Your Small Business Is Missing Out on These 4 Costco Benefits

Small business owners, rejoice! There are plenty of places to get services for your business, but few offer as many different services in one place as your neighborhood Costco. Yes, that's right -- Costco Business Services is designed to make your job easier and inch you a little bit closer to some of that work/life balance all the kids are talking about.

Of course, Costco is also about saving money, which can be great in an economy like what we're facing right now. So let's take a look at just how Costco can help you today.

1. Payment processing

Believe it or not, Costco is a great place to shop for both payment processing services and point-of-sale equipment. Through Costco's partnership with Elavon, Executive Members save an average of $1,574 per year on processing fees alone. Elavon also offers discounts on smart terminals, point-of-sale systems, online merchant payment solutions, and mobile payment processing. Rentals start at just $8 per month.

Elavon offers several types of payment processing solutions for Costco members, including "built around you pricing," which offers a single swiped rate for all card types; credit card surcharge pricing, which allows you to charge customers a surcharge for using their credit cards instead of their debit cards; and tiered pricing that gives one rate for swipe and chip transactions and another for online transactions.

Companies processing over $1 million in annual transactions may be eligible for additional custom pricing solutions directly from Elavon.

2. Business health insurance

Costco's partnership with the CBC Health Insurance Marketplace team ensures that your business health insurance options are both accessible and easy to understand when it's time to evaluate your options.

Offering specific coverage options tailored to small businesses, large businesses and enterprises, and level funded advantage plans, CBC can help you find the right coverage for your team. Small Business insurance plans are for companies with under 50 employees (under 100 in some states), and give your team protection against serious illness or injury even though they don't work for a Fortune 500 company.

You'll get real-time quotes and access to online tools that can make it easier to choose between the options that meet your basic criteria for health coverage. Licensed healthcare insurance specialists can then help both your company and your employees complete enrollment in the chosen plan, as well as help resolve any issues that may occur throughout the year.

3. Bottled water delivery

There's nothing like a little water cooler action when you're working in a physical location together. Besides, hydration is so important, since we're 70% water to begin with. If you've got a water cooler in your office or you're considering adding one, Costco can help with that, too.

Costco members get special savings on spring and purified water in 5-gallon bottles, and alkaline water in 3-gallon bottles, as well as great pricing on purchases and rentals of hot and cold water dispensers. Once your contract is set up, your water will be regularly delivered to your company and the old water bottles will be removed for recycling.

Not everything your company spends money on has to be huge -- sometimes just having nice water in your office can be a great perk.

4. Checks, forms, and stamps

Although you may not accept many checks these days from customers, you probably still write them to your own vendors, and that means you need a steady supply of paperwork. Costco's relationship with Harland Clarke makes it easier and cheaper to get the checks, stamps, and stationery that you need to do business.

From business checks in binders to address labels, tax forms, envelopes, ink stamps, and deposit tickets, there's little in the world of paper that Costco can't deliver to your business's front door to make your accounting, payroll, and other departments run more smoothly.

Costco for hot dogs, Costco for your business

Costco may be famous for its static hot dog pricing, but it should also be recognized for perks that benefit customers who own small businesses. We all know budgets can be tight, but sometimes membership has its advantages. Next time you're at Costco, ask about perks for your small business, or check out the website for even more benefits you may be passing up!