st Maarten – Christian Peper

New POS system for iZi ristorante italiano

Posted on 3 August 2019 by Christian

Very happy to report having set-up David from iZi ristorante italiano in St Maarten with a new cloud-based POS system from Lavu.com!

The new POS is software-as-a-service, which means he doesn’t need local servers anymore to record transactions. No Windows server to maintain. No software to update nor backup and restore. All data is safely in the cloud. In case of internet disruptions, the software has an offline mode that will record transactions and upload everything once the connection is restored.

Lavu POS 4.0

The expensive stand-alone (often Windows XP!) terminals that served as cash terminals or server stations can all go. The software runs as an app on iPads or iPad minis, that are easy to carry around by the waiters or set-up as a register using protective stands. The stands can also be securely bolted to counters or furniture to complicate stealing. But in case of (weather) damage, theft or malfunction, David just gets a new iPad, logs in with his Apple ID, downloads the app and after 10 minutes the new iPad is ready for business. He can then go claim the stolen equipment…

The result is a modern POS system that works alongside existing payment terminals from Sint Maarten banks for Maestro debit and credit cards. Apple Pay and Google Wallet can easily be added with a snap-on accessory on the iPad, when desired or needed.

Menus are easily created and added using the online Lavu control panel and price changes take literally 10 seconds. Waiters can stimulated to push certain menu items and receive a part from the profits. For instance, 5% of all Summerlicious menus they sell or 10% of the wine bottles but not wine by the glass.

Buffalo Wings SXM

Posted on 26 March 2019 by Christian

It was a pleasure creating the website for the best place on St Maarten to get Buffalo Wings. Talking with Victor gave a lot of energy to help set-up a website where people can find menus, see photos of the dishes, get to know the product line that Buffalo Wings SXM has to offer and find a clear location and opening hours of the restaurant. This is a rare thing on St Maarten and something that more venues should do for their prospective visitors and guests.

Buffalo Wings
Restaurant | Bar | Sports

After having established himself as the go-to place for buffalo wings and creating 24 homemade sauces to match any style, flavor or texture you might be in the mood for, Victor is expanding his product line with delicious burgers, wraps, arepas and Venezuelan parilla. But he also wants to let people make their own famous buffalo wings by selling deep frozen, marinated, ready to cook wings and ribs for backyard or poolside birthday BBQs, family gatherings, company cookouts or beach picnics.

The website was set-up on WordPress.com for reliable hosting with high uptimes, automatic WordPress software upgrades, great security features, free SSL certificates with each domain and best-in-class antispam functions to fool contact form spammers.

I integrated Google My Business and Search Console, so that Victor has a good understanding of how people end up on the website or what they searched for to get there. This will help him create better focused social media ads and which promotions were successful and which not.

Google My Business
Google Search

Kalliopie Designs

Posted on 22 March 201922 March 2019 by Christian

When a friend needs your help, you go and help. So when my friend told me about her passion and hobby to make high-end custom hand and clutch bags for friends, family and customers but didn’t know how to update her website, I jumped in.

Kalli studied Arts and Design in Philly and started making bags right away. First for herself, you know how that goes, but soon all her friends wanted one too. Her trademark – signature – is the “Evil Eye” which is a Greek symbol.

The evil eye is a curse or legend believed to be cast by a malevolent glare, usually given to a person when they are unaware. Many cultures believe that receiving the evil eye will cause misfortune or injury. Talismans created to protect against the evil eye are also frequently called “evil eyes”
Wikipedia

She also has a cool “skull” design, which reminded me a lot of the Mexican symbol used for “Dia de las Muertos“, the day of the dead. Both are really well done and the quality of her products is superb. Too bad you can only make so many bags by yourself, but she’s looking to increase production. When that happens, the site is easily expanded to include a little shop.

Best thing about this site is that Kalli already had professional photos done with her bags and dresses by St Maarten’s celebrity fashion and art photographer Yotam Sandak using her gorgeous friend Natascha as a model. It is easy to take pictures, harder to take good photos but it’s very hard to make beautiful great photos of models and products. I recognized the level of skills immediately and making the portfolio section for the sites was a joy!

https://kalliopiedesigns.com/

Green Learning Academy

Posted on 1 February 201926 March 2019 by Christian

St Maarten needs her children to be more environment aware and that’s exactly what the Green Learning Academy is going to do!

With the Green Learning Academy, another preschool is opened after Ideal Preschool and this location is better suited for French families as well, right in the heart of Cole Bay. Also convenient for boat visitors who are mooring for longer periods in the Simpson Bay lagoon and need to educate their children for a while.

The school’s motto has the environment and recycling our waste as important learning points to teach the children and that is very valuable for the future generation on this island.

The work involved setting up a basic site quickly, so she could take in new customers and showcase the professional photographs she had made. A Facebook page to match and use closed groups on Facebook to involve parents in an easy way while protecting the privacy of everyone.

greenlearningacademy.com

Cruise Ships Schedules of St Maarten

Posted on 19 October 20189 April 2019 by Christian

The Port of St Maarten has made their Microsoft SQL database of the arrival times of cruise ships in Point Blanche publicly available. That is really great! Lots of businesses, shops and operators depend on knowing if and when a cruise ship arrives. Planning, scheduling, supplies, stock and personnel are all influenced by the presence of a cruise ship or two. High season, which is approaching fast, even brings three, four or occasionally even seven (!) cruise ship to the port of Sint Maarten.

cruise ships in dock — St Maarten Cruise Ship Schedules from Port of St Maarten

Interestingly though, they did not create an easy to remember hostname for their web server (just an IP address) and they forgot to configure the IIS web server properly, so that visitors are automatically forwarded to the proper web page. (The root page shows the default IIS 8.0 landing page instead of the schedule picker page.)

Though I can live with it, I find it a bit sloppy and I decided to create a subdomain on my domain that points to their server using an easy to remember name:

http://sxmcruiseships.christianpeper.com/sxm

Sadly, I have to add the /sxm because the server won’t auto-forward you from the root of the web server.

Market Garden Evolution

Posted on 14 May 201813 May 2018 by Christian

white building with round windows and parking lot

Local newspaper on Sint Maarten, the Daily Herald, writes another nice article about the supermarket Market Garden and how they are attracting new customers and generating new business.

The Double Dutch Café functions to lower the threshold for people to come in and see the fresh fruits and produce and tries to entice them to try and buy from a whole range of ready-to-eat products, starting with excellent coffee.

… although the coffee alone is a reason to stop by in your daily routine…

Article mentions my name, Christian Peper, as a barista for their Double Dutch Café! So proud that was able to switch myself around and start doing what I love. Making the best coffee on the island for people.