Month: September 2011

Want Guaranteed Success as a Small Business? Solve a Problem!

I meet entrepreneurs all the time who are (over)flowing with passion about their new idea, gadget, or shiny-new-thingy. They’ve be drinking deeply from the well of their own Kool-Aid, and they can’t seem to get enough. One of the first questions I always ask them is… “What problem are you solving?” They usually look at me with that deer-in-the-headlights look accompanied by a “huh?” “What’s the problem?” I ask again.… read more

Top Credit Card Processors (to Avoid)

When we launched Best Merchant Rates in 2005, I was already aware of how much “bait and switch” was going on in the merchant account industry. We set out to be unique – to actually provide full disclosure with transparent pricing.… read more

Best Merchant Rates Featured in Major Publications

With the start of our new web-based education series, Best Merchant Rates is directly addressing the confusion that many small business owners experience in the process of acquiring a merchant account. By investigating specific merchant account providers such as Costco, Quickbooks, Elavon, and Chase Bank, we are highlighting hidden fees and escalating rates that aren’t discovered oftentimes until the merchant’s first statement arrives.… read more

You Aren’t Immune to Hackers… PCI Compliance is Critical!

As I was flipping through my daily copy of the Wall Street Journal, I came across an article that’s becoming all to familiar – “Hackers New Target: Small Firms With Lax Security.” Accompanying the photo of a sullen shop owner was the article that outlined how he was stuck with a $22,000 bill because cyber thieves planted a software program on the cash registers at his two Chicago-area magazine shops that sent customer credit-card numbers to Russia.… read more