Insider Interviews: Joseph Tota CEO and Founder of Tapville

Tapville is the first fully self-pour and self-service concept to go to market. It’s a tech company cleverly disguised as a simple beer-pouring mechanism. Its CEO and founder, Joseph Tota, started programming back in the ’80s on a Commodore 64 that barely had 64 bytes of memory. His passion for technology led him to start his consulting firm, JBT Consulting Group. He sold that firm in 2011 and moved onto his next big venture, Tapville.

Peter: Can you tell us about your concept launch? How did you initially formulate the idea for the Tapville Social concept? 

Joseph Tota: Before being in the business, I was a consultant. I worked for larger brands such as McDonalds and Buffalo Wild Wings, making these problems appear more obvious for me. Nobody likes to wait for a beverage at restaurants. We noticed that and set out to solve that problem. Our kiosks collect a lot of data that’s useful for the restaurant owners and us.

We have data ranging from how much customers are pouring, which products are frequently ordered together, proximity detection, the busiest time of day/week, and more. Brick & mortar restaurants centered around self-service. We built the world’s first mobile taproom, and we’re looking to deploy it in malls and airports.

Have you made any pivots from your initial concept?

We have, yes. We originally started as a brick & mortar restaurant. Shortly afterward, we found out that we were good at the technology piece, so we moved towards building a “Kiosk” concept in malls. Then we moved to a mobile concept. Now we’re working on a new product called “Tap Wall.” It’s a self-pour tap with refrigeration built-in.

How difficult (or easy) were those changes to make?

We were good with technology, so the change wasn’t difficult. When we pivot, we just changed our model based on what we’re good at: technology, self-service, and self-pour. The pandemic ended up helping us instead of hurting.

What benefits does the Tapville model offer in the era of social distancing?

All orders can be done via a mobile device or tablet at the table. So you’re socially distanced from staff. All beverages are self-pour, so there’s no need to interact with the staff. We’re offering a genuinely touch-less experience that lets the customer have control over the pour themselves. We also have a mobile app for customers. So they can order directly from their phone or on one of the self-ordering devices at their table.

Tapville seems like a tech-forward franchise. How do you leverage technology, and how does that impact franchisees?

We’ve taken sophisticated technology and made it easy for Franchisees to utilize that. We make it easy for you to run your business without needing to know how all the behind-the-scenes stuff work.

Do you have any patents? Is it difficult for others to copy your concept?

Where we differentiate is the tech stacks that we built, which create the optimal tool-sets for businesses. Anyone can buy a point of sale system, but it doesn’t mean they’ll be McDonald’s or Starbucks. We’ve been doing this for five years now. It’s cool stuff. If you come into our establishment and love IPA, we can send you specific marketing for your preferences. We’re able to market to customer’s preferences.

What has your growth been like in the past five years? 

We started with our first location in Elmer’s, Illinois, in 2016. We opened our 2nd location in 2018 in Naperville, Illinois. About a year ago, we started franchising after we got the business model down.

At what point did you feel Franchising made sense?

I help franchise companies make operations manuals, training programs, and assets. So I’m very familiar with the concept of franchising. We had hundreds of inquiries from people asking to franchise our concept. It just made sense for this to be the next step for us. 

In your experience, what separates successful technology incorporation from failed incorporation?

There’s a lot of great techs out there. The ability to break it down, making it easy to understand, and ensuring it’s easy to use by the end-user is the key. It’s pointless to build great technology that no one can use. Our tech stack is comprehensive, but we broke it down to be simple enough for operators to use.

Do you have partners?

I’m the founder and CEO. I have a team of exceptional advisors in various industries. Sean Thomas, who is the grandson of Dave Thomas, is one of our advisors. Dave Thomas is the founder of Wendy’s. Brandt Kucharski was one of the earliest employees of Grubhub and helped the company grew from $3 million in revenue to $1 billion.

Are you currently raising capital?

Yes, we’re currently raising capital through equity crowdfunding. We’ve raised almost $400,000 from Start Engine. If you’re interested in becoming an early investor of Tapville, check us out on Start Engine.

Was there ever a point where you almost gave up?

That’s a good question. As an entrepreneur, there are always challenging moments. I used to run ultra-marathons. In a long race like that, you constantly think about giving up. And business is similar to that. You have to figure out how to move obstacles in your way and move past them. I’ve never thought of giving up, but there definitely have been challenges. This year is one of them.

You mentioned this year is challenging. How come?

It’s difficult to get funding right now for new locations. Many SBA lenders are hesitant to give out loans, which makes it harder for potential franchisees to sign on. We’re hopeful the situation will improve.

You recently closed an eleven-unit deal in Florida. Can you tell us a bit about those units/concepts?

The particular franchisee actually came from the Orange Theory system. He was one of Orange Theory’s earliest franchisees and was successful with their system. He made enough to sell his business and moved on to other ventures. There’s a lot of interest in purchasing our Kiosks for use in malls and airports.

Where do you see yourself and Tapville in the next six months?

We’re the first self-pour, self-service, food & beverage concept to go to market. We have a whole ordering concept that no one else has. Within the next six months, we’re going to see a lot of our deals closed. Next year we’re going to make sure our franchisees have a successful launch. Our capital raise is helping fund a lot of that. In Q2 of next year, we’ll see a lot more openings with the news of the vaccines coming out.

Thank you Joseph.