The POS Software Blog
News from Tower Systems about locally made POS software for specialty local retailers.
The part about the Windows 10 update (malware) that has angered people the most is that they have had little or no control over the timing.
Tower Systems does not use automatic updates nor will we do this. Indeed, this commitment to our users is a valuable selling feature for us.
We believe small business retailers need to be able to decide for themselves when to update based on the facts relevant to them.
As an authorised partner of respected hardware company, we are thrilled to have been able to show off the HP RP9 all in one POS terminal to prospects at several events recently.
While we have an RP9 exclusively for an event last week, we filmed this short clip showing it in all its glory.
HP RP9 from mark fletcher on Vimeo.
Not all POS software companies selling HP branded hardware are authorised resellers, not all sell new equipment backed by the respected HP warranty. At Tower Systems you ave access to the real thing.
With the growing number of retailer supplier relationships passing through our POS software, we can see the value of these increasing in the businesses run by our customers.
Whereas for years the electronic data flow was about invoices, now it is about much more. We are grateful to suppliers for working with us to deliver more value to retailers.
From small wholesalers to large, suppliers are keen to help independent small business retailers improve productivity, data accuracy and other commercial outcomes as they know from these achievements will flow more commercially valuable relationships.
We bring a better understanding that other POS software companies to these discussions as we are retailers too on many years standing. We are able to bring a practical element to the consideration, to help suppliers better understand the value to their businesses of engaging beyond electronic invoices and stock files.
In the last two weeks we have been able to participate in several meetings with key suppliers that will take relationships a step further and thereby help drive more value for our customers.
The strategic work we are doing with suppliers is differentiating for us in several retail channels. We are excited for the enhancements coming.
Cheap POS hardware pitched to small business retailers rarely turns out to be cheap. While the initial purchase price may be lower, the breakdowns, slow speed and other issues along the way can make clean no-name brand computer hardware more expensive.
Our advice is to choose a brand name that backs its hardware with an on-site manufacturer’s warranty. This offers peace of mind. It demonstrates the brand itself standing behind what it sells.
In one business recently, we discovered computer hardware that was sold a new to a small business owner was, in fact, second hand, three years old. The unsuspecting retailer was ripped off by a POS software company through unethical representations. The quote and invoice indicated the computer was new when it was not.
We urge any retailer to do their homework, trust brands, get a second opinion from a professional. The risk to the business from cheap hardware is too great.
Every day can be tough in small business. You can feel like the big competitors are winning and that you can’t climb the mountain to compete. You may not know where to start.
There are green shoots of good news and opportunities in every small and independent retail business. The key is to find these and to leverage them for more success.
A green shoot is a product or a category of products or a supplier performing above average in the business. Often, these successes have gone unnoticed.
We were working with a retailer recently who said business was down by 20% and they did not know what to do. It turned out that the best performing product category in their business was ‘failing’ for six months because they had not replenished stock.
They invested, instead, on new lines that had not gone as well as the successful product.
They, in part, created their own downward spiral and had not looked at their business data to understand that contributed to the problems they were confronting.
Once they realised the situation, they re-stocked the successful range of products and numbers started to improve. More important, their confidence level grew and with this their business decisions improved.
There are opportunities for optimism in every business.
Finding optimism is like mining, you have to look for it, sometimes for a long time. It is there, though, in every retail business.
As soon as you hear yourself talking your business down, STOP. Look at your data, look for the good news. That is what you need to think and talk about.
By looking at your data, we mean looking at year on year, quarter on quarter or month on month comparison data for departments, categories, suppliers or even individual products. Look for growth and once you see growth, think about what you can do with and around the products achieving growth so that you can achieve other growth.
Any product achieving year on year increases in unit sales is a product to be appreciated, nurtured and used to help grow other products that can sell to the same customer.
This is how you grow optimism. Find those small green shoots, leverage them with some small steps and, over time, build more success for your business.
While overall revenue, traffic count and profitability may be down, growth even at the smallest data point, such as for one or two products, could be enough to get you looking at your business differently.
In the Tower Systems POS software, the best initial reports for good news are: Monthly Sales Comparison (department level, category level and / or supplier level), the 10×10 Report, Ranked Sales Report (by units) for one period and then for the comparative period.
We’re here to help you find the good news in your business. Your business data is the key.
We recently invested in a quality defibrillator for our office and registered this so emergency services know its location should it be needed to assist in a health crisis.
While we purchased the defib unit for our busy head office, we welcomed the opportunity to be on a register of publicly available defib units.
Coupled with the installation of the unit was training for team members and our first aid officers.
Thursday November 26, 2015 is Thanksgiving in the US and while this is part of the cultural heritage of the US, it is an opportunity for us to reflect and be thankful.
We are thankful for our customers who use our software for this not only benefits us commercially, it fulfils us as we enjoy seeing our creative efforts being of use to others.
Tower Systems has a team of runners and walkers raising funds for Animals Australia in the Melbourne Marathon today. We are grateful to be able to support such a worthy cause.
Tower Systems is thrilled with the use small business retailers are making of the free small business marketing resources we have made available in our website.
These free resources are another practical way Tower Systems helps small business retailers beyond our terrific POS software.
Our development and free access to these resources demonstrates are acre for and commitment to the small business retail channels in which we serve. It is easy for a business to say they support their customers in a variety of ways. This investment by us is us being true to our words – walking the walk if you will.
