To accept card payments or not to accept card payments: that is the question.
When you’re a small business or start-up, every penny counts, so you may want to consider the costs of transacting business via cash or card.
Accepting card payments comes with an obvious cost – there’s transaction fees which means you have to spend money for customers to pay you. This might lead you to consider that simply accepting cash will be simpler and cheaper for your small business. However, opting not to accept card payments can end up costing your business big time.
Missing Out On Potential Sales
By not accepting card payments, you miss out on all the sales people would have made if you were. People rarely walk around with large amounts of cash on hand, so you’re limiting your business to only getting whatever little amount they have on their person.
Think about it, do you like it when you go to a store and are told that they don’t accept card and you should find the nearest ATM? Of course you don’t, and we can promise you it will annoy your customers. They’ll simply go to another shop which does accept cards for what they want, and just like that you’ll have lost a customer.
Security Costs
Operating as a cash only business means you have lots of cash on site which leads to extra costs to store it and protect it. This makes you an easy target for theft – not only from robbers but also from employees who can easily steal small cash and go unnoticed.
Missing Out On E-commerce
If you’re not accepting card payments, you miss out on the benefits of online retail, which means you’re missing out on an expanded reach and growth opportunities for your business.
It all comes down to what suits your business best. Therefore you need to think about what type of payment solution suits you best. But if it’s real growth that you’re after, and want to be seen as a modern progressive business, then the best way to do this is start taking card payments from your customers.