Merchant account scams can happen in a variety of ways, including partial scams. Partial scams consist of altering or concealing information regarding fees, features, charges and general descriptions. The hidden fee scam is the most common type of merchant account scam.

Hidden fee scams involve concealing of certain fees or extra charges that are generally applied by the bank processing the merchant transactions and rates. An integral company offering merchant accounts should provide a link to the bank responsible for processing the credit card transactions. This does not necessarily mean if there is not one provided that it is ultimately a scam. However, this should raise a red flag for responsible business owners and warrant deeper investigation. It is advisable to request all contact information after a bank has been selected. Do not hesitate to contact the bank and ask about any and all fees that may be applied above and beyond what is in the merchant account provider's agreement.

Partial hidden fee scams also commonly involve extra fees not included in the price list. Once a merchant account is approved, the small business owner will be presented with a lengthy terms and conditions document. This document is commonly known as the credit card gateway contract. It is essential to read all small fine print and all the terms and conditions being applied in order to avoid a scam.

Merchant account provider reviews can be an excellent resource when investigating potential merchant account providers. If a small business owner has been scammed by a particular provider, he or she often takes the time to write a review to warn others. Many small businesses have been severely held back or brought to ruin as a result of partial scams. Merchant account provider reviews can be found on specialized websites, forums, message boards and general articles.

There are a few simple guidelines to follow in order to avoid being scammed. Never visit a sub-domain hosted website when looking for merchant account providers. Many of these scammers shut their website down after fooling a few customers, only to open another website under a different name. Always ask for the full contract before signing any documentation, read it thoroughly and look for any hidden charges or fees. Ask and insist on being given the full price list and all additional charges applied by the merchant account provider and processing bank. It is essential to investigate a merchant account provider's website thoroughly. Look carefully through the Content, About Us page - take care to notice how long the company has been established - and FAQ page. Be safe, be savvy and decide on a merchant account provider only after taking the necessary steps to protect your business from common scams.

Article written by Merchant Seek, Your payment acceptance source.

The title to this article may raise the question, “If the secrets to making money is ‘Simple’, why isn’t everyone doing it?” In one word, distractions. We are too easily distracted by day-to-day mundane activities, that we forget our main objective. For instance, how many times have you opened up your Internet browser to research a particular question or interest, got side tracked, and then forgot why you got on the Internet in the first place?

Rule #1 Don’t Get Side Tracked!
 

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.
-- Stephen Covey

Outline your main objectives for starting your own business, how you plan to meet those objectives, then remind yourself each morning, after lunch, and before you knock off in the afternoon or evening, why you started your business in the first place. After you answer that question, the next question is, “Are you accomplishing your main objective?”

Rule #2 Constantly Evaluate the Process

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
-- Albert Einstein

If the answer to the last question is, “No” than change what you’re doing. Don’t expect that you are going to be able to repeat the same process over and over and achieve different results. That’s like the fly that keeps hitting the pane glass window over and over, expecting to get into the house. Be smarter than the fly!

Rule #3 Imitate Success

Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it.
-- Edmund Burke

Whatever you do, don’t make the mistake of thinking that your problems are unique. Someone, somewhere has, most likely, run into the same problem. The Internet is a great tool for finding the answer to our problems. Learn to research! Scan the forums, read articles (like this one), be vigilant to find out a better way of meeting your objectives.

Also, read, read, read! There are hundreds of thousands of books about how to succeed at business. There is also reader evaluations that you can read to find out how good a book is before you buy it. I am in the process of building a reference on this site, to helpful books on running a successful business. If you have any suggestions, contact me.

Rule #4 Keep Track of Two Things: Time & Money

Time is money.
-- Benjamin Franklin

Two of your most valuable resources is time and money. We generally think we have more than we do. If you don’t keep track of the time you spend on each project, than you will run into two problems:

1.    You will come to the end of each day wondering, “where did the time go?”
2.    You will not know what to properly charge for your product & services because you do not know the time (cost) involved to produce them.

Make a habit of writing down when you start and end each project. Divide what you are making off the project by the time involved in creating the project and you will have your hourly income. You may find that, with all of your hard work, you could make more as a Wal-Mart greeter.

