Every coffee shop has three jobs in it

Three jobs.
Only one of you.

Greg is your financial manager. Lucy is your shop manager. They work every day, on one fixed monthly fee, for coffee shops and restaurants that were never going to be able to hire either of them.

See what you already spend Start at the beginning

HR and admin

You decide who works which shifts, and you tell them early enough to be fair on them. You work out what to order, you count what is in the fridge, and you place the orders before one o’clock. You capture the invoices after closing. Nobody else in the shop does any of that. It is all you.

Shop manager

Finance

You pay the suppliers, you run the payroll, and you get the VAT in on time. Somebody also has to work out which items on your menu make money and which ones lose it. That somebody is you, and you have never had a free hour to sit down and do it.

Financial manager

Growing the business

An owner has to be out among the tables. You have to be where you can see the whole room, so you notice the customers who have been waiting and get to them before they decide not to come back. You have to work out why Thursdays have gone quiet and try something different. This is the one job that grows your turnover, and it is the one you never get to.

Owner

You were trained for one of them at most. Nobody opens a coffee shop because they are good at VAT.

A normal day

A typical day
without Greg and Lucy.

MorningYou decide what to order.

MorningYou prepare tomorrow’s and next week’s shift schedules, then send them to your team.

Before 13:00You place the orders before one o’clock, otherwise there’s no delivery tomorrow.

AfternoonYou sit down to pay suppliers.

After closingYou capture the invoices.

Every one of those is HR, admin or finance, and every one of them happens in the office. Two of those three jobs keep the shop running. The third one grows your business, but it is the one you neglected today.

Admin and finance have deadlines

The order has to be placed before one o’clock or there is no delivery tomorrow. Salaries have to be paid on the 25th, so you calculate them whether you have the time or not. VAT is due. Miss any of those and something breaks that week, so those two always get done.

Growing your business never feels urgent

Nobody phones to tell you Thursday mornings have gone quiet, or that the customers by the window waited eleven minutes and probably won’t be back. Skip it today and the shop still opens tomorrow, the suppliers still get paid and the staff still get their wages, so you skip it. You skipped it last week for the same reason, and you will skip it again this week. Keep doing that for three years and your turnover will still look exactly the same.

The first job

Lucy · Shop manager

Lucy

Your shop manager · HR and admin

Lucy runs your
admin and HR.

Your staff work with Lucy on WhatsApp. You set the rules and schedules once. After that, she sends reminders, stock counts and checks when they’re due, and records every response. She helps your team prepare orders, sees who clocked in and who didn’t, and prepares next week’s shift schedule around your staffing budget. You see everything on your phone.

“Thandi, it’s stock count night. Start with the coffee fridge. Full cream, how many two litre?”

Shifts

She prepares the shift schedule around your staffing budget. She sends it out early, and each person taps to confirm.

Leave and hours

Your staff request leave in the chat and you approve it there. She logs their hours as they work, so payroll is right the first time.

What to order

She guides your staff through the stock count on WhatsApp and works out what to order.

Placing the orders

Your staff place the order from the same WhatsApp chat with Lucy’s assistance, before one o’clock.

Recipes and wastage

Every dish is set up with its ingredients and quantities. Recipes deduct stock as items sell, and wastage is recorded. Your stock always balances.

Invoices

She captures every invoice as the stock arrives, so there is no pile waiting for you after closing.

The second job

Greg

Your financial manager · finance

Numbers only matter
if they help you make
better decisions.

The service comes with Greg’s own point of sale and back-office accounting system, so Greg sees every sale, every supplier invoice and every hour worked on the same day. Every morning he reviews yesterday’s trading and tells you what matters. If you’re about to lose money, you’ll know before you lose it.

“Cocoa is up 18%, so three shakes are now selling below cost. Put the prices up nine rand and you are back where you were.”

Greg · Financial manager

Payments

He reads and captures each invoice, checks it against the rules you set, and pays the supplier from your bank. You never load a beneficiary.

Payroll

He runs the payroll off the hours Lucy has already logged, and he submits the EMP201, UIF and SDL on the dates they are due.

VAT

He calculates the VAT and submits the VAT201 on time. You don’t have to deal with it on the night of the 24th.

Which menu items are costing you money

He shows you what every item on your menu is really making.

