In my opinion, the best outcome in any business relationship is where everyone wins… AND you can do something EXTRA for your community!
My grandmother instilled in me the importance of hard work. Spending the weekend with her was never a walk in the park, but usually a weekend full of doing STUFF, which included yard work, clearing out garages, stacking boxes, volunteering at her church, and even shelling countless pecans from her many trees for her famous pecan pies.
I look back on those days with fondness. Yes, watching TV or playing video games was what I wanted to do as a kid, but not having a TV in the house eliminates that temptation. The days were always long but always seemed like an adventure. Plus, there was always that extra treat at the end of the day… A slice of her delicious pecan pie.
My grandmother worked several jobs and created several businesses. One thing she always stressed to me was the importance of helping those in need. She employed people who wanted to work, but would not usually get the chance, and taught them a skill. As a result, many of the people she hired for construction work later became contractors. My grandmother was a great cook. If you worked for her, there was always the promise of a great meal.
Even when it was just me and my grandmother, she always made SO MUCH food. I would ask her about this and she would reply that there were always hungry mouths to feed in the community. We would prepare plates of food and distribute them to people from her trusty and recognizable, faux wood-paneled station wagon.
This seed was planted in my youth which led me to volunteer with groups who fed the homeless. In 2006, with a group of friends, we founded a chapter of The Burrito Project in South Pasadena, CA. Early on, a majority of the funding came from us. I knew if we partnered with the community, there could be a way to make this project sustainable.
As a volunteer, I patronized the businesses and restaurants that were friendly to the idea of assisting the homeless in the local area. I was also exposed to restaurant loyalty programs and tended to visit the businesses which rewarded my loyalty. There are huge benefits in these symbiotic relationships.
When we started accepting donations for, The Burrito Project, it was really hard to see up to 5% of that precious money go towards credit card fees instead of into food supplies to make burritos. From a generous $100 donation, we paid up to $5 in service fees which could alternatively buy an extra case of bottled water or the food for 10 extra burritos.
I noticed a similar problem in my personal business transactions when accepting credit cards for payments. I knew these transaction fees were usually accepted as the price of doing business, but in what world could I feel GOOD about paying those high merchant processing service fees?
Ask a question and you’ll get an answer. What if I created a relationship where customers who wanted to make a difference in the world, patronized businesses in their community who felt the same way?
What if these merchants had state of the art merchant terminals and contactless payment options which boosted their business productivity, while also being connected to a merchant service company which offered very fair processing fees and donated 10% of their profits to charity?
If I am a merchant and I can align myself with a merchant services company like VCCP which provides me with:
- quality customer service
- a fair, transparent rate for credit card processing
- multiple strategy options to compliment my business
- a boutique agency with the backing of a large national company
- forward-thinking management who donate profits to charity
Should I choose to work with a company that offers the benefits above? Or a regular processor which does business as usual? Personally, I know what I would choose. I love the idea of a WIN-WIN-WIN!
Someone asked me the other day, does donating 10% really make a difference? My answer of course is, YES! Every little bit makes CENTS! (pun intended) But, let’s do some simple math. I’ll use a 2% merchant fee for this example.
If a merchant sells a product and runs the credit card for $100 with a 2% merchant processing fee, the merchant will pay $2 to the merchant processor for the convenience of accepting a credit card. 10% of that $2 is $0.20. What can you do with 20 cents? Well, when you combine that 20 cents with the other pennies which are joining together from EVERY swipe made with one of our AMAZING merchants, we really are making CHANGE in the world.
Change is GOOD!
If you want to make a CHANGE and you’re looking for a new merchant processor to handle your credit card processing, please consider VCCP as your new partner. Thank you!
Cheers!
TofuAlan