Running a business is expensive. There is that old saying: it takes money to make money. The problem with start-up costs is that important equipment can cost a huge chunk of change. They’re often things that might not even occur to you right away. For example, you may find a store front, rent a space, hire painters and builders to create the perfect shop and completely forget about the sign out front. You could, just as easily, forget about the logistics of running your business, like who gets keys, how to pay employees, or how to cash someone out.
If They Can’t Pay For It…
According to Javelin Strategy & Research, nearly 66 percent of all in-person purchases are made with a plastic card (either debt or credit). If you’re running your business, no matter how small, using just cash or check, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. Most storefronts have these kinds of devices, but some smaller one-person companies might not. It is important to give your customer as many checkout options as possible. The down side to this is that, even on the cheap end, a good system is going to cost you around $1,500. For a company that is just starting out, that can be a big investment, and it might become outdated easily.
What System Is Best?
When buying a point of sale terminal system, you need to consider a few things: is it portable, how easy is it to operate, and does it allow you instant inventory updates? Why does this matter? Let’s say you have a small business and there is a festival in town that you want to take your wares to. If it’s portable, you don’t need to worry about missing out on potential customers because you only have a cash box. Another bonus to a portable POS system is that you can take it to the customer wherever they are in the store, which can reduce lines and make their shopping experience a more pleasurable one. As far as the ease of operation goes, you don’t want to have to spend five minutes trying to figure out how to put a coupon onto a purchase every time you go to check someone out. The faster you move, the more likely they are to come back. This also means fewer headaches for you; you will have enough of those just running the store.
This leads back to the point of inventory. When you are running your business and tracking trends and the popularity of items, you need a way of tracking your sales. You need to know how much you sold, when you sold it, and how the customer paid. If your POS system keeps track of this for you, it will make your life so much easier. There are systems that do this, and they simply let you run reports and look at how well your items are selling and how they’re being paid for. This information will help you create sales, decide on item placement in the store itself, and inform your future inventory purchases. A good POS system can be the backbone of your business, and it’s worth your time to find the one that suits your needs and your budget.