This remains a challenging economy for the those who own small businesses. It’s difficult to attract customers, to convince them to purchase your offerings, in an environment where unemployment continues to be nearly 8 percent. The good news? Small business owners do, thanks to improving technology, have a greater number of tools that can help them attract and retain customers. One such tool? Square. This credit-card processing service allows companies to easily close credit-card sales using their smart phones or tablets and the tiny Square credit-card reader. But Square isn’t all benefits. You’ll also have to pay an added fee with every sale you make using it. You’ll have to decide if the benefits of Square outweigh these extra costs.
How it works
Working with Square is an easy process. First, plug the small, square, Square Reader device into the audio jack of your tablet or smartphone. Then, simply swipe your customers’ credit cards through the reader. The reader will scan the credit card and process the sale. If, for whatever reason, you can’t swipe a customer’s credit card, you can also manually close the transaction simply by entering the card number using Square. The Square Reader is free. The app that makes the reader work, Square Register, is free, too. You can download the app from the Google Play store or the App Store.
The Biggest Positive of Square
Square has to be doing something right. A recent story by USA Today reported that Square now boasts more than 800,000 customers, a remarkable total for a company that’s still quite young. The reason behind this growth? Entrepreneur Magazine, in a recent story, pointed to the simplicity of the system. There’s little learning curve for business owners. Even the least tech-savvy users will have the Square system up and running in no time. Square also gives entrepreneurs the power to make life easier for customers, a definite benefit. Owners won’t have to tell plastic-wielding consumers they don’t accept credit cards.
The Downside to Square
There are fees, though. Each time customers swipe their credit cards through your Square Reader, you will have to pay 2.75 percent for the transaction cost. If you have to manually enter your customer’s credit-card number, you pay Square, Inc. 3.5 percent of the transaction. Entrepreneur Magazine in a recent review of the system also stated that human customer support is shaky at best . Still, even with these cons, it’s hard to deny that Square can dramatically boost the efficiency of small businesses.