Entrepreneurs are often associated with a certain type of spirit. A persevering opportunistic DO EVERYTHING because that’s what we’ll have to do, go getter attitude. One key characteristic an entrepreneur must have, (as written by Jun Loayza) is the ability to execute, and I agree. The ability to take an idea and build it to the point of sale is powerful.
Entrepreneurs often have several different streams of income as they are constantly looking for opportunities and learning new tactics such as the ones presented on the Invest Diva course. It’s because of this that every business minded person needs to have Square (PS. it’s FREE).
Square (not the old SNES company) gives the opportunistic entrepreneur, whether you own a hot dog stand, a small physical business, couch or offer physical services, like a athletic trainer, masseuse, musician etc, the ability to accept credit cards on the spot, without a merchant account (or much technical setup) with an array smart phones and devices.
The idea is brilliant, the company (and website) is top notch, the applications for the service are versatile. Signing up is free, (the card reader is also free!), and you pay less per transaction than typical merchant accounts. (merchant accounts are the most widely used way to accept a credit card) You are only charged if you make money.
I like these types of business model, don’t you?
Watch the YouTube below to instantly “get it” and get started here, why wouldn’t you? It costs nothing unless you are making money, and with your business ideas flowing, it’s finally time to execute…or “borrow” your friends credit card and force him to finally pay you the $5 he owes you, but that’s up to you.
Square is a valuable tool to have in your pocket (literally) providing an extra layer of value for potential customers.
What applications could use Square for?
More Information about Square that people usually have to track down.
- You sign up through your mobile application, not the website which could confuse the first time user. See here (https://squareup.com/get-started) to get started, not the main homepage. The signup process is incredibly easy and well designed, as is the website backend once you’ve created an account.
- Square is available for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Nexus One, Motorola Droid, Motorola Droid X, HTC Droid Incredible, HTC Evo, HTC Hero, and the Samsung Vibrant.
- Square’s card processing fees are:
- 2.75% + 15¢ for swiped transactions
- 3.5% + 15¢ for keyed-in transactions
- There are no activation, gateway, monthly, early termination, or hidden fees.
- Square works with any US-issued credit, debit, pre-paid, or gift card from Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.
- In order to get paid, you need to link a bank account to your Square account.
- Square is near the final round of their “under writing” a fancy term for figuring out how to handle so many credit card transactions. They are about to start shipping the free readers, now’s the time to jump in and sign up. I guarentee this service is going to blow up.
This is a great service which I am excited about as well. I really like the idea of using my iPhone with the square reader (which appears to have a minimal footprint) to sell product. Is there anything the iPhone can’t do? 🙂 We signed up during the beta phase and are awaiting our card readers. Have you signed up? If so, have you received the card readers and had a chance to use the product?
It looks great doesn’t it? So many applications and it bridges some gaps I see in the emerging online economy with real life salesmanship and consumer content creation. I have some private messages going back and forth with Square but I haven’t used a reader live yet.
All this is preview so far, I should have mentioned that and thanks for bringing it up John. I’m confident the offering will live up to the promises.
PS. The concept isn’t new, Apple (and others) have been doing something similar in their stores with a custom app/reader and iPod touches for transactions, great to see this tool become widely available, cheap and easy to set up!
This is a great service which I am excited about as well. I really like the idea of using my iPhone with the square reader (which appears to have a minimal footprint) to sell product. Is there anything the iPhone can't do? 🙂 We signed up during the beta phase and are awaiting our card readers. Have you signed up? If so, have you received the card readers and had a chance to use the product?
Reading a ton of bad reviews on the Android Marketplace. The consensus is that they never ship you the device. Hopefully this will improve with time.
Thanks Jarrod. It’s true as I put at the bottom of the article, they are in they’re last round of figuring out the charging details (since they are acting as a merchant account provider) so anyone who stumbled onto the product in an app store and didn’t know this might be bewildered when they weren’t shipped a reader immediately…the company assures that they are right around the corner.
Reading a ton of bad reviews on the Android Marketplace. The consensus is that they never ship you the device. Hopefully this will improve with time.
Thanks Jarrod. It's true as I put at the bottom of the article, they are in they're last round of figuring out the charging details (since they are acting as a merchant account provider) so anyone who stumbled onto the product in an app store and didn't know this might be bewildered when they weren't shipped a reader immediately…the company assures that they are right around the corner.
It looks great doesn't it? So many applications and it bridges some gaps I see in the emerging online economy with real life salesmanship and consumer content creation. I have some private messages going back and forth with Square but I haven't used a reader live yet.
All this is preview so far, I should have mentioned that and thanks for bringing it up John. I'm confident the offering will live up to the promises.
PS. The concept isn't new, Apple (and others) have been doing something similar in their stores with a custom app/reader and iPod touches for transactions, great to see this tool become widely available, cheap and easy to set up!
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This is great for the store owner and street vendor and such. I am a start-up luxury magazine publisher based in China. How can this device help me?
This is great for the store owner and street vendor and such. I am a start-up luxury magazine publisher based in China. How can this device help me?
Well Square only takes US-based credit cards right now, so unless you have some US tourists browsing your wares, Square won’t be too useful for China based businesses right now, but if you were based in the US, I’d imagine promo events, news stand vendors, etc could find a use for the Square service. Thanks for stopping by! I’ll try to stay globally relevant in the future!
Well Square only takes US-based credit cards right now, so unless you have some US tourists browsing your wares, Square won’t be too useful for China based businesses right now, but if you were based in the US, I’d imagine promo events, news stand vendors, etc could find a use for the Square service. Thanks for stopping by! I’ll try to stay globally relevant in the future!