A company can find buyers far beyond its home city before it is ready to serve them. That was one of the situations faced by Galaxia Tech, a Colombian company founded in Bogotá that sells point-of-sale equipment and develops Galaxia POS, its POS system for managing the operations of small and medium-sized businesses.

The Colombian company started with three people and a local market: Bogotá. However, its digital campaigns began generating enquiries from other regions. The opportunity presented an operational challenge: selling remotely meant organising shipping, installation, training and support without relying on an on-site visit.

According to figures provided by the company, it exceeded 1,000 customers in its first year of operation and reached buyers in all 32 departments of Colombia, with a team of more than ten people. That coverage refers to customers served, not a network of offices. The value of the case lies in the decisions that connected geographically dispersed demand with an operation capable of meeting it.

When messages changed the market map

During the first few months, serving businesses in Bogotá was simpler. Proximity made it possible to provide advice in person and help customers get their equipment up and running.

The initial advertising investment of approximately 90,000 Colombian pesos per week began to change that picture. Enquiries were arriving from cities and towns where the company had no premises. In some periods, requests from the rest of the country matched or exceeded those from the capital, according to the company’s account.

Those messages revealed a commercial opportunity, but they did not automatically translate into viable sales. The prospective customer’s location raised questions about how to deliver the equipment and what support would be needed afterwards. Expansion began when the team adapted its service to those conditions.

DANE’s Microbusiness Survey estimated that there were 540,233 microbusinesses operating as bakeries and neighbourhood shops in 2024. The figure illustrates the size of two segments of Colombia’s small retail sector. It does not measure demand for Galaxia, but it helps put the company’s market in context.

The lesson applies to other ventures: a campaign can reveal markets that do not yet feature in the sales plan. Before increasing investment, it is worth checking whether the organisation can serve them and how much effort doing so will require. That assessment should be part of the digital strategy.

Advertising as a source of information

As it expanded, Galaxia Tech increased its digital advertising spend to more than four million pesos per month, according to its own figures. The budget increase accompanied its growth, although it cannot explain the results on its own.

Alexander Cristancho, co-founder and Marketing Director, argues that campaigns should also be assessed through the conversations they generate. An enquiry can reveal questions about how the software works, difficulties adopting a tool or differences between the needs of two sectors.

A recurring objection may point to missing information in sales communications. A question reaching support may reveal a process that is difficult to understand. For these findings to be useful, they need to circulate among the people who sell, support customers and develop the product.

In the experience described by the company, that exchange helped shape content and feed recurring needs into the development of Galaxia POS. Not every request warrants a change: the challenge is to distinguish an individual case from a problem shared by different users.

There is also a limitation. Messages generated by advertisements reflect the people who saw the campaign and chose to get in touch. They are a source of learning, but they do not necessarily represent all small business owners in Colombia. Mistaking enquiries for comprehensive research can lead to overstating an opportunity.

A POS system starts by solving an everyday task

A restaurant and a pharmacy may both need inventory control, but they do not operate under the same conditions. Understanding those differences was part of the development work behind the Galaxia POS system. A tool’s usefulness depends on how well it fits into a business’s daily routine.

Many needs emerge as simple problems: not knowing what stock is available, taking too long to look up a sale or entering information manually. Customers do not always ask for a feature; they describe a task that costs them time or makes decisions harder.

The Business Digital Transformation Centres run by MinTIC and iNNpulsa Colombia provide for individual technical assistance to support business owners on their digital journey. The initiative links the strategic use of ICT to regional productivity and competitiveness, highlighting ongoing support as part of technology adoption.

That context helps explain the case. Offering software does not fully solve the adoption challenge. Business owners need to understand how it works and find a specific use for it in their operations. Training is part of the process, particularly when it replaces practices the business has used for years.

One of Galaxia Tech’s goals is to bring affordable, high-quality technology to the whole country. That aim guides its offering and the support it provides to small businesses. Accessibility depends not only on price, but also on the equipment required, training and after-sales service.

Taking a POS system across Colombia required an operational transformation

Nationwide expansion shifted the challenge from customer acquisition to service delivery. Generating an enquiry could take minutes; delivering equipment and supporting the customer required coordinating tasks that continued after payment.

The process described by Galaxia Tech begins with sales advice. When a customer needs hardware, shipping is arranged. The system is then installed and configured, followed by training and remote support. Service no longer depends exclusively on physical proximity.

One benefit of the offering is nationwide delivery with payment on arrival. According to the company, this option allows buyers to pay when they receive their equipment and gives them greater peace of mind when buying from a company based in another city.

Its logistics reach includes routes that go beyond road transport. Galaxia Tech has shipped point-of-sale equipment that travelled by motorboat to customers’ premises. These deliveries illustrate what serving businesses in different Colombian regions involves: coordinating transport all the way to the destination and continuing to support the customer as the POS system is put into operation.

Remote service extends reach, but it does not remove every difficulty. A connectivity problem or a physical equipment fault may require something other than a support session. For any company adopting this model, defining what it can resolve remotely is just as important as entering new markets.

In 2023, the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce and CAF announced a digitalisation programme for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises that combined digital maturity assessment, capability building and support for implementing solutions. The approach helps explain why adopting technology requires preparation and assistance as well as buying a tool.

Partnerships and in-person events

Galaxia Tech also built relationships with brands in the POS ecosystem that, according to the company, have more than twenty years of experience. Those ties brought knowledge of equipment and distribution, complementing the development of its own software.

For a new venture, working with experienced companies can make learning easier. However, a partnership needs to translate into specific capabilities. A partner’s track record does not replace the responsibility of the business selling to and supporting the end customer.

In September 2026, Galaxia Tech took part in Entre Panes Medellín at Plaza Mayor. The event added an in-person setting to an operation that had grown mainly through advertisements, messages and remote demonstrations.

Conversations with food-service business owners provided a chance to hear questions and learn about problems directly. The company is considering taking part in more regional events to complement its digital channels. Without comparable sales and cost data, that experience should be viewed as a learning opportunity, not evidence that events are more effective than advertising.

Growth also changes internal work

Growing from three people to a team of more than ten changes coordination. What can initially be resolved through a conversation starts to require clear ownership and follow-up as installations, training sessions and support requests increase.

The case illustrates the relationship between commercial expansion and internal organisation. Entering new markets requires customer information to reach the person responsible for serving them, while outstanding tasks cannot depend solely on one person’s memory.

Delegating and documenting processes becomes more important as a company grows. It also helps identify whether sales are increasing faster than service capacity. That gap can affect the customer experience even when the product meets a genuine need.

Customer numbers and geographical coverage describe reach. Assessing sustainability also requires an understanding of profitability, customer retention and support capacity. The case offers lessons, without guaranteeing the same results for other companies.

An expansion that still needs to be consolidated

Galaxia Tech’s experience illustrates how a company can discover demand outside its home city and reorganise to meet it. Its POS system was the proprietary product around which part of that growth across Colombia developed, supported by equipment sales and remote service.

The most useful lesson for B2B marketing lies in the connection between functions: campaigns revealed geographical interest, conversations helped clarify needs and operations had to adapt to deliver on what had been offered.

The next challenge is to maintain support as customer numbers grow. Reaching buyers in all 32 departments is an indicator of reach. Consolidating those relationships requires the company to retain its ability to respond and keep learning from the people who use its tools.