How to set up your business for success in the new year.

A new decade is here, and there is no better time than the present to make some positive upgrades to your small business. In addition to your cutting-edge social media and customer loyalty initiatives, did you know you could update and transform your POS (point-of-sale) solution into the best silent partner you ever had?

Enhance your payment acceptance versatility at your physical store.

Your POS payment processing options can be much more than a stationary terminal where you take cash and plastic payments. Today’s systems include added flexibility that enables you to conduct transactions in several ways. In addition to the checkout counter, your staff can be given tablets equipped with card readers that allow for portable payments from anywhere on the sales floor. You can also accept contactless payments that enable customers to pay using their digital-wallet-equipped mobile phones. What’s more, those long checkout lines can be a thing of the past, freeing up counter staff to handle returns and answer customer questions.

Take your business on the road.

The same mobile payment processing options that liberate your staff in the store can also enable you to grow your sales away from your physical location. As long as you have internet connectivity, you can use these modern devices to allow customers to purchase your products or services at trade shows, farmer’s markets, craft fairs, and conventions. Thanks to built-in customer management capabilities in these systems, you can also seamlessly add your new customer contacts into your database, providing you an excellent channel to communicate with customers via newsletters and email blasts, and even through social media.

Boost your inventory awareness and utilization.

Customers will only continue to patronize your business if you have the products they want when they want them. That is where inventory management becomes so crucial. If you choose the right POS software, it should contain a suite of inventory management tools that will allow you to track which items are selling and what products aren’t. You can also discount items to entice customers to buy slower-moving products and generate sales reports enabling you to make long-term inventory purchases for busy times such as upcoming holidays. Once you have begun to put these functions to work for your business, you will gain a reputation as a retailer who truly considers the needs of your customers as a top priority.

Solidify your hiring and staff infrastructure.

Any entrepreneur knows that finding and retaining reliable staff members is the backbone of any successful business. Your POS solution can be an invaluable assistant as you assign trusted employees specific jobs and the special access and systems permissions that accompany them. With just a few clicks, you can generate reports that clearly show how individual employees or workgroups are performing. Your POS can also protect your business and security by customizing activities such as who can log in, take refunds, and complete sales. Furthermore, your back-office system enables you to easily manage employee schedules and track their hours while remaining aware of labor costs. When the time comes to hire new workers, your platform can even sort and rate prospective employees and schedule interview appointments.

It’s a New Year and a new decade, and one of the best ways to celebrate these milestones is to optimize your business for the future of payments, now. Use a state-of-the-art POS solution to shift your business into hyperdrive and you’ll be amazed by the results.