers to find and forecast customer attitudes. This precious information allows marketers to carry out impactful keywords and communicate with consumers on a morepersonallevel.Moreover,chatbotsalsohelptoexecute this communication in a less expensive, effective and in a persistentway.

On top of it, AI generates ideas which are subdivided into many sub ideas. This way the risk of catering a sole idea is eliminated and various ideas can be catered according to customers and their preferences. Brands have started to acclimatize on this useful technology and are focusing on selectedcustomers.StartupshavealsobeguntoapplyAIwith the help of AI automated personalization and compelling videocontent.

4.VirtualAssistant

A Virtual Assistant can help you to handle smart home devices.Thisfeaturewillallowyoutoadministerdoorlocks, lights, appliances and many smart home devices. There are Virtual Assistants available in the market, which show the capacity to function as an intercom. A user needs to place VirtualAssistantsineveryroomtocommunicatewithothers. AmazonEcho's'DropIn'featureenablesuserstointeractwith eachotherfromdifferentrooms.

UserscanalsoutilizeVirtualAssistantstoshutdownandstart TV sets on compatible television models. In addition, a VirtualAssistantinthekitchencanalsobeutilizedtohandle kitchenmachines.

Virtual Assistants such as Amazon Echo as well as Google Home incorporates 'Routines' attributes which allow these Virtual Assistants to carry out many tasks on a single command given by the user. This means a user can create a 'Routine'commandwhichwillinstructtheVirtualAssistantto startmultipletasksitsupposedtoexecute.

Industries are constantly trying to update themselves by adaptingnewtechnologies.AIistransformingindustriesand helpingthemtogrowtheirbusinesses.Itisgoingtoadvance intomoresectors.Itwillhelphumanbeingstooperaterisky tasks,decodeuniversalissuesandtakecareofvarioushuman tasks.We can definitely anticipate a future whereAI will be thenewnormal.

Pam Bateson CEO & Co-founder Thrive Partners

WhatatechCEOcan teachyourbusiness aboutdigital

About the Author

Pam Bateson is an expert coach and mentor in business, training others to Masters level qualifications and supervising coaches. She has worked within the healthcare, retail, hotels, construction,media,agencies,education and public sector. She specialises in Coaching, Mentoring, Employee Engagement, Change Management, Learning and Development and Organisational Design. She has worked with all levels in organisations from graduates to the CEO. She has designed change programmes that connectprojects,outcomes,trainingand coaching. The performance outcomes have been outstanding. She is CEO and Co-founderat ThrivePartners.

PamBatesonsetupThrivePartners,

an on-demand coaching company, three years ago. In this article, she sharesherpointofviewonhowimportant humans are in a more digital world, what she’slearnedasatechCEO,andwhatthis meanswhenyou’relookingtousetechina way that’s both disruptive and works for customers. In October 2015, I gave up a successful career as a management consultant and coach to set up Thrive Partners. Lots of people thought I was crazy. I was approaching 50, with two children still at home. But for the decade running up to that decision, I’d been thinking about a better way to deliver coaching – supported by digital, to share morewidelythecoachingtoolsI’dusedto helpclientsformanyyears.

This was the business I set out to build threeyearsago.Today,we’reworkingwith 25 clients on five continents – delivering ourownbrandof on-demandcoaching,backedwithinsights forthewholebusiness.Thelearningcurve has been steep – particularly for someone who,bytheirownconfession,didn’thave

alotofexperienceinlearningtechnology.Sohere,Iwantedto share some of the things we’ve learned – and what it might meanforyourbusiness.

Dreambig

I didn’t really set out to build a business that would be considereddisruptive,butmybackgroundasaleanengineer and coach did mean that we ripped up the rulebook when it cametothecoachingindustry.Wescrappedtheideathatyou needed to meet face to face, and that sessions had to last an hour,oreventwohours.Andwemadeitaloteasierforpeople toaccessacoachtoanswerthequestionstheyhadthereand then – increasing access so people could chat to an expert withinanhour.

Workingwithmyco-founder,wethenrebuilttheindustryby asking the biggest questions we could imaging. What if we couldmakecoachingavailabletowholeorganisations?What if we could get listening as valued as speaking?And what if wecouldhelporganisationslearnasquicklyasindividuals?

