Last year Google jumped on the merchant processing train with Google Checkout and to drum up business they offered free merchant processing for all of 2007. I had initially been using Paypal for my e-commerce credit card processing but was unhappy with the high cost of doing business with them so when I heard about Google Checkout I was intrigued and decided to give it a whirl.

Am I glad I made that switch! Not only have I had free merchant processing in 2007 but I have also saved a good bit of money by not paying a 2.2% transaction fee on all my orders. At the end of January 2008, Google went back to their standard fees structure but they do have a way that you can keep from not paying any fees at all. That is by using Google AdWords credit. For every dollar you spend on  Google AdWords you get a $10 credit in Google Checkout. So for instance you spend about $100 dollars a month in AdWords that would translate to $1000 in free merchant processing. Not bad eh?

It’s a great incentive to keep using their service. I know that I will keep on using it for all my processing needs. One of the things I really enjoy is that I don’t have to worry about storing and securing credit card information.  Customers can put in their information securely and it’s all handled by Google and I never see it. I just get the end results – the revenue – and happy customers knowing that their credit card info is secure. Plus my e-commerce host has great API integration with Google Checkout.

If you don’t have an e-commerce site I still recommend Google Checkout. Why? Well, say you do small mail-order or person-to-person business and don’t want to mess around with checks and cash. You can always e-mail your customer the invoice and when they get the e-mail all they have to do is click the pay link and voila! Payment through Google Checkout.

Hope this helps some of you aspiring e-commerce folks out there. One of the greatest challenges of running an e-commerce business is the credit card fees you get slapped with. Google Checkout is a way to help alleviate those concerns and save money too.

Have a prosperous week and go make some money!

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If you live in the USA starting a business is pretty straightforward. Just find a good idea, write up a business plan, think it through and go for it!

Anyways, I’ve started (or helped start) a few businesses over my 30+ year lifetime and here’s my breakdown on how things went.

1. Sari-Sari store – I started a small store in the Philippines selling candy and stuff. I think I made money but the attention of an 8 year old doesn’t last too long when all his friends are out playing.
2. 8th Grade Enterprises – Sold some novelty fireworks, stupid toys, and a knife in 8th grade. Bad idea but good money. I suggest you do not go this route.
3. Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) – I participated in two mainly. One was with a company called Equinox. Wow. Talk about a mistake. I got out before everything really tanked and recouped most of my money. The next was with Amway before they re-branded themselves Quixtar. Overall it was a really good experience. Did I make any money? Nope. But I did make some good friends, I learned how to network, I learned some self-confidence and persistence, I learned that MLM wasn’t my bag. I enjoyed the overall process of Amway. In fact I still am using the microwave I bought through the program. MLM is something that is very viable and you can be very successful at it. I won’t be talking much about it here but I will say that you need to really do some research and evaluation if you ever decide to jump into this arena. It’s hard work and there are a good number of unscrupulous people and companies out there that just want to build their down line without investing in helping you succeed.
4. F1 Network Solutions LLC – An IT service and consulting company that a friend and I started in 1999 or so. Only lasted for a year or so as I had just started working full-time at a new job and my business partner moved out of town. It was definitely an eye opener. I learned how to incorporate the business, forgot to file my taxes (which the IRS helped me out on when I realized my error), took on jobs that were way out of scope (networking DOS systems comes to mind!), and working around a full-time job. We dissolved the company about a year after launching. Were we profitable? Hmm, not really sure. We did a few jobs but never kept good records.
5. eBay Auctions – With my parents being in the Philippines I’ve experimented and imported some items from over there to sell on eBay. Mainly Kamagong wood carvings and some small decorative art. I did have some limited success on the venture but not enough to warrant more investment at the time.
6. Triple C Technologies, et. al. – Under this umbrella corp we had at one time a distribution company, a software development company, a security company, an e-commerce and retail store. Was in business for almost 5 years. Had a lot of fun. I wasn’t an owner but did have a lot of input on company direction. I learned a ton in this business like how not to do customer support. How to learn to say no to a job that is too much to handle. How to work with a variety of vendors (especially those across the ocean!). How to deal with a variety of employees and all the HR headaches that comes with having multiple employees. I helped take this company from $0 revenue in 2003 to almost $2 million in the 5 years it was opened. It doesn’t sound a lot but it was from our viewpoint (the industry we were in had horrible margins). I’ll probably be blogging more on my experiences here in the future.
7. ChumpmonkeyGames.com – My current project. I started this online business in October 2006 to help spread some board game love to others and it has taken off way more than I had ever hoped! I’m not complaining either. I use Shopify for the e-commerce platform and Google Checkout for all my merchant processing. It’s a great solution for a small or just starting out e-commerce business. My 2007 sales were about 180% more than the 2006 so that’s a good start I guess. Based on numbers I’ve seen for 2008 this year is looking even better. More to come here!
8. ?? – I have a few ideas that I’m working on business plans for but these businesses will require some decent investment capital to make it a reality. Hopefully in a few years I’ll see some of these come to fruition.

What have you started and how have you succeeded (or not)? Just cause you started a business and it didn’t take off don’t get discouraged. It happens. Just learn from the mistakes and keep on plugging away.