Back in the early 2000s, the hearth industry was operating under legacy architecture – paper orders and manual inventory books. Operations were not running efficiently, sales and marketing were very difficult to track, and success was difficult to replicate.
Alex Soubliere, co-owner, Friendly Fires was dedicated to finding a new, innovative technology approach to growing his small hearth business in Canada. After extensive market research and trial and error, Alex realized that generic back-office, sales and marketing software solutions from major providers weren’t suited for the specialized needs of the hearth industry, were far from interoperable, weren’t user friendly, and actually caused more operational headaches for his company and its employees.
Evosus®, the leading business software solution for swimming pool, hot tub and hearth companies, today announced the launch of its new mobile service app. Evosus Mobile Service is an add-on to Evosus Enterprise, the all-in-one software for managing point of sale, inventory, marketing, service, construction and accounting for pool, spa and hearth businesses. Evosus Mobile Service answers the industry’s need for streamlined mobile app integration. Over 1,500 service technicians are actively using Mobile Service, and over 1,000 photos are uploaded per weekday on average via the app.
Chances are, once the holidays roll around and temperatures start to drop, your employees probably start to resemble the cat in this gif to the right. While space heaters are nice and staying warm is wonderful, that coziness might just cost you big time. As we at Evosus learned recently, space heaters eat up a huge amount of power and should not be plugged into an extension cord or power strip. Our always-cold-employee (isn't there one in every office?) had her space heater plugged into an extension cord, causing a short circuit that resulted in half the upstairs immediately losing power at the worst possible time. Fortunately, no one lost any vital data, but it raised an important question: what would we do if we didn't have a backup in place?
Brick and mortar retailers in the pool, spa, and hearth industries have many challenges. The rise of e-commerce and price-checking tools make it difficult for retail stores to keep prices competitive and stand out against competition without hurting the bottom line. Not only that, but finding, training, and retaining sales associates is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. For many small retailers, keeping up with the constantly evolving retail industry can feel like a high stakes poker match or a shot in the dark.
Self-care is a big buzzword these days. From books about the Danish concept of hygge to TED talks to “Treat. Yo. Self” on Parks and Recreation, it seems like everywhere you turn there’s yet another discussion about self-care. Although self-care might seem like another Millennial fad, it has existed for decades and has long been encouraged by healthcare professionals. From a business standpoint, proper self-care can reduce stress and improve office efficiency. More importantly, self-care combats burnout -- an epidemic problem that sabotages productivity for businesses. For a business owner, proper self-care is essential to maintaining a healthy work-life balance -- particularly during the holiday season, when stress levels are at an all-time high and you’re told to think of everyone but yourself.
The holidays are upon us and for consumers and retailers alike, this means one thing: gift shopping. The holiday season accounted for roughly 20 percent of total annual retail sales in 2013-2014 and has been growing ever since. This year, holiday sales are expected to increase by as much as 4.5 percent, with each shopper estimated to spend an average of $743 on gifts. Naturally, most of this shopping is expected to take place during major sale events, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. RetailMeNot reports that at least half of all consumers are planning to shop for deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.