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Switching to a New Payments System Helped This Small Furniture Store Boost Sales

Now they can compete.

By Mark Yarm

Zohar Lazar

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Outdoor furniture isn't cheap, and that means big furniture stores have a major advantage over little ones: They're able to provide no-down-payment financing on sets that can run into several thousands of dollars. Laura and John Merlein, co-owners of Laura's Home & Patio, in East Northport, N.Y., couldn't afford to offer something like that -- and as a result, they appeared to be losing customers to the large stores nearby, especially on big-ticket items. "We had a number of customers asking us if we did any kind of financing," Laura says.

Related: 25 Payment Tools for Small Businesses, Freelancers and Startups

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