And how he was able to grow the business through new partnerships and technologies.
Jed Morley is an entrepreneur and businessman with a background in real estate, development, and business leadership and management. He partnered with Platinum Payment Systems (PlatPay), a company that provides merchant processing and is best known for its dependability and excellent customer service, in 2008.
What is something about your early life that usually surprises people?
Jed Morley: People are usually very surprised when I tell them that I was raised on a farm. Specifically, a farm that didn’t raise crops, animals, cattle, etc. My family just happened to live in a neighborhood with other surrounding farms – we didn’t really even have much farmland for ourselves.
Most people also get very surprised when I tell them that I come from a huge family. Especially when I tell them that I’m number eight of thirteen kids and that we have over 180 members in our immediate family — that’s from just my parent’s line down.
What other things would you say are notable about your past?
Jed Morley: I was pretty adventurous growing up. At 18 years old, I decided to move to Alaska, and I worked as a lumberjack there for quite some time. That was definitely a growing experience for me. And, I still believe, to this day, that I worked with some of the hardest-working men I’ve ever (and probably will ever) known during that time. Despite the high-risk job, everyone there was truly devoted to what they were doing.
Not too long after that, I decided to move again, this time to Argentina, where I served as a missionary for my church. That was an eye-opening experience as well. Especially as it forced me to have to adapt to an entirely new setting and to entirely new circumstances.
What was your early career like?
Jed Morley: I studied business at Utah Valley State College and the University of Phoenix in my first years as an entrepreneur. All while juggling several different jobs and running my own businesses at the same time.
For the most part, my early career was centered around the real estate industry. During that time, I sold hundreds of homes, both new and existing, and took part in the development of charter schools, entire subdivisions, hotels, etc.
When did you partner up with PlatPay? (And Why?)
Jed Morley: Officially, I partnered up with Platinum Payment Systems (PlatPay) twelve years ago, specifically in 2008. As for the why, I find it ultimately satisfying to help people solve their payment problems. Sounds cliché I know, but it really is satisfying.
I also take pride in the fact that we’re considered the industry’s leader when it comes to managing and solving payment issues during periods of major economic shifts. Such a positive image has helped us grow the business, of course, but, more importantly, there’s just something to be said about being trusted for something so vital.
Everything in business revolves around payments, after all.
Any advice for beginner entrepreneurs looking to start or manage their own business?
Jed Morley: Sometimes it takes patience to grow a business. So, prepare yourself to put aside your pride to succeed.
It’s something that I learned earlier on in my own career — when I started a dot-com business. Unfortunately, that particular venture didn’t work out so well for me. I threw all my business-sense away and ended up ignoring the whole project when I thought that it was not going anywhere. In the end, I ended up having to, literally, unplug the whole thing. If I had just waited and worked on it some more, I would have probably managed to make it work. But I didn’t. I just gave up on it.
Definitely not a shining example of business success on my end, but it’s an experience that I’ve learned to grow from.
What are you most looking forward to right now?
Jed Morley: We have every intention of pushing the limits when it comes to building PlatPay so that we can help our partners become even more successful.
However, if I were to talk about one specific project that I’m looking forward to, it would have to be PlatGives. PlatGives is a non-profit that we established to help others with their own nonprofits and charities. We’ve already devoted quite a bit of 2020 making sure that it’s working well, and I’m definitely looking forward to how it will grow from this point on, and how we can help others grow through it as well.