Ifoundthesequestionsirresistible: IwantedtodoforcoachingwhatUberhaddoneforgettinga taxi,Netflixhaddoneforhomeentertainment,andTinderhad donefordating.It’sthesebigdreamsthathavegalvanisedour successinthelastfewyears–andwhichhassetusintheright directionforthefuture.

Buildformodernusers

Despite big dreams, we’ve also made our fair share of mistakes!Alotofthemmistakeshappenedwhenwetookour attentionawayfromourendcustomers.Itsoundsobviousto seeitthereonthepage.Butitcanbeeasytolosesightofthe customersthatmattermost,especiallywhen,asatechCEO, sometime we get preoccupied with a shiny piece of new technology.

So, what to consider first when it comes to users?The main thingtobearinmindisthattheyexpectexperiencesthatare easyandfasttoaccess–ashiftbroughtaboutbywhatwecall the ‘Amazon Prime Mindset.’ In this era, clunky user experiencesreducethechancesofuptakeofservices.Inshort, ifyourtechnologycan’tmatchorexceedthequalityofdigital experiencepeoplegetintheireverydaylives,thenyou’llneed togobacktothedrawingboard.

Createwinsforthemany So,ifuserscomefirst–whoelsecanweharnessthepowerof technologyfor?

Ouranswer?Everyoneelseinthesystem.

Early on in the development of our MyThrive platform, we realisedthatdeliveringdigitallywouldenableustodomore thanjustscaleandfacilitatecoachinginglobalorganisations; it would also mean we could spot trends and patterns within communitiesofusers,inorganisationsorsocietyatlarge.Just ascarefullylisteninghasapowerfulandtransformativerole in one-to-one coaching conversations, carefully listening to and analysing anonymised version of the conversations we host has a powerful and transformative role within whole organisations.

Thewhole-systeminsightsweproducedhashelpedtomake sales processes smoother, improved communications and createdmoreopportunitiesforpeopletolearn.

Keepithuman

With suicide being the biggest killer of men under 45, loneliness sweeping through developed economies in epidemicproportionsandathirdofallyoungpeoplesuffering fromanxiety, Istronglybelievethatwehaveadutytokeeptalkingtoeach otherasasociety.

We believe that keeping the art of conversation alive in this digital age is essential; only humans can master creativity, empathy,humourandimaginationinawaythat’scompelling. Information is everywhere, so we’re using technology differently – to offer real human experiences at scale, at any timeoftheday,wheneverourclientsneedaconversation,for everythingyoucan’tGoogle.

And what of the future? Curiously, even the structures of artificialintelligenceandmachinelearninglooksettomimic humanpatterns.It’sstillearlydays,butleadersinthisspace talkof‘deeplearning’withAI–bylayeringupdifferenttools thatconnectinthesamewayasourbrain’sneuralnetworks.

Andso,thenextthreeyears?

My recent experiences have led us to ask even bigger questionsthanwedidtobeginwith–whichIsuspectwilllead to our next irresistible set of adventures! What if we could transform learning management systems into learning ecosystems? What if any community of learners could connectwithanycommunityofteachers?Andwhatifabetter understanding of outcomes from learning could help both individuals,organisationsandsocietytothrive?

Iforonebelievethereareexcitingtimesahead.

SupportingRestaurateursSinceInception

Withthegoaltosupportthepassionof restaurateursthroughcutting-edgetechnology, TouchBistrowasfoundedin2010.Asan organization,TouchBistroknowsthatwhilepassionis plentyinthisindustry,timeandmoneyusuallyaren't.That's whyTouchBistrowasbuiltasaniPadPOSandintegrated paymentssolutionthathelpsrestaurateursputmoremoney intheirpocketsandmoretimebackintheirday.

InaninterviewwithInsightsSuccess,AlexBarrotti,CEO &FounderofTouchBistrodescribesthestoryofthe organization.

BelowarethehighlightsoftheinterviewbetweenAlexand InsightsSuccess;

Giveabriefoverviewofthecompany,itsuniqueness anditsvision.

TouchBistroisaniPadPOSandintegratedpayments solutionwitheveryfeaturedesignedfortheunique workflowsofrestaurantstoachieveoptimumoperational efficiency,deliveranexceptionaldiningexperiencefor patrons,andtaketheguessworkoutofmakingbusiness decisionstoimprovethebottomline.

