Texas Bay Business Insider- Winter 2022

TEXAS BAY BUSINESS INSIDER Holiday Edition

Take Your Buying Power to the Next Level This Holiday season, give you and your business the gift of added funds.

Elevate your business’s buying power with a Texas Bay Platinum Rewards Mastercard®. With a Texas Bay Business Credit Card , you can keep your personal and business buying separate! Let Texas Bay relieve some of your financial stress. Earn cashback reward points on purchases you make with your Texas Bay Business Credit Card, from buying new business equipment, to taking that client out to dinner, will earn cashback rewards!

Benefits: • No Annual Fee* • Earn 1.5 points on every $1 spent • Same day card issue at all branch locations • Mastercard® Digital Merchant Offers • And more!

Features: • 24/7 Fraud Protection • Digital wallet capability through Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay • Access to cash at ATMs worldwide • And more!

*Click here for full details on business credit cards

Do More with Clover ® You found your passion, your drive, and you’ve turned it into a profitable business. Texas Bay finds passion in helping our business members find success in their fields of expertise. In order to help you, we have partnered with Clover®, a POS (Point of Sale) system that can help transform any business into a thriving and easy to manage venture.

With this partnership, we hope to help our business members reach new limits of success. How Can We Help? Texas Bay’s partnership with Clover offers our business members a POS system that helps with payment processing and business management solutions all in one place. Each Clover® device can be customized to your needs. Choose from six different systems based on what type fits the type of business you own. If you take your business to events, trade shows, or community events, then try Clover Go, an all-inone contactless, chip, and swipe card reader that can wirelessly pair with your smartphones, or Clover® Flex that has a built-in receipt printer, camera, and QR scanner in a single device.

If you have a small but physical store and need something at your counter, try the compact countertop system with a full-scale POS functioning system with a cash drawer. Alternatively, if your store is actually quite a large size, you can opt for the Clover Station, which is an all-in-one countertop POS and business management system.

Your business deserves the very best, curated to your needs, and ready to

serve your customers with the very best service. Show your customers why they choose you time and time again.

Provide your business the top of the line merchant services that can only help you knock out the competition. To begin taking your business to the next level with Clover, contact the Texas Bay Team at your local branch.

Ask the VPs What can small business owners do to ease their concerns about the holiday season?

Chelly DeLeon VP of Human Resources

Staffing shortages are affecting both large and small companies. It has forced companies to make difficult decisions to stay in business, such as cutting staff, reducing business hours, products and services, etc.

It is important to remember that these times are also very stressful for current employees, who may feel overworked and underappreciated. So, when thinking of strategies to operate your business during this difficult time, it is important to start with your current employees. The last thing you need is to lose top talent during this time. Make sure that you recognize and show appreciation for them.

There are many ways to show your employees how much they are valued. Ask them for feedback, conduct one-onone meetings, invest in their career goals, be approachable and positive leaders, celebrate accomplishments, and have fun! One of Texas Bay Credit Union’s Core values is to have fun because we recognize that investing time and effort in making the workplace enjoyable has tangible positive benefits for the entire organization. If you are looking for strategies to build a strong and positive work culture, I recommend reading “I Love it Here” by Clint Pulver. It’s a short read filled with great ideas. Remember to focus on the staff you have first. Employees that have fun, enjoy what they do, and are engaged will naturally share stories and act as advocates for your company, on and offline. If every one of your employees shared news and updates about your brand to their own social groups, then your audience will increase exponentially and for free.

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Jeremy Bratton VP of Training & Compliance

Every year small businesses become victims of fraudulent charitable schemes. Looking to take advantage of people’s generosity this time of year, scammers will increase their efforts by contacting businesses by phone, email, or text, pretending to be legitimate charities. They often attempt to rush people into making donations or trick them into donating by thanking them for an earlier donation they never really made. Small businesses can easily avoid these deceptive schemes by remembering the following: • Research the charity before you donate. Visit their website directly or use a charity research website like Charity Navigator or BBB Wise Giving Alliance to validate the charities’ legitimacy.

• Be wary of vague and sentimental claims that lack detail about their cause or where your money is actually going.

• Do not let anyone rush you into donating. This is a tactic scammers often use. Take the time to do your research; and if you cannot find detailed information about a charity, be suspicious.

• Never give money in cash, by gift card, or by wiring money. It is much safer to pay by credit card or check.

Brandy Guzman

Charlotte Yocom

VP of Branches & Operations

VP of Marketing & Business Development

This year has been a year of uncertainty for both consumers and business owners alike. As the holidays are approaching, it is understandable that buyers are weary or reluctant to spend in ways they have in the past. This can be tough for businesses in the sales or retail businesses.

During times like these, it is important to focus on expense reduction to maximize profits. Often, this review of how your company does business and ways you can cut back, helps increase efficiency and lowers the cost of doing business, which can be continued for years to come. Also, looking at the present need of consumers over a focus on a vast number of products. Focusing sales and marketing efforts on what really means the most to the consumers in times like these, and looking for out-of-the-box ways your company can serve your customers’ needs in nontraditional ways, can help your company weather the uncertainty of the economic storm.

Tis’ the season to be bombarded with ads to make your holidays brighter and the smiles bigger. How can your business stand out during the busiest advertising season of the year? Decide on a holiday promotion that catches a consumer’s eye about your product or service. What’s your business’s differentiator against the competition?

Highlight that in your advertising. Use lower-cost digital marketing channels instead of traditional print marketing to get your word out to your target segments. With digital marketing, you can keep an eye on the analytics, which allows you to quickly adjust channels, targets, and messaging if the data shows it’s not converting well.

Don’t forget to take advantage of your social media and word of mouth through reviews. Stay connected with past customers through email to alert them about your upcoming promotions and encourage referrals or repeat business with loyalty and referral programs.

Osman Ulhaq VP of Strategic Development

Small businesses must be creative to acquire consumers during this unpredictable holiday season. We are dealing with inflation and economic uncertainty, which will impact consumer budgets. Consumers plan to spend less this holiday season, which means many retailers will compete against each other. Digital marketing strategy can be a key differentiator for small businesses. You can create personalized product offers, focus on the value proposition, and deliver seamless shopping and shipping experiences.

Digital strategies tend to reduce your consumer acquisition cost and can cast a wider net for your business. It’s vital to reduce business expenses, plan your inventory, and focus on retaining your talent. Lastly, it’s fine to be optimistic about goals as long as you have a clear roadmap to attain them. If you know the target is out of reach, adjust.

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Local Business Spotlight: Marq-E Coffee and Donuts At Texas Bay, we love supporting our local businesses. This small local business is one of our Pearland branch’s favorite breakfast stops when they have a sweet craving. If you’re looking for a delicious donut, kolache, croissant, or steaming cup of coffee, drop by Marq-e Donuts & Coffee Shop. They are dedicated to providing the community with high-quality foods and services. Whichever tasty breakfast bakery good you are looking for, this local shop is here to serve it to you!

Important Dates

Connect

Credit Card 2X Points

TexasBayCU.org

Monday, December 19th Tuesday, January 3rd

Closed for Christmas

@TexasBayCU

Monday, December 26th

Insured by NCUA

Closed for New Years Monday, January 2nd

@TexasBayCreditUnion 3