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Business Merchant Accounts, Business-Merchant-Accounts
Business merchant accounts are critical to have if you want to accept credit cards. Business merchant accounts are not limited to those computer consultants reselling products either. They are a good idea for any sale, especially when you are selling to new clients.
If you have a business merchant account you will not have to chase down outstanding debt. The cost is not that high and you don’t have to buy traditional credit card processing equipment. Now they have what is called a lab terminal, which allows you to use your web browser to manage the transactions. The systems are completely secure and most business merchant account providers team up with larger companies that offer great advantages.
Costco’s Business Merchant Account
One of the biggest secrets we learned about business merchant accounts is that Costco provides a fantastic deal on credit card processing through Nova Systems. It’s such a great deal it can actually pay for your entire Costco membership. Here are some particulars:
All of the monthly statement and gateway fees are waived – savings of $25 – $50 per month
Very competitive discount rates on Visa and MasterCard.
You can add on processing for American Express and Discover – you will find that even though American Express transaction fees are higher, it is a very popular card with small businesses.
The charges billed are transferred quickly and directly into your business bank account – this is a lot faster than doing your billing or invoicing once a week or so.
Paypal
Paypal is a popular alternative to traditional business merchant accounts. Paypal is very easy to set up and the set up is free. There are restrictions though on what you can do and how you can withdraw your money. The largest drawback is the negative connotation of being an ebay related service where people sell garage sale stuff as a hobby.
The Bottom Line on Business Merchant Accounts
Business merchant accounts will help you get paid faster. There are fees involved but the customer convenience and no hassle approach to receiving your money make it worthwhile. There are different business merchant accounts available so do your homework and choose the one that makes the best sense for you.
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Choosing a Company Name
When forming a limited company the name of the company can be an important decision. Some people may choose the first name that they think of and others may select a ready made company for speed or because they like a particular name. However, many businesses may prefer to select a company name that either clearly distinguishes itself from its competitors or contains something unique or personal. Company names can be chosen for different reasons.
One of the most common ways of selecting a company name is to use something personal. A quick look through your local newspaper will probably introduce you to many personalised business names. Johnson Consulting Limited, T Smith & Son Limited, Stephens & Barley Limited are some fictional examples of what may be found. This may instantly make a company recognisable locally, it can be deemed as more personal by its customers, and often works well within geographical areas. However, it does little to tell new customers what your company does.
A popular choice for a small business is to choose a name that is ëdescriptiveí. This tells prospective clients exactly what your company does. Examples of this may be to call your business The Window Company Limited, City IT Consultants Limited or The Advertising Agency Limited. Whilst this does serve to reinforce your primary business it offers little differentiation and may easily be adapted by competitors.
A less personal option is to use a company name that is ëassociativeí. This type of company name helps to create an image or connection to your business activity. It is less direct than using a descriptive name but helps to position your companyís name within the market through peoples understanding of what words mean. For example a flick through the Yellow Pages will offer plenty of examples of this. A hairdresser called Classic Cuts or a printer called Selectaprint Limited are examples of what may be found. These names offer some differentiation but may not ultimately set your company aside from its competitors.
An alternative is to choose a company name that is ëfreestandingí. These names are completely abstract and not related to the companies business activities. A fictional example may be to call your catering company Zedoc Limited. There are many popular brand names that illustrate this point. Consider, Kodak, Gillette, or Mars, these names will probably be instantly recognisable to you and conjure up a particular product or business. This is a good way of setting your company aside from the competition but it is important to consider the market that you operate in. Will your prospective clients know what your business is offering?
Choosing a company name may be a simple process, but it is not uncommon for people to deliberate over names for quite some time. Whilst company names can, and often are, changed during the life of the company most people like to choose a name that they like from the outset. Therefore consider your market, how much you want to differentiate from your competitors and what your company name should say about your organisation. Once the decision is made focus on the important business of making your company a success.
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Cheaper is Not Always Better
I work for a large insurance firm in the northwest, in an office with over 500 other employees. Management recently decided to replace our existing phone system as the old system was no longer meeting our needs. I and my co-workers were under the impression that they were going to update the system, as in “make an improvement”, and that we would have late model phones with technological advancements galore. Boy, were we in for a surprise.
