The economy is making it
hard for many businesses to stay afloat–and it looks like the small business
owner is taking the brunt of it.
With some major corporations receiving bail out money, it is easier for
them to stay ahead of the game than for the average small business owner. One big hit and it could send them
crumbling down.
Credit card sales are a
major part of any restaurants revenue, if people are not using credit cards, it
could pose a problem for the smaller restaurants. According to the Small Business Credit Sales Report,
“same-store credit sales decreased 8.67 percent at small-business restaurants
in Q4.”
The same report suggests the
reason for the drop in sales is due to people saving money, which means people
are more likely to stop using credit cards as much. Another reason is that the banks are cutting credit limits
and in some case stopping credit all together.
Credit
card processing itself can be hard for the small business restaurant. Credit card companies tend to add
charges to the retailer, and in some cases restaurants have chosen to stop
accepting credit cards. But there
could be a better option for restaurant owners who would like an alternative
way to process credit cards.
A new device called Square can
hook up to an audio jack; it allows anyone to except credit cards through many
different electronics including iPhones, BlackBerrys and desktop computers. If your restaurant doesn’t have a point
of sales (POS) system, this could be a great alternative to look at.
Apple is rumored to be
manufacturing a POS
system soon as well. Already
using this system in their Apple stores, it is basically an iPod
Touch set up with POS capabilities. We will have to wait and see if this
comes to fruition, but it could be a great attribute for the small business
world.
No matter how you process
your credit cards, the point here is to make the whole process easy for your
customers. Having your guests wait
a few minuets to get their bill processed can be frustrating for them. So make sure you make this transition
as easy as possible, and look into alternative ways to process credit cards if
you feel it could benefit your restaurant.
Shannon Suetos is a writer based
in San Diego, California. She writes extensively for Resource
Nation, an online resource that
provides expert advice on purchasing and outsourcing decisions for small
business owners and entrepreneurs.
