What’s the secret beyond building one of the fastest-growing merchant processing companies in the United States? Level up your business growth strategies by learning from CEO and Managing Founder, Jed Morley, in the interview below.
How exactly did you end up in the merchant processing industry?
Jed Morley: Ah, that’s a bit of an odd story. You see, unlike what is probably considered the ‘standard’, I wasn’t at all involved in the merchant processing industry before I leaped into it. That’s not to say that I wasn’t prepared, but just that, in an official capacity, I was expending my efforts elsewhere.
I suppose you can say that my occupation back then did play somewhat of a role in the formation of Platinum Payment Systems, but only indirectly. Before we launched Platinum Payment Systems (PlatPay), I had used up all the connections and resources I got from my job as a real estate broker to study how all the businesses I had worked with had processed their payments. The more I understood it, the more excited I got. And there you go. Origin story, unlocked.
What’s one thing that helped you get on your feet at the start of your journey with Platinum Payment Systems?
Jed Morley: The team that we created around PlatPay, much like my ‘origin’ story, is not your average, traditional team plucked straight from the banking world. No, we all had unique backgrounds and experiences that were separate from the payment processing industry. Which, fortuitously, is what allowed us to truly get ahead in the beginning. Fresh eyes see more, and with our endless passion to learn, we were able to push forward to become a very singular kind of merchant processing company that the industry had never seen before.
Has anything changed in your business process lately? If so, has it changed in a good way or a bad way?
Jed Morley: Just like most businesses, we’ve had to adapt to the major economic shifts and uncertainty caused by COVID-19. Before, we generated a lot of our business by personally connecting with people through events hosted around the country. But, of course, that wasn’t really possible this year. Instead, we’ve had to adapt and streamline our process towards digital marketing.
It’s definitely quite a big shift. And, I’m not saying that it will be a ‘forever’ kind of change. However, because of the amount of ‘good’ that it brought, it’s something that we will be incorporating more in the future — as it allowed us to not only generate new business more efficiently, but it also led us to the realization that we can expect to grow much more in the future.
What feature is Platinum Payment Systems best known for?
Jed Morley: I’m a firm believer that just about any merchant processor can process payments for you. It only takes the right equipment, after all. BUT, the same cannot be said for their ability to provide the level of support that you’ll need while those payments are being processed.
Platinum Payment Systems stands out because we make sure that we’re always there to help. After serving our partners for over a decade now, and regularly meeting other business owners in events, we know what works and what doesn’t. This ‘feature’, rather than the advanced tech that we use or our lower than average rates, is what our partners have appreciated the most in the years that we’ve been working with them.
What do you think makes you so successful, and why?
Jed Morley: Personally? I think a lot of my success comes from sheer stubbornness and perseverance. I think that, once you’ve started, the biggest obstacle that you face, whether as a business owner or something else, is yourself. If you don’t push forward, you’ll never get anywhere. That’s just how it is. For me, the easiest way to get around this obstacle is to do only the things that I am particularly passionate about. The work I do now, for instance, is incredibly fulfilling for me.
Not just because I’m the kind of person that’s obsessed with the problem-solving aspect of day-to-day work at PlatPay, but because I’ve found a way to give meaning to what I’m doing by making sure that there’s always a purpose behind everything that I do.
And what kind of purpose is it that keeps you going?
Jed Morley: I found my purpose during an event two years back. It was much like any event, but at one point, this guy came out and revealed to us this plan, this mission to help out orphans that didn’t have anywhere else to go. At the time, I was amazed at the sheer volume of people willing to help him. But, even more than that, it woke me up, in a way. And made me realize that, despite the generosity that was given that day, there were always those who needed help.
And so, as a way of giving back, we launched PlatGives. And, with it, our own mission to make a difference. Even if it’s just a bit at a time. That kind of thing, just finding meaning in the things that you do, it’s a great way of keeping yourself motivated and passionate about the things that you love.