Comment by muzani

Comment by muzani 2 days ago

A specialized POS-inventory-CRM system for an offline store. Pick something - coffee, babysitting, barbers, massage parlors, sushi restaurants.

POS first because everyone has to record money. The value proposition is theft prevention, bookkeeping & taxes, etc. Inventory next because supply chains are too complex for most generic systems. Then some kind of customer retention/acquisition thing so they don't feel like it's a cost center.

The market is too red ocean for VCs to enter. Sales doesn't scale exponentially. That's your moat. I would say just tackle one American sized state, not even the big ones.

Users won't come to you. They'd go to whatever well known system is in your area. You have to go to them. Skip the online ads, TikTok, etc.

rboyd 2 days ago

Would you integrate with existing POS systems or is this a new one? If a new one do you integrate with some existing hardware for card scans?

I saw the POS systems often have developer/partner programs but at this late stage are they granting those partnerships or is this a gatekeeping system?

Do you have to sell the customer on migrating away from their existing system? How do you convince a massage parlor to migrate from Square? A sushi restaurant away from Toast?

Price?

Thanks.

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muzani a day ago
"Would you integrate with existing POS systems or is this a new one?"
Depends. The goal is to streamline workflow. A lot of the friction happens when recording transactions. How do you reduce that?
3 years ago, integrating with existing systems might be the smart move, but now with AI, you can build and maintain a POS from scratch faster than an integration.
"If a new one do you integrate with some existing hardware for card scans?"
Yeah, sell it with the hardware, keep friction down. They cost as much as a phone.
Again, depends on the norm. I find in developing countries, it's typical to have the whole thing as one Android app on a card accepting device. There's cool stuff you can do with the receipt printers. If someone orders a latte with an extra shot and a croissant, you can print out a receipt and little paper things to give to the barista and the croissant guy.
"Do you have to sell the customer on migrating away from their existing system?"
Often yes. Most can export data, and you can write scripts to import them.
You customize your product to their workflow. Like some people operate with wet hands. Salons like to track how much shampoo is used to flag theft. Education systems may track credit and attach videos of classes.
"Price?"
Highly variable per state, sector, etc, but OP's requirement of $49/month should be fair.
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