Don’t give your business away, charge for your services. Many small business owners don’t place much value in their services. Again this is where research is important. Search the Internet to find out what others in similar situations and businesses are charging. Also, don't be afraid to ask your clients what they have paid for similar services. I have received valuable information from my clients who were dissatisfied with the service they received from the competition. When I politely asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, what were they charging you?” they didn’t mind revealing what they were being charged.

Also, keep a record of your expenses. Yes, I know, none of us have time to  keep constant track of all of our expenses, but you must make the time. Otherwise, you will never know that the product that you are charging $100.00 for is actually costing you $120.00! Your company is an investment of time and money. Would you invest in someone else’s company or expect others to invest in your company if you were not able to provide them with an outlay of net income which is the profit you make AFTER expenses? What is your ROI (Return On Investment)? Why should you continue to invest your time and money when you don’t even know if you are generating a profit?

Rule #5 Automate (Residual Income)

The one thing that shot  the US ahead of the other countries was the Industrial Revolution and the invention of the assembly line. The key is Factories Make Money!

Years ago, I remember watching the cartoon, Rumpelstiltskin, where an elf teaches a cobbler to create a shoe factory rather than make each shoe, one-by-one, by hand. By creating a factory, the cobbler can produce more shoes in less time and make more money. In turn the cobbler hires helpers to run the factory. The helpers take the money they make from the cobbler and buy shoes, thus generating more money and stimulating the economy. The town grows from the growth in the economy bringing in more people who also buy more shoes. The cobber soon has to build more and bigger factories to make more shoes and also hires more workers, etc.

You will never make a fortune building one pair of shoes at a time, you need to learn to automate.  Don’t work in your business, work on your business. Consider hiring employees that you can train to build your shoes or come up with ways to automate the shoe making business. Maybe there is a way you can resell a current product or service. Take a service you created for one client, get them to agree to let you resell it, and market it to others that might be in the same industry but different locations that do not compete with your current client.

Two areas that you can automate is billing and customer support. If you are still creating paper invoices each month find a quicker way to bill your clients. Hire a billing service or use something like PayPal to automatically send out bills each month. PayPal is relatively cheap and fairly easy to setup.  They continue to add services for small businesses and have complete how-to documentation for setting up services.

Also, if you are spending your day answering the phone with customer problems and questions, you are robbing yourself of the valuable time you could be spending making money. Use a help desk service or create a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on your website. Document every problem/question you deal with along with the solution. Put the common questions and solutions on your FAQ website with a possible search engine to search for answers (for a large FAQ page).  Mention your FAQ page in your newsletters or on your answering machine message. Get your clients in the habit of checking your FAQ page before calling you by making it easy and quick to use. Contact us if you need help with creating an FAQ page.

Rule #6 Don’t Forget Your Clients!

There are two kinds of people in the world, those that are your clients and those that aren’t.  Make sure you don’t neglect the one for the other. Don’t pull all your resources into getting new clients and neglect the ones you have. STAY IN CONTANT CONTACT WITH YOUR EXISTING CLIENTS. One of the main reasons someone leaves a service provider is that they feel the person no longer cares about them because they never hear from them.  Send a monthly newsletter, a thank you card, etc. to stay in contact with your clients. Also, let your clients know about add-on services or products that can enhance current services or products. Your current clients, many times, can provide a great source of additional income. If you are already in constant contact with your clients, they generally will not be offended by an offer of additional goods and services.

You might have heard the adage that it cost ten times a much to acquire new clients as it does to keep existing ones. Make a constant effort to keep the clients you have. Also, if your current clients are elated with your service and products, they will bring you the best kind of prospects, referrals!

Rule # 7 Work Smart but also Work Hard!

Sow your seed in the morning and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.
-- Ecclesiastes 11:6

Read enough about successful entrepreneurs and you will soon come to realize that there is a lot that is attributed to luck and chance. Bill Gates sold his DOS operating system to IBM because the first guy they went to was out of town. Bill Gross of GoTo.com was the first to come up with paid search but Google was the company that made millions with AdWords. Xerox was actually the first company to develop the common computer desktop but it was Apple that (former employers of Xerox) ran with it and made millions.

We can plan and plan but we are never sure when and where that big break will come. The more opportunities we take advantage of the greater the chance of success.

