Plastic Is Good, Its Very, Very Good
boy, I really lit a fuze under a lot of peoples seats with this idea..
I am simply saying that taking plastic is a very good way to '"get the job moving" and if they want to pay you this way it really shouldent be any problem.. And being a company that accepts plastic also makes you look
"more legit" in many ways....
Terry, you have been in business for quite a while, so I know you have had to have taken a few "large hits" already...its simply the cost of doing business.
if you have not had a builder go bankrupt on you by now, then you havent done much plumbing ..I am pretty sure you have done plenty...
In the construction world, its pretty easy to have a builder owe you a substantial amount of money , even after you get that "up front" money handed to you..
Though most builders dont work that way anyway,
they expect you to "trust them".. and you know what can happen here..
you fiel a lien if you can, and wiat in line for a few pennies on the dollar...
trust is a four letter word, aint it??
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I dont know how to say this , so here goes.
After you have been in business for a while, you sort of get a feel for customers that are going to be nothing but trouble, and you simply either walk away , or bid it so high that its worth all the pain and sufferring you might have to put up with. You probably know alreadywhat I am talking about...after a while you can just sense trouble customers.
I know for a FACT through my own experience that
master card is not a majic parachute that everybody is going to use to "weasel out" of their obligations through... Honestly if they want to do that, all they got to do is file bankruptsy, ect, ect . But it is a really good tool to build trust with and a great way to get all or most of your money.
I get probably about anywyere from 5k to a max 18k a month comming into my place on master card.... the reason is people today LIVE on PLASTIC..
PEOPLE DONT HAVE THE MONEY TODAY< but they got the CREDIT . I have done whole bathroom re-models on a credit card, 6900.00 worth... They didnt have the money that month, but they had the credit.....and I did the job.. no problems..
Most of you know this, already.. If you dont take plastic, they will simply go to someone else that does. Even if they have to pay 875.00 for the same water heater that you want 675 check or cash for , that water heater is going to get put in NOW, ...its just that simple.
The small 2% commission you got to pay can be added to the bill or you simply absorb it as cost of doing business.
I have NEVER had anyone put a stop on the bill 60 days later.....
Honestly, Plastic has literally SAVED MY /SS many times already.....
1 . when you got a deliquent bill or a bounced check for lets say $500, and they dont have the money, and arent really interested in paying anytime soon..... you can drag them into small claims court and maybe get your money someday, or you can give them a way off the hook by offering them a "Plastic discount" of lets say $475.00 .
They get you off their back, and now its masters cards debt.
Its off your books, and you got most of your money... and its better than spending your day in court.
2. I had a builder once in 97 that basically got himself into financial trouble, and you cant queeze blood out of a turnip,, once they go belly up, %75 of the time you are totally screwed thats even with a lien.
Due to my parterners poor billing system it added up to $7500 for one completed job and another basement rough inn, and he was sinking fast so we had a big problem here.
Basically, he told me he was broke and had no money, so go ahead and file a lien if I wanted to (what good it would do)
I asked him if he had a visa or a master card, and of course he said he did, then I told him that we TOOK PLASTIC and would take a discount if he would pay us today...We agreed to 7200. I got $5000 on two different master cards....that very day. Of course he claimed when he got his cash flow problem solved, and back on his feet he was going to pay us the rest .
he went under before we could get the rest. Yes, I did take a 2500 loss,
So I roughed in his basement for free, ok price of doing business.
but its better than a $ 7500 one...
Wether he ever paid his bill to the credit these companies is none of my concern, maybe he did and maybe he didnt, I dont know for sure and thats his moral dilemma.
Can you see how plastic is a great and wonderful business tool?
also, he never cried foul and protested the bill 60 days out either..
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3. I had another jerk builder that was a screamer, and that did not go over too well with me... WE bid a job at $3800 , and made very good money
for what we did.. Of course you are not going to get money up front from builders, so you have to "trust them" . The contract is worthless but you can still file a mechanics lien on the property.
anyway, its rush , rush, rush to get it done by Thanks giving, then you never hear from them and eventually they claim that they are having a "cash flow" problem....
I thereaten them with a lien on the job, they cry like babies because they dont want the homeowners who still owe them about 40k to know about their problems. They want me to take 1000 a month till the 3800 is paid off.
Just do not file a lien. right. yea, sure, I'll turst you.
Well, you know whats goint to happen here, I will get my first 1000, and maybe my second too, but after the 60 day lien period is over they will simply "spit in my face" and I will never see another dime. I refused to do this.
I went the "WAY OF THE PLASTIC" I told them I would accept $3650 on a master card and they could keep the rest.... and I got the money the very next day........I licked my woulds and moved on.
I realize I have to pay a small fee to get this money ect, but its still better than having to fool with these people for the next year or two.
Even though they were truely skumbags, they never put a stop on the plastic either, . And I honestly dont know wether they are still in business any longer .... I have never found out and its not my problem anymore..
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I learned all this through the school of hard , hard knocks.
Does anyone see how PLASTIC IS GOOD and could come in very handy some day ?? Its a great way to really get the ball rolling on many different types of plumbing jobs , and also to get your some or all of your money out of deadbeats???
I sincerely hope that I made a few points here that might be of value to some of you some day when you are in a tight jam.
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Honestly,
you guys should really be paying me for this education (LOL)
just kidding