The economy is forcing more and more people into the wild and crazy world of entrepreneurship. I have always told my kids that enjoying life is about two things; making a good living at your chosen profession and enjoying this profession. If either part is missing, you are doing the wrong thing for the wrong reason. After picking your location, remodeling, choosing your POS software and having all those sleepless nights, make sure you have done it for the right reason, you love what you do.

The following two paragraphs are from the May 26th New York Times. The road to success as an entrepreneur can be frustrating, tedious and exciting at the same time. The journey down that road requires your understanding of every facet of your new business and the competition. It also requires full responsibility for your business; you will be entirely responsible for its success or lack thereof. Still, executives of worldwide companies sometimes leave their plush, corporate lifestyles for shoestring startup operations. Why? Because being an entrepreneur is potentially much more rewarding, both personally and financially. These execs realize that although they are rewarded for their hard work, they can only gain a finite amount by working for someone else. And if your business meets with success, you stand to be rewarded not only financially for the responsibility you have assumed, but emotionally, with the satisfaction that comes only with creation and ownership. And what’s more, you establish your own timetables, rules, and goals.

Entrepreneurship is about people. If real estate is “location, location, location,” then entrepreneurship is “people, people, people.” Your partners, employees, investors, customers, and everyone else you come into contact with must have confidence and trust in you and your business. This trust is what will win you repeat customers, loyal employees, willing investors, and success as an entrepreneur.

If you look at ProphetLine POS Software closely, the great service, support staff that works with you and never finger points with functionality that only comes with pricey products, the only conclusion you can make is you can’t afford our POS software. Nothing could be farther from the truth. ProphetLine is the affordable alternative to the lousy service and all hype large companies with comparable functionality. ProphetLine POS Software/Retail Systems prides itself on a more one to one personal relationship that gives you the retailer, a comfort level that someone really cares about your business. Your calls are usually answered in a short period of time and if not, you are put into the system for a quick return call. You have a choice, call and talk to someone you don’t know and have never talked to before, or call and talk to someone you have developed a relationship with. I think you’ll like the way you feel.

ProphetLine is a boutique style software company that is big enough to handle all your needs and small enough to give you personalized support and service for your specialty retail business. Unlike many larger and more expensive publicly traded companies, we have no pressure to meet quarterly goals which can hamper the quality and innovation of the product. When you think about buying your first or next POS Software product, ask yourself if being just another number is adequate or would you prefer to have a company that thinks of themselves as your business partner and friend. Then call and you will confirm that you can afford the best small POS software in the world.

We are always competing with other POS software companies for business, but when we are compared to cheap products that are nothing more than glorified cash registers, I get irritated. Good POS software is more than printing a receipt and opening a drawer, it is a means of aggregating data that is used to make informed business decisions. The next time I receive a call and price is put ahead of quality and support, I’ll try to be nice and tell them our price is low, but that’s not what you should be buying. The built in Retail Stock Ledger alone is worth the price of our POS Software.

This single sheet of paper can give you comparatives on vendors, items, classes, and departments. Who gives you the best turn rates and sell-thrus, vendor A or Vendor B? Knowledge to make smart business decisions. The typical retailer is overstocked by 10-25% at any given point in time, meaning that for every $100,000 in sales, there can be $5,000 to $25,000 (at retail) in excess inventory on the shelves. When you start looking at $500,000 in sales, the wasted investment runs into six figures. Imagine converting $100,000 of excess inventory into cash. So please, when you call ask about why our POS software is different.

Working with leading edge, progressive retailers is where ProphetLine gets most of its ideas for future enhancements. Without customer feedback as a guide, we could never identify, spec out and release functionality that will enable small specialty retailers to better serve their customer base and identify new ways to improve profitability. ProphetLine was the World’s first specialty retail management system, which means we have had many years to write functionality into our product. Regularly updated business software means you are using the absolute latest technology. By keeping technologically updated with competitors and the industry, your business has the advantage of being prepared for the next stage of growth.

The newest release of our POS software includes comprehensive support for customer marketing, merchandising, behind the scenes communications that replicates data back to corporate as often as needed and the latest PCI-DSS credit card security. All of these features are meant to save owners and employees hundreds of hours on the technical side and put this time into taking care of customer needs. When our customers talk, we do listen.

Will your POS software grow with you? The decision you make today will have huge consequences down the road. Whatever you ask your POS software to do, it should support your growing business needs, rather than add to your workload. As your customer base increases, the last worry you want is whether or not your POS software can keep up with the ever increasing business demands. Good support should be the first thing you ask about when considering a new POS software company. This is why we sell direct and support direct.

Being able to contact the POS software developer directly means faster, more efficient and more reliable service when you need it most. Our support staff can be called immediately when an issue arises and you have to have an answer now. Nothing can be more frustrating than needing to know how to perform a certain task and not getting a knowledgeable answer. If you don’t get your support from the people that develop and work with the POS software every day, are you really getting the reliable answers you need?

