“Many small business owners and managers are staying up on Sunday night, trying to figure out if they are going to meet payroll next week,” says James Good, assistant general manager of Small Business Payments Co. He maintains that at least 40% of startups fail because they don’t know how to manage working capital.
A new cash-forecasting tool called the Small Business Workbench, will take the guesswork out of capital management for small and medium-sized business owners. Created by Canadian company, Small Business Payments Co., the tool tracks business cash flow and let managers know how much money will be available in the coming days or months.
Merchants can also use the tool to advise them on the best time to make capital investments, in order to avoid taking funds away from daily operations, notes Casey LeLoux, CEO of Convenient Payments LLC, a payments gateway and ISO in California. “It’s also a huge differentiator for ISOs.”
LeLoux’s company is the first ISO to offer Small Business Workbench, but Good says his company is looking for ISOs of all sizes to carry the product. They are currently negotiating with two other ISOs to promote the service.
LeLoux’s ISO agents plan to offer the Workbench tool for free to the first merchants to try it. Afterwards, merchants will pay $10 per month for service.
Good mentions that ISO agents can also charge merchants $20 to $40 per month for access to a suite of business management apps. Apps include time saving functions like inventory, payroll, and invoicing. The company plans to add one new app a month. The apps also communicate with the cash-forecasting tool.
ISO agents should try to promote the monthly apps option. It gives agents a chance to maintain monthly contact with merchants by informing them of a new app. This will cement relationships, LeLoux maintains.
Workbench promotion could also cultivate new relationships with merchants under contract with other ISOs. When these contracts end, merchants are already aware of the service and can customize the apps for their individual business needs.
“Obtaining new clients is a lot easier with warm relationships,” LeLoux says.
The system can be set up in 30 to 60 minutes, and will ask a few questions to customize content per merchant. Small Business Workbench is available as a white-label offering which allows ISOs to brand it with their own names and images.
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