Hi all. It certainly has been a while since I’ve last posted. That’s because in many ways the 4HWW concept has been shot given the urgency of making ends meet and scrambling to get whatever dollars are left to spend. One of the most important things for a small business is cash flow. If you can manage your cash flow effectively, you can weather any economic condition. However, if you are spending faster (and/or more) than you are collecting, you can be in a world of pain.
For my muse businesses, what I found most helpful was to accept credit cards. Credit cards provide a way of getting immediate access to cash at low risk. While cash is always better, credit cards provide the flexibility to accept orders world wide and get direct deposits within 3-4 days of the original charge at transaction fees of just a point or two in percent.
Some companies use Paypal or Google Checkout, but I prefer an actual credit card processing merchant. Some of you use services like Authorize.net or others that provide the payment gateways, but you still need to get the machines and software to make them work. One solution for companies that sell virtual or physical goods is Merchant Warehouse. MerchantWarehouse.com is the best place on the Internet to find the credit card machines you need to accept credit cards, debit transactions and checks. We have the guaranteed lowest prices on credit card machines, credit card software and all other credit card equipment.
I’d like to know what merchant account services and suppliers you use and what feedback you have, if any for those of us looking to make a cash-flow positive muse work in this economy.