When it comes to POS software, small retailers are looking to increase and simplify their business processes without destroying their budget. So, what’s the best option for your business? Implementing or changing POS software is a huge step for a business of any size. Whether you are moving up from a cash register or entry level Pos/Retail Management Software, it is important for business owners to do their research. You must find a POS software company that you trust to support and keep you running efficiently, has the functionality that is a must for your business and a price that want break the bank.

The natural instinct of most businesspeople is to find a POS software solution that is cheap without regard to the training, support and functionality. You also need a POS software solution that is flexible, expandable, can support your growing business and your changing business processes. The first place any business owner should evaluate is their current business processes and what it would take to elevate these to achieve visible and lasting improvements. At a time when customer demands are changing rapidly, a real time and instant view on all portions of your business are needed. You can meet or exceed all of these business requirements with all-in-one POS software, accounting, marketing and web shopping.

When talking to a potential client about their needs and wants in POS software, it’s obvious that the POS software desires sometimes don’t match their budget. They will talk with large POS software vendors and get sticker shock without realizing they can get product that will fit their size without breaking the bank. This is the exact reason we specialize in small retail stores. We give you POS software you can afford, functionality you need and support staff that cares about your success. You can call us about any problem that you are having and you will get someone that wants your needs addressed.. Small retailers need to select a POS Software company that can act as their technology staff as well as furnish them software. Small retailers also want a product equal to or better than what the big box retailers use, but at a price that can fit their budget.

Because most small retailers can’t afford a massive POS Software deployment, they must be willing to change and adapt their business processes to fit the new (POS) Point of Sale/Retail Store Management Software. All POS software products have strong points which made you select them in the first place and small deficiencies you were willing to overlook in the selection process to get the new and improved functions. To try and have the new software work just exactly like the old software should not be your goal. To accomplish this, you would have to program for the old functionality, de-bug and go way over budget and the gains in productivity would be negated by the additional costs. The POS software you select to improve your business should be 95% of what you are looking for, straight out of the box and return on investment must be your top priority.

Excerpts From Ryan Deutsch In Email Insider

“Doing more with less.” For marketers, this is not a recession-specific catchphrase. In my experience, organizations are always asking marketing departments to do more (drive more leads, Web site visits, online transactions) with less (budget, staff, services). While this tendency has caused more than a few ulcers, the positive byproduct has been (and continues to be) innovation in direct marketing technology.
In fact, it is safe to say that it’s easier than ever for marketers to do more with less. The trick is finding the application of technology that makes the most sense for your business. From an email communication perspective, a great place to start is automation. If you are not automating a good portion of email communications, you may be missing a chance to be more relevant, timely and efficient. If email automation was on your list of 2009 objectives, you need to can get started before 2010 rolls around!

ProphetLine POS Software has all the email marketing built in. You can query by birthdays, anniversaries, when things were purchased, who are your best customers; almost anyway you would like. Why run two different products when the correct POS software can handle both.

I don’t know if you remember the movie "Network", which came out in 1976 and won Peter Finch an Oscar for best supporting actor, but that line was the trademark of the film. Howard Beale (Peter Finch) is an ageing TV anchorman for a TV network who is fired, after his ratings have been steadily deteriorating. He goes on the air with a crazy rant and rave session and asks all of the viewers to go to the window and yell, "I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore." As a small POS software developer and you as small retailers know, nobody in Washington cares. Only the large get aid and they brought most of it on themselves. Small businesspeople hire most of the workers, pay a huge amount of the taxes and get the shaft.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a Democrat or Republican; you need to have all the candidates’ state what their ideology is when it concerns small business. You need to hear that small business is the backbone of this country and I am going to do everything I can to help you succeed. That could very well be your next candidate to support. This rant and rave session just so happens to come out the day before the April 15th tax deadline. ProphetLine POS Software would like to publicly state, "I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore."

Although the economy is still screwed-up, there do seem to be signs of real recovery and for entrepreneurs and optimistic retailers, this is great news. If that is the case, we need to start planning for better times now. If consumers are ready to start spending, you want to make sure some of that money goes to you. Start thinking about better times and don’t get caught up in the current gloom and doom. It’s time to start thinking recovery and not recession. It is time to start thinking about upgrading your staff and slowly adding inventory to levels that will satisfy customer needs. You don’t want to be caught short with outdated products, empty shelves or employees that are negative. If your inventory is too low and your staff isn’t prepared for a future wave of shopping, these customers will find another place to shop.

Don’t ask yourself what you need now; rather, try to determine what you’ll need later when business is booming again. Is your technology outdated? Now would be the time to replace that old POS software for something that will give you a competitive advantage. You need to research what is new and inventive in the technology marketplace and determine if spending some money now will save you more down the road. A lot of POS software can sell T shirts on Times Square where a quarter of a million people go by every day, but good POS software has built in customer marketing and merchandising.