Challenge

Multi-site bar group, Mojo, love providing music and food to their customers. They’ve gone through aggressive growth periods, which were practically impossible to control with spreadsheets. Owner Martin Greenhow had no way of spotting impending busy or slow periods so was relying on guesswork a lot of the time. He needed to clearly see how each site was performing but was at a loss as to where to start.

Solution

Martin’s accountant put him onto cloud solutions. Using Futrli, each site is being managed independently, and comparatively to the other sites. This level of insight means the whole team can rest assured every day they come to work knowing what’s expected of them. They’re responding to changes – positive and negative – in real-time, thanks to the data and insight Futrli provides.

Results

Martin has much better control of his data, which has led to the profits for the bar group tripling in the space of 12 months. The way the data is presented in Futrli really makes an impact on Martin and his team. The staff, in particular, are fully aware of what is expected of them which makes their lives and perform better. There’s now always one eye on his finances, something that was impossible in spreadsheets.

Interview in full

Mojo has three establishments. Its first site, based in Leeds, isn’t flush with space so, from day one, it had to financially make the most of every square inch.

In 2005, and then again in 2008, we kicked into pure growth mode adding two additional operations respectively. We’d always run the finances in Excel but the challenges we faced were exaggerated with the expansion. It was fine with one site (on week one!) but it was a bit convoluted to try and maintain 52 sheets per site and it was impossible to clearly see how the business was performing and then another year rolled in. It kept getting harder, not easier. 

Luckily for Mojo Bar, they didn’t have a traditional accountant so help was on hand. Jonathan Myers, Director of UWM, introduced Xero and Futrli and Martin Greenhow and his team haven’t looked back. With the help of Futrli, Mojo has seen an astounding profit hike – tripling it in the space of their first 12 months.

Futrli has dramatically reduced our response rates. If things go right or wrong, we’re on it. The speed that you can implement change to leverage success or address warning areas is incredible. In the past, we’d serve customers day in, day out, and we might be running a certain product line at a loss, we just couldn’t see that without Futrli. It’s the full financial picture. I can focus in on my balance sheet when I need to but keep an eye on the operational KPIs day-to-day.

The clarity has made a substantial impact on individual sites and the group as a whole, we really value that it has united our team on the numbers that matter.

The team absolutely love the visuals. Now, they make an impact. It helps them understand it which makes their lives easier and their performance better. But, you can’t just stare at the numbers you have to focus on what you can do to change them, Futrli brings that message home.

Mojo Bar claims their strategy is simple but consistent:

We strive for quality service and standards to drive better turnover and now there’s always one eye on our margins and profit. I wouldn’t run a business without Futrli.

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