Lawn Butler
06-01-2003, 09:25 AM
Every month, when the bills are approaching the due date, I start getting really nervous. Last month, I got stiffed on one bill and the guy still hasn't paid.
So I'm trying to figure out a solution to the problem. You see, I can't keep telling myself I'm better off doing this than I would be working for someone else because I'm making XX per hour. As soon as you factor in a dead beat or two, that XX/hr starts shrinking fast.
I've called the bank and investigated credit cards, but in order for me to accept credit cards, it'll cost me 2.87% of my gross revenues, as well as 2.87% on the 7.5% sales tax I'm required to collect for the friggin' government. If you figure in the collection of sales tax, it works out to be about 3% of revenues. At 3%, that's equal to $30 on a $1,000 worth of invoices. Basically, you could re-phrase that to mean that one in every 30 cuts or so is free. That sucks if you think of it like that.
So now I'm thinking of adding a $5.00 "monthly statement fee" if a customer elects to pay via credit card. This would more or less, on average, cover my costs for the credit card processing.
If a customer balks over the statement charge, I could then explain that there is no statement charge for advance pay customers. If the customer is willing to pay an estimated monthly amount in advance every month, he/she can save $5 per month.
Any suggestions?
So I'm trying to figure out a solution to the problem. You see, I can't keep telling myself I'm better off doing this than I would be working for someone else because I'm making XX per hour. As soon as you factor in a dead beat or two, that XX/hr starts shrinking fast.
I've called the bank and investigated credit cards, but in order for me to accept credit cards, it'll cost me 2.87% of my gross revenues, as well as 2.87% on the 7.5% sales tax I'm required to collect for the friggin' government. If you figure in the collection of sales tax, it works out to be about 3% of revenues. At 3%, that's equal to $30 on a $1,000 worth of invoices. Basically, you could re-phrase that to mean that one in every 30 cuts or so is free. That sucks if you think of it like that.
So now I'm thinking of adding a $5.00 "monthly statement fee" if a customer elects to pay via credit card. This would more or less, on average, cover my costs for the credit card processing.
If a customer balks over the statement charge, I could then explain that there is no statement charge for advance pay customers. If the customer is willing to pay an estimated monthly amount in advance every month, he/she can save $5 per month.
Any suggestions?