Yorkshire Bank have recently been looking at the motives behind small business startups, and also what the key issues are that small businesses typically face. Almost 60% of small business owners stated that their primary reason for starting up in business was because of a desire for more flexible working, and for a better work / life balance. Ironically it is small business owners and entrepreneurs that according to a Barclays Bank survey (2006) spend 60% more time at work than any other group. Small business ownership quite frequently necessitates a different approach and results in different qualities than initially expected…

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Is your business innovative and creative, delivering great customer service? If so then why not think about entering a new contest launched by UPS and IBM. As a celebration of UPS’ centennial anniversary, they are offering three prizes of up to $25,000 in cash to small buisnesses that have displayed the most innovation. The contest, named “Out of the Box”, also has a tagline “Does your small business think big?”, which ties into one of yesterday’s posts here that small businesses are the key drivers of innovation.

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Accepting credit / debit card payments online is generally one of the first steps an online store owner will take. Trying to find the right card processor can sometimes be tricky, as each have different costs, requirements, benefits etc.. Most credit card processors require you to have an Internet Merchant Account (IMA), which again can be expensive and sometimes difficult to obtain.

Paypal offers a slightly alternative service as by definition it is an Online Payments Bureau, meaning that you don’t need to have an IMA as they process the card details for you, using their own acquiring services. Consequently Paypal, which is now called “Paypal Merchant Services” is perfect for SMEs wishing to trade online, as it has low (usually non-existent)  setup fees. This article reviews the pros and cons of the Paypal services for merchants.

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An internet merchant account is a special type of bank account that a business requires before it is allowed to accept credit card payments directly. The internet merchant account (IMA) is separate to the normal business bank account, and the bank providing the IMA doesn’t have to be the same bank as the normal bank account. Unfortunately the providers of the IMAs charge not only a percentage sales fee, but also a setup fee, which sometimes can be quite hefty! This article provides a description of what you can do to avoid having to pay the internet merchant account setup fees and reduce the transaction fees…

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