Why would a small business stop using American software and payment systems?
In the news this week, the US announced increased sanctions on the international criminal court, in the Hague, Netherlands. BBC news; US unveils sanctions on ICC in move court condemns as ‘assault on rule of law’
If the US can unilaterally prevent the function of an independent judicial body, imagine what could be done to wide ranging financial institutions and businesses across the globe.
The likelihood of the Trump administration turning it’s focus on small Liqueur production in Manchester, is obviously extremely small. However while the integration of US platforms into worldwide finance is one of its strengths, it is also one of its greatest weaknesses, and we will tell you why.
An imperfect approach: Why we shouldn’t be afraid of making mistakes.
US tech is integrated into all aspects of Western life. As a small producer, there is very little influence on the ethics of a massive multinational conglomerate one business or individual can have.
But it is also entirely true that every single decision taken by an individual makes a difference, and in time each small step measured together is capable of flooding the banks of the largest multi billion dollar business.
However insurmountable a task seems, every journey begins by taking one small step.
Areas we found particularly difficult to switch
Social media platforms are heavily integrated into the act of establishing a small distillery. They are currently one of the few ways of introducing your brand to new consumers, and they are entirely US owned, with Instagram and Facebook owned by Meta in the US, TikTok through Bytedance recently taking US majority ownership – even through to b2b resources like Linkedin being owned by Microsoft.
You also effectively have to use platforms like Google and Apple maps, due to the practicalities of ensuring consumers can find your distillery.
At this stage, we have to use these platforms, or risk being left behind. The approach we take is to prioritise organic engagement and content by employing a team to produce content in the UK, paying UK PAYE and tax – rather than using paid social, or google ads.
Reuters: Tiktok to take US ownership
Hidden fees: What are the best European or UK based alternatives to payment providers Stripe and Paypal?
Sumup, a UK based business, and Mollie – headquartered in the Netherlands. However both of these payment providers are majority owned by US based investment funds.
At the same time, Visa, Mastercard and American Express are entirely US owned companies which charge businesses in the UK transaction fees. They range from 20p plus 1.2% of the transaction, and over time really do add up. There are currently no UK owned platforms.
Effectively since the wide ranging move from cash to card payment almost every single transaction you pay results in a US payment system making money from the business you buy from.
Pay by bank, recently rolled out in the UK, is a transaction free method you can use to pay for goods from both small and large businesses you support.
How do you move an e-commerce shop off US platforms without losing sales?
When we established our distillery, we used Wix as our first e-commerce platform. We chose Wix because they provided a ready made template that was easy to execute, alongside other resources like a ready made CRM system, and all the details of running a website, with SEO and engagement hidden behind and done for you.
However, it should be noted that Wix is Israeli owned, and due to the potential exposure to unethical business, we made the decision to move to WordPress and entirely UK based ethical hosting through Krystal.
We found throughout the process, a significant drop off in views and impressions in the months following our switch, due to the requirement to reindex on major search engines.
However, as time went on it actually resulted in much better engagement and increased sales. This was not a simple learning curve, requiring significant time invested in SEO, but it has resulted in much better ROI and in fact a lower yearly bill.
Is data privacy a good reason to choose EU based systems and platforms?
Absolutely, when using US systems there are rarely guarantees on data sovereignty. When buying through UK based entities you can guarantee your customers data security.
What hidden costs come with switching supplier?
In our case, the biggest cost came from the hours invested in coding and moving our product base and website.
What unexpected benefits we found while switching?
The actual cost for the goods and services were less than half the price. We moved from Microsoft 365 to a combination of Proton hosting and Libreoffice free suite, and from Wix to Krystal – which actually saved us money. An incredibly important benefit which we found suprising!
Also the process although time consuming provided a great deal of knowledge to our team, and allowed us to think seriously about the way we interact with our end consumer, and build a business which provides a custom product rather than something off the shelf.
For example, we are shortly launching a subscription service called “The Vault” with super scarce and unique seasonal limited releases, which we wouldn’t have had the coding knowledge to produce under any of the previous platforms.
What does Ethical production mean for a small Liqueur brand?
It means making decisions based on every aspect of our production. From where we buy corks, and how we pay our employees, to where the data of our consumer is held.
Can independent tech choices and ethical distilling be part of the same brand story?
Absolutely, we see it as being at the core of our distillery. Radical honestly doesn’t only extend to listing the ingredients in our Liqueurs, it is about communicating with our consumer about the decisions we make in every aspect of our business, and sharing knowledge with other small producers and businesses in the UK.
What 5 things should other small businesses know before cutting ties with US tech businesses?
- That done is better than perfect. A lot of these tasks seem extremely time consuming, and easy to put off when you have the kind of priorities that come up every day when you’re a small business. However a little every day makes a big difference, and you’d be surprised by the benefits.
- Plan the task. We jumped right into our website transfer with very little knowledge of the task in hand, which resulted in sales dropping. Fortunately we timed it for a relatively quite time of year with the switch taking place in late December when sales were already secured, and the site reindexing throughout the quieter months early in the year
- What resources there are. Reddit is an excellent knowledge search for tasks like working with wordpress websites. Again, a US platform, but you shouldn’t be afraid of using what’s out there to suit your ethical goals. Wikipedia is an incredible open source resource, and entirely untied of financial or biased institutions.
- It can actually yield positive results. We had immediate positive financial impacts, and in the long term have increased sales through greater knowledge about the platforms delivering our product.
- Sometimes there won’t be a direct alternative. Payment processors in particular are a difficult discussion, but wider political decisions in the EU & UK will eventually align with an ethical alternative given current trends. So you can get to work on the things you can influence, and be sure that the world will catch up.
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