5 Practical Ways Bitcoin and Blockchain Can Help You Grow Your Business
Hephzy Asaolu — September 11, 2017 — September 11, 2017
MichaelWuensch / Pixabay
Technology is changing business processes and financial landscape and the response of businesses to these new technologies will determine whether they swim or sink. Such technologies include different cashless payment solutions available today, among which are Bitcoins and blockchains.
If there is a time to start using Bitcoin and blockchain to grow your business, it is right now.
Here is why:
Bitcoin was established to make online payments easy without stress. The good thing about this digital currency is that the value is increasing at astronomical rates. It will interest you to know that on August 31st, 2016 Bitcoin traded at $ 576. Fast forward to August 31st, 2017 it traded at $ 4,600. That is an increase of over 740%.
That is not all!
Bitcoin has a market cap of $ 79.38 billion, which is much bigger than companies like Starbucks Corp and American Express Co.
According to Coinmarketcap, the market cap for all digital currencies is more than $ 175 billion.
It will amaze you to know that this has grown by more than $ 20 billion in the past 10 days.
I am sure you are excited!
The question is how do you grow your business with Bitcoin and blockchain?
Below are 5 practical ways you can leverage Bitcoin and blockchain to grow your business.
- Accept Bitcoin as a means of payment from customers
Do you know that more people are choosing to go the cashless transaction route? A survey carried out by Gallup poll in 2016 revealed that only 24%, contrary to 36% in 2011 prefer to transact in cash. That means people are accepting digital and mobile payments more than ever before.
What does this mean for your business?
It means more customers!
This is the right opportunity for you to start accepting Bitcoin as a means of payment.
Accepting Bitcoin as a means of payment in your business means low transaction fee. On the other hand, when you use credit card processors, you will have to pay about 2-4% in transaction fees. With Bitcoin, you are only charged 0-1%, which is next to nothing, so you get to save money.
Using Bitcoin as a means of payment makes it faster for you to access your funds. You don’t have to go through banks and there are no centralized clearing processes before you get your funds. For instance, bank transaction takes within 1-3 days while Bitcoins take within minutes to a few hours.
The best thing is, there are no international exchange rates, which makes business processes a breeze.
It is easy to set up Bitcoin as a payment processor through services like CryptoPay.
Formerly a Bitcoin wallet (a way to store your Bitcoins safely) CryptoPay also has API access to help you incorporate Bitcoin payments into your business website. But the best practical business application is that it helps you to issue both a physical and non-physical debit card that you can use to pay for anything you want wherever a Visa card is accepted.
- Use Bitcoins and Blockchains to raise funds for your business
It is a fact that businesses need funds to grow.
Investors, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are getting interested in how businesses can raise funds through cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and blockchain.
It will interest you to know that startups have started using initial coin offerings (ICO) and token sales as an option to venture capital and public offerings to source for startup funds.
Good examples of startups that have used ICO are Tezos, who was able to raise about $ 232 million, and Bancor that raised $ 153 million. The aforementioned CryptoPay is also starting its initial coin offering (ICO) in presale on September 25th and public sale on October 2nd to help improve its services.
The platform that enables business funding through cryptocurrency is called Ethereum. It allows developers to create their own cryptocurrencies. Investors can use a token sale to invest in startups with the aid of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. However, they will be issued cryptocurrency tokens instead of a stock certificate.
This makes it easy for investors to participate in funding instead of waiting for a company to go public before they can participate.
- Use Bitcoins and Blockchains to track your inventory
Bitcoin and blockchain make it easy for you to track inventories for your business.
It makes it easy to record your inventories. This includes records of your transactions like selling, buying, shipping etc. The only thing is, once you record your transactions, you cannot change or delete anything from it. It can only be audited and monitored by individuals concerned.
This eradicates the use of expensive software to track your transactions. It is free to use, you don’t have pay to use it.
- Use blockchain smart contracts to sign agreements
The use of contract agreement is common in businesses. It can be an agreement to render a service and collect the money for it once it is delivered or an agreement to buy and deliver goods once it is produced, etc. The normal procedure is to meet with a lawyer who will draft the contract agreement between you and your client. Now, the issue is, if you fulfill your own part of the agreement and your client did not fulfill theirs, you can sue them.
But there is a better and profitable way to sign contract agreements for businesses.
It is called smart contracts.
Blockchain technology introduces smart contracts. These are agreements that are signed digitally between two parties. It is executed when certain specified conditions are met.
You can use blockchain services like Agrello to sign smart contact without the need of a lawyer. Smart contract is safe as you are sure that you will get your pay when you deliver your services at the agreed date.
The contract agreement cannot be altered and it is constantly monitored to make sure it delivered on its premise. Once, you delivered as agreed, the cryptocurrency is exchanged without both of you having to do anything.
It is much safer than going through the traditional route.
- Use Bitcoins and Blockchain to stay ahead of competitions
Competition is a fact in businesses and every business is striving to outshine the other.
Bitcoin and blockchain are not yet popularly accepted among businesses across the internet. If your business starts using it now, you will have an edge over every other business in your niche.
They will see you as an innovator who wants the best for customers. The most important thing is that it can help you to get better prospect or customers solely because you accept cryptocurrency to run your business. You can also steal your competitors’ customers because you are more versatile.
Conclusion
Bitcoin and blockchain have the power to help you grow your business tremendously. You can use it to fund your business, open a new payment processor for your customers to pay you in Bitcoins, track your inventories, sign contract agreements and stay ahead of competitions.
The time for you to start using it is now!
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