Small business success spotlight: Steven Lee

Small businesses are the true engines of our economy. Elavon is proud to be a trusted and reliable partner to keep those engines running smoothly. We love providing resources, tips and strategies to help you run your business smarter with a nice order of profitability on the side. Beyond that, we also love to share a good success story. With our Small Business Success Spotlight, we’re showcasing business owners just like you and highlighting all the ways they’ve carved out their success.

Today, we’re pleased to introduce you to Steven Lee, owner/operator of Gillian’s Cafe in Atlanta, Georgia. Lee partnered with Elavon to flex the variety of his breakfast and lunch eatery by serving up the menu customization he needs to keep his customers happy and coming back for more - a great example of the use of our restaurant POS systems.

Tell us a little about yourself and your business, Steven.

My name is Steven Lee. We took over the restaurant in March of 2019. It’s a breakfast and lunch cafe. We serve your traditional breakfast and lunch, but one thing that sets us apart from the others is that we try to make as many things as fresh as possible, and we give our clients the opportunity to design what they want to eat. That’s something the customer really likes, is to be able to decide what they want as opposed to selecting something on the menu. We really try to cater to the client, and they appreciate it.

How does Elavon help you run Gillian’s Cafe?

We use Elavon for pretty much everything they offer, including POS and credit card processing. I have 2 point of sale devices right now. One is talech. All I had to do was email someone everything off our menu, and they put it in for me. Because I have such a huge extensive menu, that really cuts down hours and hours of work for me to do. The size of the screen and larger fonts make it really good for older people like me. That’s one of the features I do love. The customer's screen is the best feature I love about talech.

How would your business change without Elavon?

My business would suffer big time. With my prior service, it was difficult a lot of times getting someone on the phone. When it's the only register you have and you have 20 people standing in line and it shuts down, that’s a problem. Their great customer service is what gives me peace of mind when something goes wrong. I know I’m going to have their support.

What’s the advantage of having Elavon over other payment processors?

Before, we would always look for just the lowest fees, and change every year once the lease became more expensive. Looking back, that’s not always the greatest approach. The cheapest rate is not that huge of a difference. To me, customer service really means a lot. I always know there are tons of people I can rely on at Elavon.

With so many options for customization, scalability and flexibility, Elavon has all of the tools and resources to help grow your business, just like Steven’s. Hungry for more efficiency and support for your business today? Order up a partnership with Elavon - all part of a balanced business diet for your success.