The Small Business Impact
Firstly,
Square; Jack Dorsey's project. I believe will have an economic impact on especially small businesses because it's one of the "simplest" and convenient add-ons for somone offering a good (I don't think this will have as much effect on service based companies).
As TechCrunch puts it:
Think paypal, but anyone can now accept physical credit card payments, too. With no contracts or monthly fees. People are sent receipts by text and email.
With such a huge market share of the mobile world running on the iPhone now, the simple dongle will add usability and ease to transactions.
Though I do agree with Read Write Web:
A regular coffee shop can get a payment terminal for free and only pays about $20 in fees per month (plus a percentage of every transaction).
The Square will cater to brand new businesses who cannot afford the merchant costs and to "mom & pop" stores who are selling more home-made like goods at low prices where the merchant costs become overbearable. In the end this will lead to better management of small business expenses. Therefore causing a better stimulus on the small business market.
Secondly,
Trust. I commented on this yesterday with my video, but to expand on that fact.
Small businesses need trust more than any other large corporation. These small manufacturers, service providers, and sellers need to build their trust database more than anyone else. Because their not fully well known and have a more volatile client base they need to:
- Keep a consistent returning client base
- Have an increasing trent of new clients
Other larger companies don't have as much volatility in this case, so the small marketing techniques need to be based more on CRM and a quality product or service for their size (prefferably even competing with the big dogs!). By building thier trust these small businesses will see a huge increase in their word-of-mouth marketing and their returning client base moreso than their new clients!
Check out Chris Brogan & Julien Smith's Trust Agents, and understand your clients' needs!
What do you think the impact on small businesses is?
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