For this video testimonial I headed over to the beautiful town of Newcastle nestled between the blissful Irish sea and the picturesque Mourne Mountains. Needless to say, the drive over was very up-and-down, but when I finally reached my destination the effort proved to be worth it.
Felicia Matheson is the owner of the Prohibition Limited - the craft beer distribution company that has just recently started in Northern Ireland. The view from Felicia's "office" is simply spectacular: the beach, the mountains and the green fields spreading further than the eye can see. Felicia is simply delightful in conversation as you can see for yourself in the video above.
And to find out about other exciting projects that Felicia is working on and her other uses of Debitoor, read the interview excerpts below.
Introduce us to your business
So, my name is Felicia Matheson. I own Prohibition Limited which is a new craft beer distribution company based in Northern Ireland. And what we do is we import and source small produced small quantity craft beers.
We started in January of this year, so very early. I have originally worked in a craft beer off license and specialist wine store and I just seen the growth in the market of the craft produced products, so I wanted to bring the craft Irish beers up to the North and then further afield into the UK. So, I opened up my own business and started trying to source interesting and different types of beers throughout the country.
How did you find Debitoor?
Actually, I found Debitoor through my accountant, because I had no idea about invoicing, or tax returns, or VAT returns, or anything like that. So I had to get an accountant, as my accountant and he actually had heard about Debitoor for the small startup businesses that are going to be affordable. I started off with a free package and then I actually upgraded quite quickly to the full package through his recommendation. So, I played with it for a while and that’s when I realized I wanted to upgrade to the better package.
The main reason for that was that the line down the side that says "powered by Debitoor" [ "created with debitoor.com" Ed.], some of the accounts that they were going to were high-end accounts and quite very well-established hotels and I wanted to look that little bit more professional, rather than using the free app. I wanted to use something that looked good and was quite comprehensive with the information on it. And the fact that I can change my logo really just makes it look a lot more professional.
Do you use Expenses in Debitoor?
Not really, no, I don't. I do have all my little receipts and all gathered up ready to put in but I haven't really gotten around doing it yet. I really just got them in a folder. It should be something I should be using, as it will keep it in one place. But I just, to be honest, haven't got that far yet.
What other features do you like in Debitoor?
I also like the discount option. Because, certain customers get pallets, a full pallet of beer or cider from me and I will have a special discounted price if they get a certain quantity. So, again, rather than having to individually work it out the app at the bottom is great for that.
What other projects are you involved in?
I do a lot of "Meet the Brewer" nights. So, I would bring the brewers and the guys that make the cider down to present their products. So, they'll do a little talk and everyone is pretty engaging in it, and it's quite fun to see people getting excited about something again. So, that's really fun.
I also run a local community cinema called NCC (Newcastle Community Cinema). And I'm the treasurer for the company, so we actually have to send the invoices if we do private screenings for people or what not. And the invoicing was a nightmare trying to keep it together, because we kept loosing things. So, I signed the cinema up for the free account. So, we're using it in the local community cinema too and the local arts festival now.
So, it's really good for community groups, you know, who don't have that budget at all, if they want something that looks professional, because they're dealing with big production companies and directors. It's been really useful for that.
