In many Nigerian restaurants, and across much of the world, diners are presented with three main ways to browse the menu: a prominent wall or counter display, a shared physical menu with limited copies, or a digital menu, often just a downloadable PDF.
Less than a year ago, Ted Oladele and his team at Mira, an order management and payment system for hospitality businesses, set out to improve this experience with a more seamless meal ordering and payment process. The initial answer emerged as a QR code-based platform that streamlines the dining experience.
Users can peruse digital menus, place orders directly from their phones, and conveniently split the bill among themselves. This effort at reinventing a simple process led the team at Mira, which has raised $200,000 from family and friends, to see more problems and ways to disrupt the $4.7 trillion global hospitality market.
Today, the startup, which has over 200 restaurants on its platform, is taking its mission further with the launch of the Mira Register, a holistic Point-of-Sale (POS) system that’ll change how restaurants process orders, receive payments and manage inventory. The startup’s customers include a mix of Small, Medium and Enterprise businesses such as Olaiya Foods, Grey Matter, The Vault and Ashluxe. Payments are processed by Paystack with a few more payment partners to be onboarded over the next few months.
The Mira Register boasts a compact but comprehensive software suite managing both front-end orders and back-office operations. It comes equipped with two displays, a receipt printer, a barcode scanner, and full connectivity options like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
“For many business owners,” Oladele, Mira CEO and ex-Flutterwave design VP explains over a call, “software takes a backseat when considering a point-of-sale system. They prioritise acquiring the hardware itself, then scramble to find compatible software and essential accessories like barcode scanners or printers.”
Oladele mentions that the POS devices and accessories typically cost around ₦500,000, not including a separate setup fee and potential software upgrade costs from POS engineers. At ₦360,000 with a 12-month instalment plan of ₦35,000 per month, the Mira Register provides a more accessible option for acquiring a comprehensive POS system.
The journey to building a refined POS
The launch of the Mira Register marks a strategic evolution for the startup which began by offering free restaurant software, generating revenue through transaction commissions. Now, the Mira Register signifies their expansion into hardware solutions, offering a more comprehensive service and a new revenue stream.
“This evolution isn’t a product of guesswork, but rather based on valuable customer feedback,” Oladele explains.
In 2023, Coffee & Co, a Lagos Island cafe using Mira’s QR code payments prompted a shift in the company’s direction. The QR code system, while convenient, wasn’t ideal for handling a surge in customers and potentially causing long wait times. This customer experience gap highlighted the need for a more efficient payment solution.
“They wanted to be able to directly input orders themselves, which is essentially a point-of-sale system,” Oladele says. “Within a week, we whipped up a prototype that helped them get through the event. It wasn’t pretty but it worked.”
Buoyed by the success of the makeshift POS system, Coffee & Co requested a refined version of the POS.
This led to the creation of the Mira Register, in partnership with a Chinese manufacturer, which addresses a critical gap for cafes and similar businesses: seamless integration between POS and back-office software. Traditionally, many restaurants rely on manual methods (pen and paper) or outdated systems for back-office tasks.
Mira solves this by ensuring orders placed through its self-service menu or Mira register automatically update the back-office system. This real-time data stream simplifies inventory management and streamlines overall operations. It also makes it easy for managers and business owners to track their business’s progress remotely.
Oladele sees immense opportunities for Mira with potential partnerships unlocking a range of value-added services for multi-location stores. He anticipates exploring options like inventory financing and payroll services to further empower these businesses.
In a market where other better-funded startups like Orda appear to have a head start, Oladele doesn’t see any clear market leader in the cloud POS space.
“We identified a significant gap in the market. Nobody was building the Square for Africa,” Oladele says. “While many solutions focused solely on the payment aspect, we saw an opportunity to create a comprehensive system for Africa. Our focus extends beyond just processing payments; we aim to streamline the entire process for businesses, from accepting payments to organising inventory, managing employees, online sales, loyalty and so much more.”
