If you want to control expenses and manage your finances responsibly, it’s important to know the true costs of your employees. As they’re such a large part of your cost base, you have to ensure your product and service prices take into account the total money you spend on employees, not just their salaries, in addition to all the other expenses inc...

In general, yes, it's legal, except where prohibited by state or local laws. States that currently prohibit processing fee deductions from tips are California, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts. According to Nolo.com, the law is not clear in two additional states: Kentucky and Montana. In the latter two states, existing laws regarding tips don’t...

Of course, alongside opportunities there’s also risk. It’s important to manage that risk carefully and stay in control of any potential issues as you’re expanding. One of the biggest risks for expanding your business is the cost of entering a new market, and whether you can justify that cost by bringing in enough revenue. Before you plan your ne...

They’re all the same thing – a card used to purchase gasoline or diesel, as well as pay for tires, oil changes, car washes, or repairs on vehicles in a fleet. However, they all have different requirements and costs for acceptance. As a gas station, tire center, repair shop, or other business owner with fleet customers, taking fleet cards is nece...

Note: Following Fiserv's acquisition of First Data, Clover Insights' name switched to Main Street Insights. You may see still see the Clover Insights name in some locations.  Main Street Insights is business analytics app is available from Fiserv - one of the largest credit card processors, handling nearly half of all US credit and debit transac...

One option is through their company: a simple path where they connect you right to the card brands, often called direct processing. The other option is the more complicated route they say you can expect with their competitors: a multi-step process cluttered with middlemen. It looks something like this: The path that shows a shorter, more ...

Group Name: National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) Industry/Specialty (if applicable): Independent businesses Number of members: 325,000+ Website: http://www.nfib.com/ Sections of its website are dedicated to news, including updates on government policies and acts related to business. It also provides articles on a range of topics of...

Buying Group Name: Group Purchasing Solutions (GPS) Industry/Specialty (if applicable): No particular industry Number of members: 1,000+ Website: http://www.grouppurchasingsolutions.com/   How does the group work? There aren’t too many details on GPS’ website about how the group functions. What information there is seems pretty straightforw...

Credit and debit card fraud is a multi-billion dollar crime industry, with issuers absorbing roughly 60% of the annual losses and businesses hit for the other 40%. Trustwave offers multiple services for businesses, but for the purposes of this article we’ll focus on PCI compliance and payment services. Introduction to Trustwave When it come...

Buying Group Name: Innovatix Industry/Specialty (if applicable): Medicine, Education, Business Number of members: 23,000+ This introduction video from the group explains further:   The group partnered with Premier, one of the largest medical group purchasing organizations in the industry, in 2002. In 2015, Innovatix launched its procurement...