Interview with Andrew Lok
Discover the story behind Solitude Acacia Resort and how Andrew leveraged Poster to simplify the administration of his businesses
What’s the story behind Solitude Acacia Resort?
Actually, Solitude Acacia Resort operates within the Solitude World group, which includes resorts and cruise boats. We’ve been using Poster POS for Solitude Acacia, which we took over in 2020, and amazingly we managed to open and have business during the pandemic. We’ve even expanded our usage of Poster POS to our diving centers.
Is this your first business in the food industry?
Actually it’s our fourth within the group, and I’ve done quite a lot of work opening new businesses.
And what’s the story behind the name of your business?
Well, Solitude is the name of our group, and Acacia was the name of the resort before we took over. There is a huge acacia tree in the middle of the resort and we wanted to keep it as part of the brand.
Can you tell us a bit more about how you run your business?
I actually manage the entire group, I oversee acquisitions, development, training, and much more. Additionally, I have managers who help me run and implement everything at each business. I like to get involved whenever we start using new software, and I always try my best to get the most out of the systems with which we’re operating and then pass on this knowledge to the management team.
Have you worked with any other POS systems? Did you encounter any issues?
I have but a long time ago, before the time of cloud systems. The biggest downside was that I wasn’t able to get data whenever and wherever I wanted, and I had to rely on other people to get my reports.
And what’s your general experience working with Poster?
We’re really happy with the customer support and the simple user interface. Please keep it like that, no need to complicate it!
Are there any tools that you find particularly useful?
One of the main reasons why we picked Poster was because it could integrate with CloudBeds. But since then we’ve noticed that It’s really helped to minimize human error. It’s been really useful with inventory and tracking sales. It’s really good to know that you can access reliable data whenever you need it, especially with higher-cost inventory items.
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve experienced in your business?
Well in a lot of remote areas of the country, and sometimes with the older generations, sometimes I’ve found that some people can struggle to work with newer technology. Unless it looks like one of the social media platforms, it can take some effort to teach these management technologies. In the Philippines, we also struggle a lot with our internet connections, it can be hard to get a stable connection in certain parts of the country.
Do your employees find it comfortable to work with Poster?
Once you manage to teach your staff how to make the most of it, they can really see how much time and effort you can save by inputting data into Poster instead of having to go through these processes manually.
Will you recommend Poster POS to your friends in the restaurant business?
Actually, a Filipino friend of ours just started using Poster in his cafe, it’s located near a small surfer beach in an area called Baler. He saw it at our resort and he decided to start using it for his own business.