If you’re looking to start a business and become a mompreneur, your first priorities are likely going to be coming up with a product or service, finding the market that fits it, and branding it. However, there’s one step of the service you should consider a little more closely. How are your customers going to pay for it? Cash is old fashioned and not the preferred way to pay by a growing number of consumers. What options should you start thinking about?
Credit cards
Online, credit cards are the most common form of payment, but they play a huge role in real-life business revenue, as well. 66% of all point-of-sale payments are done with plastic but a huge amount of small businesses still doesn’t allow for it. Picking a processing service with the help of sites like creditcardprocessing.xyz can instantly welcome more revenue in any business. It’s all about finding the right processing service with fees that you can manage and an acceptance of a broader range of cards.
Payment services
The fees and work involved with managing processing systems can sometimes be too much for small businesses to handle, however, and some prefer to handle it indirectly through alternative payment methods. These include PayPal, Amazon Payments, and WePay. However, the problem with many of these services is that they often redirect customers from your site, which can be confusing for them as often they feel like they’re not paying you directly.
Check
Taking checks from customers might sound even more old fashioned and it requires several steps, agreeing to the sale, getting the check, then taking it to the bank and processing it. As paysimple.com states, however, electronic checks have greatly simplified the process for businesses and consumers alike. Checks allow customers to pay conveniently, but they do carry a greater risk of bouncing and fraud which businesses should look out for.
Invoicing
Direct payments aren’t always the most effective for a small business, however. If you’re carrying out a service rather than delivering a product, you might not be able to accept payment until the service is complete. Invoicing is the most commonly used payment method, involving a transfer directly from the client after the invoice has been sent off. One of the larger problems with invoicing, that it takes time and effort from business owners and is prone to mistakes, can be fixed by simplifying the process with tools like invoicely.com, too. Just make sure you have customers sign an agreement to short payment terms so you don’t spend most of your time waiting for the money you’re owed.
Direct debit
If you provide an ongoing service, it might be inconvenient for the customer to keep having to go through the payment process again and again. It adds extra stress for business owners who are waiting for “pay day” to come around and seeing whether or not they’ll get their money. Direct debit allows you to automate recurring payments, making it easier for all parties involved to stay hands off and let the transaction happen. However, businesses often have to prove significant revenues to successfully apply for direct debit services.
The business model and the preferred methods of payment by are your target market should determine which payment methods make the most sense for you. Do your research to help you explore the options above.
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