All of the talk over the last six months or so about the banking system troubles have to be seemed sort of academic to me until the last couple of weeks. Guide services have never been really popular for small business loans and are still not; so no change there. Recent events though have driven the troubles home for me.
Last week the company that issues my business credit card sent a letter that they could no longer borrow to supply unsecured credit and all of their small business accounts would be closed the day after tomorrow. Ouch! I never carried a balance on the card and had it for convenience but the loss was a pain. Buying gas at 4:30 AM is impossible with cash but the pay at the pump stations work just fine if you have a card.
I was able to work with my local bank and get a new business credit card and a debit card in about ten days so not a big deal. Then yesterday my credit card processor sent a statement that had an additional $39 charge for this month. I called and got the usual surly response and was told that the charge is because “we are afraid that you might not be processing cards properly” and need to cover our risk.
Needless to say it was time for a change. I was able to find a Maine processor that had a very pleasant individual set up my new account. I should be all set with the new processor in a week or two. Seamless and not painful. I hope! Again not a big deal but the impact of all that banking mess has finally trickled all the way down to Maine Outdoors.
Those who think that being a guide is all being outdoors and having fun (it is more than a little) are wrong. Maine Outdoors is a small business like any other and sometimes the work is not a total blast.
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