One day a few weeks ago, we all came in to find new phones on our desks. These were not the state-of-the-art communication devices we had in mind. Instead of the sleek, sophisticated, caller IDing, multi-line handling, LCD displaying wonders of the modern age we all dreamed of, there was a simple phone with a keypad on the receiver…not unlike what you might have had at home 15 years ago. In addition to the new phone, there was a sheet which explained in graphically painful detail exactly which series of buttons one would have to push in order to make this thing function properly. We had to now enter a digit to put someone on hold, enter a three digit code to transfer someone (one digit, dial tone, two digits) and enter a ridiculously long series of numbers to access our voicemail.
Needless to say, we were in shock. I knew it wouldn’t take long before the roars of complaining would drown out the usual office din. Sure enough, by lunchtime our office manager came in to tell everyone that we were simply going to “try it out for a while” and that the company had saved thousands by choosing this option. I and the other employees were fairly certain that we had already lost thousands in reduced productivity that morning alone. Oh, well…it’s their company, we just bring in the money for them.
For the next few days, we tried to get used to saying “hold, please, while I transfer you”, removing the receiver from our faces and trying not to curse as we made a lame-duck attempt at pressing keys, listening and pressing more keys. It was a nightmare. We were getting pretty fed up with it, but just assumed that this was what we would have to deal with. Then, out of the blue, we came in one day to find real phones with real features at our desks. No more looking at the receiver while we frantically tried to key in numbers fast enough not to drop the call. No more ten digit voicemail “pins”. No more of having no idea who was calling or where the call came from. Ahhhh, relief at last.
Later the same day, we heard a rumor circulating around the office that the VP of operations had returned from a two week trip to New York. His words, upon seeing one of the phones management had originally purchased on his desk were, “get rid of them”. All it took were those four words from a higher-up to set things right. Unbelievable.
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Be Famous. Host A Seminar!
Imagine hosting your own seminar. Whether you dream of hosting clients for the weekend, prospects for a few hours, or colleagues for a lunch-hour workshop, let’s make this year the year you realise that dream! Planning and hosting a seminar, workshop, or other event’s not nearly as hard as you might expect. And today I’d like to share with you the five secrets to a flawless event.
Decide on a format
Remember, your event doesn’t have to be in-person. You could conduct it virtually–over the telephone or Internet. You could offer webcasts and live
chats, an email list for lengthier discussions, or you could use an online meeting space.
Besides deciding whether your event will be in-person or virtual, you’ll also need to determine how long the event will last, what you’ll cover, and how you’ll cover it. Will you host guest speakers? Will you offer discussion panels? Or will the event be primarily lecture-based?
Go with your gut on these decisions. What makes the most sense for your audience? What format do you prefer? How can you best deliver your information?
Decide whom to invite
Will you advertise the event? Open it only to your select clients? Offer it to a targeted list of prospects?
It may seem strange to decide on your audience before narrowing down your topic, but by picking out your ideal audience first, you’ll be able to zero in precisely on their interests.
At this stage, also decide how many people you’re comfortable hosting. Are you picturing a small, intimate group of 20 people? Or do you see yourself speaking before hundreds?
Decide what topics to cover
Next, you’ll need to really get at the core of your topic. Sure, you’re going to focus on your expertise. But what, precisely, about your expertise will you devote the time to?
This decision has a lot to do with your goals. Do you want to convert prospects to clients? Dazzle your current clients? Build relationships with colleagues?
Obviously, you’ll want to choose your topic a bit differently for your prospects than you would for a group of clients. Each audience will have different concerns and slightly different interests.
Get the right support
There’s a ton of planning involved with creating a workshop or seminar. You’ll need to find the perfect venue (or technological support, if it’ll be virtual). You’ll need to find hotels for guests to stay at, arrange special rates, and plan special activities during down time.
You’ll want to accommodate special guests in a way that makes them feel truly appreciated. You’ll want someone creating a log of each activity, and perhaps recording and transcribing the event so you can offer copies to participants.
In short, you need a partner who shares your vision for your event. Someone to handle all the details while you’re raring off, full steam ahead, on the big picture elements.
You can easily hand off these details to a virtual assistant who’ll work in the background to ensure your entire event goes off without a hitch.
Close the feedback loop and do it again
You’re going to love holding your event. You’ll shine in the spotlight, your participants will have a delightful time, and you’ll all have an extraordinary experience.
Once the event’s over, make sure to ask participants for feedback. Ask them for what they loved, and what they didn’t. Find out how you can improve next year’s event.
