Do you know the technical know-how to fix a system if it breaks, or customize it when your business needs change, or do you need that support from a vendor? And, importantly, if your tech support vendor disappeared tomorrow, would you be able to find a new one tomorrow? Is your system open enough for a new vendor to easily take over and fix problems and make changes?įor these reasons, open source point of sale systems might be a good option to consider for some businesses. Do you want a point of sale system which ties in with your inventory management, or do you just need to keep track of purchase numbers? Does it make sense to host everything locally, or would a cloud-based solution work for you? And if it's cloud-based, what happens when you inevitably lose Internet connectivity from time to time?Īs if these kinds of factors don't make the decision difficult enough already, it's also worth considering what kind of support you need. There are simply so many choices on the market today, and no one decision is going to be right for every business. For businesses with a retail component, your choice of point of sale (POS) system may be the most important technical decision you make, and yet, an overwhelmingly confusing one. In between all of these demands, it can be difficult to dedicate the time to fairly evaluate solutions to various business needs, including software. Managing purchases and cash flow, keeping inventory stocked, making sure your employees are happy, and above all else serving your customers needs requires dedication, a solid business plan, and a bit of luck to be successful. Running a small business isn't easy, and especially so for retailers, restaurant owners, and others who have a brick-and-mortar storefront. Running Kubernetes on your Raspberry Pi.A practical guide to home automation using open source tools.6 open source tools for staying organized.An introduction to programming with Bash.

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Running a point of sales system