Here’s a question I want you to think about for a minute: what is the number one way that people pay for things these days? If you said credit and debit cards, you’re right! So if you’re running a home business, what kinds of payment are you able to accept?

If you’re running a home business and you’re relying on cash and checks for payment, you’re going to be severely limited in the number of customers you’ll be able to have. According to a statistic that I heard recently, 80% of all phone and mail orders are handled with a credit or debit card. So what do you do if you aren’t able to process these orders? Well, you’re going to be hurting in your business!

So how do you get around this problem? You just need to get a home business merchant account. And the good thing is that they are rather easy to get. If you go online you can find plenty of companies that will work with you to get set up.

Another common question that comes with home business merchant accounts is whether or not you need to have a credit card machine. Well, if you’re going to have people coming to your place of business you probably should.

But what if you mainly take phone or internet orders? Well, in that case a credit card machine may not be necessary. This will also reduce the cost of setting up your home business merchant account. When you do things online or on the phone you can use a gateway to process the orders on your computer.

If you are not yet accepting credit and debit cards as a form of payment you need to start doing so. Contact your local bank or go online and find a company that will give you a home business merchant account and start growing your business!