We have happy for these and other free downloads we place on the site to be used widely.
Note we have not included our branding as we don;t want to get in the way of the businesses using the materials.
Tower Systems CEO Mark Fletcher supports small business newsagents for equitable magazine supply. In this latest video he explains the comprehensive data available through the Tower software, data magazine distributors ignore.
The importance of talking about mental health in small business newsagencies is an article by me, Mark Fletcher owner of Tower Systems, at my Newsagency Blog – a place where he write about small business retail. This is an important article dealing with personal and often unspoken off challenges dot small business owners and their employees.
Owning and running a small business can be tough – on families, relationships, finances and your mental health. The ABC published a terrific report about mental illness and small business. I urge you to read this and share it. At the bottom of the ABC article is an excellent list of resources including:
Other national information and support services contacts available during business hours:
I hate going into work. These words from a friend reflected a long-held feeling, a feeling held with some shame.
Here was a retail business owner who hated going into his own business. He had fallen out of love with what he had created. The bitterness he felt towards his business had soured to hatred.
Why do some retailers hate going to work? It is an interesting question which needs exploration before we look at strategies for countering this.
There is usually a trigger – supplier fatigue, tough economic conditions, personal challenges away from the business, a partner dispute, tiredness… there could be any combination of reasons.
If you have reached the point where you hate going into work each day it is important to take time away from the business for an honest assessment as to why you hate the business. Until you can answer the question – why do you hate going into work? – you cannot begin to work on resolution.
Once you know the reasons, think about a series of small and achievable steps you could take to turn the situation around. No matter how challenging the situation, there are always steps you could take. Focus on these, start work on them and in some instances that alone will be enough to move you through the fog of anger and ill-feeling toward the business.
If finding small steps to take does not work, get together with a trusted friend and tell them how you feel toward the business. Ask them to talk with you about the business. Reminisce about why you started or purchased the newsagency. Remember your dreams and hopes. Use the conversation to explore your emotion at the moment you decided to open or purchase the retail business.
The best advice to to get professional help from a psychologist or professionally qualified counsellor to explore your feelings for the business. Your doctor could help you access a government funded mental health plan.
Understanding your hatred for your retail business is the first step. This will usually, of itself, reveal the first steps you can take to turn the hatred around. Be open to that. Take small steps and see where they lead. The change in feeling toward the business may not be immediate so do not expect too much too soon.
If you do nothing, the hatred will be more and more reflected in the business and in your own person. Neither benefits from this.
Tower Systems earlier this week contributed to Oxfam’s Nepal earthquake appeal. This financial contribution is outside our usual giving commitment through the year. We selected Oxfam for their low operating overheads (10%) and the nature of the work they undertake.
In another part of our business, outside of software development activities, we help support a family in Nepal.
Small business retailers want to grow, who doesn’t? With rent and labour costs increasing each year, growth is mission critical. POS software company Tower Systems helps its customers grow by providing advice on how to use the software to grow.
As retailers ourselves we can provide practical advice on how to use the software to more than transact sales, we can help retailers use the software to grow their businesses. We do this every day on our help desk, through our consulting services, through our knowledge base and through our business mentoring assistance.
We encourage, guide, educate and support our small business retailer customers in their desire to grow their businesses. it’s something we take serviceably.
Even on the weekend. Take today, Saturday … we have been helping one business owner understand opportunities in their slow selling inventory pool to unlock cash and space for more productive use.
We are serious in our commitment to small business retailers from our software through to the practical advice and support we provide.
The free marketing collateral we released for small business retailers is being appreciated. Retailers love that the collateral is available without strings, is free and is unbranded.
We are thrilled with the feedback and are working on adding to the suite of free collateral available from our website.
We are grateful to be in a position to give back to small business retailers.
Covering a range of themes, the example included with this post is most popular as it promoted LOCALLY MADE – a very strong message in any retail situation.
POS software company Tower Systems is releasing a range of promotional collateral for use by any small local retail business in promoting the shop local message. This collateral has been created for any type of retail situation where local connection with the local community is important to the business and the community.
This artwork is available at no cost to any retailer. The company has not included it’s logo on the artwork so as to not pull focus.
What does this have to do with POS software? Plenty. Tower Systems believes in helping in any way it can to encourage, guide and facilitate stronger and more valuable locally owned retail businesses.
While Tower Systems invests in enhancing its POS software for its customers and in its support team to provide timely and professional advice, it also invests outside the squall to help its customers in a more whole of business way.
When an employee supports a respected and independent charity we sponsor them as measure of support of their commitment as well as support for the charity itself. This is why we are supporting the World’s Greatest Shave fundraising drive. We have a team member here at Tower Systems who we are hoping to see with a shaved head real soon.
We are proud to support the Leukaemia Foundation.
Tower Systems is funding an opportunity for newsagent suppliers to meet in three states to discuss and work on the health of the newsagency channel and explore how they can help newsagents grow their businesses.
The Newsagent Supplier Forum has been in development for some months and is open to all suppliers to participate. Our hospitality extends to our software company competitors – we want the sessions to as broadly based as possible.
Newsagents think they are doing it tough and while some are for others it is a mindset thing. We hope the focus can help navigate a path ahead which benefits newsagents, their employees and newsagent suppliers.
Funding these sessions is another way we can give back to our customers.
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