Digital payments help these Denver food and beverage businesses thrive

Humans are social beings. We are made to live and work alongside others in a community where we can thrive. Maintaining a strong community benefits small businesses—but to do so in this day and age, necessary changes must be made. That’s where Melio comes in.

Melio’s mission is to keep small business in business. And that means more to us than just helping improve businesses’ cash flow and saving them time. It’s really about building a community and allowing businesses to help each other grow.

In the upcoming months, Melio is putting the spotlight on the food and beverage industry in Denver and is celebrating business owners in the area. The goal? To help them grow and keep operating in times of uncertainty. 

Keeping Denver businesses in business 

Denver’s food and beverage industry has been facing several difficulties since the first outbreak of Covid-19. One of them is staff shortages. Restaurants, bars, cafes and other culinary establishments lost staff during the pandemic. Many workers shifted to other industries or remain unemployed. 

Foot traffic, which has always had a major part in bringing customers in, has not yet fully come back to the streets of Denver. Covid-19 emptied city centers across the country, and fewer people means fewer customers. 

And it’s not just front of house that’s struggling—the back office is facing its own problems. Mainly in the form of inflation, supply chain issues and the high cost of rent. With inflation hitting 8.5% in July, its highest rate in 40 years, small businesses across Colorado and the rest of the country are forced to change the way they’ve always done things. 

Tech to the rescue 

Some businesses are adopting technological tools to manage their finances. Denver brewery Bierstadt Lagerhaus is known for sticking to traditions. Yet when it comes to dealing with economic changes, the key to success, they say, is online payments. Owner Chris Rippe says “we honor old brewing traditions but use new ways of paying vendors.” 

Nobody goes into business because they love paying bills or dealing with finances, he says. That’s why making bill pay so fast is a game changer. With Melio, Rippe barely ever writes checks anymore. 

He spends two to three hours less each week on bill pay. He also saves money on checks and doesn’t need a part-time employee to do the bill pay for him. 5-10 minutes a week – and he’s done. 

Farewell to checks

Many other food and beverage companies in Colorado use Melio to pay the bills. The Block Distilling Co. made the switch to digital payments and now, they say, “The distillery has its challenges, but paying suppliers is not one of them.” 

What’s special about The Block Distilling Co. is they “do things the hard way. The long way.” That’s their way when it comes to their spirits. But not when it comes to managing other aspects of their business. With Melio, they got rid of checks and do all their bill pay in just a few minutes a week. 

And getting rid of checks isn’t just about saving time and money. It’s also about saying goodbye to fraud and money lost. Earlier this year, Smith & Truslow, who grow, grind and sell organic spices and herbs were hit by a check fraud scam. After that, they switched to Melio. 

Co-owner Jean Gleason says that technology was truly a lifesaver for them. They can now “focus on securing our organic spices, not checks.” 

The community comes first

Building strong relationships between local small businesses is important for growth. And besides their shared love for their craft, the above businesses rely on their community, which helps them thrive. They all took things into their own hands and now use new tools that help them grow. And it’s the very passion for their craft that pushed them to do whatever is needed to keep their business going.