Five Effective Ways to Make Businesses Pay Faster
Whether you’re a solopreneur or a small business, you likely face many challenges in the average working week. Some of those challenges may relate to daily operations, but many can also involve your financial position.
Anyone struggling with late payers and non-payers may wonder if there’s a way to make their clients pay quicker. While there are never any guarantees, doing some of the following things may improve your chances of receiving payments faster.
Use Invoicing Software
Whether you invoice a business as an individual or as a small business, you deserve to be paid on time, every time. However, if you’re not using invoicing software to send out payment requests, your demands for payment may not be seen by the right people.
Many sole traders believe they can’t use invoicing software because they aren’t a business, but there are many digital invoicing tools online that allow you to have virtual companies and send invoices from anywhere in the world.
With invoices being sent directly from your software or tool to the client’s inbox, you may stand a better chance of having your payment request seen for prompt payment.
Send Digital Invoices
Paper invoices sent by post still have their place, but they are becoming less common for many reasons. Sometimes, there can be a delay in the time it takes for the invoice to arrive, and businesses may not check their mailboxes as often as their email inboxes.
Send digital invoices to potentially reduce the risk of your invoice being missed or, worse, lost. You may also be able to save money on paper, ink, and postage in the process.
Offer Multiple Payment Methods
Sometimes, businesses are slow to pay people they work with because the available payment methods aren’t convenient. The more payment methods you offer, the more likely you may be to provide one that suits your client’s needs the best.
Offer various options like direct debit, credit cards, and cash, and you may just find that businesses pay you faster.
Send Invoices Promptly
If you want prompt payment, offer prompt invoices. When your product or service is fresh on the business’s mind, they may be more likely to pay for it in a timely manner. In contrast, if you wait several days, weeks, or even months to send an invoice, it may eventually slip from their mind, leading to a possible delay in the payment window.
Set Up Reminders
When you use innovative invoice tools and software, you generally get to benefit from a wide range of useful functions. One such function is reminders. We can’t remember everything, and some businesses may simply forget to pay your invoice.
Sending reminders can be a helpful way to ensure they don’t forget. Once the invoice is overdue, you can set reminders to go out at your set frequency. You then don’t need to worry about chasing up a business yourself unless all email reminders have been ignored.
You may never be able to make all your clients pay your invoices on time, but that doesn’t mean you have to put up with continuous late payers. By trying any of these tips above, you may notice a difference in how quickly you can be paid for your goods and services.
Authored by Martin William, Kamil Web Solutions