Category: Integration Posts

How to Run Your Promotional Products Small Business More Smoothly

Promotional product businesses can be a lot of fun to run since the product options are endless, but if you don’t have the right software solutions for businesses helping to handle the many different day-to-day tasks that come with running a business, they can be a headache. With the Promotional Product software from ShopWorks, you should find that your business runs far more smoothly than it has before.

Among other tasks, the software allows you to enter single quantity orders for promotional items and individual size matrices for apparel items, issue and track purchase orders for vendors, easily manage sub-contractors, and calculate prices based on industry pricing codes

With ShopWorks, you will find you have greater flexibility, more options, and more free time. Our reliable industry-specific business software helps every process move more smoothly and enables each person along the chain of command to do their job more efficiently. You can also consider adding additional software, such as SAGE, to increase the efficiency of your system.

See how ShopWorks can help you run your promotional products small business more efficiently.

OnSite Business Solutions – Credit Card Processing Software

For many businesses, the ability to process credit cards is the difference between being a small, local business, and opening up the potential to be a major, competitive company. Credit card processing also opens your business up to a host of other risks, though, so it’s important that you choose a method that you trust to be safe and reliable.

Every credit card transaction involves four parties: you, the merchant; the credit card owner, or your customer; your bank, or the acquiring bank; and your customer’s bank, or the issuing bank. With so many parties involved, and so many legs of each transaction, there is a lot of room for error if your processing methods aren’t airtight. Another important thing to understand is that both participating banks charge fees for a credit card transaction, meaning the amount you ultimately receive is lower than the amount you charge your customer, which is why many companies choose to add a small fee to credit card transactions under a certain total.

If you currently have our all-in-one business management software you may be able to integrate our credit card processing software solutions into your current system. This will keep you from having to add another software to the mix.

OnSite 7 customers can add our credit card processing software quickly and easily by setting up an authorize.net merchant account with WorqSmart, eComMerchant, or Elavon and acquiring a FileMaker plug-in called “e-authorize.” These two things together allow you to safely and securely accept credit card transactions, expanding your potential client base and allowing your customers to make purchases with greater ease than ever before.

Credit Card Processing Benefits for Screen Printing Businesses

So many people carry debit cards and credit cards, today, that plastic has become the most common method of payment. In fact, over half of your customers don’t carry cash a majority of the time. This means, that if your onsite system doesn’t allow you to process credit cards, you are missing out on significant business growth.

With an increasing number of software solutions for business that allow you to do just this, it doesn’t make any sense to not accept plastic today. The benefits of credit card processing are made easier with card-reading squares that you can plug into your smartphone or tablet. They process credit cards if you don’t have the space to invest in a card reading terminal or register.

While there is usually a monthly fee that comes with credit card processing capabilities, the benefits will outweigh the fee. The amount you pay is nothing compared to the amount of money you will make as a result. These rates can be as low as 5 dollars a month if you choose the right system, and some can be cheaper if you select an application that integrates with your Apparel ERP or other business software.

Such a credit card processing application is available from ShopWorx, and the benefits will allow you to process credit cards easily and quickly through your onsite system. The system uses an authorize.net payment gateway, which you access through a merchant account that you set up separately.

The plug-in is called “e-authorize,” and allows communication between your system and authorize.net so that you can expand your business and reach as many potential customers as possible. Stop limiting your business by only accepting cash, and invest in e-authorize. Check out our credit card processing software, today.

Versatile Software for Screen Printing Businesses

Not all businesses are run the same, which means that, in creating software solutions for businesses, versatility is key. It is for this reason that OnSite 7 was designed not only to handle your basic business server and network, but also to run with either Mac or PC platforms. Integrating programs such as InkSoft or SAGE to cover tasks that are specific to your industry can customize the software suite further.

Instead of handling one aspect of your business, OnSite 7 was designed to handle many aspects, and has features to cover multiple tasks. For example, the Design and Artwork Management feature helps you manage every step of your production process, from storing thread and ink colors, thumbnail images and more. The Price Calculator feature can calculate the price of an item based on one of several factors that you select, and the Vendor Pricing feature allows you to download the latest prices from different vendors straight to your OnSite 7 system.

With this versatile software program, you no longer need to worry about keeping multiple programs straight to help run your business. OnSite 7 can do it all.

