It's time to 'Square Up'.

This morning I was going through my early routine of checking in on the rest of the Facebook world and stumbled past a post that caught my eye. Since this was posted in the Traditional Hot Rods group and I happen to be a small business that uses the Square Reader device as a convenience to my customers at shows, I thought it was worth a look.

The only reason I use the Square Reader is for the convenience to others, not for me. I used to be a cash only business and it worked out only so well for shows. It would come time to close on a transaction and I would give the customer the total amount due to me (usually about $20 or less) and out comes a piece of plastic from their wallets. This brought on an awkward point where I'd hoped somewhere else in that wallet were some greenbacks so I didn't loose my customer. Sometimes it was true and other times I would get complaints that the customer couldn't use their magic piece of plastic everywhere they went. So I got on the Square Reader bandwagon (by customer request).

I like to focus my time and energy in the creation of artworks, not bookkeeping or doing all the other parts of business I need to do on a daily, weekly, monthly or annual basis. My goal is to spend a minimum of 40 hours a week on the creation side and only around 10 hours a week on all the other parts of business including correspondence, invoicing, running errands, ordering supplies, doing research, balancing a budget and accounting. Everything I listed after art is anti-art from my viewpoint. The truth of the matter is it's about a 60/40 split of time between creation and accounting. Since I'm a one man band, I need to keep on top of all aspects. Some will automatically think:"hire an accountant" but when I would need to significantly increase my price point on all of my products and services, I don't know that they would be okay with the new prices if I did.

I don't sell guns, parts for guns, ammo or even tobacco products so in general I wouldn't think twice about a post like this until customers attempt a potential boycott to my business based on payment options.  Though I don't think it's fair to punish a small time business guy who creates art for a living, if you feel this strongly about your second amendment rights being infracted, then I understand and will also grant you the right to use a second payment option (and my personal favorite) CASH!

If people came to events and shows and prepared to have more cash on hand, this wouldn't be an issue. The Square Reader as well as Paypal create extra work for me in the end, and as I mentioned, I'd rather focus on the art than the accounting.

Problem solved patrons and patriots: Bring more cash and we all win.