Accepting Credit Cards your Food Business

Your food business can accept credit cards regardless of your size or business location. The dream of a corner ice cream parlor serving up handmade confections can move beyond the dream stage. Even if your first sales are be made directly from your own kitchen and you could still accept credit card payments.

Or you can arrange to set up as a street vendor and accept credit cards. Street vendors can do a brisk business in busy shopping and business districts. They may sell burgers, brats, hot dogs, tamales or anything else under the sun. The food trucks in Austin, TX are great examples of small food businesses. But lunch time is fast-paced with little time to be making change for twenty-dollar bills or waiting for that one customer holding up the line counting out quarters for payment. People expect fast service these days. There’s no time to dawdle while ringing up an order and handing cash back. And that’s only the smallest reason to accept credit cards.

Accept Credit Cards and Grow Your Business

Your small food business offers tasty food priced right but customer service is just as important to your success. A significant percentage of our population either carries no cash or very little. For them, being able to place their order, swipe their card, and be on their way is the only way that spending money on your food is even a possibility. Even if the very idea of allowing someone to block the customer line while writing a check weren’t ludicrous, you probably don’t want to wait a week for a check to clear–and bounced checks from customers don’t pay your bills. Maybe your small food business is internet-based. You take orders online from customers devoted to, let’s say, your organic, gluten free, or grass fed products. Ecommerce can only operate successfully with the use of credit cards for payment. And that lets you know immediately if the payment is good before you ship out the customer’s order.

Accept Credit Cards and Secure Profits:

Your small food business may be operating on a thin profit margin, and cash flow is critical to supply as your customer base grows. Accepting credit cards as payment helps assure that cash flow because it attracts more customers and the money is deposited into your business account very quickly. No matter how your small food business is operated there is a credit card processing solution.

• An electronic keypad terminal is used for face-to-face transactions. It’s a small easy to operate card reader for your stationary food business.
• Wireless mobile credit card processing can be completed using a mobile card reader or by using a card reader attached to your cell phone or tablet. You could use this process to sell your specialty food from your food truck or if you deliver directly to customers.
• Internet Processing Software allows you accept payment by credit card on your website or over the phone for your food orders. Your web based virtual terminal and Internet Gateway also allows you to set your automatic recurring billing or payment plans for your customers. You can even generate and print invoices. 

For more information about accepting credit cards as payment for your small food business, or to sign up for a merchant account, please call (888) 924-2743 or go to Charge.com.