So you are starting a new business, and you have everything figured out: Business plan: check. Brick-and-mortar or online-only: check. Branding colors, logos and fonts: check. Hiring employees or flying solo: check. What about your point-of-sale system? How will you take orders, book appointments, keep track of your customers and take payments? Whatever your business needs, the Clover POS system has you covered.

Why Clover?

Clover is a very flexible POS system that doesn’t lock you into one particular payment processor. Clover hardware, such as Clover Flex, Clover Mini, Clover Station and Clover Go, works with a variety of software apps to give you complete flexibility when running your business. For example, you can use the Booker app within Clover to streamline your contact management and appointment-setting processes all in one system. This Booker Clover powerhouse is ideal for service-based businesses such as spas and salons.

How To Choose the Best Clover Hardware for Your Business

When choosing your Clover POS hardware, don’t go by just price. Each Clover has a situation or business type that it’s best suited for. The Clover Go works with your phone, but each of the other Clovers is a complete system on its own. Clover Flex is a handheld device that lets you process chip cards, magstripe cards and contactless payments as well as scan barcodes and print receipts. Clover Station is a countertop system that includes a cash drawer, receipt printer and countertop display. Clover Mini is also a countertop system, but, as the name implies, it is smaller than Clover Station. You can also combine Clover Station and Clover Mini to add a dedicated customer-facing display to your full setup.

If you’re running a restaurant, you may want to explore the Clover Station or Clover Mini. Each of these options will give you the coverage you need to take orders, print receipts and process payments. If you have a quick-service restaurant and want to cut down on the time your customers spend waiting in line, try having an employee walk the line with the Clover Flex. The ability to take orders, process payments and print receipts wirelessly from anywhere in your restaurant is priceless during busy periods.

Are you running a retail enterprise? Before you decide which Clover is for you, think about your needs. If you have a brick and mortar store and only need Clover to process payments, consider Clover Flex or Clover Go. On the other hand, if you need a complete POS system, receipt printer, barcode scanner and cash drawer, consider Clover Station. Similarly, if your business is mobile (for example, you only sell at craft fairs, from a food truck or at trade shows), Clover Flex may be your best bet. If you have a combination of brick-and-mortar and on-the-go business, you can use Clover Station at your permanent location and Clover Flex or Clover Go at your events. Everything syncs in the cloud, so all your devices can work together.

No matter what type of business you run, you need cutting-edge yet straightforward system for managing your business and securely taking payments. Think about what you want your POS system to do and where you need it to work, and go from there.