In 2019 Ernest King was eager to retire from his day job, but he wasn’t quite ready to sit still. Instead, he dreamed of becoming a fishing guide. “I said, I’m going to go to guide school, make sure I’m not too old for this,” King said. While attending school he decided he also realized he wanted to open a fly shop. Soon after Fish Tales Outfitters and Guide Service was born in Franklin, North Carolina, in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.
King had spent most of his life working in insurance and law enforcement, and Fish Tales was his first brick-and-mortar business. He knew he had a lot to learn about working in retail and building an experience-based business. Leading groups on outdoor adventures around the region, including fishing and camping trips, with the help of six independent guides, was going to be no easy feat, but King readied himself to take on the challenge. “Most of this was new to me,” he said. “I [had to learn] a lot of the basics of operating a business, customer service, and product marketing.”
As he educated himself on the ins and outs of entrepreneurship and watched his business grow, King felt stymied by the point-of-sale system he originally adopted. He knew it was slowing him down, and he needed his operation to be more efficient.
The challenge: Outgrowing his initial POS system
The old system King used was clunky and challenging to use, especially as it related to the thousands of SKUs he needed to manage on a daily basis. Fish Tales sells more than 4,000 products, including 200 different flies. Adding the inventory along with descriptions and photos was a laborious process. Putting in multiple items of the same type at once was especially frustrating. Even after the items were entered, the inventory counts weren’t always accurate.
Similarly, King struggled with the business’s website. It was challenging to update, and the layout was frustrating to work with from an owner’s and a customer’s perspective. Plus, he felt overwhelmed by all the reports the previous system generated. He wanted to know everything he needed to know quickly and easily. On top of it all, his old system’s customer service line was hard to reach and consistently unhelpful. In 2023 he was ready to make a change.
The solution: A connected system that’s able to keep up with his needs
King researched business technology platforms online and was impressed with the customer reviews he read about Square. “The price point and ease of use seemed to fall in line with what I was looking for,” he said. He spoke with the owner of a neighboring shop, who was satisfied with Square. That sealed the deal. King made the switch and hasn’t looked back. “Square has made the transition very easy,” he said. “The onboarding process was great. The equipment list that I needed was great. It’s all worked out extremely well.”
After years of struggling with his old system, King was relieved to find Square for Retail was intuitive and inviting. All of a sudden adding inventory felt like a breeze. “The auto-create function in Square allows me to scan a barcode, and it automatically generates the item, bringing in the picture and a little description,” he said. “It’s almost perfect every time, so in terms of time savings, it’s huge.”
King was also pleasantly surprised by the reporting. With Square he receives one report via email at the end of the day that includes all the information he needs, such as which big-ticket items sold, how many items sold, and the number of transactions that day. “It’s perfect,” he said. “It’s everything I need.” And when he had questions, he was quickly able to get in touch with customer service representatives and have them answered.
And then there’s the website. With Square Online King noted that Fish Tales’ new online presence was easy to organize, design, and update. His customers have noticed too. “People are saying how much better the website looks, and that leads to people coming into the store,” he said.
Plus, customers can book guided trips online with Square Appointments. King simply adds photos and descriptions of the different fishing and camping trips available, and customers can select the time and date that works for them. The system handles the rest. “To have online booking for guided trips is huge,” King said. “An automatic reminder goes out, then there’s a follow-up email after the trip to see how we did. That seems to work extremely well.”
The impact: Finding bonus time to engage customers
King said that since he switched over to Square, he saves around five hours each week, thanks to the automated ease of use. Plus, the checkout process is easier for customers, so the line moves quickly. With that friction removed King has more time in the day to do what he loves most: interact with other fishing enthusiasts. He can spend time helping them feel more prepared for upcoming guided trips or talking them through the best way to use any of the items in the store. King added: “My attention to customers has gone up because I can [handle] other tasks so much quicker through Square.”