And get ready for an even better event next year!
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Business Cost Savings Through Safety
Business Cost Savings Through Safety
Setting a health and safety program in place will reduce costs. Having a program will reduce accidents and will lead to lower company worker’s comp premiums; further business insurance companies prefer their customers to have health and safety programs. These insurance companies might even discount the premium if a program can be proved to exist. The average cost of an accident is $68,000. Direct costs in accidents such as worker’s comp and fines levied can close a business. Indirect costs such as low morale of employees, legal fees, and retraining can be as costly if not more.
A working program will:
1) Improve employee morale – Shows care in their well being
2) Reduce revenue loses – Fewer accidents keeps all employees at work
3) Give a boost to the customer – Makes sure business is operating optimally
Small businesses that have a voluntary health and safety program in place have fifty percent less accidents and reported insurance claims than that of their counterparts according to OHSA stats. Most small businesses fall below the legal requirements for having a formal health and safety program in place due to number of employees on staff. Sixty eight percent of reported accidents are in the service industry which shows even businesses such as retail establishments are not free of accidents.
A health and safety program can be started by writing a health and safety policy; this is simply values that a company wishes to convey in its work processes. Secondly, is how communication between all employees and owners will function. And lastly, put procedures in place to ensure safe practices.
To find unseen hazards and unsafe practices, an audit needs to take place. Take a hard look at the workplace and record all factors that may lead to injury. These hazards might be dangerous chemicals or as simple as a letter opener. Identifying these hazards will lead to procedures to controlling them. Controls such as ‘Don’t run with scissors in your handsî are effective. Write all procedures in a manual.
Implementing these health and safety procedures will be done with behavioral change. Some programs become weak and non effective because of:
1) No definition of safety practices – No written processes
2) No teamwork – Safety is communication from the top to bottom and vice versa. A well written plan will describe what roles everyone plays in safety policies.
3) No effective goals – The ‘accident free daysî poster will come as a result of sound safety processes.
4) Wrong incentives – Money as a reward does not work well. Health and safety should be fun and worth employees effort. The right incentive plan can be cost effective and have obtainable goals. Incentive plans can include movie passes or simply ‘free coffee on the boss.î The insurance industry reports for a dollar spent on health and safety yields four to six dollars in savings.
Once all of the hard work of developing and implementing the health and safety program is done, set aside some time each month to review the workplace. Record what is found; this is a good practice to see dangerous trends that might occur such as a fire exit constantly being blocked. On the quarters of the year post a meeting with employees. These meetings are a great way to get vital feed-back from employees and keep them involved. At least once a year, do an audit to make sure your health and safety program is current with present business operations.
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Bulk Vending Machines – The Most Popular Ones With Vendors And Customers
Bulk vending machines are everywhere. It is what you sell through these machines that will make or break your business. Of course, the location is important as well, but there are so many different kinds of candy and other products you can sell through the vending machines that it is hard to decide what you should start with. Candy and giant gumballs go over well, as do the bulk vending machines that sell a prize.
There are almost as many bulk vending distributors as there are products that you can sell. These distributors have different models of bulk candy machines. Some of them are single machines, but you can get combo machines where you sell three different products in one machine. The reason they are called bulk vending machines is that they can hold a lot of candy or other products, which means you donít have to restock them as often.
Usually bulk candy machines dispense a handful of small candy. Although the candy doesnít last very long, it is a thrill for small children to put in a quarter and receive the candy. They will often want to spend more than one quarter in the bulk vending machines because they are amazed at how it works. You will most likely see these machines where parents take small children, even though adults like the candy from the vending machines too.
Bulk vending distributors will be able to supply you with large quantities of candy for your vending machine business. The candy usually comes in 30 pound bags, so you have enough candy to refill the vending machines several times. The cost of the bulk candy is about $50 a box, which means that you will have a high rate of profit when you sell them all. The bulk vending machines of this nature are not expensive either and you can save money on your investment if you look for used bulk candy machines.
Bulk vending machines are perfect for people who want to start their own small business as a second source of income. You wonít have to service them very often, so using bulk candy machines wonít take up a lot of your time. There are very few parts that can break on these vending machines because the main components are the turning knob and the coin receptacle. When you add in the fact that they do not require electricity, business owners can easily make money on your investment when they allow you to place bulk vending machines at their place of business.
More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar
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