By Andrew K.
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Business owners have reported having to reduce their salaries and at times forgo it together.
Most small businesses have challenges financing their business operations due to late payments. And not just business operations, but also loss of opportunity as the business will be able to hire new employees and or purchase new equipment or software.
Most small businesses cut their marketing budget and growth efforts at least by 20% due to late payments. It is changing and growing at a steady rate with a reduced marketing budget for acquiring new clients.
Late payments may affect salary increases and in some cases late salaries as well. Small businesses have reported that if they could have stable cash flow, they could increase salary rates by 7.4%
To reduce late payment, a small business can take the following measures and practices to get paid at least 3x faster.
The following are the most effective of get paid on time.
Sending invoices on time can help you get paid fast. It allows you to give your clients enough time to prepare for your payment. Most businesses have a payment cycle. Knowing when your clients make payments will allow you to send invoices to int time for that payment cycle.
And having an idea of how they handle outstanding payments can also create help you schedule sending your invoices on time to allow for curry overs.
Sending invoices on time automation can come in handy. Automation will help you invoice your clients more effectively. And allow you to put your communication between you and your clients on payment-related issues on autopilot.
Automation can also significantly reduce errors. Nearly 70% of late payments are due to invoicing errors. Most of these could be reduced or avoided altogether with invoicing software.
Automation allows you to send invoices, reminders and follow-ups without you having to remember to, giving you more time to run your business without worrying about payment follow-ups with your clients.
Allow your customers to pay through different methods. You can look into the following methods for your clients as payment methods options: Mobile, Card, Bank transfer, Cash, and Check. This will allow the client to go with the most convenient way for them to send out the payments.
you can offer your clients a discount or free item if they pay a few days earlier. This will motivate most customers to pay early.
If you follow the above steps, you can reduce late payments by at least 85%, as most businesses have reported missing payments because they forget the due date, as they have a lot of moving parts in their own business. It's up to you to remind them about the payment. Otherwise, you find yourself calling them about late payments all the time, which may cripple your cash flow.
The best and most proven way of managing invoices, reminders and customers is to use an invoicing system such as Treble Wave to invoice your clients. Treble Wave allows you to send invoices on time, and send scheduled reminders when invoices are about to be overdue or are overdue. The reminders are sent two ways, to you and your clients. Helping you save time and allow your mind to focus on other things.