Custom Point of Sale Development

I started writing Point of Sale Software tools a half a dozen years ago and almost a decade ago I was writing database tools to keep track of sales and inventory. What I?ve learned in the last decade is that no two businesses are the same even if they look like it. There comes a time in a small businesses life where a magical transformation can take place. If the business model is sound and it can be replicated in multiple locations then suddenly a small business starts to become a large business. Information management is one of the largest factors in speed and success of growth. Companies that have solid computer networks and point of sale systems that can be managed easily across locations have a much larger chance of success. Imagine if Wal-Mart had really bad cash registers that didn?t provide inventory and sales data. Do you think Wal-Mart would be the company we see today? Of course not, the simple idea is almost laughable.

Businesses that use off the shelf generic software tools are missing out on the growth potential a custom solution can provide. Technology is accelerating at a rapid pace and the abilities for vendors, warehouses and retail outlets to exchange information are changing the way businesses operate. Many companies may feel trapped into the system they bought ten years ago and fear any kind of change. But the increased profit potential makes the risk of custom development pale in comparison to the benefits.

The key is in finding the right company to develop your software and creating a strategic relationship with them. Would you grow the food you sell in your restaurant? In most cases the answer is no, you pay someone else to provide the raw ingredients. So having your own in-house tech support division seems silly, restaurants serve meals not support software systems. Get a good solid technology partner and be prepared to pay a monthly fee. In some cases you may want a separate hardware company and a separate software company.

Ask yourself some basic questions when looking for a custom software development company. How long have they been in business? What kinds of tools have they created? Have they created tools for my vertical market before? How reasonable are their support rates? Can they also provide hardware support? Can they work with a separate hardware support company? Can they expand and grow with your business? Will they be the right company to be providing your support five years from now? Can they develop software that is well documented and easy for another company to take over support? Do you own the software they develop or do they own some portion of the software? If you can answer these questions and feel satisfied with the answers then you?ve found the right company to design your custom point of sale software.

There comes a time in the life cycle of all successful businesses when they must decide how far they want to grow. It is at this time that a business must make a serious evaluation of the software systems they use. Making a poor choice can be the factor that determines the success of the growth of the business or its demise. Custom software development is not the solution for every business model but the majority of franchise companies that make it big are the one?s who have taken the time, put in the effort and spent the money to direct the development of the software they use.

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Author Box - ? Ed Duval (2006) Ed Duval is contract writer and software developer for www.AndTechComputers.com and Creator of the HotPotato Restaurant Point of Sale Software System. With over a decade of experience in software development he shares his unique insight on today's point of sale software systems