Service Businesses: Consider Mobile Payments to Improve Cash Flow

October 31, 2016 by

There was once a Dilbert strip that featured a small business trying to do business with Dilbert’s company.

The small businessman insisted on prompt payment, because if he wasn’t paid promptly, he would go out of business. Then, perhaps realizing what he’d just said, he noted that Dilbert’s business would never have to pay for the work if he did go out of business.

Funny joke, after a fashion—at least to those who have never run a small business and been in exactly that situation—but mobile payments are representing a great way to speed up the process of payment after a completed job.

This is especially true for landscaping companies, as noted in a recent report from Total Landscape Care, who asserted that such businesses are routinely interacting with customers, so why not take the opportunity to get paid on the spot by offering a mobile payment system?

Square, for example, offers a simple card reader dongle that plugs into a smartphone, allowing users to simply run the credit card of choice through the device and charge it as though a full register system were involved.

Naturally, not everyone is going to be interested in such a program, and will want to be billed as normal, allowing the customer to dictate when payments go out. However, others will likely appreciate having the option, and some will be more than willing to settle up immediately rather than having a bill hanging over their heads.

While the report points out the value of mobile payments for landscapers, nearly any service industry will be able to take a similar advantage of mobile payments. Plumbers, electricians, exterminators, repairmen…all of these positions and more are able to offer mobile payment options and take advantage.

Don’t just limit to a credit card, either; consider the value of taking Apple Pay for dog walking, or Samsung Pay for housesitting.

Expanding out just a bit to a new way of doing things can open up new opportunities, and for service businesses looking to narrow the gap between services and payout, mobile payments can be a new and unexpected way to do the job.

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