The bolt driver experience: promoting bitcoin in my business

[yhiaali3]

Really cool idea to promote bitcoin in your local area, but I am curious to know if the local authorities in your country allow such advertising? Or pay with bitcoin?

In any case, you can develop your business if you like by making monthly subscriptions. For example, if you have customers who ride with you permanently and are interested in paying by bitcoin, you can make a monthly subscription for them where they pay you a specific amount of bitcoin every month instead of They pay every time, which will help them reduce fees significantly.

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[bakasabo]

Consider placing "accept bitcoin" sticker on front windows (if it is allowed), as it will help to recognize such payment option better. Your sticker on back window will be visible only for potential customers that you have already passed. It will take them a second to read, second to understand info, second to make a decision to pay, but in few second you will be already far away. Whole idea of such promotion is great, but it require few revisions. Also consider placing same stickers inside the car, so while you ride, customer can make a decision how he is going to pay.

So far you have said only one customer paid you in Bitcoin. Was he really the one and only that kind experience you have had? If yes, then this is a proof that your sticker isnt working for 100%, and you should add more of them.

[sokani]

Thank you guys for the overwhelming support, appreciation and suggestions. I want you to know that I really do appreciate your comments. I'm still finding my feet in this business and I believe I would get better in time.

It just doesn't fill convenient and having to wait on transaction to get broadcasted and at least go through some confirmation.

Every business has its downsides. Sadly, this is something I have to deal with. But I can tell you that it's not as bad as the centralized bank transfer where it might take 2-5mins or even more in some cases for the transaction to go through. There are instances where bank transfers can take about 24hrs for the funds to drop in your account.

I understand that your car is registered for use under the bolt company, and bolt company usually have a percentage for every ride you make on their app, so this means to me that you cannot always accept bitcoins for payments except you have another source of income that gives you normal cash that you need survive daily and you can use to settle the percentage deal.

I clearly stated that I do accept fiat currency and bank transfer. As a matter of fact most of my payment comes from there, so I can always remit back to bolt their percentage and also have something to fend on.

[Yatsan]

Thank you guys for the overwhelming support, appreciation and suggestions. I want you to know that I really do appreciate your comments. I'm still finding my feet in this business and I believe I would get better in time.

It just doesn't fill convenient and having to wait on transaction to get broadcasted and at least go through some confirmation.

Every business has its downsides. Sadly, this is something I have to deal with. But I can tell you that it's not as bad as the centralized bank transfer where it might take 2-5mins or even more in some cases for the transaction to go through. There are instances where bank transfers can take about 24hrs for the funds to drop in your account.

I understand that your car is registered for use under the bolt company, and bolt company usually have a percentage for every ride you make on their app, so this means to me that you cannot always accept bitcoins for payments except you have another source of income that gives you normal cash that you need survive daily and you can use to settle the percentage deal.

I clearly stated that I do accept fiat currency and bank transfer. As a matter of fact most of my payment comes from there, so I can always remit back to bolt their percentage and also have something to fend on.

The intention is there already. But what makes me curious is the overall sustainability of a business or a job perhaps, if payment will be in form of a digital currency which has a volatile market value. In terms of transaction speed and fees, no doubt this would be advantageous. But, the money you'd recieve in form of Bitcoin will be surely needed for maintenance and daily expenses. During a market price downfall, holding indeed is an option but problem is how long? In order to sustain a business you should have a continuous flow of money and if there will be times wherein hesitaion would be present, I think it would be a problem.

[Merit.s]

Congrats mate for accepting bitcoin as an alternative means of payments in your side hustle. It is a good initiative and you will not regret your actions but benefit more than other bolt drivers who don't accept bitcoin payment. You did this at the right time,due to the cashless policy stress Nigerians are passing through presently. Do as adviced by Frank1 so that when you drive pass anywhere, bitcoin awareness is given to the people when it is clearly seen.
You should learn how to reduce your image size to soothe the eyes using this  

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[kamvreto]

That is a pretty good effort to start promoting bitcoin in the business that you do. It's quite interesting to see the sticker about accepting bitcoin payments. If your country doesn't ban bitcoin, that's an excellent opportunity to continue using it. You need to add a sticker on the inside of the car dashboard to make it clearer that you accept bitcoin payments. You also need to provide a brief tutorial on bitcoin payments using a barcode so that transactions can be carried out quickly.
You need to learn how to accept bitcoin payments more efficiently and faster. If your goal is to hold bitcoin then use your special wallet. But if you need a gateway and accept fiat then you need to find a third-party platform that can convert bitcoin to fiat.
Not only about accepting payments using bitcoin, but you also need to provide education to every passenger who doesn't understand what bitcoin is and how to use it. If you do that, then your goal to introduce bitcoin will be successful.

