First, I agree with you that going all digital is bad.

Being all cash is wrong AND being all digital is wrong!

Hold your thoughts on that response!

If you really want to stick it to the government then barter, but that has all sorts of risks when you don’t keep a paper trail. 

The best method proved by math later is: Have both forms of payment and stress cash preferred with customers. Being cash only, means that you are not tracking how many sales you are losing. When you meet with your accountant, you only confirm the sales you made that were cash only. You aren’t seeing all the sales you lost because there isn’t a way to track lost debit sales. I will prove this loss is bigger than you think later on. If you were honoring both forms of payment, you the business owner would likely focus on the amount lost to your credit/debit processor. Which if you came to that conclusion, then it only fuels your desire to be cash only. Keep that in mind and I will prove your error later on. 

Second, I want to point out many of the reasons why being a cash only business is a GOOD THING, there is certainly an appeal to it and here is why:

• You receive your money immediately giving you power to take care of things immediately

• No Fees, No percentage loss with each sale.

• Cash is hard to trace - both a good and a bad thing and usually frowned upon anyway. No, I won't elaborate, if you know, you know.

• You aren’t contributing to a dystopian society where we scan our palm to buy an ice cream, our credit score decreases 3 points and our health insurance gets denied JUST BECAUSE WE BOUGHT AN ICE CREAM.

Ok that’s the good, now here is the BAD!

Being Cash Only SCREAMS one or all of the following:

• "I'm probably a money front for a gang" Don’t believe me? Ask your followers or google “Is being a cash only business shady?”

• "I'm incompetent with tracking anything – inventory, funds, employees"

• Your cash only sign is saying "PLEASE ROB ME" to burglars. It shows you are more likely to have an overflow of cash right at the register so you are putting your employees in danger by drawing attention to the fact that the cash is ready to go. Why do you think "Driver doesn't carry cash" signs exist? Here you are with your "Attack Here" sign posted. Ask yourself: "Do I have enough concealed carry insurance to cover me when someone robs my business and I blow a hole in them in self-defense?" Do I have enough insurance to cover my final expenses if I lose?"

Now a realistic solution is to skim your register every x amount of hours or every hour at a random time and put it in a timed safe. Know that you are at risk with your sign which is why our cash preferred sign is better but don't be afraid to ward off burglars with 2nd amendment stickers/signs and security company signs. (it does help alert the would be a-hole to not robbing your place if you have a 12 gauge hidden under the desk. Maybe you do maybe you don't, a burglar is not likely to test it out)

• Keep in mind, more trips to the bank = more wear and tear on the car and to be secure you need to be running to the bank a lot. Each time you leave to run a cash deposit to the bank you put yourself or an employee at risk. There is risk on the road, there is risk carrying a large amount of cash anywhere. 

• If your cash intake is not accounted for immediately a not-so-honest employee can skim cash from you and you'd likely never know.

• One article I found in research claimed that your accountant will HATE you for your cash transactions. Probably true. What Gab sees in the day job is: owners mixing personal and business expenses which is probably even more likely with cash only types. STOP IT.  Ask your accountant what you can do to make tracking easier for both of you. 

Real Life Scenario...

We as millennial consumers (Andrew/Gab) don't typically carry cash. Andrew needed a spontaneous haircut so we went to a local barber, we walk in, see the sign "Sorry Cash Only" and turned right around and walked back out. 

GUESS WHO JUST LOST MONEY? 

No, we aren't going to go to an ATM and come back wasting the gas to run around just to make a business owner happy, forget it*. 

As a consumer we are all about convenience. If I am turning around and leaving your business because you're cash only, who else is too?

*Anyone that wants to shop local as is the purpose of this website, should carry cash and pay local businesses in cash BECAUSE there are no fees involved and the business will make MORE money off of you.

 YES, this is known to us and should be known to you as a consumer. The barbershop situation was sprung on Gab the breadwinner last minute and we were unprepared to pay in cash. What I (Gab) want to prevent is the local business owner mentality of losing sales just because they hate losing that card processor percentage. 

The "Cash Only" stance has been a pet peeve and I wanted to know why it is such an issue for owners. The #1 complaint I've heard from owners is:

 "the fees are just so expensive"

Ok, but your solutions are a simple google search away AND why are your profit margins so razor thin that you can't afford to lose a small percentage?

Logic: losing a percentage of sale is better than losing the whole sale yes? That LOCAL barbershop lost the $30 we spent elsewhere. Imagine someone saying to you, "I'd like to pay you $30 but electronically" and you saying "No" because it becomes roughly $27.15 after fees.

So by your logic by the cash only sign is to say "No I prefer $0.00 over $27.15" and if you're really loyal you'll go find an ATM and come back to me. Loyalty like that doesn't pay the bills. I'd rather have $27.15 - tax to go to my bills than ZERO!

Is this not proof enough for you?

At this point would you really like to deny your lost sales?

Don't worry, I'll go even further to prove it to you.

What if you had an ATM in the waiting area of your business basically telling your customers "its ok for you to pay an ATM fee and pay me cash" If you do this, while your intentions may be to help your customer help you, you are looking shady by demanding cash and having a conveniently placed ATM charging fees that you also benefit from (usually this is how it works) nearby.

Don't be the "Rules for Thee but Not For Me" person or the "F U I've got mine!" that mentality is what is wrong with America.

Call your accountant and work out how to keep your prices competitive and not lose your mind over the card processing fee. That is what you pay your accountant to do, to find out things like that. Bring in your price sheet for them to reference if they don't already have it. How does Gab know? The day job is in a local accounting firm. Also she binge watches Gordon Ramsay like shows.

No, I don't think you should pass the processing fees onto your customers because that is distasteful. 

Yes, you do need a way to cover the fee, so why not upsell, you can't upsell if you don't ask every time! In the barbershop example, ask every single time(if relevant) "let's add on a beard trim today or can I get you any hair products today we have this new brand that does this thing and smells like the ocean."

If your upsell is successful then you have now made more money than you would have in the first place AND because you're accepting cards you have now kept some money INSTEAD of potentially losing all of it by posting your cash only sign. I say "potentially" because there is always that chance the debit/credit customer brings cash too when you are cash only.