Tag: Business

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Last summer, God blessed me to become a solopreneur and while it was liberating to finally get my business off the ground. The blazing trails to making my first 6 figures (Yes, I’m a big dreamer!) have been filled with rocks, turbulence, and strong winds to say the least. Being a business owner is hard work, and that’s saying it lightly. There are a lot of things that you have to do to get your business UP off the ground and running. Now, I have to be honest, you’re not going to have every “i” dotted and every “t” crossed when you open up for business. Most things you’ll learn as you go – but the basics should already be set in stone.

And one of those “basic” things is…….drumroll, please……taking payments! Yessss, now that you’re open for business this is one of the “main” things on your to-do-list that you should have figured out. However, you’ll be surprised that most businesses “DON’T!!” I know, I see your shocked face and trust me – I’m quite a bit shocked myself!

Things we’re not taking out time to implement today, Is Business Lost Tomorrow!

Roshonda N. Blackmon

So, you might ask – Well, what sort of payment system should be set up? I mean, taking cash is good enough, right? And while I’m so inclined to say yes, I have to give you a hard nod in the NO direction. With technology being as BOOMING as it is, I would suggest that every business owner (whether you’re brick and mortar or doing it from the house) you need more than ONE payment system set up to get your hard-earned dough.

After all – you put in the work to get your baby up and running and the last thing you want or need, is to lose money in the process. As Sweet Brown states:

And you’re right Sweet, nobody has time for that, not even you Business Parent!! So, I’m going to give you 3 suggested payment options that you should have, just in case your ideal client – Doesn’t have CASH on hand.

#1 PAYPAL

I absolutely love PayPal and had it set-up for my business before it even got off the ground. PayPal allows you to send invoices to your clients and you can also set up recurring invoices for bigger jobs. Let’s say a project of yours cost $500 and the client doesn’t have all the money at once ( I would suggest always getting a down payment on anything) you can set up your invoices to be sent to them at certain times.

Such as the 1st, 15th or the 30th of the month – this way you don’t have to get into your computer every time and send it manually. PayPal can do it for you! You can also set up taxes and it let’s you create a drop-down list for your most popular services, so that way you’re not inputting the same information every time. Be aware that PayPal does charge taxes for money that comes in, so if you’re charging $15.00 for something – just know that it will take a percentage of it. If your client does pay the invoice, you can ask that they take care of the tax on their end before sending it back. You can also download PayPal for your phone as well, which makes it even simpler.

#2 SQUARE

Square is a card read that allows you to take credit and debit card payments on the spot. I’ve seen business parents use this system whether they had a brick and mortar or if they’re running their business out of their house. I love square as well – it came in handy when I did a vendor event last year selling my book “Billy Wolf & The Kids of Heavenly Hills Elementary”

Not everyone had cash on hand, so it was nice to be able to pull out my square reader and take a payment instead. With square (which you can download through the playstore on Android or the Apple store for iPhone) you’ll also be able to setup an invoice for your most popular or frequently purchased items. Click on it, put in the amount of the item and ask the client to swipe! and Viola, there your money is – going straight to your bank account! (Of course this depends on how you set it up) You can also send your client a receipt on the spot after they sign for their purchase. And to put a little more cherry on top, if you download the square reader app, you can sign up to get the reader for FREE!!

#3 CASH APP

Okay, so out of the 3. Cashapp is my all time favorite, I love easy and with cashapp, it’s just that! Once you download it on your phone and set-up your back account information, you’re ready to rock-and-roll! especially if your client has cashapp as well. You can even get your very own Visa/Debit card specifically for the app.

This card came in handy for me when my regular bank card had issues with it’s chip. It was embarrassing holding up the grocery line while I went through the dreaded “three inserts and a swipe method!” However, having the cashapp debit card made it easier because all I did was complete the info to move cash from my bank card to the cashapp card and there you go, it did it immediately (no waiting, no holds) and no headache from me. It was a WIN-WIN! & If your client has cash app, it’ll be a win-win for you as well because you’ll get your money INSTANTLY!

We can’t expect our client to always have cash and if your business doesn’t’ have more than one payment system set up. We run the risk of not only losing money but a potential client whom now will think of your business as….well….not quite put together. Even if we do the right things, we can’t help what people will say, However – we don’t want to give them any ammunition to hold “thoughts like that” against us!

The hardest part with any of the tips above is setting it all up, but let’s not be lazy business parent, as what we don’t take out time to do today, Is money lost for us tomorrow. Remember what Sweet Brown says? Now you might say, I know about ALL these things, but in business? It’s not about what you know – but what you IMPLEMENT!

I don’t know what business you may want to start in 2020 but I pray these tips get you going in the right direction towards getting your “dollars and cents” in order!

Let’s get it right today, So we can be better business parents tomorrow!

I am not sponsored and did not receive any compensation for my statements. Every opinion above is 100% my own, based solely on my own experience with using these apps.