Newcomers: Keeping going

In the end it only took a couple of hours and a few phone calls to secure the money for the pub from another high street bank. This means we are back on track and able to move things further on.

We had, over the past few weeks, put together a list of suppliers and people we needed to speak to regarding everything from tables and chairs to napkins and cutlery. The names and numbers came from the Pubco rep, friends of friends who knew people in the trade, the internet and the yellow pages. It was a matter of starting at the top and working our way down.

One of our priorities was an EPOS system. Whilst searching for suppliers what amazed me was the number of companies specialising in this area. In the end I picked a local company and set up a meeting where I would be shown their system, how it worked and all its functions and limitations.

The demo went very well. Not knowing anything about EPOS I was guided through all the technology and given a comprehensive explanation of the functions and capabilities of the system. It was explained that EPOS is more than a simple cash register and I was shown how the system could automatically produce different reports that could analyse the many facets of our pubs operation, cut down on fraud and make the business more efficient. I liked it.

I asked about a price, explaining that we were going to be a small operator, new to the business and could really do with a bit of a break on the price. Unfortunately the figures quoted, even with a bit of a discount, turned out to be a bit rich for our budget. I was honest with the EPOS guy about this fact, telling him that it would be the upper end of our budget, but promised to discuss it with R.

After discussing the matter thoroughly we decided that although the system was ideal and exactly what we were looking for, we couldn't really afford it.

Having our eyes opened to the expense of a brand new system it became obvious that we would have to seek a cheaper alternative, either a more conventional cash register or a second hand system.

Ebay here we come...