Why Small Scale Businesses should accept Cryptocurrencies as a medium of payment

[bittraffic]

My thinking is exactly opposite! A small business must not accept cryptocurrency as payment. Usually a small business rolls over the money. They always need working capital to sustain and that working capital has to be in fiat unless and until their wholeseller accepts crypto. Also the price volatility can easily eat up their profit within a very short period of time.

So my personal recommendation is not to use crypto for a small business. They can have a service where a thind party converts the crypto immediately based on the current market rate, that's when it makes sense for the small businesses to accept cryptocurrency.

I agree, small business profits are much lower than big business, and cryptocurrencies are one of the most volatile assets, so it is easy to cause unnecessary losses if they use electronic money. But that's not the main reason, as Luzin mentioned: the legitimacy of cryptocurrencies that's the biggest hurdle businesses are facing. If governments legalize it and promote the use of cryptocurrency in the country, even if it is less profitable, businesses will consider using it to compete and attract customers.

True that. The volatility is just not what they need for their business to grow. They couldn't make this to thier advantage, unlike the traders.
What may just be good for them is accepting stablecoin just to prepare for customers who are willing to pay crypto.

If I have a small business, this will be my route to go, And with it, I can easily invest BTC.

[savetheFORUM]

-snip-
1. Low transaction fees and Quicker transaction:
    It is relatively cheaper to carry  out transactions through cryptocurrencies than electronic bank transfer. It's also faster

Inconstant tx fees are the reason bitcoin doesn't get much attention.
Since marketplace sites and home businesses became popular among the younger generation in my country, instant payment wallet platforms (fiat) became the priority choice for their purchases even over cash. Applications in collaboration with local banks have been developed a lot and it is completely free of charge for depositing funds with transaction fees much cheaper than payments via the bank itself(average $0.1/tx) and relatively fast.

Cryptos are volatile so what do we expect with their fees? It won't be constant or the same every time we make a transaction but isn't it great? Because, not all times the fees are going to be high but there will be times that the fees are going to be dirt cheap and this makes us motivated to transact more. Btc is popular because it is widely accepted but people are aware that there's also altcoins which are faster and cheaper than in btc so they also use it sometimes.

Online business became popular during the pandemic times and digital payments have became a perfect companion for this. It's normal that most of them are going for those fiat based payment methods because it is more legal and more easier to use. It's also regulated so they feel safe with it but they aren't a loss to us.

[goldkingcoiner]

I think giving your customers/clients more payment options is definitely something that will help you make a sale, whether its a small scale business or a large scale business, does not really matter. You could also procure more clients by using crypto as a marketing gimmick, just to get people more interested in what you have to sell.

The best option would be if you had an online platform and an online presence with a considerable amount of loyal followers. But even if you hang up a "We accept Bitcoin here" sign on your physical store, you will be getting interested looks, either way.

[isaac_clarke22]

~

It depends on some regions though. Here in my country, they use some payment processor and wallet app as well that holds their money digitally and be able to send it by means of SMS without any fees so they might not think about adopting cryptos for now unless their business were already taking off.
I would not accept it either once my clothing shop has not yet took off. If I was allowing payments back when Bitcoin was around 60k+, then I would be in a lot of loss right now probably and I would even need that money to circulate my stocks.

For #3, you can never be sure how many of those millions are distributed to each countries.

[jossiel]

It hasn't to be forced adoption and acceptance for them. I think those small businesses owners and at the same time bitcoin investors and enthusiasts have done their thing.

And that's to adopt bitcoin as a payment method for their business. We're going there and soon, most of those businesses we'll see the sign board that they're accepting bitcoin.

[Yatsan]

Small scale businesses, from their category already, won't prefer cryptocurrency. They would only mind getting profit regardless of the mode of payment. Given that they are 'small scale', do you think they would want to invest into something which has a very volatile market value, their 'small profit' from their business? There's a higher tendency that they won't because in small businesses, money should be circulated to continue the 'run' of product-sale relationship.

It hasn't to be forced adoption and acceptance for them. I think those small businesses owners and at the same time bitcoin investors and enthusiasts have done their thing.

And that's to adopt bitcoin as a payment method for their business. We're going there and soon, most of those businesses we'll see the sign board that they're accepting bitcoin.

There are indeed small businesses accepting cryptocurrency as a mode of payment, such as in my country, but that's their initiative. It is not surprising that there's more who does not. There's even a higher tendency that bigger businesses would, simply because they have the capital to reinvest their profit from their business, inspite of risk.

[Ultegra134]

I don't believe that small businesses are the perfect candidates for accepting cryptocurrencies, at least not now. The market is constantly fluctuating and generally standing on a thin line, especially after FTX went bankrupt. I don't think that small businesses are capable of handling such massive variations. On top of that, I find it hard to believe that cryptocurrencies are as widely adopted as credit cards, and I doubt that the fees are actually considerably cheaper, unless we're talking about Monero or Stellar, which offer relatively low fees.

