On this episode of The Rundown with Ramon, I sat down with James Cuthbert, head of marketing for merchant solutions at Fiserv, the company behind Clover. We talked about what Clover is really built to do, why most small business owners are still underusing their tech, and what he learned from a Shark Tank–powered event filled with entrepreneurs. The conversation kept circling back to three themes: people, platforms, and community.

Key Takeaways

• Your first hires should be “happy and good,” not just smart. Culture and attitude are business assets.
• Social media is still the most underused free growth channel for small businesses.
• Clover isn’t just a card reader; it’s an operating system for your entire business.
• Cash flow is the make-or-break issue for most small businesses, and your POS data can help you manage it.
• Community and generosity are long-term growth strategies, not feel-good extras.

What Fiserv and Clover Actually Do for Small Businesses

Fiserv is one of the long-time players in financial technology. Behind the scenes, a large share of the transactions that happen in the U.S. run on Fiserv’s rails at some point. Clover is the small business face of that infrastructure.

If you’ve ever tapped your card or phone on a sleek white terminal in a restaurant, boutique, or local service shop, there’s a good chance it was Clover.

But James made it clear that Clover is not just a pretty point-of-sale device. It’s built to be an all-in-one business platform. Beyond taking payments, you can:

• Run payroll and manage employees through integrations like ADP.
• Track inventory and see what’s actually selling.
• Manage loyalty programs and customer data.
• Pull reports and dashboards that show cash flow trends.

He compared it to the way we think about a smartphone. The hardware is nice, but the real power lives in the apps and the data they generate. Most small business owners still treat their POS like a cash register. James’ point: if that’s all you’re doing, you’re leaving a lot of value on the table.

Hire Happy People, Then Make Sure They’re Good

At a recent Clover and Shark Tank–branded event that featured business leaders, sharks, and creators, one simple idea stuck with James: “Hire happy people.”

Barbara Corcoran’s advice was straightforward. Skills matter. Experience matters. But a consistently negative person can drag down a whole team, especially in a small business.

James added an extra layer from his time working with LL Cool J at Rock The Bells. LL told him, “Don’t be nice. Be good.” Nice people tell you what you want to hear. Good people tell you what you need to hear.

For small business owners, that’s a powerful filter for early hires:

• Are they optimistic, or do they bring a cloud into every room?
• Do they have the courage to tell you the truth, respectfully?
• Will they protect the culture you’re trying to build?

Your first hire is expensive in time, money, and emotional energy. If that person doesn’t work out, it can set you back months or even years. James’ advice is to take your time, go beyond the résumé, and hire people whose attitude and integrity match your vision.

You’re Still Not Doing Enough on Social Media

Gary Vaynerchuk spoke at the same event and repeated a message he’s been saying for years: you’re not doing enough on social.

It’s easy to roll your eyes at that, especially if you already feel like you’re posting a lot. But James underscored the logic:

• Social media is still the most accessible, free distribution channel for your message.
• Most small businesses are posting occasionally, not strategically.
• Very few are replying to every comment and DM or showing up across multiple platforms consistently.

Before you start worrying about AI, paid ads, or advanced funnels, James suggested asking a simple question: are you actually maximizing your current voice on social?

For small business owners, that might look like:

• Committing to daily posts on at least one platform.
• Repurposing content across video, text, and stories.
• Replying to every comment for as long as you humanly can.

Attention is the front door to revenue. Social lets you earn that attention every day if you’re willing to show up.

From “Just a POS” to a Real Business Operating System

Many business owners still see their POS as a necessary expense: “I need to take payments, so I bought this thing.”

What James and his team see, across thousands of businesses, is a divide between those who only use the front end and those who go deeper into the back end:

• Basic users: just swipe, tap, or dip cards. Maybe run a simple end-of-day report.
• Power users: build loyalty programs, track inventory in real time, manage staff scheduling, and pull detailed cash flow reports.

The difference shows up in time, money, and repeat customers. When everything runs through one platform, you’re not juggling eight different tools for payroll, inventory, marketing, surveys, and accounting.

That’s especially important when you’re understaffed, which most small business owners are. If your systems force you to log in to five dashboards and stitch data together manually, you’re losing hours every week.

The promise of Clover, as James framed it, is simple:

• Make money – by driving repeat visits and smarter pricing using your own data.
• Take money – by accepting payments quickly and securely in multiple ways.
• Save time – by consolidating tools and automating more of the admin.

Cash Flow Is the Real Battlefield

When Clover partnered with Jay Bailey and the Russell Innovation Center in Atlanta, they dug into the question: why do small businesses really fail?

Over and over, the answer came back to cash flow.

Not ideas. Not passion. Not even product quality. It was the day-to-day management of money coming in and money going out.

James encouraged owners to use the data that already flows through their POS to make better decisions:

• Watch daily and weekly sales trends instead of only looking at month-end.
• Use inventory tools to avoid overstocking slow-moving items.
• Use reporting and predictive analytics, where available, to forecast busy periods and staff accordingly.

Better cash flow management doesn’t just keep the lights on. It frees up capital for growth—new hires, new locations, better equipment, or more aggressive marketing.

Community and the Power of Planting Trees

The last part of our conversation moved from tech and tactics to something more human. James shared a quote he heard from Jay Bailey:

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”

For small business owners, that’s about community. Entrepreneurship can feel lonely. You can start believing that you’re the only one facing cash crunches, tough hires, or slow seasons.

James’ challenge was to keep showing up in real life:

• Get involved with local business groups, innovation centers, or chambers.
• Support other businesses, even when you’re tired or stretched.
• Build a “give first” habit—introductions, advice, referrals, mentoring.

Those seeds compound over time. Customers become friends. Friends become advocates. Advocates become partners.

It’s not just good karma. It’s good business.

Final Thoughts

Technology can absolutely make your business faster, smarter, and more profitable. But James kept bringing us back to the basics:

• Hire people whose attitude lifts the room.
• Use social media like the free megaphone it is.
• Treat your POS as your business operating system, not just a payment box.
• Guard your cash flow like your business depends on it—because it does.
• Invest in community, even when you’re tired.