Livia grew profit in multiple areas with Lightspeed Capital

Funding money-making ventures in a time crunch

When Livia first opened in 2019, bakeries were “where the money was,” according to Jordan, who runs Livia alongside his wife, Claire Livia. But that changed a couple of years later. If you could only use one word to describe the team at Livia, it would be adaptable. 

Jordan swiftly pivoted Livia’s business model to focus on wholesale, selling baked goods to high-end restaurants around the city, in order to weather the pandemic storm. It paid off. The wholesale arm eventually made up 50% of their business during that time.

Fast forward to today, and the restaurant industry faces more pressures from rising operational costs and food prices to labor shortages. Plus, consumers are spending less. “People used to go out three times a week but are now going out twice a month,” Jordan says.

With all this in mind, Jordan and Claire wanted the summer to be a smashing success. They needed to act quickly on new ventures so they turned to a quick cash advance offered right in their POS: Lightspeed Capital.  

A cash advance with Lightspeed Capital at the perfect time

The Livia team had two main goals: expanding their wholesale business, and starting a new summer event series. In May, Jordan’s wheels were turning to make this happen. 

A Lightspeed Capital offer was available in his Lightspeed back office, and he talked to a Capital Specialist about the program. That conversation sealed the deal for him.  A few business days later, their $40,000 cash advance was ready to use. 

“The ease of access to funds was really nice,” he says. “It was really a timing game. Once I realized I could make up what I was going to be paying back by utilizing that money intelligently, it kind of became a no-brainer.”

He also notes the speed of the cash advance factoring into his choice. “We could have gone other avenues to get money. But it would have taken a fair bit longer.”

One-time funding leads to long-term gains in only 4 months

Livia launched and hosted eight night events in the summer with the help of their cash advance. They used the money to buy products, from kitchen tools to ingredients.

This wildly successful series led to a 10-15% increase in revenue month over month, completely covering the cost of the cash advance. 

As for their wholesale business, the advance helped cover their cash flow for the expansion. “It’s up about 80% from where we started. We’ve been able to extend a revenue stream that’s very consistent that comes in every week.” 

Using Lightspeed Capital paid off for Livia.

“I would recommend Lightspeed Capital to other businesses. It is a valuable opportunity for quick capital that you are able to deploy in an industry that’s always changing.”