Funding your 2019 Business Plan

Are you preparing your 2019 Business Plan?

We at Merchant Processing Solutions truly care about our merchants. We know they struggle, just like everyone else to see what works and what does not! More importantly, how to fix it. If you did your 2018 Business Analysis already than you will be ready to dive into the preparing your 2019 Business Plan.

1. Your Mission Statement: What is it that you want to achieve in 2019? Make sure you include: who, what, when, why and how you want to reach this achievement. Put projections/goals to reach within a month/quarter/6-month and 12-month period of time. Include sales volume, business growth and any expansion.
2. Revisit and Analyze the market & your product/service: Is the product or service I sell, still selling? Is your target market still the same as it was when you started 2018? How does this target market want to be marketed to? 
3. Know your Competition: Check out your competition, how are they communicating to the target market and how do you differentiate your business/service/product from them!
4. Organize Internally & Externally: Promote and praise good employees! Look at your superstars with praise, promotions & bonuses! Look your under achievers and ask how you can help them become superstars. Note the expertise and qualifications of each member of the team in your business plan and plan your strategies accordingly. Look at your external relationships like loyal customers/vendors and referral partners. How do they help your business and how can you grow that relationship?
5. Sales and Marketing Strategies: Look at your marketing efforts by dollars spend VS sales made; how did you do? What marketing dollars gave back nothing? Which marketing efforts worked? Look at your competition, how are they communicating with their customers and POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS? Consult with professionals if you are spending aimlessly! 
6. Financial Strategies: This is where most businesses falter. They overspend and then find the business on a respirator! Sometimes it only looks like overspending because those running the business have NO TIME to actually sit down and review the spending and find alternate vendors or systems to minimize costs! How much does your time worth? Most smaller business owners do EVERYTHING! And you can't be an expert in everything. So, find yourself some vendors and ask for analysis of your current costs like:

                        - Merchant Processing

                        - Telephone/Internet Systems

                        - Payroll Systems

                        - Insurances

                        - Bank Services

                        - IT Services

                        - Equipment Rental Services

        These are only a few but you get the idea, there are many companies that will actually do this for you with NO FEES UNLESS THEY SAVE YOU MONEY! Once you have reduced your costs, funding future growth becomes much easier! 

Merchant Processing Solutions wishes to offer any of our readers a FREE Statement Analysis to determine what they are paying and if it is a fair price to be paying. You can decide to go back to your own company and see if they will reduce their fees or we would be more than happy to partner with your business for your merchant services needs! Let us know! 

Merchant Processing Solutions

954-938-2420

                     

Start analyzing your 2018 business NOW!

Analyzing your 2018 business NOW!  

Making sense of it all! 

·         What makes you money? What sells the most, when and by whom? Knowing this can help you decide many others lingering questions about your business.

·         What is NOT selling? Understand why it is not selling? Is it priced correctly? Is it being promoted to the right buyers? What made you order this to sell in the first place?

·         What on your to-do list that MUST be done to grow your business? I have asked business owners why I don't see them at local networking events; the answer is almost always, "I'm just too busy!" I say you have not set up your priorities to do what will help you grow that business.

o    Automate your systems; sales, customer capture for marketing, inventory, ordering & staffing processes.

o   Look at your sales reports once a week & adjust.

o   Take time once a week to review your inventory to make sure you have just the right of on-hand products to sell.                    

o   Check your marketing strategy, are you doing what you said? Is it working?

·         Build your Team! Surrounding yourself with an excellent team of professionals, all focused on your company's success will be your greatest achievement!

o   Accountant, Sales, Marketing, Advertising, Customer Service, & Operations people.

o   Measuring & understanding YOUR strengths and weaknesses will help you determine what professionals you need on your TEAM!

o   Train your TEAM on your VISION and empower them to do their job.

·         Delegate some of your to-do list. You need to realize that you, the owner, cannot do everything! Either you hired a TEAM or you automated processes and got systems to do the work. Now you need to ONLY do that which is only done by the owner!

o   Get it go.....don't do what you have others doing!

o   Empower your team to do what they were trained to do.

o   "GIVE UP" those things that can be done better by someone else!

o   Find out what you do BEST and do it!

·         Stay on top of your industry trends and customer trends. Too many business owners stay behind closed doors never realizing that their business world is changing...fast! Doing the previous 5 things should allow you the time to become a "subject matter expert" on your business and industry.

o   Attend local business events - chambers, expos & trade shows.

o   Talk to your customers. Find out why they buy or don't buy from you.

o   Check out your competition and find out why their customers buy from them.

o   Find out how your customers want to be sold; online, retail, in-person, catalog? Now ask yourself, are we providing that level of service to our customers?