[jossiel]

It hasn't to be forced adoption and acceptance for them. I think those small businesses owners and at the same time bitcoin investors and enthusiasts have done their thing.

And that's to adopt bitcoin as a payment method for their business. We're going there and soon, most of those businesses we'll see the sign board that they're accepting bitcoin.

There are indeed small businesses accepting cryptocurrency as a mode of payment, such as in my country, but that's their initiative. It is not surprising that there's more who does not. There's even a higher tendency that bigger businesses would, simply because they have the capital to reinvest their profit from their business, inspite of risk.

Yes, it's their own initiative and passion and love for bitcoin.

There's no need to be forced just for them to accept it. I think we're more on the side that we just have to keep educating business owners and everyone just for them to realize that they're still on the early stage.

Nonetheless, whether we tell it to them or not, the adoption will naturally to happen and it's what we all know that's going to come into reality.

[Vaskiy]

Acceptance at the bottom level will make businesses develop along with the real-time growth in the cryptomarket. When the bottom level of people starts using it, automatically we'll experience the increasing demand in the global market. Whenever similar things have happened in the large scale, bitcoin have marched towards new ath.

[alexandr1115]

Because it is important for the development of cryptocurrencies in general! The point is probably that not many small business representatives are not interested in this, so they just don't need it! There are, of course, some nuances!! Cryptocurrency should have a low transfer fee, otherwise no one will want to overpay more.

[Rruchi man]

It is a common saying that “cryptocurrency is the future” but one can categorically say crypto is the present. Many big corporation now accept cryptocurrencies as a medium of exchange and that is how it begins.

Before crypto becomes the future, it has first fully conquer the present.

Today governments, big corporations, individuals are seeing the importance and benefits of cryptocurrencies that is why they are adopting it. So why should the small scale businesses be left behind?

No matter how nice, current and standard accepting cryptocurrency can make a businesses look, Small scale business owners need to and  should be able to understand their business structure to know if receiving cryptocurrency is good for their business or not. Not all businesses in my opinion will need to accept crypto for payment, the money that people pay to them for services or products are too small to make over a crypto transaction.

[NotATether]

Paper money was first introduced in the 7th century during the ‘Tang dynasty’ in China but it did not appear till the 11th century during the ‘Song dynasty’. It was not introduced in Europe till the 13th century by European explorers like Marco Polo. in the early 1800s, Napoleon issued Paper notes.

Looks like the world has a history of lagging behind on financial stuff, considering people were skeptical about paper money at the beginning.

It's good news for crypto though, because that means the world  is eventually going to accept it (sans scamcoins and worthless shitcoins).

[BlackHatCoiner]

In summary, small businesses should accept cryptocurrency (primarily bitcoin), because it's cheap to move, it can't add potential chargeback expenses, it's private (or pseudo-private, whatever), it never shuts down, and it serves fast transaction settlements.

4.  Access to world market:
     Unlike the stock market that has an opening and closing hours (working hours), crypto markets don't have specified
     working hours. It operates 24/7. You can take advantage of this and work around the clock if you want to without any
      limitations.

I don't understand how that's gonna help small businesses.

[lalabotax]

It is a common saying that “cryptocurrency is the future” but one can categorically say crypto is the present. Many big corporation now accept cryptocurrencies as a medium of exchange and that is how it begins.

Big companies usually have a wider range of customers and users so they will provide various transaction and payment methods to make service easier. However, this will also depend on the company or merchants themselves because they are also sometimes hit by government regulations in that country.

Payments with crypto can actually apply to anyone and any company, on a large or small scale. Because this is what crypto is for, namely global payments. With widespread promotions and notifications, the use of crypto might be more advanced and developed again, if there were no strict regulations from the government.

[Wakate]

I think giving your customers/clients more payment options is definitely something that will help you make a sale, whether its a small scale business or a large scale business, does not really matter. You could also procure more clients by using crypto as a marketing gimmick, just to get people more interested in what you have to sell.

The best option would be if you had an online platform and an online presence with a considerable amount of loyal followers. But even if you hang up a "We accept Bitcoin here" sign on your physical store, you will be getting interested looks, either way.

This is how to start it because people are always curious to learn and have different payment options. Creating a Bitcoin payment option is good for business like groceries and stores where people can come and buy whatsoever they want and still patiently go for the best option they think are suitable for them. Having a business and adding payment option like Bitcoin could make more buyers to swift to such option especially for those that knows more about or cryptocurrency. I hope in the next few years people will start subscribing for Bitcoin payment option is it is universal.

[pawanjain]

1. Low transaction fees and Quicker transaction:
    It is relatively cheaper to carry  out transactions through cryptocurrencies than electronic bank transfer. It's also faster

I agree to all your points except the first one. If a small scale business is accepting crypto payments then they will obviously receive a bigger market but we can't say that the transaction feews would be cheaper than bank transfer.
It just depends on what payment method they are using and the country they belong to. For example: I live in India and we have UPI payment here which are used for small transactions.
The amount is directly transferred from one bank to another without any charges. So basically they are paying 0 transaction fees on UPI payments.
The payment limit per day differs from bank to bank but on average its restricted around $1000 per day which is more than sufficient.

