Having the wrong point of sale system can be quite messy to a business. An effective point of sale system is vital to smooth the operations of any business. Choosing a system that will effectively work for your business needs is as easy as the snap of a finger. However, there are four basic points that you should have at the back of your mind before and after purchasing a POS system for it to work effectively:

1. Understanding your business needs: This is the first step and the most vital. Always ensure you understand the operational needs of the different departments like sales, procurement, finance and production. You can then proceed to present your needs to the point of sale software provider who will then recommend the best solution to automating your business process while recommending the best POS system.
2. Product references: The second most important step after the provider has recommended the best POS system for you, is to look up and contact product referees. This is mostly other business owners who are using the same point of sale software. This process provides a perfect opportunity to visit their stores and evaluate on how effective the software is in comparison to your needs. The minimum number of referees recommended is three.
3. Finding more information about the company: It’s always advisable to do a background research about the company providing you with the software. Many companies sell business accounting and operating software, but only few of them provide point of sale for small businesses. You should ensure that the provider has dedicated years of experience and has acquired enough expertise on how to handle their customers. You should also know that once you buy a point of sale software, you are automatically linked to the company and hence you would not want to buy from a company that will only be in existence for a few years.
4. Training: Most business owners tend to overlook this step which is very risky as it is a vital contributor to how effective the POS system will be. The provider should have a training system which should consist of:

• 1 month pre-installation training that will involve an overview classroom training with all the employees.
• 3-5 Days installation training - This takes place when the system provider is installing the software on the various PCs in the business. On average, training each employee takes 3 hours and it takes 3 to 5 days to train the whole company depending on the size of the company.
• Post installation training - This is vital as it helps the users clear out on any questions that may have arisen since the installation training was conducted. At this point the users will have used the system and hence they can be able to generate a comprehensive comparison report.