How SumUp helped the founders of London Meditation Centre
We’re celebrating a decade of SumUp by shining a spotlight on our most loyal merchants. For the past 9 years, we’ve had the pleasure to serve with London Meditation Centre, and we caught up with them to talk about the journey we’ve taken together.
London Meditation Centre was founded in 2008 by Jillian Lavender and Michael Miller, to teach and spread the benefits of Vedic meditation.
They’ve felt the transformative power of this meditation in their own lives, citing stress relief and better sleep as big ones.
For the first few years, the business was cash only. In 2013, they joined SumUp, and have been thriving since. London Meditation Centre has been featured in The Telegraph, New York Times, and Metro, among others.
However, they didn’t have the easiest start.
Meditation, yoga, and other types of more spiritual wellness may be popular now, but 10 years ago that wasn’t the case. Meditation was unfamiliar and there wasn’t as much awareness of the science behind it as there is today.
Ten years ago, people thought meditation was weird. Barely anyone had tried it. We’d spend a lot of time explaining to people why the technique we teach — Vedic Meditation — is perfect for modern life, scientifically backed, and not all brown-rice-and-sandals.
The centre began very much as a word-of-mouth business. Students would bring in their families, friends, and colleagues, who would do the same.
Before long, London Meditation Centre was seeing lots of new customers. Their customers appreciated the directness and uniqueness of Lavender and Miller’s offering.
Education is as much a focus of London Meditation Centre as training. To that end, the FAQ on their website has all the information you’d need to decide if trying meditation is for you.
They have a sense of humour about it too, with questions like “Do I have to give up booze and become a vegetarian?”
Now, almost everyone has heard of meditation. In fact they think it’s cool. The challenge we have now is that most people have tried an app or some mindfulness technique and they think meditation is hard work, and that they can’t do it. Vedic Meditation is easy and effortless. It’s enjoyable. We now educate people around this point instead.
LMC and SumUp
Finding SumUp was a huge boost to London Meditation Centre’s business.
Not only did they open themselves up to more customers, since almost all of the UK prefers cashless payment of some kind, they made handling their finances much easier.
Right now, Lavender and Miller use a SumUp card reader and Payment Links to give their customers options. That way, they can accept payment before a session, on-site, or after a session.
Having SumUp as an option for payments gives our students flexibility and choice.
The fact that both of these products are easy to use plays a big part in why they’ve stuck around. Customers can pay in seconds, SumUp readers can go with you anywhere, and you’ll see your transaction data in real time.
Payment links are similarly easy. They can be sent to customers anywhere at any time, and all the customer needs to do is click on it to be redirected to a secure payment portal.
When it came down to it, that simplicity and utility is what attracted the pair to SumUp.
So, what’s next for London Meditation Centre?
The short answer is staying the course.
Jillian and Michael’s vision to educate and improve the lives of others is the same now as it was back in 2008.
We’re passionate about teaching Vedic Meditation properly and with integrity — and we see the life-changing benefits it has in each of our students every day. We always want to reach more people and spread these effects to ultimately create a calmer, happier society.