What your labour really costs

He compares what you paid your staff against your turnover and monthly budget.

Where your money is leaking

He tracks every void, refund and free item, and shows you which shifts they happen on.

At the counter

Greg’s point of sale,
with your name on it.

The point of sale and the back office accounting behind it are Greg’s, and they come with the service. What your customers see is your shop. Your logo, your colours, your details on the slip.

Stock deducted automatically by recipe

When you sell a flat white, the milk, the beans and the cup come off your stock without anyone having to capture it.

Orders taken at the table

Your staff take orders on handheld devices and process the card payment at the customer’s table. The order prints automatically at the bar and in the kitchen.

Cash-ups without the paperwork

Card payments and sales are already integrated, so most of the cash-up is done before anyone counts the till. Your waiters confirm their tips and their cash on WhatsApp at the end of the shift.

The two of them

You don’t check up
on either of them.

Everything Lucy captures becomes part of Greg’s reporting. What Greg finds becomes Lucy’s next task. Lucy and Greg work together all day and you only hear about it once they’ve already dealt with it.

Lucy counts with Thandi and the milk is three short.

Greg flags it immediately and checks whether it happens again the following week.

Greg spots that your shakes have dropped below 55% GP.

Lucy sees the cocoa price has gone up, re-costs every shake and sends you the new prices for approval.

Greg spots that you’re overstaffed on quiet mornings.

Lucy updates next week’s shift schedule and sends it to the team.

And when somebody does not do what she asks

Greg picks it up in the numbers within days instead of waiting until month-end. He sees a stock count that never happened, or a check that was ticked without being done, or stock that does not match what was sold. You find out this week, while you can still talk to the person about it.

Lucy keeps your staff and suppliers organised. Greg tells you what it all cost you. There is nothing left in a pile for you after closing.

The same day

Here is that
day again.

MorningLucy and your staff finalised the order. You get a message telling you it is done.

MorningNext week’s shifts are already with your team, and two people have confirmed.

Before 13:00Your staff placed the orders with Lucy. You were on the floor looking after customers and growing the business.

AfternoonThere are four payments waiting for you to approve, and it takes a minute on your phone.

After closingThere is nothing to do, because the invoices were captured when the deliveries arrived.

It is the same shop, the same suppliers and the same people. You were not in the office once. You finally had time to chat to your regulars. You spent the day where owners add value, watching how your customers use your shop and deciding what to improve.

On your phone

You find out today,
not next month.

Open it whenever you’ve got ten minutes. You’ll immediately see how the shop performed yesterday, what Lucy and Greg have already dealt with, and the shortlist that still needs your approval. Tap Greg or Lucy to see what they’ve already dealt with.

Both of them, first thing

Lucy’s day so far

What Greg found

They go through your bank balance, the suppliers waiting to be paid, the customers who owe you, the items losing money, what labour is costing you and where you stand with SARS. They do that every day, and they only tell you what changed.

Once a month

The Management Pack,
on the 1st of every month.

Greg prepares the Management Pack on the 1st of every month. Nothing gets written by hand. It’s the same work Greg has been doing throughout the month, simply presented in one place. Payroll has already been completed and the VAT201 has been submitted. You understand the month in ten minutes and hand it to your accountant without explaining it.

01Executive SummaryThe month on one page. Read this one first.

06Sales, GP & Stock ControlWhat sold, their margins, and what the stock counts said.

02KPI DashboardThe numbers that matter, and which way they moved.

07Labour ReportWhat your staff cost vs your budget and turnover.

03Trading StatementYour books against budget, last month and last year.

08Cash, Debtors & CreditorsWhether you can pay everyone, not just whether you profited.

04Menu PerformanceWhat is carrying the shop, down to the item.

09Compliance & ControlSARS, and where money is lost through wastage, stock shrinkage and unknown costs and increases.

05Suggested Price ChangesWhich items to reprice, and what to charge.

10Commentary & Action PlanWhat to focus on next month, and where to fine-tune.

Most owners only find out how the month went halfway through the next one.

A real month

One café, one month,
and what came out of it.

Typical trading figures from an independent coffee shop using Greg and Lucy.

TurnoverR742 500▲ 5.3%

Gross profit67.0%▲ 0.3pp

Staff cost24.0%▲ 0.8pp

Net profit12.0%▲ 1.5pp

What Greg found

Twelve items selling below the 60% mark. Nine of them shakes.

