Small Business Blog

A free website is easy to come by. If you’ve ever searched for one, you probably found a whole slew of competing service providers. Some are full-featured, robust website builder interfaces, and others are not.

Before we get into where Wix falls on this spectrum, let’s talk about how you would use a free website. This is a service that’s targeted to individuals launching hobby sites and solo entrepreneurs launching micro businesses. For those who need to keep their launch costs to a minimum, the free site can be a decent option. But there are drawbacks, and you shouldn’t go down this road unless you are comfortable with those drawbacks. (continue reading…)

The rationale behind setting up a merchant services account is pretty straight forward: accepting credit card payments generally helps you capture more customers and get paid faster. In theory, every business owner could stand to have a few more customers on the books and a few less dollars tied up in accounts receivable (AR).

But that’s theory. In practice, the decision to set up a merchant credit card processing service isn’t always a no-brainer. It’s important, first, to understand how you would use a merchant account. Do that analysis upfront and, if you decide to proceed, you will be better prepared to select the right service provider.

Questions to ask

What are your sales channels?

Analyze the accepted forms of payment in your current and prospective sales channels. For example:

1. Online retailing to any customer type generally requires some form of credit card processing service, either through a direct provider like North American Bancard or through a third-party provider like PayPal.
2. Door-to-door selling usually involves cash or check.
3. Direct mail sellers tend to accept check and credit card.
4. Storefront, consumer businesses vary in accepted forms of payment. The decision to accept credit cards should depend on the average sale and the composition of the store’s walk-in traffic.

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