A kind word and a pat on the back are nice, but who are we kidding? It’s a material world, money talks, and if this article is any proof, platitudes are easy to throw around.

That’s where gift cards come in. Gift cards have been the most popular type of holiday present for seven consecutive holiday seasons, and more than 80% of people want one this year, according to the National Retail Federation.

The popularity of gift cards among consumers isn’t the only thing that should make them intriguing to small business owners, though. After all, iPads and Justin Bieber are both pretty popular too, and you’re most likely not going to give them to your employees this year.

So, here are a few of the other reasons why small business owners should be pro-gift card:

You Can Buy Them at a Discount and No One Will Know

From 2005 to 2011, we didn’t use roughly $41 billion in gift cards, according to Tower Group, and another $2 billion-worth are expected to go unredeemed this year. The fact that so many people have perfectly good gift cards lying around has sparked a booming secondary market for them. You can buy popular gift cards through online gift card exchanges at discounts of up to 80%.

In other words, you can either project greater liquidity by giving more valuable gifts at a lower cost or simply spend less than you had originally planned.

They Can Easily Sell it or Re-gift it

The fact that you can sell gift cards for cash or just turn around and pass them off to someone else makes them a more versatile type of present than the standard knickknacks and clothing that are disseminated at holiday Secret Santa parties.

Even if you miss the mark and get someone on your staff a card to a store they hate, they’ll still have something to show for it.

Can be Combined

We’ve all received presents in which we simply have no interest, and they inevitably end up lost or in the trash. You could make the case that the same is true of gift cards, but can you put a few ties or jars of homemade jam together to buy one of those aforementioned iPads? Probably not.

Your employees could, however, combine a few different gift cards to purchase that big-ticket item they really want but will never get via a standard company gift giving program.

Offer Rewards Benefits

Small business rewards credit cards generally give you the option of redeeming for gift cards. When you do so, you tend to get more bang for your buck relative to redeeming for a statement credit or merchandise since issuers have partnerships with major retailers.

That means your rewards portfolio could actually be your gift giving budget this holiday season.

Help Co-workers Learn About One Another

The most common knock against gift cards is that they’re impersonal, but there’s no reason they have to be. Encourage employees to create gift card wish lists (basically maintenance-free lists of their favorite stores, which can be shared via Facebook or e-mail), and everyone can garner a better understanding of what makes their compatriots tick.

That could increase office morale and pay dividends in 2013 and beyond.

With all that considered, a small business holiday gift giving strategy should be taking shape in your mind. Whether you want to do a spin on Secret Santa and anonymously distribute wish lists amongst employees or handle all the gift giving yourself, it’s clear that this holiday season will be a more festive, rewarding, and inexpensive time for all involved.

If that doesn’t spread holiday cheer, I’m not quite sure what will (aside from some extra paid time off, of course).

Gift Card Photo via Shutterstock

The post Gift Cards Make the Best Holiday Present for Employees appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Via data solutions, according to Verizon, as apparently “The Business With The Best Technology Rules.”  That can’t be it though; fictional little Susie must have at some point needed a way to make company purchases, manage debt, etc.  That means she, like all young entrepreneurs these days, needed to choose the right small business credit card.

Starting Your Credit Career

The biggest obstacles most young entrepreneurs face in funding their business enterprises or getting truly rewarding credit cards are their credit scores and the law.  You see, the CARD Act – legislation that took effect in February 2010 – necessitates that people under the age of 21 either have a co-signer or be able to demonstrate sufficient individual income or assets to make a credit card’s minimum payments.

Most young people also have limited or no credit history, which means that the credit cards they could conceivably get – whether they be business credit cards for new businesses, credit cards for people with limited credit history, or secured credit cards – will have low credit limits.

As a result, credit building is the first order of business for most young business people.  Interestingly, a credit card is the most efficient credit building vehicle given that information about card use is reported to a cardholder’s major credit reports each month.  This means that finding a way to meet the CARD Act’s application criteria is imperative.

Once they do so, entrepreneurs must focus on staying well below their credit limits and paying their bills on time every single month so that the information streaming into their files at the major credit bureaus is positive and impactful.

When their credit standing improves (significant gains may be seen within a year; direct mail offers are good indicators of progress), young people can begin implementing a more lasting business payment strategy.  This too is influenced by the CARD Act.

Developing a Strategic Company Credit Card Strategy

The CARD Act introduced a number of new rules and consumer protections, but they only apply to general-use (personal) credit cards.  This means that when using business credit cards, entrepreneurs are not protected by laws such as that which prohibits issuers from increasing the interest rates on general-use credit cards unless the cardholder is at least 60 days delinquent on payment.

In order to garner the debt stability necessary to accurately manage a growing company’s financials, young entrepreneurs must therefore use personal credit cards for all funding (i.e. expenses that won’t be paid off before the end of the month).  If they do not, they risk the cost of their debt increasing at any time, for any reason.

At this point, it is important to point out that the idea of a business credit card shielding its user from personal liability is nothing more than a common myth.  All of the major credit card issuers hold business credit card account holders liable for debt.  Therefore, young business people will not be sacrificing anything by using a personal credit card for business.

It’s also important to note that business credit cards do serve a distinct purpose:  They allow cardholders to easily track company expenses, set individualized limits for employee spending, and earn rewards on every dollar they and their employees charge, among assorted other perks that vary by card.  A two-card strategy, whereby a personal credit card is used in the aforementioned manner and a business credit card is used to make purchases that will be paid for in full by the end of the month, not only allows entrepreneurs to garner unique business benefits, but also find the best possible terms for revolving debt and earning rewards.  No single card offers the longest 0% APR introductory term as well as the best rewards, after all.

Of course, having the right credit cards does not ensure business success, but armed with a solid plan for handing entrepreneurial expenses, young people who decide to go into business for themselves have a much better chance of following in Susie’s footsteps.

Lemonade Stand Photo via Shutterstock

The post A Young Entrepreneur’s Guide to Business Credit Cards appeared first on Small Business Trends.