WIN a €15,000 prize for your business with Square

Lovin Locals is back, and we're looking for one brilliant business to take home this transformative prize, so if that sounds like you, enter via the form at the bottom of this article.

We've said it before, and we'll say it again – local businesses are our bread and butter here at Lovin Dublin. From cute cafés to buzzy restaurants to bookstores we can get lost in, local businesses play a crucial role in cultivating community and long may they thrive.

To truly get behind the businesses we believe in, we're teaming up with Square for Lovin Locals, a competition that will reward one business with a prize worth €15,000, which includes:

• Free advertising on Lovin Dublin's platform worth €10,000
• A cash prize of €5,000

If you are a small business owner already daydreaming about how you'd make the most of the prize? Take a look at some of our previous Lovin Locals for a spot of inspiration, and to enter, head to the form at the bottom of this article or fill out the form right here.

In both instances, our Lovin Locals champions made the most of every aspect of their prize to give their businesses a serious boost.

For Container Coffee's Gordon Hickey, the brand new Square hardware was used to revitalise the business, while adding an extra layer of security and reassurance to his operations.

He told Lovin Dublin at the time: "I think it’s good to revitalise the business, so having a slick, brand new point of sale I think will add to Container Coffee. I’m really excited to use Square because I know there is an in-built system that if the internet goes down, which does happen from time to time, we have a backup. We’ve had a couple of nightmares where we were losing out on card payments for two days at one point. Having the reliance of a back-up on a system like this where I know that if it’s not connected within 24 hours I can tether it to my phone. That gives me a lot of reassurance as a small business owner."

While Heather Condron, who owns Flowerpop, said winning Lovin Locals last summer gave her floristry business a great boost. In addition to helping with well needed renovations to her Inchicore shop, the hardware from Square helped merge two important elements of her business, her physical and online sales.

"We have both a retail and an online presence, and we currently use two different services for those, so it’s going to be great to combine these together so that it’s all one cohesive piece," she told Lovin Dublin. "And obviously, their software looks slick, so I’m excited to have that in our studio, which is being done up at the moment. It will be lovely to have a gorgeous point of sale which will go with our new look as well."

You can read more about Gordon and Heather's experience as winners here and here.

Ready to enter your business into Lovin Locals? Simply fill out the form at the bottom of this article and tell us three reasons why your business deserves to take home this prize.

The deadline for entries is 3rd November. Terms and conditions apply.

Brought to you by Square

Square’s all-in-one POS system for restaurants, cafés and bars helps you manage your front-of-house, back-of-house and payments, all on our sleek hardware. Square is designed to sync everything from dine-in service to online orders to kitchen operations. Simple to use and built to make your staff’s job easier. Especially at busier times, when it lets your servers sweep across the room taking orders and payments from a single device that fits into their apron.

It grows with you and gives you the tools you need to grow, from setting up a brand new ordering website to reaching new customers with a few clicks or trying new ways to engage your regulars. All this at your one pace and without contract lock-ins or hidden fees.