Restaurant Owners and Software Developers Find Success with Epson POS Printers
In 2015, Massachusetts restaurant owners Bill and Patti Roland were in need of updating their point-of-sale technology solution and couldn’t find a system that met their restaurant’s needs. With experience developing software and owning and operating restaurants, they decided to build their own. Joining forces with co-founders Dan Roland, Cole Dillon and Scott Bleczinski, Katalyst emerged.
Given the unique background of being restaurant owners and software developers, Katalyst wanted to create a system to help their entire business – from managers and bartenders to back- and front-of-house staff. Seeing themselves as consultants for the hospitality community overall, they ventured down the path of developing a system that would work not just for their restaurant, but any restaurant.
And they would need a reliable POS printer partner along the way.
Not Just Reservations
Because they were averse to spending the large sums of money required for online reservations all vendors were charging, the first version of Katalyst was developed around Table Management and reservations. Once the module was complete and installed, they took a step back. “We discussed amongst ourselves that we did not want Katalyst to be another ‘add-on’ product to a much larger component of the POS platform,” said Dan Roland. “From there, we set out to develop the heart, brains and all other peripherals of a complete hospitality platform – from point of sale to reservations, table management, gift cards, loyalty programs, online ordering, and on and on. We wanted to eliminate the need for multiple tablets.”
Katalyst also wanted to offer a solution that could be used on the customer side, for online orders, reservations, purchase mail or gift cards, all with a white-label app for businesses to make it their own. “We also wanted to provide a manager app, so owners and managers don’t have to be on location to see sales data,” said Dillon.
Today Katalyst offers a single restaurant management platform that addresses POS, online ordering, reservations, waitlist and table management, kitchen display system (KDS), gift card and loyalty programs, and intelligence and reporting.
Designed for Restaurants by Restaurant Owners
With two restaurants in Massachusetts – Stoneforge Grille and Stoneforge Tavern & Publick House – Katalyst wanted to use its roots and expertise in the restaurant industry to disrupt the market. “We understand the complexity of trying to run a business with labor shortages and rising food costs,” said Bleczinski, co-founder and chief revenue officer. “We can immediately assess a restaurant and see the potential for savings – helping lower the processing fees that restaurants have and are passing on to customers.”
Katalyst also uses its restaurant – conveniently located right below its headquarters – as its first customer and test case. “We ran all the software in our restaurant for three years before we launched,” said Bleczinski. “And whenever there is new functionality, we push it out to Stoneforge and see how it’s received in the restaurant. And believe me, our staff will tell us if something doesn’t work.”
Katalyst targets full-service restaurants for its software solution, with Bleczinski noting they have sophistication and really want to learn about their customers, making Katalyst an ideal solution for them.
Needing a Printer Partner
Katalyst was initially integrated with another printer company, yet as their work progressed with their software and the updated versions, they started using the Epson SDK. “Our developers noted how much cleaner and easier the Epson printer was to use,” said Dillon. “It’s now been six years working with Epson.”
Anthony Rosato, Katalyst’s customer success specialist, notes that one of the big things that drives restaurants, and their customers in particular, is quality. “Over our many years of working with Epson, we’ve had very few printers that have stopped working; very few tech support calls,” he noted. “We rely on Epson’s quality – every time I get a product, it’s built well and works exactly how I expect.”
Katalyst works mainly with the Epson mSeries and mPOS-friendly thermal printers, as well as the Epson TM-U220 impact receipt and kitchen printers. Per Rosato, they are looking to integrate the OmniLink® TM-L100 liner-free thermal label printer as well. “We will also start working with the Epson Mobilink™ portable wireless receipt printers,” said Dillon. “We work with tablets, and the Mobilink printers will allow our servers to wear the printer on their side and print guest receipts in real time.”
And while some might think the way of the receipt might be going by the wayside, Dillon notes that’s not the case for business customers. “A lot of our business customers will always need itemized receipts for their records.”
Helping Customers Move to Epson
As Katalyst starts to work with new restaurant customers, one thing they will conduct is a site survey and health status check, and they almost always recommend replacing older POS printer hardware. “If we can get them to upgrade and implement Epson printers, we know it will work right off the bat and they won’t have to worry about issues down the line,” said Dillon.
And when Katalyst introduced their catering module, having a full suite of Epson printers available that offer printing for different size invoice slips or sticky labels, has opened up a lot of opportunities.
“We work with a lot of coffee shops and bagel shops, and the liner-free labels are an integral part of their workflow, which has opened up opportunities for us in that space,” said Dillon. “Similarly, catering is a bit of an untapped market. Our catering customers are looking for a specific type of printer slip and invoice, so being able to offer them the full breadth of Epson’s solutions has been great as we move forward into different markets.”
Looking Ahead
Katalyst is excited for the future, and how their POS software will evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of restaurants. “Our future involves solutions to manage labor costs and drive table turnover, two things we know restaurants are prioritizing right now,” said Bleczinski. “Our strategic direction is based on where the market is going, and that is also what we see coming out of Epson’s roadmap, which is really all you can want from a partner.”
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