[Synchronice]

I got some bitcoin stickers and for my car and It's been about two weeks since I displayed it and no one has patronize me in bitcoin. Though, some of my passengers see it and engage me in one or two conversation. Today, I carried a passenger and when he saw the stickers and was like do you accept bitcoin and I said yes and he said do you know you are the first bolt driver I have actually seen accepting bitcoin and I smiled. He asked me if I have actually received any payment in bitcoin and I answered not yet, and he said I will be your first customer to pay you in bitcoin.

Very beautiful story. That would be a really exciting experience from you, when you don't expect and out of nowhere someone comes and keeps an attention on what you always wanted to noticable.
When I am in eastern Europe, I usually use Bolt & Free Now because their drivers behave well toward foreigners and their cars are clean. I usually talk with Taxi drivers and sometimes ask them about Bitcoin. Long story short, one driver told me that he was wearing Bitcoin payment accepted banner on his tax in airport and one of his passenger didn't like Bitcoin banner. shared his journey in app and told Bolt's customer support that driver was wearing Bitcoin payment banner and she was afraid that driver was criminal, etc. For this reason, Bolt just banned him and since that day, he hasn't put Bitcoin Accepted banner on his car.

I'm just saying that sometimes one silly person can ruin the party and be careful.
Wish you best rides with Bolt!

[kryptqnick]

I'm not surprised and very happy to hear it's taking place in Nigeria. Honestly, I've seen lots of topics showcasing small Nigerian businesses promoting Bitcoin and accepting Bitcoin as payment, despite the hesitation of the authorities to make Nigeria officially Bitcoin-friendly. It's lovely that you've found the right moment to start accepting Bitcoin, and I hope you'll have many more Bitcoin-paying customers. Can you tell us how the payment process went in practice, though? Was it done via some payment method or transferring the payment to a Bitcoin address? If it's the latter, did you both wait for the first confirmation together? If so, was the customer okay waiting for up to 10 minutes for that?

[Fivestar4everMVP]

This, I must confess is a good strategy and I am happy for OP, The current situation in Nigeria have left many shattered, some businesses are winding down due to lack of customers to patronize them.
Now is just the perfect time for people in Nigeria to make a switch to cryptocurrency, and bitcoin being the main currency, if at least, 20 percent of businesses in Nigeria start accepting bitcoin payment for their goods and services, that would be a really great score for bitcoin and the entire cryptocurrency community in Nigeria, as well as africa at large.
Kudos to you @op, I hope more businesses in Nigeria follow your footstep and start accepting bitcoin as payment for goods and services.

[philipma1957]

Hello guys! I felt I should share my little success with you in receiving my first bitcoin payment in my business. Well... I have a car which I used for Bolt (Taxify) as my side hustle whenever am free from my work. I've stumbled on a couple of topics of some members on this forum promoting mass adoption of bitcoin by accepting it in their businesses. Since then I've been nursing this idea and at the same time I've been having cold feet. I accept payment for my services in fiat currency or bank transfer, but with the naira redesign in my country, the new notes have really not circulated everywhere and it's been making life a living hell for a lot persons. So I said to myself this is the right time to add another means of payment to my business.

I got some bitcoin stickers and for my car and It's been about two weeks since I displayed it and no one has patronize me in bitcoin. Though, some of my passengers see it and engage me in one or two conversation. Today, I carried a passenger and when he saw the stickers and was like do you accept bitcoin and I said yes and he said do you know you are the first bolt driver I have actually seen accepting bitcoin and I smiled. He asked me if I have actually received any payment in bitcoin and I answered not yet, and he said I will be your first customer to pay you in bitcoin. We talked a lot during the trip and our discussion was mainly centered on cryptocurrency, mass adoption, crypto ban in the country. At the end of the trip, he paid me in bitcoin with additional tip and I felt really happy about it. I know this is little but I hope it would help to promote mass adoption of bitcoin in my locality, the nation and passes a message to people out there that bitcoin is here to stay and all we can do is to embrace it and be part of history.

I like this idea. BUT I would offer 3 coin choice.

BTC
LTC
DOGE


They are the top three coins for mining which I favor over POS coins.
You could engage in mining conversations about the coins if they ask why just those coins.

