Bitebell: Revolutionizing Traditional Industries

Introducing innovation to traditional industries is not easy, especially if these industries are lucrative and in constant growth. But, with disruptions caused by force majeure, like the COVID-19 pandemic, such sectors are forced to evolve or face extinction.

Delivery services are such an example. With the pandemic outbreak, restaurants, catering services, bakeries, bars, and many others in the foodservice industry were in big trouble—except if they had a delivery service. Those often survived, and even managed to expand their business.

The beginning of the crisis caught Serbian caterers unprepared. The country was under heavy lockdown in the spring of 2020, forcing many restaurants out of business. But, in the second half of the year, the trend was reversed. The number of delivery service application users grew by 20% per month, sending a clear signal that the industry was ready to embrace change.

Leading the charge were Srdjan, Vladimir, and Željko, founders of Bitebell. With a desire to help HORECA (HOtel, REstaurant, CAfé, or HOtel, REstaurants, CAtering) businesses automate their processes as much as possible, the partners built a delivery automation platform connecting restaurants with delivery services.

Soon after starting Bitbell, the team secured investment by ICT Hub Venture. With a EUR 50,000 chip, the team was set for further development and acquiring their first customers. Željko Bošnjak, one of the co-founders of Bitebell, explains:

The biggest challenge was that first sale. However, when the first client said YES to our offer and was quite satisfied with our solution, things started rolling out. As soon as we realized how much we are helping our clients, we set ourselves the highest goal. Our next big challenge is to improve onboarding, allowing us to scale faster.

To improve their business knowledge, the Bitebell team participated in different programs facilitated and supported by Swiss EP, such as the Sales Scale-up program, led by Patrick Collins, and Next Level Demos, led by Katrin Kiviselg. According to Željko, the key takeaway from these programs working with our experts is constant improvement.

Improve, improve, improve. Test, test, test. Try, try, try. We have learned that there are many different ways to place your offer. And we realized that our product is not for everyone, but the right consumer only. We understand that acquisition is essential but that we can not neglect retention because this can also be a great source of sales. On the other hand, the most exciting part for me was how to convert cold calling into something tangible for business because this was important for Bitebell, especially at the beginning.

The next step for Bitebell is further product improvements and regional expansion, for which they will need to secure seed investment. Željko is prepared.

First of all, motivation should be on the same level all the time, and you always need to know why you started building something. Always have empathy because people are the most valuable resources.

With their motivation, knowledge, and desire to improve the food service industry, we do not doubt that Bitebell will be another success story coming from Serbia.