Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mohammed Sloan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Mohammed, thanks for joining us today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?
Some of the biggest trends we are seeing in the industry, is the trend toward automation. Restaurateurs are fighting higher food and labor costs. An opportunity to reduce labor costs by introducing efficiency at the ordering level through automation and other tools. This is not to say a reduction in personnel per se, but rather an opportunity to re-purpose individuals, especially allowing MORE focus on the customer and concentrating on the service and hospitality aspect.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Yes, we closed our first (and only) round of institutional funding on Monday, March 16th, 2020 – 1st day of “Shelter at Home” orders around the country. We were fighting a “war” on 3 fronts- 1) Potential customers (merchants) who needed to find an online ordering solution for their food service concept
2) Servicing our existing customers from both a financial standpoint and technical standpoint as online ordering volume went from 8% to 10% of a merchant’s existing business to 95%+ overnight
3) Onboarding new employees within the company
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
The lesson I had to learn was that every decision has both a short-term and long-term ramification. At some point, you can’t kick the can down the road and the bill “always comes due…” This is in regard to our technical debt, which made scaling a challenge then (March 2020)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ez-chow.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ez.chow.pos.integrated.online.ordering
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ez-chow
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ez_chow
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ez-chowinc5852