Adapting to an Internet-Centric World

If you are in the apparel industry, having the most up-to-date screen printing equipment doesn’t necessarily mean success any more. With 86% of customers now using online search engines to locate businesses that are near them and find out more about available services and products, apparel and screen printing companies now need to have a strong online presence to reach a wide majority of potential customers.

One software solution that is available from ShopWorks is called InkSoft, and it offers the ability to sell customized products and apparel on the Internet through a powerful, versatile, industry-specific ecommerce platform and online designer. Best of all, InkSoft automatically syncs order data and more with your OnSite system, saving you time and stress in the long run. In addition to the software, instructional videos and training material are available from SoftWorks to help your company transition go as smoothly as possible.

Promotional Product Solutions

Each industry has its own individual needs and set of challenges, meaning companies in each industry need specialized software solutions for business. ShopWorx has created an onsite software system that is perfect for promotional product businesses, and has integrated many functions so that this software can meet your needs and address your regular requirements with ease. Whether you manufacture custom pens, mugs, t-shirts, lanyards, flash drives or similar products, OnSite 7 is the perfect software for your company.

ShopWorx has gathered feedback and advice from many industry members and specialists, including business owners, managers, employees and other software developers, and has used this knowledge to create a program that is truly perfect for you.

Unlike more generic business software systems, OnSite 7 allows you to enter single quantities for promotional items and size matrixes for apparel items, issue and track purchase orders to vendors and customers and manage sub-contractors right on your system, calculate prices based on industry pricing codes and other custom information and integrate SAGE sourcing makes to create quotes and orders efficiently. In fact, the ability to track purchase orders that are issued to sub-contractors and vendors, and the ability to seamlessly integrate with SAGE product sourcing are two of the most popular and useful applications available to promotional product manufacturers on OnSite 7.

This system is also perfect for other related businesses, such as commercial screen printing, awards manufacturers, sign businesses and others. Call ShopWorx today for more information about consolidating your promotional product business with OnSite 7 software.

OnSite 7: All-In-One Business Software Suite

Owning and operating a commercial screen printing business is not always easy. This is especially true when it comes to choosing software to assist with business operations. Sure, there are various software programs available, and each one promises something different. However, keeping up with multiple software programs can quickly become a hassle, especially as your business grows. OnSite 7 is a suite of programs that does more than just one or two things — much, much more.

With OnSite 7, you can operate your screen printing business with ease. Instead of juggling several programs at once, you have the ease of an all-in-one program. OnSite 7 has programs and applications for ALL aspects of your business. From marketing your business, to shipping out orders — and everything in between — OnSite 7 has it covered.

There is no reason why you have to struggle with numerous programs. You have many other important things to worry about while running your business. With OnSite 7, you can focus on your business, and you can let the suite of software work it’s magic. Our software can manage orders, create designs, handle accounting, monitor production, and take care of shipping — all with the convenience of one suite of software. It can also integrate with other popular software programs, so you don’t have to worry about giving up your InkSoft program.

Contact us today at ShopWorks to learn more about our suite of software. Our representatives will be happy to arrange a demonstration for you, so you can see for yourself how OnSite 7 can benefit your screen printing business.

Best Ink for Screen Printing

When your business specializes in commercial screen printing, you walk a fine line trying to increase profitability while trying to reduce costs. A valid question worth exploring is whether cheaper ink is worth it. When looking at the question in a simplistic view, cheaper ink equals fewer expenses, and more profits out the door; however, this is not always the case.

Cheaper inks cost much less, but the important question you must consider is whether or not the quality is up to par. It might be, or it might not. In reality, you will have to test out many different inks to find the best one for your business. In doing so, you will often find that the cheapest ink is not worth it. Yes, you will have bigger profits, initially, but if the quality is not up to par, this, too, will dwindle.

The problem with poor quality inks is that customers will notice. Once they notice, they will stop doing business with you. Even worse, you could receive bad reviews on places such as Yelp. Repairing your reputation is not easy, and it is something every business tries to avoid. Therefore, it’s best to avoid the cheapest product in favor of profits.

Using the best ink, supplies, and equipment possible, while providing great customer service, is still the best way to gain profits over time. Yes, this could cause stress on a new business. If that is the case, the business needs to find the best way to provide the best possible products while still staying profitable. This is why testing out inks for screenprinting is worth it in the long run.

For more information about screen printing services, contact us at ShopWorks.