How a Lviv coffee shop owner made her business autonomous during blackouts

Problems the café faced in the first days of blackouts

According to Oksana, power outages happened suddenly and lasted a long time. Refrigerators warmed up, the terminal did not work, the barista could not even grind beans — everything depended on electricity. People came in, looked around, and left. In the first days, revenue dropped, some products spoiled, and staff did not understand how to work without power.

The main challenges were:

• Technical difficulties: a regular charging station cannot handle a professional espresso machine. A powerful generator was needed, but there was nowhere to place it on a narrow Lviv street without disturbing pedestrians.

• Loss of control: without electricity, the router and desktop computer shut down. The owner feared chaos in accounting: sales “in a notebook,” mis-sorting, and lack of cash for change.

• Internet: customers were ready to sit in the dark, but not without connectivity.

• Staff: baristas felt cold working without heating, and generator noise outside added stress.

The solution came quickly: the entrepreneur purchased a 5 kW inverter generator for the coffee machine and a charging station for the router and laptop, along with additional functionality in the accounting software for autonomous operation. 

Thanks to the fact that Torgsoft has a hybrid mode, the café did not stop operating: employees continued scanning items and printing receipts, synchronizing data as soon as stable internet appeared.

How did profitability change during outages?

Autonomy became a strategic advantage for the café. While some competitors stopped due to blackouts, the venue ensured uninterrupted service for visitors. On average, daily revenue increased by 20–25% compared to “peaceful” days. 

Magnet effect: people came not only for coffee — the café became an “island of light” where one could charge a phone, turn on a laptop, and take a break. Regular customers brought friends, tourists stayed longer, and the café turned into a coworking space with the aroma of coffee.

Change in average check: previously, a customer took an espresso and left. Now they ordered a large cappuccino, then a dessert, and an hour later — tea, because they sat and worked on a laptop.

Figures in Torgsoft: analyzing reports for the blackout month, the owner saw that despite fuel costs, net profit increased by 25–30% compared to calm months. The café captured competitors’ traffic.

How much did autonomy cost, and what was the payback period?

Autonomy is expensive, but downtime costs even more. Here is the real math as of today:

1. Inverter generator (5.5 kW): ~75,000 UAH (an inverter is important for the safety of coffee machine electronics).

2. Charging station (EcoFlow/Bluetti type) for POS and internet: ~25,000 UAH.

3. Consumables (oil, cables, canisters): ~3,000 UAH.

4. Fuel: the generator “consumes” about 1.5–1.8 liters of gasoline per hour. At a price of ~55 UAH/liter, one hour of operation costs about 100 UAH.

How did Torgsoft help?

Today, the Lviv café on Kościuszko Street is more than just a coffee sales point. It is a place where one can feel stability in unstable times. And that is what ultimately turns customers into friends, and a business into a life’s work.