How Gusto Premium keeps a seasonal donut shop running sweet and smooth
Published December 15, 2025
About Zo's Mini Donuts
Where: Sawyer, MI (Southwest Michigan)
Industry: Food trucks/Hospitality
Employees: 18 (mostly ages 16-19)
Started using Gusto: 2024
Founded by co-owners Zoey (18) and Lydia Heyn (23), Zo’s Mini Donuts serves light-and-airy, made-to-order donuts—fresh off the fryer, no heat lamps, and sold in shareable packs of five. In just a year, they grew from a vintage trailer and a “5–10 donuts a day” goal to five donut trucks buzzing through summer.
“We love Gusto. Compared to the competition, we’re so happy we chose it—we feel very seen.”
— Zoey & Lydia, Co-owners
The challenge: Seasonal staff, nonstop onboarding, and weekly payroll
With a teen-heavy team and peak summer traffic, Zo’s needed to move fast—bringing people on, paying them weekly (including tips), and staying compliant without drowning in paper.
Paper onboarding from a local provider didn’t fit student workers.
Weekly payroll used to take 2–3 hours—not counting onboarding.
As new owners, Zoey and Lydia needed quick, expert answers they couldn’t get elsewhere.
“Submitting ten pages of paper for a summer job just wasn’t realistic. Our team needed to do everything on their phones.” — Lydia, Co-owner
The solution: Gusto Premium + a Dedicated Service Advisor
Zo’s chose Gusto Premium for full-service payroll, automated tax filings, workers’ comp through Gusto’s partner, and a Dedicated Service Advisor (DSA) who knows their business.
What changed
Mobile onboarding that clicks with Gen Z. Every employee used the Gusto app—no packets, no back-and-forth.
Weekly payroll, mapped for reality. Tips in, wages clean, taxes automated, and reports in one place.
On-call expertise. Their DSA answers within a day, helps build custom reports and resolve issues.
“I asked for a custom wage split and had the report the next day—plus a walkthrough of how they built it.”
How their DSA helps
The Dedicated Service Advisor (DSA) helps Zo’s Mini Donuts with custom reporting for smarter staffing, providing details like who worked together the most, total hours by person, and wage breakdowns for planning. The DSA also offers practical fixes fast, such as skipping an unneeded payroll week or pulling exactly the right tax and expense details. This support provides confidence for the new owners, who have a single expert to email with specific questions, eliminating guesswork and rabbit holes.
“We’re very new to payroll. Having someone to answer a question—when the question we had, there was nobody else we could ask—was so helpful. Only someone with that specific knowledge could help us.”
The impact: More time for the rush, less time on the back office
Weekly payroll time cut to ~45 minutes (from 2–3 hours).
Season onboarding in ~2 hours total, done right on employees’ phones.
Cleaner tax prep with wages, tips, and filings organized in one place.
Happier team thanks to an app experience that feels familiar.
“Everything is mapped out the way we expect—every single week. It’s faster, easier, and just more efficient.”
What Zo's uses from Gusto
Premium plan with a Dedicated Service Advisor
Full-service payroll with automated tax filings
Workers’ compensation via Gusto’s partner
Where they're headed
Zo’s is eyeing college markets and a brick-and-mortar—while keeping the food trucks sizzling every summer. With Gusto Premium and their DSA behind the scenes, they can scale the team without slowing the line.
“Totally recommend Gusto for younger business owners—it’s affordable and the app just makes sense.”
Visit gusto.com/product/pricing to learn more about Gusto plans.