Smooth Move Marketing

Archive for the ‘Small Business’ Category

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. Read the rest of this entry »

Business journals, or diaries, are an excellent way to record your business growth and progress. Business journals are extremely valuable in providing you with some amazing insight. By recording what you have done you can reflect and see where your time is going, where your growth spurts have occurred, what’s working and what’s not.

Plotting your course in a business journal lets you see opportunities with ease and clarity. It’s hard to see what is right in front of us but when you revisit what you did a week or a month ago, your perspective on the situation is often different enough that you can analyze the situation much more effectively.

Business Journal Tips

Use a good old fashioned paper and pencil business journal as opposed to an electronic or online version. It’s easy and it’s accessible everywhere.
Take five minutes before you go to bed every night and write down three or four sentences and bullet points about what you feel you accomplished that day.

On the back page of your business journal start a business idea log or brainstorm list that addresses two questions: ideas for getting leads and clients and ideas on how to increase service revenue.

By recording this type of information every day you will have a permanent record of what you thought about doing, what you have done, and how successful your ideas were. Your business journal will show you where you have been and it will help you determine where you should do.
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This business financing guide shows the items that you will need to prepare if you are planning to get loan from financial institution when you buy business for sale. Getting financing can be easier with knowledge about the financing and with complete preparation of documents and statements in process of buying business for sale.

Step 1. Find a Business for sale at BusiMarket.com site for businesses for sale and commercial property for sale on the market. As soon as a property is found, make any necessary contacts to sellers.

Step 2. Get Purchase and Sale AgreementGet the sale agreement from Brokers, attorneys, or Escrow companies.

Step 3. Find a LenderFind a Loan Officer that will take care of your financing needs.
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Business expenses need to be budgeted for when you are starting a business. These expenses are typically categorized according to type. One of the larger categories of business expense falls under the heading Administrative Expenses. These business expenses are those related to the day-to-day operations of the company.

It is important to understand these administrative expenses. When you are preparing your budget and pro forma statements you need to be aware of the options that impact each of these business expenses.

The first business expense to look at is payroll. Your business needs to be able to pay you. This business expense may be regular or infrequent but it needs to be budgeted for.

Next is business expenses related to telecommunications. These are items like cell phones, business phone lines, and Internet access.

Insurance is an important business expense in the administrative category. Here you need to consider business insurance, general liability insurance, casualty insurance and health insurance.

Health insurance is a huge business expense. Our recommendation when budgeting for this is: If you have a spouse that has health insurance try to stay on their policy. If COBRA is an option for you, try to arrange that. This is a very costly business expense so do your homework carefully.

Bank fees are a business expense that many people don’t even think about. You should realize though that banks charge a fee to open a business account and the monthly fees are typically higher than for personal accounts.

A related expense is the fees charged by the credit card companies. These add up to huge business expenses as they typically charge at least two or three percent on each transaction. And many small-business owners absolutely love American Express, which usually charges even higher percentage fees.
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