Staff cost 2% over, from too many people on three quiet mornings.

Delivery sales dropped below 58% GP after the delivery app took its cut.

Voids piling up on two shifts. R3 850 across 52 of them.

What Lucy changed

Item	Now	GP	New
Peppermint Crisp Shake	59,00	51%	69,00
Nutella Shake	59,00	52%	68,00
Lamb Curry	185,00	53.5%	199,00
Cappuccino Regular	37,00	80%	39,00

At your current turnover, that adds about R9 800 more gross profit a month. Start with the coffee, because it sells the most and customers notice the least.

Priorities for next month

What	Watch
Work the mid-week mornings out differently	Staff cost ≤ 22.5%
Put the new prices up, coffee first	GP ≥ 67.5%
Manager PIN on voids over R50	Voids < R2 500
Chase the 90 day account	90+ = R0

What you save

You are already paying
for most of this.

Put your own numbers in. Greg and Lucy replace everything on this list, so you can cancel all of it the month they start. Leave a line at zero if you do not pay for it.

Accountant or bookkeeperMonthly fee

Payroll bureauMonthly fee

Point of saleSubscription and support

Stock systemSubscription

Accounting systemSubscription

Time and attendanceClocking system, if you have one

And what it is costing you not to know

Monthly turnoverSo we can work the rest out

Stock shrinkagePercent of turnover you cannot account for

Unrecorded wastagePercent of turnover thrown away and never logged

What you can stop paying every month

R 11 450

Services Greg and Lucy replace outright.

And what you are losing on top

R 17 500

Stock and wastage nobody is measuring.

Subscriptions and feesR 11 450
ShrinkageR 10 000
Unrecorded wastageR 7 500
A year of itR 347 400

Take everything you’re already paying for your bookkeeper, your payroll bureau, your point of sale, your stock system and your accounting system. Then add what you lose every month through stock you can’t account for and waste that was never recorded. Greg and Lucy replace all of those services.

Get a quote for my shop

Your bookkeeper doesn’t decide what to order. Your payroll bureau does not tell your staff which shift they are on. Your point of sale doesn’t tell you which menu items are making or losing money. You do all of that yourself, after closing.

Example quote

Greg & Lucy R 6 500

If Greg and Lucy were free, would you appoint them?

For almost every coffee shop owner, the answer would be an immediate “yes”. Having an experienced retail administrator and financial manager supporting your business every day would be a no-brainer.

The real question isn’t whether you want Greg and Lucy. It’s how much extra they really cost.

Once you’ve taken into account what you’re already paying for today, and what you no longer need to spend once Greg and Lucy are in your business, the difference is often much smaller than people expect. That’s why appointing Greg and Lucy becomes a much easier decision.

Talk to us

Tell us about
your shop.

Every shop is different, so every quote is different. Your shop has its own turnover, its own people, its own suppliers and its own menu, and that is what the work depends on. We look at those first, then tell you what it costs.

What happens next

We sit down with you and run your own numbers, so you can see what your Management Pack would say before you commit to anything.

Then we go through your suppliers, your recipes and what you want to approve before it goes out.

Everything in writing, sorted out before you sign.

Your own retail specialist runs the take-on with you. Anything you already have on a computer gets used as it is, so you are only asked for what is not written down anywhere.

The terms

One fee, calculated for your shop.

One fixed monthly fee

One amount every month, for everything Greg and Lucy do. There is nothing extra to buy later.

Twelve months

Most of the implementation happens during the first two months. We load your suppliers into the system, we cost every recipe, your staff start on WhatsApp and payroll is up and running. A year is long enough for you to see the Greg & Lucy difference.

Sixty days notice

After the first year it goes month to month. If you want to stop, give us sixty days.

Your first four months

When	What happens
Month 1	Your own retail specialist runs the take-on with you. Anything you already have on a computer gets used as it is, so you are only asked for what is not written down anywhere. Your staff meet Lucy on WhatsApp, and Greg takes care of your banking, books and payroll.
Months 2–4	Your specialist stays close while the counts settle and the costings tighten, and your first Management Pack arrives.
After that	Greg and Lucy keep working every day, and your specialist is there whenever you need someone to step in. You hear about problems while they are still small.

Three jobs.Only one of you.