Credit Card Processing for Event Planning Businesses in Sacramento

Event planners plan weddings, special birthdays (such as a sweet sixteen, quinceanera, or a bar/bat mitzvah, among others), a product launch, or any other kind of large party. It’s a job that involves a diverse skill-set, but the most important may be ‘peopling’. You need the ability to make friends out of strangers, then turn those acquaintances into mutually beneficial business dealings. It helps if you’re good at networking, and if you’re the kind of leader that motivates from the middle. Because while the job requires a lot of delegation, there will also be lots of times when you need to join the ranks and get your hands dirty.

Securing suppliers

Event planners in Sacramento get especially busy because this is such a bustling city. It neighbors some of the most colorful parts of the nation, so events and parties can get unconventional and exciting. That said, an event planning business is likely to have a lot of cash flow issues – more than your typical business. Why? Because events come in all different sizes and with different sized budgets. One huge event can make your season, but it can also drain your resources if you don’t collect payment promptly.

And getting your clients to pay you can be a little more tricky. A customer sees you as a sort of general contractor, leading their party army to victory. Less scrupulous clients see you as a middleman or woman they want to undercut. This type of customer may want to meet your suppliers and pay them directly. That’s a red flag, because they might later try to cut you out of the deal.

At the same time, even the most honest and scrupulous customers want convenience. A party is a big expense, and it can be challenging to pay cash upfront. Being able to put your charges on their credit card lets them buy now and pay later. And just as you may be wary of some of your customers, they may be wary of you. Paying by credit card gives your customers peace of mind that you won’t just disappear with their cash.

For these reasons and more, many potential customers will only do business with you if you accept credit cards. And if you don’t, then they will find one of your competitors who will.

Mobile payments

Whether your customer tags along or not, you’ll frequently have your hands full, literally. At any one time, you have shopping lists, party items, and probably a few staffers in your car. (Service workers, chefs, errand-people, and more). So while you’re constantly paying and being paid for items, you probably don’t want to walk around with wads of cash. They make you an easy target for criminals. You also don’t want to spend half the day chasing checks.

Get around this by signing up with the right credit card processing company. They can provide virtual shopping carts for your online store, free apps to accept mobile credit card payments on your tablet or smartphone or portable electronic keypads for customers and business partners, depending on your needs. So pay your suppliers by card, and persuade customers to pay you by card too.

For more information on how to accept mobile credit card payments for your event planning businesses in Sacramento, or to sign up for a merchant account, please call (888) 924-2743 or go to Charge.com.