·         Don't be afraid of change...............

o   To change your vendors, products or amount of inventory.

o   Add eCommerce or Mobile Payments to the marketing/selling mix.

o   To look at different marketing strategies to attract different buyers; Instagram, Twitter, your own Mobile App!

o   Allow your TEAM to be part of the experience and decision!

We hope you all had a great, successful 2018!

We look forward to working with you in 2019!

Happy Holidays!

From Merchant Processing Solutions Inc.

954-938-2420

              

              

Be cautious in accepting credit card payments this Holiday Season!

Tis the Season...

Unfortunately, celebrating the holiday season and spending money go hand-in-hand. Now starting with "pre-Black Friday" sales through till "after Christmas" shopping, buyers allow their emotions rule their purchases! Many purchasers feel forced into buying gifts and the "keeping up with the Jones" creates a need to buy bigger and more expense gifts. All these purchases along with holiday entertainment and travel can really add up quickly! 

The Holiday Season is Here!

According to data published last year by Mastercard, 15% of all online purchases will request a return for cash or credit to their credit card. Overall, 30% of all purchases over the holiday season will be returned. Even if your store has a 14 day - 30 day return policy with a receipt, Visa/Mastercard/Discover/American Express allows credit card disputes (chargebacks) for up to 180 days from date of purchase! You putting a sign on the counter does not OVERRIDE the credit card companies rules and regulations! 

Avoid returns, chargebacks and fraud during this Holiday Season? 

1.  

• Make sure that you clearly have signage in your store, kiosk, or at the craft show table, that explains your return policy - EXPLICITLY! 

• If you have an online eCommerce website, make sure your return policy is clearly visible with even a "pop-up" indicating that the customer "Read" the policy! 
• Add to the bottom of your receipt your return policy. The customer is required to include this with the dispute documents.

Add your own Return Policy to your Receipts! 

• Implement a "security code protocol" at checkout. Train your staff to ask for Photo ID from EVERYONE. Check signatures, and photos!

• If your business is retail with in-person sales, ALWAYS USE EMV CHIPPED TERMINALS! This helps eliminate fraudulent credit cards.
  

• If you have an online eCommerce website, check with your Gateway Provider about the best FRAUD PROTECTION tools to implement. 

• Online eCommerce business should request a Delivery Confirmation on shipped products with signature. This makes it much harder to claim the product was not received!

• Be VERY PROACTIVE with your customers! Respond to emails, phone calls especially if they are complaints within a reasonable period of time. It has been said that good customer service center answer the call within the third ring!  

Repeat Business comes from excellent Customer Service! 

• Online eCommerce websites need to provide accurate, details descriptions with 360 photos of the products being sold. 

• Make sure that your Business Name, Address (physical or digital) and a phone number appears on all receipts.

Need more information about this call 954-938-2420! 

Happy Holidays from Merchant Processing Solutions Inc! 

The Entrepreneurial Hour Conference - October 25, 2018

Merchant Processing Solutions is all about business. We pride ourselves on honestly, integrity and problem solving. We have been recognized as subject matter experts in the merchant services industry by several chambers, colleges, cities and organizations.

We are proud to be part of "The Entrepreneurial Hour Conference" along with so many Broward County Leaders. Join us this Thursday from 8:30am - 3:15pm to hear many speakers on:

The Future of Business

Doing Business Locally

How to Build Business Teams Internally & Externally

The Power of Networking 

An Entrepreneurial Vision of Success

Sign Up NOW! 

The Entrepreneurial Hour Conference

Is Your Business Ready for the Holidays?

You need to have your plan in place NOW!

Aside from festive displays, sales galore and fulfilling dreams, there is a serious part of the holidays for smaller merchants. Several studies indicate that small retailers bring in about between 10 - 25% of their total annual sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas. So how can the average small merchant get his fair share of that business? 

Here is our suggested Christmas Checklist for Merchants:

