We spotlight our partner Dark POS. Dark POS specializes in next gen point-of-sale systems for restaurants, retail, hospitality, and dry cleaners. The company originally branched off from a leading POS company called Scan Q, founded by Evaz Fanaian more than 30 years ago. We caught up with his son, Founder and President Nabil Fanain, to learn their story, how he’s seen the industry grow, what’s made their business successful, and much more.
Dark POS offers point-of- sale solutions for restaurants, retail, and hospitality as well as dry cleaners. Why the decision to focus on those vertical markets?
Enlite POS and other software platforms were originally created by ScanQ, which has been offering point-of-sale solutions for a variety of industries for over 20 years. In 2015, Dark POS took the legacy platforms and began to rebuild them from the ground up, implementing modern technology, features, and integrations, while maintaining and improving features that help these industries operate efficiently.
Specifically, the laundry/dry cleaner market is an integral part of your business. What separates Dark POS from other businesses in that space?
Enlite POS is a flexible dry cleaning point of sale software. Perfect for single to multi-location cleaners. Our dry cleaning software is comprised of several components: point of sale software, routing app for pickup and delivery, a customer mobile app, and an online customer portal. All of these components create a seamless experience for cleaners and their customers.
A key problem cleaners have shared with us about competitors is that the cleaner has to change their business processes to suit the software. Our software has more than 300 configurations that allow cleaners to customize the system to meet their needs and processes.
Your company offers a customizable interface and proprietary technology for cleaners when they’re putting garments on the carousel. How does that work?
Innovation is a key differentiator between Dark and our competitors. A clear example of our innovation is LARA (LED. Assisted. Rapid. Assembly). Our patented assembly technology allows cleaners to reduce their assembly time by up to 40%.
To learn more, watch this video.
What are the reasons you like working with EVO?
EVO has been a great partner, offering great support and rates for our merchants. Any time that we have had an issue, EVO has gone to great lengths to make sure the merchant is happy and the issue is resolved in a timely manner.
The motto of Dark POS is “Point of Sale. Made Simple.” How important is it to simplify the process for your clients?
Merchants are typically overwhelmed with technology. In fact, many of them fear technology. Many of our competitors have created a complex system to complete a simple task. Merchants should feel comfortable with their point of sale technology, and that has been our focus since day one when developing our software.
What other factors have made your business successful?
Dark POS is a young organization and we have big goals for our products and company. We are very excited about the many milestones we have reached in such a short period of time. From our support team to our developers and even our partners, everyone has played a major role in our success.
Even our customers have helped in our success. Over the years, customers have been our main source of innovation. Thanks to our customers’ feedback, we have added over 100 valuable features to our software that help dry cleaners and laundry businesses.
How have you seen the industry evolve over time and where do you see it headed?
Merchants are demanding more from their point-of-sale technology. For decades, cleaners have been forced to settle with antiquated technology, uncomfortable contracts, and high costs of ownership for their points of sale. Over the last five to seven years, there has been a shift to the SaaS model for dry cleaning and laundry software. Merchants are the main beneficiary of this industry shift – more options, better technology, and lower cost of ownership.
If anyone is thinking about getting in the business or is just starting out, what advice would you give them?
If someone is looking to get into the dry cleaning business, it’s important to plan and work with experts that can guide you on your journey. The biggest lesson we have learned is that not all cleaners are alike. Each cleaner has its process that works for them. Getting feedback in order to optimize your processes will be one of your biggest assets.
For business in general, surround yourself with amazing people. It’s important that you have the right people on the bus before you start your journey. Great team members will help you solve big problems and push big ideas forward.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
To learn more about our software, you can check out our website and YouTube channel.
