Is a Mobile POS System Right for Your Small Business?

Anybody that has ever ventured into the world of starting and running their own small business can tell you that you have got your work cut out for you.  I can tell you from personal experience that you are most likely in for what can only be described as a fulfilling ride as well as a somewhat frustrating learning experience.  In an attempt to help curb some of that learning experience, let’s talk about one very important element to your success.

Cash Only?

Operating as a “cash only” small business just does not cut it in today’s world.  In day’s past, when cash was in every pocket and a handshake meant more than any legally binding contract, a cash only business had no problem finding success.  Today though, practically nobody carries cash on their person on a regular basis and we all rely on virtual transactions and confirmations.

This is why it can be absolutely vital to incorporate a mobile POS system into your business.  Point of sale is important to virtually every successful business but newer small business owners may find that a traditional point of sale system is either out of their budget, or not capable of providing for their exact needs.  Fortunately, a new solution has come into the scene that seems to take care of many of these issues.

Diesel POS by R.Rasmussen, on Flickr.  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Mobile POS System

A mobile POS system works in tandem with affordable pieces of technology such as smart phones and tablets, of which you probably already own at least one.  Since you already have the hardware necessary to operate a point of sale system in the form of your mobile devices, it might make a lot more sense to invest in one of these mobile POS systems.  In most cases, it is simply a matter of purchasing the additional accessories such as a card reader, tablet stand, and cash register should you choose any of these, and installing the software onto your device.

Since you are providing your own computer hardware in the form of a mobile device, you are looking at spending hundreds of dollars on your initial setup rather than thousands.  Some software options available, depending on your service provider, are also much more advanced than most traditional point of sale systems.  With integrated business solutions, it may also help you to manage certain aspects of your business more efficiently as well.

Service Fees

Service fees are something to take into consideration though.  It is certainly worthy of noting that mobile POS solutions for small businesses may include a monthly service fee, rather than the transaction fees associated with more traditional point of sale systems.  This could be potentially great or less than desirable depending on your business volume.

If you are a small business that sees a constant flow of high traffic through your establishment, a set monthly service fee may be preferable to traditional transaction based fee structures.  If your business only generates a few transactions per day however, this may end up costing you more than transaction based fees would in the long run.

Whatever your situation, this type of POS system is certainly worth considering for any small business owner in search of an effective and affordable point of sale solution.

This was contributed by Josh Rogers, a small business owner in Utah who uses NCR Silver’s mobile, iPad point of sale system for all of his business transactions.

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