• Make sure you have the right technology capturing your sales AND the customer information so you can use this over the next year to stay in contact with you fan base. If you already have a POS System that captures customer data, have you used that to create a HOLIDAY Campaign to bring in all your customers from the past year and beyond?
• Make sure your customers can get to your inventory; whether your store is OPEN or CLOSED. Update your website to include your inventory to allow busy customers the chance to buy when THEY NEED TO! Make sure they can pay with NO problems online at anytime! 
• Consider getting set up with your OWN Mobile Application. This will keep your "raving fans" always connected and engaged in your business. You can push Promotions, Discounts, Rewards Programs and more out to your App Members
• Make sure you have a back-up device to capture sales (Mobile, Website, etc) if due to whether or demand your primary device fails. NEVER LOSE A CUSTOMER BECAUSE YOUR PAYMENT ACCEPTANCE DEVICE IS DOWN. 
• Make sure you check into last years sales and notes to find out how many cash registers you needed open, along with staff and when they were needed. DON'T MAKE YOUR CUSTOMERS WAIT ON A LONG LINE! THEY WILL LEAVE AND BUY ELSEWHERE!
• Make sure your Payment Acceptance Devises are SECURE! Are your terminals PCI COMPLIANT and have a secure PASSWORD? This is the time of the year more than any other when SCAMMERS bring in bogus/stolen cards to steal from you! If you are still "swipping" cards you will be unable to dispute ANY CHARGEBACK you get after the holidays. Remember, your customer have 180 days to dispute a credit card purchase - for any reason. If you are still not PCI Compliant and someone does a "chargeback" on their purchase, you will NOT be able to fight the return of that money to the customer. Check with your processor and find out if you are PCI Compliant before losing your hard-earned money! 

We hope this list will help you consider your HOLIDAY MERCHANT PREPAREDNESS! Call us for any help with the above! 

Merchant Processing Solutions Inc.

954-938-2420

Click on link to hear Claudia Mosley talk about merchant services!

     Meet Claudia Mosley, CFO of Merchant Processing Solutions and passionate for non-profits, 

     our merchants and our industry. Take a break today and listen to Claudia's networking presentation

     on why Merchant Processing Services stands out from other merchant services companies! 

After you listen, call us at 954-938-2420

The Entrepreneurial Hour Online Radio Show

Merchant Process Solutions wants to take this opportunity to tell you about our colleague, Stephanie Cates. Stephanie is not only the VP of Merchant Sales and Marketing at Merchant Processing Solutions but a professor at Unilatina International College in Miramar, Florida. She teaches Business and Marketing Classes for their Associate and Bachelor Programs. About four months ago, Stephanie was asked by Marcela Moyano, Media Director of Unilatina International College, to develop an online Business Radio Program to not only benefit the students at the college, but the local business community.


Stephanie used her 36 years of business experience along with her 14 years of teaching experience and came up with "The Entrepreneurial Hour". A one-hour long online radio show that designed to help new and existing businesses find help and advice for topical subject matter experts. We knew that just using people we knew would not be enough to cover the wide array of business issues plaguing today's entrepreneurs; who could be partner with? Since the college is in Miramar, Florida, we reached out to Robert Goltz, executive director of the Miramar Pembroke Pines, Weston and Pembroke West/Park West Chambers of Commerce. He saw value in the collaboration and the show was born!

We pride ourselves on tackling questions that riddle our listeners. We bring on subject matter experts that impart wisdom, ideas and experiences to our listeners. The show has grown in popularity and is now linked to all three of the above mentioned Chambers of Commerce as well and a "resource" for the Broward County and the City of Miramar.


Here are some of the topics available now on Podcasts: The Entrepreneurial Hour

• Idea vs Concept - Developing your business
• The Entrepreneurial Spirit
• Creating Business Entities
• Payroll & Accounting
• Your Credit and Payment Acceptance
• Marketing 101
• Business Communications
• How to work with Broward County
• Doing business in Pembroke Pines
• IT Solutions 
• Doing business with Miramar
• Understanding QuickBooks
• Business Branding & Image Marketing
• Business Insurance Needs
• Merchant Services 
• Websites More to be added

Want to know more how Merchant Processing Solutions 

help the business community, 

call us @ 954-938-2420

Work with People that Understand your Business Community!

Merchant Processing Solutions is our business and a commitment to our merchants which we take very seriously. When you work with Merchant Processing Solutions, you are working with some of the hardest and most ethical working women in the industry! We don't sit around waiting for the phone to ring, we actively participate in the business world and belong to the groups shown belong.

We actively participate in local networking groups like:

Bilingual Networking Group

Women in Business Networking Group

One per profession networking group

By being part of the local business community, we help our merchants understand their issues and find solutions. We help them become more competitive and introducing them to potential customers and referral partners! 

Chamber of Commerce Networking 

Chamber of Commerce Networking

Chamber of Commerce Networking
&
One per profession networking group

Educational Networking 

Let me ask you, do you think other merchant processing companies spend this much time promoting not only themselves but their customers? We spend time out in the REAL BUSINESS WORLD, listening, understanding & knowing the local business community!

• We take our partnerships VERY SERIOUSLY! 
• We want our customer to be exceedingly successful!
• We want to work with merchants that want to work with us!
• We want a WIN-WIN Relationship with our customers! 
• We spend time out there knowing You and Your Business! 

