-written by Andy Sussman, owner of TSG Weddings

Depending on the structure of your mobile entertainment company and the area you cater to, accepting credit cards can affect your business differently. For instance, a single operator must decide if the cost of the credit card fees (usually 3-6 percent) is worth losing money on the total cost of event services rendered.   The multi-op owner has more factors to consider when it comes to the credit card debate.  If a client pays with a credit card, they must decide who will absorb the fees — should the owner, the performer or both parties? In some areas of the country, it seems every event company accepts credit cards, and in others, they seem to be few and far between.
There are half a dozen online credit card processing sources. With the boom in the iPhone and Android market, your smartphone can double as a credit card machine. Companies have programs ideal for the average small business where you simply charge the client, and within 48 hours (in most situations), the funds are in your account.

My company is a small, multi-op DJ service that employs five DJs. We offer lighting designs complete with intelligent lighting, custom gobos, wireless uplighting and trussing.  We also offer LCD TVs, photo booths and favors.

A lot of our clients want everything we offer, but realize they don’t necessarily need it all. Before we began accepting credit cards, our clients would stick to what they need because the cost came directly out of their checking account.  At that time, the average sale per event ranged between $1,000 and $1,800 — which is very respectable. Once we started accepting credit cards, we found that people shopped for the services they wanted because it was easier to put the services on plastic. Now, our average sale per event ranges between $2,000 and $4,000.

So ask yourself, is it really worth giving up the extra event money just for credit card processing fees? Our average sale per event has increased significantly since we made the change, our clients are happier because they can get the services they want and all of our cool toys and offerings are being used more than ever.