Is it worth it for an indpendent contract to set up an account to accept credit card payments?
I currently teach group fitness 4-6 times per week and have three regular clients that I see twice per week for personal training. I have other clients that float in and out. In the past, I have received payment via checks that have bounced… which makes things awkward when telling the client their check bounced. I’m considering no longer accepting checks but know that I can’t be a cash only entity. I’m considering jumping the necessary hoops to accept credit cards but am wondering if it is worth it for such a small business.
Heather,
Most credit card processing companies charge around 3% fee. (Square, Pay Pal, etc)
So that means if you make $100,000 in sales per year, they will roughly take only $3,000 of that. To me, it’s well worth it because people mainly pay via card now and any company that is serious about growth, will eventually take credit cards. If you want to grow, this is the way to go.
By taking credit cards, you can also make sales online and on your phone by using a products as square or intuit which should increase overall sales for your business.
I’ve also heard that intuit only charges 50 cents per swipe of a card on your phone. So instead of paying 3%, you pay only 50 cents for each transaction that your clients pay you in person.
Go to different websites such as paypal, squre, and intuit. Compare costs and benefits of each.
Hope this helps.
Clients expect to be able to pay with cards, and we’ve actually seen revenues go up, even accounting for the merchant fees, because clients are more likely to just purchase a larger package on their card. Somehow it’s an easier decision than when writing a check or having to have a certain amount of cash on hand.