CALL MERCHANT PROCESSING SOLUTIONS 954-938-2420

The difference between retail & MOTO/eCommerce accounts

Claudia Mosley, CFO of Merchant Processing Solutions Inc. 

explains the difference between merchant account types. 

It is important to understand your business model and payment type. Many unscrupulous merchant services companies purposely set up their merchants on the wrong type of account to get more fees from them! SHAMEFUL!!

A Retail Merchant Account is a business that will be processing the majority of their sales with the customer's card present. This can be via a “swipe” transaction or "tap" contactless payment system (like ApplePay). This does not mean that you cannot take the occasional credit card over the phone but if you do, you will pay an additional "card-not-present" penalty of about .30% (30 basis points ) on top of the card rate. This can lead to a lot of extra fees if you are actually taking many cards over the phone!

An eCommerce Merchant Account is a business that will not have the credit card present for the transaction. It will be processed over the phone, on a website, via a software point of sale, an invoice or a mobile app. These transactions do not allow the merchant to verify the identity of the payee, therefore it is more vulnerable to fraud and consequently; chargebacks! However, when this type of account is set up right at the beginning by an honest merchant services company, there are no penalties and the rates are quite competitive with retail rates!

Merchant Processing Solutions Inc. works with not only the business type but looks at the equipment solution the merchant is wanting to implement to come up with the best solution to fit that business's needs and budget! 

If you think you may be paying more for your merchant services or maybe set up incorrectly, please don't wait! Call today: 954-938-2420

Payment data breaches can affect YOU!

PayPal Says 1.6 Million Customer Details Stolen in Breach

Ticketmaster Announces Data Breach Affecting 5% of All Users Hundreds of 

Hotels Affected by Data Breach at Hotel Booking Software Provider

3 Billion Yahoo Users Breached 

These are just a few of the headlines we saw in 2017. But last year was a record year for data breaches 88% over 2016. (https://blog.gemalto.com/security/2018/04/13/data-breach-stats-for-2017-full-year-results-are-in/). Some of last year's breaches were only reported last year but in reality done as far back as 2013!!! Why does it take so long for companies to discover and admit to data breaches and how much is this costing us? These are some questions posed Gemalto and what are the consequences imposed on these companies, many like PayPal that have had repeat breach issues! 

So what does this have to do with a small business like YOU....everything! You, like the big companies, are responsible for ALL THE DATA AND CREDIT CARD INFO your company collects; either by phone, Internet, website, in-person or monthly recurring billing. If that data is users fraudulently and it can be traced back to your company, your company and maybe even YOU can be held responsible for all incurred fees and costs of that breach!

How can I avoid a breach, I can't afford it! First, sit with your Merchant Processing Solutions Inc. rep and learn what we do to protect you against fraud and breaches. Secondly, check with ALL your software providers to make sure that you are up-to-date on all security patches that are deemed needed. Third, check your computers, firewall, and Internet provider to make sure they have everything in place to keep your data safe. 

Here are some quick tips: 

1. NEVER store any credit card info on your computers. 

2. NEVER store any credit card info in card files or storage cabinets in the office or elsewhere.

3. DON'T allow your employees to write down credit card information and keep it at their desk. Should they need to write it down, it needs to be shredded before they pick up the next call.

4. NEVER allow your technicians to add the credit card information to their contract and carry that around in their vehicle. 

5. DON'T allow your customers to email you their credit card information. 

6. DO get a secure gateway to accept & store credit card payments.

7. DO integrate your website to a secure gateway to allow your customers to make payments to your company from the privacy of their own home/office without you taking any of their info.

8. ALLOW each of your employees to have a username and password to take payments directly into the gateway and send the client an email receipt without writing anything down or compromising the customer's info.

9. DO equip your technicians with MOBILE CARD READERS to accept credit card payments while on the road. It is more secure and costs less!

10. DO speak with Merchant Processing Solutions Inc. to set you up on the best gateway product for your company....

Most recently, I was told about another type of breach, more common among smaller businesses, employee theft. This company had all their recurring payments in a file in their file cabinet. Once a month, someone would go into the file cabinet and key-enter all the credit cards, print the receipts, mail them to the customers and refile the folder. An employee was unhappy and felt she was going to be fired from the job. She knew no one would go for that file until the beginning of the next month. Using her cellphone camera, she took photos of all the credit card info contained in the company's folder. She then sold the cards on the "black market". Eventually, the credit card company found out what happened but it was too late to save the business. They had lost the trust of the customers, they no longer had cash flow entering the company. They tried to hang on but 4 months later they closed their doors. The moral of the story is that breaches and fraud can happen to ALL SIZE BUSINESSES...DON'T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU!

Call Merchant Processing Solutions Inc. Today @ 954-938-2420!