Our Payment Solution For SMBs Has Processed $6.7 billion In Transactions [Update]
This is a follow up story for VizyPay. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published over 1 year ago, check it out here.
Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.
I’m Austin Mac Nab, CEO and Founder of VizyPay. My previous Starter Story will tell you VizyPay is a completely bootstrapped fintech company based in Iowa that brings transparency, a customer-centric culture and unique payment processing solutions to small businesses in rural America.
It is our goal to support the growth and wellbeing of small businesses through our robust and customizable products, award-winning customer service and hands-on approach to business.
We service local mom-and-pop shops with options that fit their needs. Oftentimes the big name payment processors are far outside a small business owner’s budget and offer services and technology that don’t apply to a small business - making it operational overkill. That’s why our payment processing solutions are simplified, easily integrated and never require long-term contracts.
Our flagship product is our Cash Discount Program (CDP). It’s a first-of-its-kind service that provides unlimited monthly credit card processing for one flat, low subscription cost based on the merchant's monthly processing volume. CDP leverages proprietary technology that integrates the processing fee into the pricing of products and services.
When a customer pays with a card, CDP isolates the built-in processing fee and immediately applies it to the merchant’s monthly processing fees – allowing merchants to avoid up to 100% of unnecessary card processing fees. To date, VizyPay’s CDP has saved small merchants more than $40 million in total.
VizyPay began with two people on staff and has since then grown to nearly 100 full-time employees in Iowa and more than 500 contracted remote employees across the nation. Since inception, the company has processed $6.7 billion in payments. It is a four-time consecutive winner of Inc. 5000’s fastest-growing companies in the U.S. and in the Midwest and was named a 2023 Forbes Fintech 50 honoree.
Tell us about what you’ve been up to. Has the business been growing?
Since we last spoke VizyPay has been named a Forbes Fintech 50 honoree and was the only bootstrapped company on the list.
We’ve really expanded our Look Local First initiative to bring more support and awareness to the great small businesses that drive our economy. Once a month, our team hosts a networking event for local entrepreneurs and small business owners to come together, learn from one another, support each other’s businesses and work to build an ecosystem of supportive and inspired leaders.
They’re open to any small business owner or supporter. We use our Look Local First social following to build buzz and spread the word about each month’s event. These events are bringing more than 100 people together each month and utilize local vendors well to further the support of local businesses.
We also hosted our second annual Look Local First Classic, a golf tournament driven by the same mission of uplifting business owners and giving them a chance to celebrate the hard work they put in every day.
As for our technology and services, we recently launched a dual pricing option for our True Cash Discount app. This approach allows businesses to seamlessly implement a dual pricing or cash discount program into their operations.
When they do this, they’re able to maintain 100% of the profits on every sale, regardless of which payment method customers choose. This is a game changer for merchants looking to optimize their operations and maximize profits that drive growth.
Our entire team is coming to each day with a drive to deliver the best experience and solutions to our merchants. We surpassed a milestone of 2,200 reviews on TrustPilot this year and still maintain a 4.9 star rating.
This is something we work very hard for and I’m so proud of our team for always delivering on our promise to provide excellent customer service. That being said, we’re always working towards the next improvement, development, etc. for our products and services and learning how we can be better to our users. Growth is constant and education is a lifelong endeavor, so as a team we are always pushing each other to be the best we can be.
What have been your biggest challenges in the last year?
In the last year, I decided to stop taking unnecessary meetings. My calendar was jam-packed full and I was spending my days in back-to-back meetings that weren’t allowing any time to accomplish major priorities.
As the leader of a company, one of the biggest challenges is not to become a workaholic. I found that all these meetings weren’t serving a greater purpose and weren’t progressing us forward. So, I stopped attending meetings and focused instead on learning with my staff and using my experience and expertise to help with crucial processes that impact our company’s revenue within different departments.
I put myself back in the trenches and have been able to take actionable steps toward the goals we have for the company.
What have been your biggest lessons learned in the last year?
Creating a supportive, transparent company culture where your team feels empowered is the ultimate pathway to success. For VizyPay, it’s people first and sales second. Too often, too many companies force onto their teams the idea that clients come first. This results in your staff caring less about the outcomes and feeling like they are just a cog in the machine.
But, if you provide an environment where you put the very people servicing your clients and sales partners first, the rest will fall into place for long-term success. Their voices matter, period. Part of transparency is letting your team know that clients are only sometimes right, empowering them to think critically and make the best decision for both sides.
What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?
Based on industry trends, feedback we’re receiving from our merchants and the success rates we’ve been seeing, we’re exploring a few different options for growth in the future. Right now we have an intense focus on optimizing our solutions, building out our fintech, 1099 and customer support teams, and being the voice for SMBs.
In the next five years, I’d like to build out more software and tools for our merchants to run their organizations through. This will mean increasing our fintech team, support team and really expanding our 1099 sales force throughout the U.S.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their business?
The best advice I can give to other entrepreneurs is to prioritize their employees. Take the time to get to know them, their skills and weaknesses, their interests and families. Life does not stop when they walk through the office doors.
Instead, invite their lives into their work hours and create a place where they feel like they can succeed. The worst business advice I ever received was that sales contractors should be given the utmost priority. I believed this for over a decade but eventually realized it was a load of crap. The people who should be prioritized are the internal employees in direct contact with the clients, vendors, and sales partners in the field. We must keep them from feeling undervalued or taken advantage of or make them think that their job is insignificant or that they are always wrong.
If we can provide them instead with a supportive culture and working environment where they know we stand by them, the rest will take care of itself. My advice is to put clients, contractors, and vendors second, and internal staff should always come first, no matter what. This has helped us create a team that is always willing to go above and beyond, and they do so willingly and without hesitation, providing the best experience for all parties involved.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
We always have a spot for Future Vizonian applications. People who are interested in sending their resume over for future opportunities can get in contact with us here, but we are not currently hiring at this time.
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