[mendace]

In summary, the adoption of cryptocurrencies by small businesses can offer benefits such as lower and faster transaction fees, increased security and reduced transaction fraud, access to new customers and global markets without time limits. Additionally, the adoption of cryptocurrencies can help small businesses stay up-to-date with global trends and benefit from technological innovation opportunities. However, it is important to note that there are also risks and challenges associated with the use of cryptocurrencies, such as market volatility and the possibility of fraud or scams. It is therefore important that small businesses educate themselves thoroughly and make well-informed decisions before adopting cryptocurrencies as a means of payment.

[Genemind]

All the current mediums of exchange that we had and currently using were not globally accepted at first. People are scared of changes and settle on what they are used to not until mass adaptation happens. When the internet started only a few are using it, mainly large-scale businesses. But look at our society now, we are internet dependent. The point is, at the moment cryptocurrency may not be as viable as cash in terms of the medium of exchange since there's the issue of volatility, adaptation, and accessibility. Not everyone is aware of crypto yet and not everyone has access to it yet. And to add, not everyone views cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange, but more of an investment or a store of value.

[Iroh]

I don’t think small scale businesses should have to accept cryptocurrencies as a medium of payment. While it’s a great alternative to accepting cash payment, I think small businesses would probably find it more difficult to adopt receiving payments for their services in cryptocurrencies (preferably bitcoin).

Fiat is widely accepted and used hence why it’s the preferred currency businesses mostly adopt when starting out. They haven’t got the luxury nor the flexibility of accepting any other means of payment like big and huge corporations do.
Small businesses could have an option to accept payments in cryptocurrencies and also accept payments in fiat which is mostly used and accepted. Accepting payments in cash doesn’t really bring any disadvantages to the small business owner.

[Casdinyard]

It is a common saying that “cryptocurrency is the future” but one can categorically say crypto is the present. Many big corporation now accept cryptocurrencies as a medium of exchange and that is how it begins.

We all know the history of fiat money, how it was first the merchant receipt of deposits in large commercial transactions.
Paper money was first introduced in the 7th century during the ‘Tang dynasty’ in China but it did not appear till the 11th century during the ‘Song dynasty’. It was not introduced in Europe till the 13th century by European explorers like Marco Polo. in the early 1800s, Napoleon issued Paper notes.

The essence of the history lesson is to illuminate the similarities between the introduction of paper money and the introduction of cryptocurrencies. If you also look at the introduction of credit/debit cards you'll see a whole lot of similarities. The point is, these mediums of exchange/payment don't just get accepted overnight. Just as it took paper money centuries to be accepted globally, so did it take credit/debit cards, electronic bank transfers, to be accepted globally. We can see cryptocurrencies following in these exact steps but better, more transparent and easier to understand. Governments, businesses, individuals around the world saw the benefit of accepting paper money and keyed into it. Centuries later, they saw the benefits of adopting credit/debit cards and they did.

Today governments, big corporations, individuals are seeing the importance and benefits of cryptocurrencies that is why they are adopting it. So why should the small scale businesses be left behind?

If you still need more reasons a small scale business should adopt bitcoin, these are a few;

1. Low transaction fees and Quicker transaction:
    It is relatively cheaper to carry  out transactions through cryptocurrencies than electronic bank transfer. It's also faster

2.  High Security and reduced transaction Fraud:
     Every transaction is stored in the decentralized blocks, once the transaction is made, it cannot be reversed or canceled.
     Since no central authority oversees the operation, customer confidentiality is maintained.

3.  New Customer acquisition:
     There are hundreds of millions of people all over the world who trade in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In fact
     according to Zippia, there are about 36.5 million American crypto user and 300 million global users as at 2021. So if you
     accept crypto as payment for your business, you will have more people who prefer to transact in crypto and you have the
     opportunity to expand.

4.  Access to world market:
     Unlike the stock market that has an opening and closing hours (working hours), crypto markets don't have specified
     working hours. It operates 24/7. You can take advantage of this and work around the clock if you want to without any
      limitations.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknote#:~:text=The%20first%20known%20banknote%20was,coinage%20in%20large%20commercial%20transactions

https://yourstory.com/mystory/impact-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-small-scale-business

That may be true but you've left out a key part on why small-scale businesses may not sustain accepting payments through bitcoin. Which is its high volatility rate. Bitcoin's fluctuations are violent that your investments could literally go zero if you're not careful enough. With small-scale businesses hanging on a tight balance in between making ends meet and bankruptcy, there's no way they could allow such high-risk maneuvre be implemented. Perhaps if bitcoin sobered down a little bit it would be applicable, but that would not be great for us especially day traders who make money from trading cryptocurrencies. I think the way small-scale businesses are operated now is sufficient. Little if nothing should be changed on how they operate.