Describeyourcompany'scutting-edgefood&beverages solutionswhichaddressalltheneedsofyourcustomers?

TouchBistrowasbuiltfromthegrounduptoworkasthe heartofarestaurant'soperationsbystreamliningand simplifyingallaspectsofrunningarestaurant–fromorder

Barrotti CEO & Founder

Alex

taking,paymentprocessing,menumanagement, accounting,reporting,andinventorymanagement,tostaff schedulingandcustomerloyalty–andcontinuestoadd functionalitythatrestaurateursneedmost.Wecarefully listentoourcustomerstoguideproductdevelopment,sowe solvetheproblemstheyhave.Aswearefocusedonlyon therestaurantvertical,ouraward-winningproduct developmentteamgetstodesignworkflowsandusecases thatarespecificallytailoredforrestaurantsandbenefitthe livesofrestaurateurs.Thiscreatesabest-of-breedsolution fortherestaurantvertical.

Costisasensitiveissueforrestaurateurs.WithTouchBistro, theydon'toverpayforfeaturestheydon'tneedthatareoften foundinPOSsolutionsthatweredesignedinitiallyfor othertypesofbusinesses,likethosethatsellclothesor repaircars.InTouchBistro,thefunctionsareessentialto runningarestaurant–suchasourpatentedbillsplittingor combiningfeature,managementofrestaurantstaffing, inventorytrackedagainstdinnersserved,tableassignment andreservationscontrol–whichmaynotbefoundinother POSsolutionsthatarenotspecificallybuiltforrestaurants. HighcostproprietaryPOShardwarehasalsobeena problemforrestaurateurswithlegacysystems.Toresolve thisproblem,TouchBistrowasdesignedtorunonanyoffthe-shelfiPadavailableatanauthorizedreseller.Inaddition tolowerorcomparablemonthlylicensefees,TouchBistro offersaflexibilityinthechoiceofintegratedpayment processors,sorestaurateurscanchoosetheonetheyprefer.

ManyPOSsolutionsdonotofferthisflexibilitywhichcan significantlyimpactthetotalcostofownershipofaPOS solutionwithhigherbillprocessingfees.

Withtheescalatingnumberoffood&beverages solutionsproviders,howisyourcompanycreatingan impactonitscustomers?

TouchBistroimmediatelystandsoutwithitsrichfeatureset andintuitivegraphicaluserinterface–restaurateurscan literallydownloadtheappandlearnhowtooperateitin30 minutesorlessasitautomatestheactualworkflowsand processesthatarealreadyfamiliartopeopleinthe restaurantbusiness.Staffcanberapidlytrainedonitas well,whichisimportantwiththehighturnoversthatare commoninarestaurant.

Enticingphotosofmenuitems,alongwithingredients,can bedisplayedontheiPadtoshowtodinersandtorapidly respondtoallergyconcerns,helpingcustomerswithmeal choicesandprovidingserverswithagreatupsellingtool. Serversarepromptedwithapop-updisplayofmodifiersto customizemenuitems,suchaswell-doneorrarefora steak,orforaddingcomboslikefriesorasaladtoaburger. Thisfeaturepromptsserverstoupsellspecificitems automatically,loweringtheburdenoftrainingor memorizingwhileincreasingthebill.Customizingthe systemforitemslikedailymenuchangesorseating rearrangementcanbeeasilydonebymanagementin-house withoutrequiringanycostlyoutsideprogramming.

Productupdatesandenhancementsareprovidedtousersabout everyeightweeksatnocharge.Thesearesimplydownloaded byuserswhentheychosetoimplementthatfunctionality.

Whatchallengesdoesyourcompanyfaceinprovidingyour solutionandhowisTouchBistrotacklingthem?

TouchBistroisleadingthechargeinoverseasmarketsin

partneringwithpaymentacquirerssowecanoffer greateroperationalefficienciesandfinancialservicesto ourendusersbyintegratingwithbankingservices. Findingtherightpartners,localizingtheappwith translationsandtax/legalregulationsandlocal currencyareallchallengesfacedwhenexpandinginto anewmarket. TouchBistrohasalreadypartneredin thisnewmodelwithJPMorgan&ChaseintheUSA, BarclayPaymentsintheUK,andEVOPaymentsin Mexico.

WhatcouldbethepotentialfutureofTouchBistro andhowdoyouenvisionsustainingitscompetency?

