5 minutes with… Restoplus Co-Founders, Ezhil Mohan and Nisha Sowdri.
Lazy brunches, long lunches and dinners that last until the early hours of the morning seem like a distant memory in 2020. Over the past few months we watched as our favourite restaurants and cafes moved to a delivery-only or take-away model, relying heavily on delivery giants like Uber Eats, Menulog and Deliveroo for their last revenue stream, while others shut down entirely, unable to viably operate under such models.
Independence for these small business owners is a hard nut to crack, but this Adelaide-based startup is taking on the challenge. Commission-free, Restoplus is helping restaurant owners leverage, retain and grow their regular customer base all while learning to market and expand their restaurant’s brand.
Below, Co-Founders Ezhil and Nisha talk about the effect of COVID-19 on the restaurant industry and their clients, motivations for starting Restoplus, books that changed their lives and why they were skeptical when they first joined the Skalata program.
What was the inspiration behind Restoplus?
EM: Restaurants form a huge part of our social lives. We both love food and technology, so it was an obvious choice to work in the Food Tech industry. It’s no secret that the food industry has been heavily disrupted by 3rd party ordering platforms. Commissions from these platforms have largely impacted hard working restaurant owners, forcing some of them to shut their doors permanently. For the love of food, we started Restoplus to empower individual restaurant owners to have a fighting chance against the food aggregators.
NS: When I first migrated to Australia, I had a chat with one of my mates who was running a restaurant here. He mentioned the high commissions charged by 3rd party food aggregators and it occurred to me that we could create a mobile app which his customers could download and place orders directly.
How do you think Restoplus can help restaurants?
EM: There are 3 key benefits I would like to highlight:
Empowering Restaurants: We give restaurants the opportunity to step away from 3rd party platforms and offer a superior ordering experience for their customers with their own website and mobile app that’s easy to set up and manage.
Reduce Commissions: Restaurant owners pay a large chunk in commission to food aggregators. With their own website and mobile app, they can take their online orders directly from the customer without needing to share their profits. Hish from La Romana Pizza Bar Broadview says that he now gets 85% of his online orders directly through his own mobile app developed by Restoplus.
Brand Loyalty: Every restaurant has regulars. Restoplus gives restaurants the opportunity to reward these customers for their business with the ability to set up loyalty programs for repeat purchasers.
NS: On top of that, we’re offering them extra opportunities for branding and customer engagement strategies.
How do you think COVID-19 has change people’s attitudes about going out to restaurants?
EM: On one hand, COVID has kept people separated (via social distancing). On the other hand, it has brought people together at a different level. Consumers are more aware of the pain their local restaurants have suffered due to COVID, so people are finding more ways to support their local restaurants.
For most of our clients, we’ve seen a huge spike in orders coming via the restaurant’s own app in lieu of Menulog and Uber Eats, especially in recent times.
Monte’s Pizza in NSW was primarily a dine-in focused restaurant and fortunately just before COVID, the owner decided to concentrate on the takeaway side of the business as well. We had the app up and running for a few months, and then COVID struck. With the app, they were able to continue operating even after his entire dine-in section was closed.
NS: COVID-19 has absolutely turned the restaurant game upside-down. It is fair to say that the restaurant industry is one of the most impacted by the pandemic. People are extremely reluctant to visit restaurants even to place an order, so almost every single order a restaurant receives during this time is online. This is a disaster to the already stressed restaurant industry, because now 100% of their orders are now going through third-party aggregators like UberEats.
Best decision you ever made?
EM: In recent times, applying for and becoming part of Skalata’s portfolio!
NS: One of the best decisions that we made was deciding to empower restaurant owners by developing a white label solution and a subscription model that meant we could stay away from the commission model.
You’re both based in Adelaide. How are you finding the Skalata program so far?
EM: In the current intake, we’re the only business based outside of Melbourne. Originally, we planned to move to Melbourne since it was a requirement of the program. Then COVID-19 happened and we were unable to move to Melbourne and it was announced that the program would be delivered virtually.
We were a bit sceptical initially of the “online” way of participating in the program, but it has been amazing so far. I am impressed with the way the Skalata team adapted to the situation and made us feel great despite making such a big change in the way the program is delivered. I am glad that from next intake onwards, there’s no longer the requirement to relocate to Melbourne, so startups and astute early stage entrepreneurs can apply from anywhere in Australia. This is gold.
NS: Honestly, working remotely doesn’t really impact the program. We have great communication technologies like zoom, so we can still have (virtual) face-to-face meetings with our coaches and the Skalata team. If anything, it’s more convenient because we can stay connected with our families during the program. It’s nice to not have to worry about relocating and everything that comes along with moving, on top of the program deliverables.
Any tips for how you maintain your workflow and motivation?
EM: Managing your workflow is something that most people don’t get it right. I certainly didn’t initially. After long hours of working, I’d still go to bed stressed and anxious about the work that was yet to be done.
Now, I practice writing down my tasks every morning. I then pick the most productive/important tasks to start and finish that day. It’s easier said than done, and there are plenty of distractions that will continually arise, but I’m getting better at balancing it.
On a regular basis or whenever I feel down, I spend time doing things I love like spending time with family and friends over wine, watching sports or going to the gym. It helps me to feel energised and motivated to go the distance the next day.
NS: Getting into the program is obviously stressful, because it forces you to look at different areas of the business and to take a step back from the day-to-day to make sure you’ve clarified the big picture stuff. I think that’s the very reason why any startup would like to be part of Skalata. It’s essential to take a break once in a while and to reflect upon what has been achieved and also to be extremely realistic about timelines. Otherwise it is so easy to get super stressed and burn out.
Last eureka moment?
EM: There is no point in working long hours on a regular basis! Setting up appropriate timelines and expectations is the key, especially when you are a founder and have 100 things to do at a time. I realised this recently as I was constantly over working and still stressed that I couldn’t complete all that I wanted to in a day. Planning and setting expectations is the key to manage stress levels.
NS: Realising how much we could do with Skalata’s investment. When we got into the program, we didn’t think we could do much with $100K and we were more interested in the program, coaches and networks. The coaches helped us see how the funds could be used to accelerate the growth of the business in the smartest way, which makes a ton of difference for a start-up.
Books that changed you…
EM: All Marketers Are Liars (Seth Godin), Purple Cow (Seth Godin), Losing My Virginity (Richard Branson), The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (Mark Manson).
NS: I am a big fan of Seth Godin and I have read all of his books multiple times.
Another author I really like is Al Ries, he has written multiple books on branding and marketing. What’s interesting is that he wrote these books about 15 years back (pre-Facebook) so no one really tends to pick these “old” books. He is a true genius because his concepts and ideas have stood the test of time and are still relevant to date. There’s plenty of wisdom buried in the books that have gone out of trend just because they are old.
Best piece of advice someone gave you?
EM: Know who you’re taking advice from.
NS: The best piece of advice I received was from one of my technical advisors. He said, “if you are trying to do something too fast, you are essentially stealing time from the future”. Sometimes it might look as if you are over-achieving and moving fast, but just be sure that you’re not stealing time from the future.
…and the worst?
EM: Don’t think I’ve had anything too bad. I don’t take on advice that easily. I assess who it comes from, and I am good at that, so chances of taking on bad advice is slim.
NS: Nothing really!
What’s first on the list when COVID-19 is over?
EM: Shaking hands and hugging people (where appropriate of course :) )
NS: Travelling and more travelling.
Restoplus is a Skalata Ventures portfolio company.
