Episode 02Running time 40:56

The Week Our Deposits Stopped: Losing Credit Card Processing Almost Ended Our Business

Episode 2 thumbnail: “The money stopped.” in large type beside Dan and Sarah at their microphones.

Playing loads the video from YouTube (youtube-nocookie.com).

About this episode

Married almost 20 years and in business together for more than a decade, Dan and Sarah tell the story of the worst thing that’s happened to their business: losing credit card processing. After years of being dropped by processors, they finally found one that worked, and the business doubled during the COVID shutdowns. Then one Friday the deposit didn’t come, and nobody answered their emails. In the end the processor owed them about $60,000, they got back about $12,000, and they lost around half their revenue. Sarah was sure they’d be looking for jobs again. Dan didn’t want to go back to driving a truck. Here’s how they got through it, the customers who kept them alive, and what they’d tell anyone whose business depends on getting paid.

Are you the first in your family to run a business, or did you grow up in one? Tell us in the comments.

New episodes every week. Subscribe so you don’t miss the next one, when we open our first store.

Chapters

  1. Cold open(watch on YouTube from 0:00, opens in a new tab)
  2. Why we don't name our business(watch on YouTube from 0:17, opens in a new tab)
  3. Frozen by PayPal(watch on YouTube from 4:08, opens in a new tab)
  4. Finally, a processor that said yes(watch on YouTube from 5:14, opens in a new tab)
  5. High-risk fees and rolling reserves(watch on YouTube from 7:23, opens in a new tab)
  6. COVID doubles our business(watch on YouTube from 10:11, opens in a new tab)
  7. The deposit that never came(watch on YouTube from 11:54, opens in a new tab)
  8. What happened to our money(watch on YouTube from 18:59, opens in a new tab)
  9. Glass half full vs. half empty(watch on YouTube from 23:13, opens in a new tab)
  10. Starting over without fighting(watch on YouTube from 29:17, opens in a new tab)
  11. Finding a processor we can trust(watch on YouTube from 32:33, opens in a new tab)
  12. There's always something(watch on YouTube from 36:20, opens in a new tab)
  13. Coming up next(watch on YouTube from 40:21, opens in a new tab)