HarborTouch P.O.S. has low price point
By Cole Boehler
Montana Tavern Times
Computer driven point-of-sale (P.O.S.) systems have been around for almost 20 years. They've improved in speed and ease of use, as the processors have gotten faster and designers have made them more user-friendly.
What's really new is how inexpensive they've become.
Back in the day, a top-of-the-line system with all the software, hardware, installation, training and support might run $20,000 or more for a mid-sized establishment. We also know of several cases where investments of that size were earned back in the first six months.
In that sense, no matter how you look at it, a P.O.S. is not expensive; rather, being without one is often more costly than a business can bear. The old adage applies: you've got to spend money to make money.
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Myra Stein walks a prospect through the system features.
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Myra Stein, who runs United Bank Card Montana out of her Livingston home base, has been in the hospitality business since she was old enough to work behind a bar, which she did while attending MSU in Bozeman and for years afterward at Boodles, the Crystal Lounge, the Zebra Lounge and elsewhere.
What Stein learned while bartending and in the foodservice side of the business, coupled with her handle on electronic aids for the business, led her to research and identify the P.O.S. system she believes makes the most sense for the Montana market, which is comprised mostly of independent mom 'n' pop operations, as opposed to the ubiquitous mega-chains found in the more urban regions.
She told the
Montana Tavern Times in a recent interview that small Montana operations need simplicity and reliability in a P.O.S. system, for sure, but primarily need affordability.
The HarborTouch system she now markets, installs and fully supports is the answer, she says, and P.O.S. sales and service ties in logically with the bank card and check services she's already rendering. "I wanted to be more of a one-stop shop," Stein says.
"I can get a single-station system in place for less than five dollars a day or two stations for eight dollars a day for 48 months," she says. A cash price for that most basic system is as low as $3,200, she adds.
And it combines the highly regarded Toshiba hardware with equally reputed Micro Soft programming. The two companies collaborated to develop the HarborTouch system, Stein says, which downloads directly to QuickBooks, the most common of all small business bookkeeping systems, saving even more time and money.
"It get's you out of the back office," Stein said, so you can interact directly with staff and customers, which lends itself to better operations and more profit. In addition, “you'll see savings in the front of the house with quicker transaction times."
She had a booth at the recently concluded Montana Tavern Association Convention Trade Show and said she found a lot of interest and was kept busy demonstrating the equipment, even making some demo appointments and several sales.
She says she can show you how to manage your inventory, schedule your staff (it's a virtual time clock, Stein says), speed order taking and processing, increase sales volumes, make orders more accurate and, perhaps most importantly, stop loss and inventory shrinkage.
The system will produce any number of reports, customized for the operator's preferred format. "Better records equal better management and cash flow and that translates, some day, into a better opportunity to sell your business," Stein says.
"It will pay for itself," she says with assurance. How quickly it does so "depends on how you use it. We need to change the way we operate. Automatic is better than manual."
Stein says she likes to meet with a prospect in person to learn about their business philosophy, their operations, their special promotions or needs and concerns. Then she goes back to her shop and customizes a design for your business which she brings back and fully demonstrates.
That is followed by another round of customization and tweaking to make sure it is set up ideally for a particular business. She says once a deal is made, a system can be installed, which she handles personally, and be operational in one day.
In addition, HarborTouch has now released a new update that incorporates a totally secure wireless version driving costs down further while making installation quicker and easier.
"Then we sit there and we train you and your staff," Stein says, "until you're completely comfortable. Then we're going to be in regular touch to work out any problems and implement improvements."
As far as continuing support goes, Stein says she can usually fix any software glitches immediately, communicating with your system over the Internet. "Or I'll come immediately to the location, 24-seven," she adds.
Support costs are where some systems really realize their profits. Not with HarborTouch, Stein says. "Our support costs are the least expensive of any I've seen."
"If you've thought these P.O.S. systems are out of reach, you really have to reconsider," Stein says. "Tough times are when you really need to invest in efficiency."