Small Business Finance

Once you have your EIN and business name registered along with your domain name and hosting, you are ready for small business financing and to open your bank accounts. You will want both online accounts as well as a local account. Compare business banking options at your local banks and choose one that meets your needs. Remember, you can find free business checking that offers quality service and can save you a lot of money on banking fees throughout the year. Personally, we found that Wachovia offered the best business banking package and you can even open your account online. Just visit Wachovia.com for more information on Small Business Checking. There are several online banking options for finance including Google Checkout and Paypal. You should establish an account with both of these services. First, we will discuss Google Checkout. This is one of the best methods for receiving payments. Not only is Google one of the most trusted brands online, they also charge the smallest fees when receiving money. Here is Google Checkout’s fee schedule:

Sales Through Google Checkout     Transaction Fees Sales of up to 10 times your monthly AdWords spend FREE Sales in excess of 10 times your monthly AdWords spend 2% + $0.20 per transaction Sales for Merchants that do not advertise with AdWords 2% + $0.20 per transaction

To open your account just click the “Google Checkout” button on WebPalPro. This link is one of the links you will also use in maintaining your ecommerce business but that will be discussed in a later chapter. Once you are on the Google Checkout page, you will see a link to “Sign Up Now.” Just click the link and follow the on- screen instructions. You are now registered with Google Checkout and later we will discuss how to use the Google Checkout buttons on your ecommerce site to receive payments. Simply click the home icon on your toolbar to return to WebPalPro. Next, you need to set up a Paypal account. Even if you already have a Paypal account that you have used in the past, we recommend opening a new one to use strictly for your online business. Maintaining separate business and personal finance accounts makes record keeping much easier and you can more clearly see how much money you are making each month from your online business. Click the “Paypal Signup” link on WebPalPro to open a new Paypal account. There are several types of Paypal accounts available. The best place to start is with a Business Account with Website Payments Standard. You can always upgrade your account in the future should you decide to go with Website Payments Pro, but to start this is unnecessary. This is a very important note about Paypal; you cannot open an account in your business name. Instead when you register, input your name as the account owner. Paypal is one of the most powerful tools for new online businesses because it grants anyone the ability to accept credit cards online. Most customers will not purchase if credit cards are not accepted. Furthermore, Paypal is already integrated into most shopping carts which make setting up your small business financing extremely easy. For your reference here is a list of Paypal’s fees:

Monthly sales            Price per transaction $0.00 USD - $3,000.00 USD   2.9% + $0.30 USD $3,000.01 USD - $10,000.00 USD 2.5% + $0.30 USD $10,000.01 USD - $100,000.00 USD   2.2% + $0.30 USD > $100,000.00 USD         1.9% + $0.30 USD