In today's economy, seven out of every 10 start up businesses close their doors before the end of their first year. Many entrepreneurs spend nearly every waking hour working on and in their little niche in the economy, selling goods and services to an over-exposed, over-saturated American populous. These folks work tirelessly to become experts in their trade, build strong relationships with their customers, spend thousands of dollars marketing to their chosen consumers, and read every possible book about how to succeed in a weak economy. Yet through all these noble attempts at success, 70% of new businesses fail. The question is: why?

There are many reasons attributed to why those chasing the American dream fail even though they've poured their hearts, souls, pocketbooks and thousands of painstaking hours into making their businesses work for them. Some believe it's because too strong an effort is made to sell the product and not enough time is spent building trust with customers. Some folks subscribe to the idea that the business happened to be located in the wrong place and that it would have been a booming success if it were located only five miles down the road. Many studies conclude that starts-ups are bound to fail because the owner spends too much time working as a tradesman and not enough time as an entrepreneur working meticulously on structuring his business for future growth. This list could go on to become an entire article (or book) in and of itself, but for now, lets focus on one small step every business can take towards averting themselves from becoming just another statistic: the decision to accept credit and debit cards.

Giving your customers the flexibility to pay whichever way is most convenient to them is sort of self-explanatory when attempting to pinpoint ways to bring in more patrons. You can't expect your target consumer to regularly walk around carrying a wad of $50 bills just so they can shop at your store. Every day, more consumers turn away from cash as a payment method and choose instead to simplify their lives by carrying a credit card or two. No more worrying about receiving correct change, no more waiting for the cashier to count out your three cents (that you probably immediately discard into the penny cup, anyways), no more "fat wallet" not fitting-in-the-pants-pocket issues, no more mistakenly sending a crisp, new $20 bill through the washing machine, and most importantly, you gain a sense of security. You feel safe paying with bank cards because you know you can view your spending habits and see past transactions from virtually anywhere in the world. Your spending is backed by a system of banking industries fortified with the trust they've been building with consumers for decades. Safe, convenient, flexible and reliable, by accepting these little plastic cards, you can help your business more than double its sales.

Just to drive this point home, here are some current facts about credit cards and their users:

1. Did you know that approximately $1,969,300,000,000 (that's trillion) in credit card transactions, give or take a few hundred, take place every year? If you want to do some quick math, according to the 2002 US Census Bureau, there were 24,846,832 business establishments in existence. That means if everybody divvied up the $1.9 trillion in credit card transactions, every one of those 24 million businesses would receive $79,257.59.

2. People will spend on average FIVE TIMES the amount of money with less hesitation when paying with a credit card. Again, it's time to pull out the calculator. Let's say your average ticket price on an item is $29. In a cash-only business, that's all you're likely to make on one patron. Accepting credit cards could net you $145 per customer. Big difference.

3. By just placing a Visa/MasterCard/AMEX sticker on your business's door, you've taken the first action necessary in order to start bringing in customers who wouldn't have otherwise visited your shop. Imagine a potential customer making their way to your door only to walk away at the last moment because they don't see that trusty "Visa/MC/AMEX Accepted Here" sticker. I've personally done this before. How about you?

4. The last point to consider is the fact that your competitors ARE offering credit card payment options to their customers. If you can't compete on this most basic level, you and your business might be going the way of the Dodo.

So now the question becomes this: How do I begin to accept credit and debit card payments at my place of business? Well, in a nutshell, you need to find a reliable merchant services provider. According to Wikipedia, "A merchant services company provides services that enable businesses to accept transaction payments made by customers using credit or bank cards." Simple, huh? The process behind how this transaction processing works is a subject for another article, but here are some questions to ask when choosing a MSP:

1. How long have they been in business?
• There are a lot of basement-dweller start-ups disguising themselves as legitimate processors. Do your homework: check BBB scores, make phone calls, visit websites, drive to their brick-and mortar-locations.

2. What value-added services do they offer, if any?
• If you're a new company, you may be in the market for things such as web development, business card design, check acceptance, mobile processing and other such services to help you get the ball rolling. If you'd like a little extra help from your MSP, make sure to choose one that provides what you're looking for.

3. Where are they located?
• Some people are looking for a local MSP, others don't really care. Where you stand on that continuum is up to you.

4. Customer service: the good, the bad and the ugly
• There are LOTS of disgruntled customers that have dealt with some less-than-savory MSP customer service. Make sure you find a place where you can discuss questions and issues with an actual human being. It's a nice bonus to find a place that offers 24/7 customer support both online and over-the-phone. Some MSPs are only available during regular business hours...which you may not share with them.

5. What kind of rates are they offering?
• This might be the first thing you look at, but it shouldn't be. Granted, you shouldn't be picking the most expensive MSP just because it's expensive thinking you'll be getting the best service. But once a company starts competing solely on price, the rest of their service must suffer because they're positioned as a commodity instead of a business based on its unique offerings.

To get you started down the right path in choosing a Merchant Services Provider in order to start accepting credit cards and growing your business, I recommend you consider the size of the MSP, how long they've been around, any additional services they may offer, their location, their customer service rating, the hours they're open for business and their merchant approval rating.

One of the crucial keys to the successful survival of your small to medium-sized business is the ability to accept credit cards. There's a lot more to be done in order to reach your business's peak, but if you can take such a small, simple step towards it, what's stopping you?

© 2011 Lorraine Wolfe