The Magic Ingredient to a Truly Successful Partnership

Partnership is a word used often in a business sense, but exactly what does it mean? Impos strives to create enriching, mutually beneficial partnerships, which can prove challenging in the fast and nimble ever-growing landscape of hospo tech. The management team at Impos remember fondly the day back in 2019 when Mr Yum CEO & Co-Founder Kim Teo came in to meet with the team to share her vision of an innovative new QR-code ordering system. It was memorable, not only due to an exciting new technology to revolutionise food ordering, but because of Kim’s exuberance, passion for her product and her unique “hugs, not handshakes” ethos.

“Mr Yum was one of our first partnership agreements that enabled an opportunity for a revenue share element. We feel these types of partnerships are the most enriching because there is a joint passion for the product at hand, with a common goal for success.” says Annie Winton, Impos’ Head of Marketing and Partnerships. “I’ll always remember our first meeting with Kim, with her greeting me with a hug and from that moment it felt more authentic and personable to our usual business meetings. There’s also something really powerful about partnering with a company as they are just starting out. Her excitement for her product was contagious, her energy was electric, and I walked away knowing we would end up working together.”

Impos and Mr Yum then got busy setting each other up for success wherever possible; working together on co-branded marketing opportunities, weathering the storm together of COVID-19 where Kim’s “hugs, not handshakes” mission statement was truly put to the test, collabed on the many feature enhancements and pivots at Mr Yum over the years, and have since grown together sharing in the joint success of both companies. And boy, did they grow! Mr Yum has since grown to 170 staff, over 5000 venues, and over $100m in capital raised.

Impos has also grown exponentially during this time, while always staying true to their core product of point of sale (POS) servicing the hospo industry for over 18 years, are continually looking for ways to innovate and grow. 2020 saw the launch of Cinch, their own online ordering platform, designed to support hospo at a time when takeaway was their only option. More notably was the launch of their payments platform ImposPay in 2021 which now provides customers with a cost-effective opportunity for a POS and Payments Bundle solution to streamline operations for venue owners and avoid out-dated monthly fees.

The partnership goes beyond the usual stale Zoom meetings and the occasional obligatory lunch. They invest in each other’s business, dedicating time to go in and speak to the team about their products, to truly nurture the relationships and provide further incentives for the Sales teams to ensure both brands are top of mind for the teams. It’s crucial to provide incentives in such a competitive space as over the years, we have lost count of the number of digital ordering apps out there. Same goes for POS companies.

“Annie and the Impos team have been such awesome supporters of Mr Yum right throughout our journey. The integration (via Doshii) and partnership with them was one of our very first! They have great customer relationships and are always looking to push the industry forward. Most importantly, Impos ‘partner’ in the truest sense of the word. They focus on joint growth and objectives, and creating an amazing experience for us as partners, as well as our shared customers. We’ve always loved working with their team!” says Kim Teo, CEO & Co-founder, Mr Yum.

So, there you have it. We’ve come full circle. So, what is the magic ingredient of a truly successful partnership? It’s giving the most valuable commodity of all – your TIME. It takes consistent effort and commitment. It means being able to truly rely on the other business and being there for each other – in the good times, and the bad. Having said that, when you are lucky enough to stumble across a partner who shares your values and you genuinely know they are good people with both teams committed to the “work hard, play hard” mantra, it makes work-life a hell of a lot more fun!