Stephen Moran
Co-owner, Yeah! Burgr
A burger business enlisted the help of a digital system that helped them better manage various operations, from payments to inventory data.
When Stephen, David and Gary Moran wanted to attract more weeknight customers to their 10,000-square-foot nightclub in Navan, County Meath, they added a burger restaurant to the space.
Keeping up with business growth
The three brothers were floored by its success. “The demand was absolutely insane,” Stephen recalls. The Navan location became the flagship of their fast-casual chain, Yeah! Burgr., which uses high-quality, locally sourced ingredients for gourmet burgers, chicken wings and other menu items.
The second location opened in Maynooth a year later, followed by franchises in two other cities. During the pandemic, the business pivoted to meet the demand for more takeaway orders. It soon became clear that Yeah! Burgr. would have to evolve to keep up.
Contactless ordering gives servers an extra pair of hands
Moran realised QR-code ordering would be a great way to keep Yeah! Burgr. growing. After reviewing options, he made the switch to Square. “The first thing we noticed was how easy to use and pretty the hardware was,” Moran remembers. “Then, you start using it and really see the benefits.”
Customer wait times dropped as orders were sent digitally — directly from the table to the kitchen, and two servers could handle the entire floor. QR-code orders soon accounted for 70% of the daytime service, and labour costs dropped from 30% to 19%. Cost savings were one reason Moran says he chose Square, but another was how easily the system adapted to fit the needs of each restaurant — and its dayparts.
For dinner service in Maynooth, for example, servers use the handheld POS to take orders tableside, rather than relying on QR-code orders. That means customers received warm hospitality from servers who spent less time running back and forth to the kitchen or till. “There are two ways to look at Square: If you do need to cut costs, it works; if you want to improve your actual operation, it works as well,” says Moran.
I have to keep prices down for customers.
I can’t do that using third-party services,
but I can do it using Square.
Game-changing way to make data-driven decisions
On the back end, Moran found new ways to use the data in his dashboard to improve tracking costs and margins. He calls the seamless integration between Square and BevSpot a game-changer for giving him full confidence in making decisions with reporting and inventory data.
“Square helps with the cost of labour reporting, and BevSpot helps control the cost of goods sold,” he says. Detailed reporting means managers can track data to hit certain targets, and inventory controls hold employees accountable. Thanks to more organised data, Moran says his accounting fees have decreased. The staff love the Square Team Management app, where they can check schedules and their expected payroll.
Keeping more margins with an online ordering site
With the surge in online ordering during the pandemic, margins were taking a hit from third-party transaction fees. Adding Square Online and prompting customers to place their orders directly from Yeah! Burgr.’s website is saving money and time. “It’s completely integrated into our system,” Moran explains. “I don’t need additional staff to print it off and re-enter it.”
Moran is in the process of dropping all third-party deliveries. “If we can transfer even 50% of those sales directly to us, I’ll be saving money,” he points out. “I have to keep prices down for customers. I can’t do that using third-party services, but I can do it using Square.”
Yeah! Burgr. continues to expand, with a fifth location in the works. “Square has made me rethink my model because of its capabilities,” he says. “We’ve developed a lot of business over the last six months, and Square has been paramount to that.”