A local POS is refreshingly simple — no account, no server, nothing to configure beyond your business name. That simplicity has exactly one catch, and it's worth taking seriously from day one rather than after the fact.
The catch: it's all on one device
Every product, every sale, every setting lives in that one browser on that one phone or computer. Clear the browser data, get a new phone without transferring it, or have the device break, and everything is gone — there's no server copy sitting safely elsewhere.
The habit: back up on a schedule, not "when you remember"
Pick a moment that already happens regularly — end of the week, first of the month, closing time on a slow day — and make downloading a backup part of it. A habit tied to an existing routine survives much longer than one relying on memory alone.
Where to actually keep the backup file
Don't just leave it in Downloads on the same device. Email it to yourself, save it to a cloud drive (Google Drive, WhatsApp to yourself, anything with its own separate storage), or keep it on a USB drive — anywhere that isn't the single device the original data lives on.
Test the restore, not just the backup
A backup file you've never actually tried restoring is an assumption, not a safety net. Once, deliberately restore a backup (even on the same device, as a test) to confirm it actually works before you're depending on it in a real emergency.
Back up before anything risky
Switching phones, updating your browser significantly, clearing cache to fix an unrelated problem — any of these are good moments to download a fresh backup first, just in case.