Making a start
Rodrigo and Jenny started off with their Temaki Truck, which they would park up at events, festivals, functions, weddings and markets to sell their cone-shaped, hand-rolled sushi (it's not sushi though!). Making their own sauces and pickled veggies, they add meat, fish or crispy tofu into a crispy seaweed wrap. They opened their first restaurant - and New Zealand's first Temakeria - at Eastridge Shopping Centre in Mission Bay in February 2019. Starting the business has given them the opportunity to bring Brazilian, Japanese and Korean influences to Aotearoa and they're really proud of what they have created.
Using the right tools
Passion, grit and intuition are all crucial when it comes to small business success. But so is a clear understanding of the state of your finances. Rodrigo decided he needed a digital analytic tool like Vonto to offer valuable insights into where the business is now, where it could be going, and what he might need to fix.
His main reasons for using Vonto included:
- Being able to access the app daily to see how he was tracking with revenue and operating expenses. Having business data in the app helps them make smart decisions when times are good and bad.
- The cashflow insight is helpful to compare month on month or this time last year and this provided a buffer for immediate use of funds.
- Being in hospitality is definitely hard, but a dashboard gives us time to look at strategies and opportunities to make our business better.
- Time is money when you're running a business and admin can take up a lot of it. Vonto saves us time to switch between apps.
- When he opens the app on his phone, all the insights that he needs - from financial information to social media activity - are all there in one place and he can favourite the ones he wants to see regularly.
- Being able to view gross margin, operating expenses, cashflow and daily sales insights anytime, anywhere.
Wearing multiple hats
Being a small business owner, Rodrigo and Jenny are the chefs, servers, cleaners, mechanic and accountant, so the less time they have to spend looking for information, the better.
Having all their business data synchronised into an app and providing easy to understand insights has allowed them to think about what they can do to scale up their business. They are now on a planning/designing stage to wholesale some of their best-selling items on the menu, to bring a piece of Temakeria into customer homes. Keep an eye out of these new releases in your nearest supermarket!
The biggest benefits of using Vonto
They have an accountant, but Vonto can simplify what their business data means in a quick and easy way and it's accessible anytime, enabling better decisions. They know what their margins and running costs are and normally there is only about a 1-2% fluctuation, but one month there was a 4% increase. Drilling down into the app helped them notice one of their suppliers had increased their price in the invoice. Without Vonto's insights they most likely wouldn't' have found this until much later.
Next steps
- Get in touch with ASB by enquiring online, visit a branch, call on 0800 272 222 or contact your banker to update them on any rough trading ahead.
- If you face a difficult scenario in your business, take action as fast as you can and involve staff sooner than later. They are most likely on your side.
- Find out more about Vonto. Digital tools like Vonto can help businesses gain valuable insight, presenting data as easy-to-digest charts and stats that help staff and owners set targets and stay on track. Vonto's Terms of Use and Privacy Collection Policy apply.
