How To Accept Credit CardsWritten by Matthew Coers
If you plan to do business online, then your website will need to accept credit cards. For many, idea of applying for a merchant account sounds like a daunting task, but truth is that building an online store is incredibly easy these days. The major credit card processing companies have improved and streamlined process of setting up accounts, and software companies have had several years to improve their software to point that it is easy for non-technical business owners to create and operate an online store effectively. 3rd Party Processors – The inexpensive way to start For beginning web entrepreneur, most important issue in credit card processing is how much product you think you can realistically sell in a month. If you are selling less than $1000 per month, then you will want to go with a “third-party processor”. PayPal is most widely known and reputable third party processor, and you can easily set up an account with them. Unlike traditional merchant accounts, PayPal accounts are free to set up and cost nothing on a monthly basis. You will pay more per transaction with PayPal than you would with a traditional merchant account, but for low-volume start-up businesses making less than $1000 per month, you will gladly choose higher transaction costs over account set-up fees, monthly account fees, minimum charges, interchange fees, gateway fees, and perhaps worst of all, account cancellation fees (just to name a few). Steps You Need To Take To Set Up A PayPal Account Bank Account – you will need a bank account for PayPal to deposit your funds into. Apply for a PayPal Account Traditional Merchant Accounts If your processing volume will be higher than $1000 per month, then you will probably want to go with a traditional merchant account. Credit card processing companies generally charge a minimum monthly fee that is approximately equal to amount of money you would pay to process $1000 per month. Generally speaking you can expect to pay around $50 per month in minimum charges for a merchant account. As you process more, your costs will go up, but percentage of your gross sales that you pay for processing should go down. Steps You Need To Take To Set Up A Traditional Merchant Account It is not difficult to set up a traditional merchant account, but you will need to follow several steps in order to pull it off. Get a business license Get a business bank account at your bank Make sure your web host supports your shopping cart system (you might even be able to get your shopping cart system bundled in with your credit card processing services for free). Try to determine amount of business you will generate. Your credit card processing company will want to know how large each transaction will be, and how many transactions you expect to have per month. Negotiate with merchant account providers and establish your merchant credit card account (see list of merchant account providers).
| | Internal Prisons: The Thief of Productivity in our WorkforceWritten by Troy Evans
INTERNAL PRISONS: THE THEFT OF PRODUCTIVITYAs a professional speaker, one of my biggest challenges is to grab attention of my audience within first few minutes of presentation- grab them by throat if you will. I do this by coming out in a suite and tie, following an introduction in which I have been described as a recent college graduate who earned both of his degrees with a 4.0 GPA and placement on Deans and Presidents List. I am portrayed as someone who was once an honors roll student, star athlete, father and family man. Upon entering stage I ask audience to take a close look at my face. “This is face, as your were just told, of a recent college graduate, a recent college graduate who earned both his degrees with highest academic honors available. This is face of a kind man, an honest man, a trustworthy man, and a man of his word. Please take a close look at this face.” Now hook- I then turn around, pull a pantyhose mask over my face and turn back around brandishing a toy pistol. I now ask them to take a look at this face. “This is face of a man who on March 20th, 1992 walked in to First Tier National Bank, pointed a semi-automatic pistol at tellers face and demanded all of twenties, fifties and hundreds. This would be first of five armed bank robberies that I would commit over a six month crime spree when I was twenty-eight years old.” I then pull mask off and explain to them that both these faces are mine. “The transformation between two, transformation from a suicidal, drug induced bank robber to what you see standing before you today took place gradually, over 7.5 years within confines of a federal prison.” PRISON DOES NOT ALWAYS MEAN STEEL BARS AND RAZOR WIRE What does me earning two college degrees while incarcerated have to do with HR Management? It is my belief that we all have internal prisons, “prisons within ourselves” that are just as confining as those walls that held me for 7.5 years. I am talking about being a prisoner to things like fears, addictions, depression, overeating, overworking, bad relationships- list could go on and on. Only when we ourselves, and those we bring into our companies are “whole” personally can we then become better professionally. It is also my belief that these “internal prisons” is number one cause in lost productivity and largest contributor to declining quality. If your people are worried about their relationships, their fears or their addictions, are they giving you best eight hours they possibly can? No, they’re going to be on phone mending relationships, feeding addictions and being preoccupied with their fears. If your employees bring to job with them burdens of their personal life, you are getting at very best someone who is distracted and at very worst someone who is contributing nothing to your bottom-line. WHETHER A PRISONER OR ON THE PAYROLL Prison is an institution and an organization. Your company is an institution and an organization. When you stop to think about their structures, they are not that different. Warden/CEO, Caseworker/Manager, Inmate/Employee. The only difference is whether you come to it voluntarily, which for many employees is in question as they feel as though they are prisoners to their profession. How did I metaphorically escape my prison? By being proactive in my work, not reactive. This is what I suggest to HR Managers. Reactive people let environment dictate what they do, and to some extent protect them. Proactive people shake things up and experiment with new ideas and procedures. When speaking to HR groups I am often asked what steps can be taken to help employees escape their internal prisons, after all they many times say, “We are not psychologists or psychiatrists.” I explain that you do not have to be, but what you do have to do is let your employees know that you care about their personal lives and that company is committed to their overall well-being. This can be done in form of personal days, having counselors available, strict confidentiality policies, and classes that can teach managers what to look for in employees who may be struggling with personal issues. If these things are in place, and if we truly create an environment in which we make our employees feel like family both during work hours and after, can you imagine effect on tardiness, absenteeism, productivity, turnover and quality?
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