Entrepreneur Ali Hessaraki owns EZ Software Solutions, L.L.C., located at 5948 N. College Avenue. He recently went off-line to describe his company's business model.

"I got started in the business when a friend of mine, Gino Pizzi, who owns Ambrosia restaurant, had his computer system crash one Friday evening. He called me for assistance and I helped him out. Programming is easy but building the knowledge base for a particular industry is hard. We came out with our first version of restaurant Point of Sale (POS) software in 2002. First, we worked with Ambrosia, then Midtown Grill and Red Room. Now we are in 32 states with offices in North Carolina, Davenport, Iowa and San Diego, but our home office is here. We have a point of sale for hospitality, fine dining, fast food, over the counter and drive through restaurants. We also have a product specifically designed for retail that would be perfect in a butcher shop, flower shop, grocery or clothing store. EZ Dine and EZ Retail are trademarks. You can't copyright the product, but you can trademark the name," he noted.

"The Point Of Sale determines what happens from the time a customer arrives at a business until they leave - and then handles the accounting afterwards. It makes the server or cashier's job easier to take an order at a bar, table or counter, it notifies the production staff what to make, and it receives the customers' payments. All of this information is put together, simplified and it makes everyone's job easier. It automates many of the business processes, like time sheet management, reservations and inventory control," Hessaraki explained.

His company began operating in a modest office space, but has continually grown and recently relocated to the Broad Ripple area. "We moved into our new building about 10 months ago (to 5948 N. College Avenue) and built a garage in the back. When I started the business in 2001, my first office was in Carmel with 300 square feet. We later moved to the Riviera Building and expanded from 800 square feet to 1,500 square feet where we had the entire first floor. After that, I bought a building off 46th and Keystone Avenue. We operated from that location for years, and fortunately it's a property which I still own."

EZ Software Solutions is among many small and growing companies in the Broad Ripple Area. "We currently staff 21 full-time and two part-time employees. They work in the areas of sales, marketing, programming, and technical and office support," Hessaraki said.

His life story is an inspiring one. "I immigrated to America in 1979 from Tehran, Iran and earned an undergraduate degree in computer science at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI). I taught computer science there for 19 years. Well-known IUPUI economics professor Mohamed Kaviani is a long-time friend. In 1984, I earned my master's degree from Ball State University in computer programming. One of the most rewarding things about the business is having my two sons, Amir and Ali, Jr., work with me. One runs the EZ Retail side of the business and the other runs the EZ Dine side. In business, I've had to take many risks, but they have paid off with countless rewards," he reflected.

When Hessaraki was starting out, COBOL (Common Ordinary Business Operating Language) and FORTRAN (F) were widely-used programming languages. As the field of computer science has expanded into numerous new languages for countless new applications today; C# (Sharp) and Swift have become more common. He emphasized that once a person knows the basics, other programming languages can be much easier to learn.

To learn more about how your company can benefit from EZ Software's point of sales solutions, call 1 (877) 853-1263 or access their website at www.ezsoftwaresolutions.com.

If you're dining or patronizing a retail establishment this holiday season, Ali Hessaraki and his staff may power your business transactions easily and from their new home office in Broad Ripple.