Payment processing company Visa, said many small and micro businesses (SMBs) are willing to adopt cryptocurrency as means of payment in 2022. Visa made this finding after conducting a research study titled “Visa Global Back to Business Study – 2022 Outlook.”

According to the study, 82% of SMBs surveyed said they will accept digital options in 2022 and nearly half (46%) of consumers surveyed expect to use digital payments more often in 2022, with just 4% saying they will use them less.

The study surveyed small business owners and consumers in nine markets – Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Russia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and United States, with a higher percentage of the businesses indicating interest in accepting one form of digital payment.

“An overwhelming 82% of SMBs surveyed said they plan to accept some form of digital option in 2022 and 73% see accepting new forms of payments as fundamental to their business growth. Of those surveyed, 24% said they plan to accept digital currencies such as the cryptocurrency Bitcoin,” the study said.

Visa has been exploring ways to expand its payments system by including cryptocurrency, which offers cheaper and faster payments. With so many SMBs on its platform, the payments giant needs their opinion on its quest to onboard the burgeoning new financial system.

The Visa Back to Business Study, which was conducted by Wakefield Research in December 2021, surveyed 2,250 small business owners with 100 employees or fewer in the above mentioned countries.

This has become imperative in the wake of the pandemic-induced shift to digital life, which businesses are adopting, mainly to stay afloat. Of small businesses surveyed with an online presence, 90% agreed their survival through the pandemic was due to increased efforts to sell via e-commerce, and reported that, on average, over half of their revenue (52%) came from online channels in the last three months, the report said.

“Payments are no longer about simply completing a sale. It’s about creating a simple and secure experience that reflects one’s brand across channels and provides utility to both the business and its customer,” said Jeni Mundy, Global Head Merchant Sales & Acquiring, Visa. “The digital capabilities that small businesses built up during the pandemic – from contactless to e-commerce – helped them pivot and survive and, by continuing to build on this foundation, can now help them find new growth and thrive.”

While the study focuses on digital outlook for businesses, it paints a positive future for the cryptocurrency market. The large number of SMBs willing to adopt cryptocurrencies means its mainstream acceptance will see an increase in 2022.

On Friday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted: “Tesla merch buyable with Dogecoin,” shooting the meme coin’s price 10% up.

With the crypto market going bearish currently, investors have been enveloped with worry over what 2022 holds for the industry.

Do not be carried away because you’re wearing that company’s badge. Companies have no kids, only families do! Work hard and offer value but stay professionally focused.

Never fall into the illusion that your office is your family. Don’t be carried away when HR managers say “Welcome to the family”.

Your office can never be your family. Workers are like villagers who gather in village squares with shared purposes to accomplish tasks together.

In your family, you have unalloyed rights. But in that square, your efforts are noted but the tasks can if necessary move ahead without you.

Change your attitude at work; you’re nobody’s kid. Families do not throw kids to the streets during recessions or bad quarters as companies do!

As the tech space continues to evolve and stretch into every sector, it will become even more difficult to find a one-man startup. If it is a health tech, for instance, you might have a partner who is tech-savvy and another on the health side of things. If it is fintech, you will be seeing a mix of a finance expert and a tech person. Partnerships are going to become even more necessary for startups.

A partner is not just someone you should pick anyhow (especially if you are the brain behind the idea). In the early years of your business, you could find that you spend more time at your business than you get to spend at home. This literally means that you could be spending as much time as you spend with your spouse, with your partner or co-founder, maybe for the rest of your life depending on how long the business survives. In some cases, you could even be spending more time with your business partners. Clearly, it is not something to be jumped into.

Some founders talk about how they met their partners at a hackathon, a networking event, maybe an old school friend or a former colleague. Here are some things people generally look out for in partnerships.

Complementary skillsets

This is one of the first things most founders tend to look out for. Every startup will require multiple skill sets and getting someone with complementary skillsets and expertise is of the essence. It works both ways in that each partner can guide decisions in his area of expertise and let the others handle their areas as well. The tech expert can stay behind the scene guiding them through the product development stage while the business manager person would do the interfacing with clients, investors, organizations, etc.

You want someone who can see your blind spots

There are areas you may not be quick to observe while making decisions, due to your expertise and experience. You need a business partner who will see through your blind spots. Having a partner who has the same expertise, experience, and perspective on issues may not be a major plus for you and may not translate into wholesome decisions.

Your partner should share your values

While shopping for complementary skillsets and expertise, you should make sure you don’t end up with contradicting values. When faced with market realities, most of the decisions you will make in business will be based on your value system. If integrity is a key value for you, you will take decisions to reflect the integrity of the startup and your person. If customer satisfaction is your value, your decisions will also align. If you have conflicting values with a partner, you may run into problems sooner than expected.

Other things

It is exciting that you pick someone who is as fascinated with your business idea as you are, but it is not enough reason to jump into a partnership with just anyone. Things will get tough at some point and this is when the start and partnerships of the fight begin to crumble. I think it is also important to consider the person’s temperament and general disposition.

I recommend working on a small project with the person first to see how it goes before you jump into a business partnership. The project may or may not be related to the startup but it is just for you to see how you two work together. How this project goes can help you decide whether or not you want a long-term business partnership with the person.

Have confidence and do not feel apologetic for telling potential customers about your products. Because your products are great, not making those customers aware of them is denying them the opportunity to use the best – and that is NOT fair.

Change your attitude to sales, and improve your business.

See sales as a call to duty with a higher purpose to do good by making people aware of the best products. I hope you have the best products.

“Buy my grandma’s yam”, I said those days in Oriendu Market in Ovim. That was noble because it would be unfair not giving customers the chance to buy the best yam in the market.

Change your attitude to sales, and improve your business.

Comment on LinkedIn Feed

Comment 1: A significant percentage of sales success is based on the attitude of the sales person. The right attitude backed with effort often yield positive result.

While there is room for product appraisal, negative thoughts about why people won’t buy your product affects sales and kills the product faster than external criticism.

The world is big enough and every product has its market. Today, people sell the gift of nothing, perfume that smells like dirt, and other products you would “think” customers wouldn’t buy. Build the confidence to sell your products.

“Change your attitude to sales, and improve your business” is the key takeout for me.

Comment 2: Uwa bu afia. The world is a market.

Stakeholders’ mapping:

1) Those that can afford it and want it.
2) Those that can afford it and don’t want it.
3) Those that can’t afford it ,but want it.
4) Those that can’t afford it and don’t want it.

1 is easy (distribution, marketing and visibility). 2 is where the big growth is (sales). Pareto’s 80/20 principle. If you can include 3,then you are a proper FMCG. (Inclusion of 3 will drop profit margins.)…1+2+3 will give you 80%+ of the populace.

The world is a market. One has to sell value propositions in an attractive manner -getting used to more NOs. Getting ‘NOs’ should be a second nature. Quick ‘Nos’ saves one time .The better one gets at selling ,using Pareto’s principle, the more YES’ one gets.