It is a more rounded point of payment than just BTC

[RockBell]

When it comes to promoting bitcoin, I simply can't keep doing it. Every time I go on air while working, I always talk about bitcoin and am always telling people to hold and don't sell, I make it look very interesting, before starting the program for the day. This is very strategic way of promotion, because the issue that is currently facing Nigeria is a challenge for everyone, good job op.

[Cantsay]

Nice one Op, I have been using bolt for quite sometime now and I must say this is just top of the notch. I'm simply mesmerized by your initiative. There's this feeling I get whenever I see people promoting Bitcoin trying to get others to be aware of it. Out of the hundreds of people you're going to drive to their destination one or more of them are going to pick interest and further learn more about Bitcoin and also you should try as much as possible to start a conversation that will lead to you all discussing about Bitcoin that way you'll get a chance to tell more about what Bitcoin is and if possible tell them to register an account here on bitcointalk if they want a forum that can provide them with solutions Incase they face any during their journey in learning more about Bitcoin.
Btw, that's a cool car you've got there.

[Z-tight]

Your car looks good dude, i hope you are not going to run into any trouble with your local authorities because you now accept BTC, if you are not sure, make sure to confirm before you continue, so you won't be arrested or charged for doing this. Your idea is a very good one, though like you said, you may not have too many customers that will want to pay you with BTC, but it doesn't affect your advertisement or what you are doing in any way though. Crypto payment may become popular in your local area in the long run, and then you would be happy to be one of the pioneers, so don't stop with your idea.

[kamvreto]

I like this idea. BUT I would offer 3 coin choice.

BTC
LTC
DOGE


They are the top three coins for mining which I favor over POS coins.
You could engage in mining conversations about the coins if they ask why just those coins.

It is a more rounded point of payment than just BTC

It will be a good option so there will be no more questions about why only bitcoin is chosen for crypto payments.
DOGE is also Papa Elon's favorite coin which continues to be showcased on his Twitter and just like Bitcoin which still uses the POW network so it is truly decentralized.

[Rigon]

OP has taken a very nice step. Your steps will make Bitcoin more popular to the world, to the nation. Not everyone can take such steps. At first you don't get any call from people but gradually you are going to get call. Your thoughts will really change you a day. I would personally suggest you to keep the bitcoins earned from here as investments. Since this is your retirement income, you can keep it as an investment. Second, is Bitcoin legal in your country, if not, be careful. If not, you may get into administrative trouble.

[NotATether]

Naira redesign? Governments are not supposed to withdraw the old notes until almost everybody is using the new ones. And whatever happened to their CDBC? Does nobody really want to use it (as I had anticipated in another post)?

[Kakmakr]

I was always under the impression that these taxi services worked through an intermediary third party service that accept the payment on the drivers behalf and then they take a fee and pay over the rest to the taxi driver.  

In any way, I am happy that this worked out for you.... so can you tell us, how long did it take for the confirmation of the transaction on the Blockchain? Do you ask for payment in advance or after you driven the customer to his or her destination?

[cozytrade]

I thought I will invest some money in bitcoin every week. And besides bitcoin I want to waste some money in gambling. I don't know if the money I invest in bitcoin now will be good for me. And I don't know if I bet that week.  Losing money will cause me a lot of trouble in the future.  So I thought I'd invest in Bitcoin without wasting my money.

[SquallLeonhart]

I felt I should share my little success with you in receiving my first bitcoin payment in my business. Well... I have a car which I used for Bolt (Taxify) as my side hustle whenever am free from my work. I've stumbled on a couple of topics of some members on this forum promoting mass adoption of bitcoin by accepting it in their businesses. Since then I've been nursing this idea and at the same time I've been having cold feet.

I think these "small" steps are the reason why bitcoin will grow a lot in the future. This allows each and every person that takes that taxi to see it, now imagine if there were 10 more like this tomorrow, and they all started to get paid in bitcoin here and there, others will want a piece of that and another 10 will come out and then hundreds there, then in other nations, and this all started with just one guy putting some stickers on their car.

And this is just one business, imagine doing it for all the companies that owned by people who are interested in crypto, anyone who invests in crypto should also accept crypto payments to increase the adoption if possible.

[mvdheuvel1983]

I take Bolt and Uber rides all the time I wonder why this option hasn't been added this as a payment option for riders who are strong supporters of bitcoin. I guess it may be a hassle for the drivers who may not be knowledgeable about bitcoin.
Still, this is a good bitcoin promotion. Hey OP, what are some questions that your riders have asked and what other ideas do you have of promoting bitcoin while on a ride?