It’s widely recognized that starting a business and growing it into something that is self-sustaining and can last is hard—so hard, in fact, that for most, it doesn’t work. But why? It’s not really fair to say that your point of sale is a deciding factor in that chances of success. Still, as so much of what causes success or failure centers around cash flow, having the best mobile POS system, the point through which cash and goods flow, may have more of an influence than you previously thought.
If cash flow is king, overages and shortages in your inventory are the assassins waiting to take him out. As a small business, margins are tight, and you feel these pinches far faster than mega-retailers might. If a Walmart gets a few extra cases of toothpaste, it goes virtually unfelt because their position on the economy of scale is such that they can afford to let those cases sit tight until they are sold. Not so with smaller retailers. It’s been said that inventory should be seen as what it is: money sitting on your shelves. Measuring this can be scary. One estimate says that the average retailer is sitting on $1.43 of inventory for every $1.00 in sales. The manager in charge of inventory has the job of keeping that money moving.
An adequate POS will help. That’s because most modern Point of Sale machines are far more than just a point of sale. An essential tool these POS systems make available is an inventory management solution, that ideally takes care of a good amount of the grunt work through automation.
When your operations for your online experience and your in-store experience differ, it becomes a problem. This can cause issues in a number of areas, but inventory issues come up again right out of the gate. Having two sales channels is essentially like having two storefronts, which may or may not have the same warehousing and distribution/order fulfillment system. Without a robust way of tracking your wares, you’ll be in a world of headaches.
The cloud-based solutions on offer for many integrated payment solutions can make all the difference in allowing you to see when it’s time to reorder, and also see how your sales activity differs in the digital world.
The other end of the cash flow problem can be just as serious, if not more so. Having your books in disarray can be a nail in the coffin if other areas of your business are disorderly.
The general rule for most is that the more aspects of your accounting are fully in the responsibility of human hands, the more mistakes, and chaos, you’ll find—not to mention the more time (and therefore money) you’ll sink in it. When your accounting procedures are automated, mistakes are minimized.
If you use an integrated payment solution, such as those that integrate with mobile POS units, like the Poynt Smart Terminal, you’ll have a wealth of fully-automated, highly customizable software solutions that will make the financial wellbeing of your business more transparent than ever.
Is it necessary to have the best mobile POS system to prevent your business from folding? It’s too hard to say. But if your business is booming and successful, you would do well make sure that you have a POS to match.