To Do List:

1.    Develop a clear and simple business plan that states your objectives and how you plan to meet those objectives
2.    Buy and read a book on running a successful business
3.    Make a daily project time sheet
4.    Buy Quicken or some other software to track your income and expenses
5.    Set up a PayPal account or Quicken account to automatically or easily bill your clients
6.    Create a FAQ page on your website and let your clients know about it
7.    Start a monthly/weekly newsletter

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The form of business you operate determines what taxes you must pay and how you pay them. The following are the four general types of business taxes.

• Income Tax

• Self-Employment Tax

• Employment Taxes

• Excise Tax

 

Income Tax

All businesses except partnerships must file an annual income tax return. Partnerships file an information return.  Partnerships file an information return.  The form you use depends on how your business is organized. Refer to Business Structures to find out which returns you must file based on the business entity established.

The federal income tax is a pay-as-you-go tax. You must pay the tax as you earn or receive income during the year.  An employee usually has income tax withheld from his or her pay.  If you do not pay your tax through withholding, or do not pay enough tax that way, you might have to pay estimated tax.  If you are not required to make estimated tax payments, you may pay any tax due when you file your return.  For additional information refer to Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records.

Estimated tax

Generally, you must pay taxes on income, including self-employment tax (discussed next), by making regular payments of estimated tax during the year. For additional information, refer to Estimated Taxes.

Self-Employment Tax

Self-employment tax (SE tax) is a social security and Medicare tax primarily for individuals who work for themselves.  Your payments of SE tax contribute to your coverage under the social security system.  Social security coverage provides you with retirement benefits, disability benefits, survivor benefits, and hospital insurance (Medicare) benefits.

Generally, you must pay SE tax and file Schedule SE (Form 1040) if either of the following applies.

• If your net earnings from self-employment were $400 or more.

• If you work for a church or a qualified church-controlled organization (other than as a minister or member of a religious order) that elected an exemption from social security and Medicare taxes, you are subject to SE tax if you receive $108.28 or more in wages from the church or organization.

Note: There are Special Rules and Exceptions for aliens, fishing crew members, notary public, State or local government employees, foreign government or international organization employees, etc. For additional information, refer to Self-Employment Tax.

Employment Taxes

When you have employees, you as the employer have certain employment tax responsibilities that you must pay and forms you must file.  Employment taxes include the following:

• Social security and Medicare taxes

• Federal income tax withholding

• Federal unemployment (FUTA) tax

For additional information, refer to Employment Taxes for Small Businesses.

Excise Tax

This section describes the excise taxes you may have to pay and the forms you have to file if you do any of the following.

• Manufacture or sell certain products.

• Operate certain kinds of businesses.

• Use various kinds of equipment, facilities, or products.

• Receive payment for certain services.

Form 720 - The federal excise taxes reported on Form 720, Quarterly Federal Excise Tax Return (PDF), consist of several broad categories of taxes, including the following.

• Environmental taxes.

• Communications and air transportation taxes.

• Fuel taxes.

• Tax on the first retail sale of heavy trucks, trailers, and tractors.

• Manufacturers taxes on the sale or use of a variety of different articles

Form 2290 - There is a federal excise tax on certain trucks, truck tractors, and buses used on public highways. The tax applies to vehicles having a taxable gross weight of 55,000 pounds or more. Report the tax on Form 2290, Heavy Highway Vehicle Use Tax Return (PDF). For additional information, see the instructions for Form 2290 .

Form 730 - If you are in the business of accepting wagers or conducting a wagering pool or lottery, you may be liable for the federal excise tax on wagering. Use Form 730, Monthly Tax Return for Wagers (PDF), to figure the tax on the wagers you receive.

Form 11-C - Use Form 11-C, Occupational Tax and Registration Return for Wagering, to register for any wagering activity and to pay the federal occupational tax on wagering.
Excise Tax has several general excise tax programs.  One of the major components of the excise program is motor fuel.  For additional information, refer to Excise Taxes.

A deal to save General Motors Co.'s Saturn brand fell through after former race-car driver Roger Penske unexpectedly abandoned a bid to buy its network of dealers, prompting GM to say it would shut the operation down.