Submitted by Katie Hellmuth on | 0 Comments
Sabina, my amazing business partner here at Tin Shingle, forwarded to me a PR Lead for an article being written for TheStreet.com covering this question - what the Starbucks/Square deal means for small business. I was balancing about three things at once and knew that I couldn't think of a non-fluff answer fast enough, so I passed on submitting any ideas to the writer, Laurie Kulikowski (who may have written the article by now). Now that it's the weekend, which found me hand-washing dishes because our dishwasher broke, I had more time to think about Square and Starbucks. I was also finally able to watch the CBS This Morning interview with Jack Dorsey and Howard Schultz. It was during this time that the partnership meant more to me as a serial small business owner.
So what does it mean for small business?
Local and super small businesses remain ahead of the curve
Ever since I moved out of Manhattan and into a small (but darn cool) mountain/river town called Beacon 60 miles north of the city, I noticed that several shops on our Main Street were using Square on their iPhones or iPads to accept sales (Crumb Bakery, Dream in Plastic, Gourmetibles, Paws and Mittens, Ella's Bellas, and more). And then it spread like wildfire to other businesses on the street. The other group who has been using Square for a while are those 'prenuers who sell at markets because they need to take payments while vending in the middle of the street. These small businesses experimented with and embraced the technology long before big business did.
Local Businesses Should Stop Putting Off Square
Some local businesses have their reservations about moving from their traditional, and very expensive, non-customer-support-friendly credit card companies because they fear change, or I'm not sure really what the reason is. For example: any business who does not accept American Express because the transaction fee is higher, can just use Square for a universal fee - no favorites or exceptions (I also love this about PayPal). Just accept the plastic and move on to the next customer.
Small Businesses Change The Face of Commerce and Our Lives
Howard Schultz predicted in his interview with Charlie Rose and Gale King on CBS This Morning that cash will soon be extinct. Rather than wait for a mandate or law that says how cash will be used or printed, businesses react to how people are using currency now, and move quickly to keep collecting it. The federal government will move to keep up (hence the CyberSecurity bill that is tied up in whatever ties things up in Washington).
Schultz declared during his CBS interview: "Washington is not doing much, and companies have a bigger responsibility today than they have before, because I think the rules of engagement have changed, where cooperate CEOs and businesses have to step up and do more for the communities we serve."
A Founder Can Be a Founder More Than Once at the Same Time
Jack Dorsey is a co-founder of Twitter (established in 2006), and a co-founder of Square (established in 2009...granted, Dorsey had stopped being CEO at Twitter in 2008, so maybe had more focus available to push through Square...he has since returned to Twitter as executive chairman focusing on product development). This is a rather large indication that a business owner who is committed to more than one idea can execute. Warning: this takes an enormous amount of dedication and compartmentalization.
The keys are focus, team, and an understanding of your product (product being a physical product, or a service you are providing). If you understand your product inside and out, then I think you can handle running another one - assuming you will quickly come to understand it inside and out as you build it. And, you must have a team of support in place to make things happen. It's just like having more than one kid! No big deal. ;)
Small Businesses Need to Consider Mobile for Their Websites
I'm with you - it's yet another thing that we don't want to think about right now because there is so much to think about. But we have to face the reality. We're all checking things on the Internet from the car, while walking, while watching TV, while in bed. Our websites better be able to easily deliver to these readers/clickers.
Watch the interview. It covers a lot of ground quickly that will get you thinking about your business:
