kentucky

Think of all the restaurants and other places that have turned you away because they only accept cash when all you had was debit and credit? Don’t turn people away simply for that reason- get an online restaurant merchant account and expand your business!

Taking the Next Steps

You have your Point of Sales, (POS) software and hardware, your cash register and your credit card processor hardware. Next you’ll need a restaurant merchant account for transactions and processing. A restaurant merchant account is different from other merchant accounts- in that you want to have the option for customers to tip for service.

The Nuts and Bolts of Merchant Accounts

A merchant account is what allows you to accept and process credit card orders. It is an account that your restaurant business establishes with a bank or other financial institution who agrees to pay you for valid credit card transactions. In return, the bank collects the obligation owed by the customer. Credit card companies like Visa and MasterCard require all businesses to obtain merchant accounts because it transfers the financial responsibility from the potentially unstable business to a financially dependable institution.

There are several online companies who can help you set up your restaurant merchant account seamlessly, instead of hunting down the financial institution yourself. Plus, these online services can help you with business cash advance set up, offshore merchant accounts and card present virtual terminals for your online customers.

Don’t continue to push customers away. Take half a day and get set up. If you think you don’t have time to go online and set up your restaurant merchant account- think again! Time is money after all! Just in case you needed even more inspiration to move your business out of the Stone Age of cash-only and into the future of high-speed merchant processing, here are a few other reasons to get going on debit and credit.

• Don’t freak out about transaction fees- sure you will have to pay each month for the service to allow you to use plastic, but you just need to add that to the bill. Let people know there is a transaction fee in order to use plastic. It beats turning people away. People will pay for the convenience.

• In case you get robbed- you won’t have all your income in the cash register- ready to be taken at any time, it will be tied up in digital cash, deposited into your safe account

• Convenience and immediate surge in customers. When you allow people to pay how they would like to. You also give your staff a beak too- when people can pay with debit and credit, they usually buy more, which increases their tip.

When you can say “yes we take debit and credit cards” you are really saying, yes, we are interested in building our business!

With any business you need to ensure you have the correct form of business insurance. With a restaurant you need to have restaurant insurance which covers you for general liability, food contamination, interruption of business, the property and so on. Restaurant insurance is different than general business insurance as general business insurance may not protect you for serving food or storing stock within the restaurant premises  

An example of a basic restaurant insurance policy

Every restaurant insurance policy differs depending on the insurance company, the size of your restaurant, whether you serve alcohol and so on. Most restaurant insurance policies offer the following:

- General Liability

- Alcohol Cover

- Property Cover (Building and Contents)

- Spoilage Cover

- Business Income

- Workers Compensation

This type of basic cover can cost anywhere from £2500 and upwards per year depending on the specifics of your insurance policy.

10 Questions to ask about your Restaurant Insurance policy

When taking out your restaurant insurance it is advised to check with the insurance company that the policy covers certain things, this can do done by asking these following questions:

1) What is covered in this restaurant insurance policy?

2) What are the exclusions?

3) How many claims can you make within the policy time frame?

4) Does the policy cover a vehicle used in the restaurant, such as a take away delivery van?

5) Is there a maximum amount of staff I can employ under this policy?

6) Are games and fruit machines covered?

7) Are we covered hosting a public BBQ in the summertime?

8) Is the car park and furniture in the garden covered?

9) If our freezers and refrigerators go down due to electrical faults am I covered for this?

10) I have a childrens play area, is this covered within he policy as well?