ThetotaladdressablemarketforTouchBistrois$72 billion.OurSaaSbusinessmodelenablesustoopen andexpandmarketsaroundtheworldwith extraordinaryagility.Tosupportsustainableand profitablegrowth,wearecontinuallyfine-tuningour operations,expandingourproductfeatures,opening newmarkets,andaddingnewpartnerships.Most importantly,ourproductqualityisunmatched.No othersystemisabletoduplicateourdesign,making TouchBistrothemostinnovativesolutionfor improvingrestaurantoperations.

AbouttheLeader

AlexBarrotti,TouchBistroCEO&Founder,isa successfulserialentrepreneurwhohasemergedasa visionaryintheadvancedtechnologiesthathelpretail andhospitalitybusinessesexpand.Alexlaunched TouchBistroiPadPOSsolutionin2011.Asoftoday, TouchBistrohashelpedover16,000restaurantsin morethan100countriestoincreasesales,improvethe customerexperience,andmakebetterbusiness decisions.

BeforeTouchBistro,AlexwasattheforefrontofecommercedevelopmentwhenhefoundedINEXin 1997.Whileothersdoubtedonlineshoppingwouldone daybecomethenorm,Alexpersistedindevelopinga novelturnkeysolutionthatenabledstoreownersto createonlinestorefrontswithpre-designedtemplates. At29yearsold,AlexsoldINEXfor$45million.

Wearerestaurantexpertswhoare passionateaboutimprovingthe experienceofrestaurantowners, staffandcustomers.Webuildeasy touseworldclasstechnologies thatinspiresuccess.

OFASALES STRATEGY

Everybusinessthrivessolelyon itssalesastherevenue generationrevolvesaroundthe efficiencyofitssalesstrategy.This strategycanonlybedevisedby engaginginthecreationand implementationofasalesmanagement system.Itisatechniqueofformulating salesstrength,synchronizingsales operations,andapplyingsalesskills thatletsabusinesstoconstantly improviseandexceeditssalestargets. Salesmanagementaidsthefunctioning ofactivitiesandtaskswhichare involvedinthedispersalofgoodsand services.

Sellingaproductoraservice,evento anaverageconsumerneedsstrategic planninganditseffective implementation.Onethingevidentina product’slifecycleisthatsales managementisn’taseasyasitsounds. Itdependscomprehensivelyoncrafting theorganizations’offeringsintermsof thetargetedmarketneedsanddesires, andusingevaluation,communication anddistribution.

Salesmanagementasaterminology directlyappliestothesectionofa businessthatinteractswitha prospectivecustomerandattemptsto convertitintoasale.Althoughthis tasksoundseffortless,prolonged researchandplanningareinvolved behinditsexecution.Onaless technicalnote,salesmanagementcan

becalledastheartofassessingand surpassingthesalesobjectiveofan organizationthroughefficientplanning, controlling,budgetingandeffective leadership.Anefficientsales managementstrategycanactasa massiveturnaboutforanyorganization initslongrun.

Theprocessinvolvedinsales management: Ÿ PlanningtheSalesProcess: Theprimarytaskinthehandsof anyonemanagingthesalesofan organization,beforeevenforminga teamisplanningthesalesprocess. Onehastoanalyzewho’dbethe prospectivebuyersandconstructa salesplantomeettheir requirements.Forinstance,an organizationwhichsellscomputers planstoenteranewmarket.Todo so,itwillhavetodeviseasales planbasedonanextensiveresearch aboutthatmarket’seconomyand thescopeoftheirproduct’ssale potential.Thechannelsoftargeted audience;beitonlineoroffline shouldbeadequatelyanalyzed,and recognizingthegeographicalareas wheretheorganizationwould thriveshouldbeconsideredasa prioritywhileplanningasales process.

Ÿ Hiringtherightpeople: Efficientstaffingplaysavitalrole intheaccuratefunctioningofany

devisedstrategy.Tobeprecise,a salesworkforceisasimportantto theorganizationasincreased profits.Evidently,boththesefactors areinter-dependent.Therefore,a salesmanageroranyemployerhas tocraftupaproficientteamtomeet theorganization’sdesiredgoals. Thistaskofstaffingcompetent salesrepresentativesrequiresan employertoconsidercertainfacts. Forinstance,iftheorganization functionslocally,asales representativewiththeknowledge ofthelocallanguagewouldbethe desiredcandidate.Othersuch constraints,whichshouldbe consideredwhilehiringacandidate include,familiaritywithlocal geographies,willingnesstotravel, toworkonvaryingtimezonesetc.

