By Sharon Jones
If you are a small business owner, you may be starting to consider whether or not to start accepting credit and bank cards as a form of payment in your shop. This decision is a big one. It has the potential to improve your small business a great deal, and really put your shop on the map, but doesn’t come without its disadvantages. Here is a short list of advantages and disadvantages for you to consider if you are really thinking about accepting card payments in your business.
It Could Protect Your Business
Small businesses that keep a lot of cash on the premises are at high risk of break-ins and robberies. Having card payments as an option could reduce the number of cash payments, meaning that you’ll be able to keep much less cash on site.
Customer Convenience
As shown on best.creditcard, there is a range of different credit card options available to your customers, all of which will be deemed much quicker and convenient than cash. If a customer comes to your store without any cash, and doesn’t have the option of paying by card, it’s incredibly likely that they’re going to leave without buying anything, so it’s better for you and your customers for the option to be available.
Charges
To be able to take card payments in your store, you will first have to set up an account with a credit card processing company. You will be charged for the use of this service, both with a one-off start-up fee, and a charge by transaction. Some owners make the decision to pass this charge onto their customers, but this decision could discourage customers from shopping with you.
Increasing Profits
If you have card payments as an option in your store, you are likely to have a lot fewer customers leaving without buying something. This will directly increase your profits, which you can then use to make further improvements to your small business, such as renovations or hiring more staff.
Sell Over The Phone & Online
If you have decided to accept card payments for your business, then you now have the ability to sell online and over the phone. This means that your products will be available for a much wider population of consumers, meaning that your sales and profits should increase as a direct result.
Not Cost Effective?
Some small businesses make the decision to stick to a cash-only payment system because card transactions simply wouldn’t be cost-effective. If you have regular customers that know you don’t accept cards, and so always turn up with cash, then there’s no point in paying out to be able to accept cards, when you make a regular profit without the option being there.
As you can see, there are much more advantages than disadvantages, but this doesn’t mean you have to accept credit cards. It all comes down to whether or not accepting credit cards would be financially beneficial to your business. If the answer is no, then don’t bother.
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