Aneffectivelyworkingsalesteam willcarryoutallthevitaltasksthat directlyleadtothesaleofa product,thusresultinginto increasedprofit.

Ÿ DesigningtheSalesStrategy: Asalesstrategyisfundamentally themostvitalrequirementofan organizationinordertosellits productsandgainprofits.This strategyisusuallyformulatedby theaforesaidsalesteam.Butfora strategytobederived,themanager oftheteamhastoprovideinsights andessentiallyindulgeinthe activity.Thisstrategyshouldbe

Ÿ

basedonthefactorsconsidered duringtheplanningofthesales process.Thedesigningprocessof thestrategyshouldincludeclarity andshouldn’tjeopardizethe integrityofateammember.Every teammember’sperformanceshould beassessedandprovidedwith guidanceduringdifficultyin attainingtargetsordeadlines. Regularappreciationsandrewards accountforimprovedwork motivationandperformance.Such adesignofthesalesstrategywhen implemented,provetobebeneficial fortheorganizationaswellasthe teammembers.

Ÿ ForecastingtheSalesResults:

Positivesalesforecastingis possibleonlybyaproductive analysisoftheorganization’ssales patternsandalsoconsideringthe currenttrendsintheindustry.This allowsonetointerpretthenumber ofsalesonecanachieveinthenext term.Thisanalysisisprovidedby thesalesteamwiththedatathey havecollectedoverthetime,about theamountofleadsturnedinto customersandtheleadswhichare yettobeconvertedforbusiness.By theuseofsalesforecasting,the futuresalesplancanbeassessed, providinganopportunitytoemploy experimentalstrategiesand methods.Thisalsoallowsoneto expeltheoldandunproductive strategies.

Ÿ Reportingthesales:

Thesalesreportingprocessinspects theefficacyofthevarioussales strategiesappliedcurrentlyor previously.Itisessentialto measuretheperformanceofthe salesteamaswellastheproposed salesstrategiestoevaluatetheir productivity.Thesalesteamshould berequiredtoprovidereportsofthe tasksexecutedbasedonwhich,the futuredecisionsmustbetakenby themanagementtoimplement measuresofimprovement.

Ÿ AnalyzingtheSalesEfforts:

Theresultingproductivityofthesalesstrategiesshould beconstantlymeasured.Everystrategyimplemented mustbeevaluatedpertainingtothedataofits performance,soastounderstandhowwellithasbeen executed.Thisaidsthesalesteaminanalyzingcommon errorsinthestrategiesandachievesenhancedsales.

Whysalesmanagementisn’tawalkinthepark: It’sacommonstereotypethatsalespeoplework comparativelylessthanpeopleinotherdepartments.The roleofasalesrepresentativeisnotjustmakingvoicecalls andhavingconversationswithpeople.Itinvolvesagiant ofaneffortinconvertingaleadintoacustomer.Thisisn’t feasiblypossibleunlessasalesrepresentativepossesses equivalentskillsandsmartworktechniques.Thesales departmentincontrasttoanyotherworkforceis accountabletotargetachievementsandregular performancereviews.Thiscreatesaconstraint whichevidentlyprovesthecomplexityinvolved intheprofileofasalesrepresentative.

Sincesalespeoplepersonallyinteractwitha probablecustomer,theygainthebenefitof beingabletogainknowledgewhichwill helpinperformingtheirsalespitchand offeringstothecustomer.Asalesperson isalsoresponsibleinbuildingtrustand loyaltybetweencustomersand businesses.Thiscanonlybeachieved pertainingtothetransparency betweenthesalespersonandthe customer.Whilemakingsales interactions,urgingacustomerto recommendafriendorprovide positivefeedbackdrawsanimpact onthedevelopmentofthebusiness throughbrandawarenessandsales.

Efficientsalespersonnotonlymakeasale, butalsobuildacontinualimpactonthe customer.Longtermcustomerassociationslead torepeatedcustomerreferralsthatincreasethe organization’sreputation.Toconclude,sales playapivotalroleintheall-encompassing growthofanorganizationandthus,cannotbe overlooked.