Alicia Ng • January 15, 2020
Working in the education business is incredibly rewarding as you get to impact the lives of students as they grow and learn under you. However, it can also be extremely challenging as many education providers are wearing lots of hats today, from juggling student care to running their businesses.
In fact, many Small and Midsize Businesses (SMBs) in the education industry are struggling with an inefficient and labor-intensive workflow, such as: manually issuing hundreds of invoices per month, managing student records on incomprehensive tools such as Excel spreadsheets, and assuming the role of bill collector when customers simply forget to pay their monthly tuition fees.
So what’s holding education providers back from going digital?
Many education providers feel that going digital is capital intensive and do not have the budget set aside for such digital transformation. Other education providers feel that going digital is irrelevant to them as they think that digital adaption is only essential for big corporations. Some education providers simply are not aware of the tangible and intangible benefits that digital transformation can bring to their business.
What “going digital” means for SMBs in the education industry.
Going digital is as simple as education providers taking advantage of modern technology; it could mean outsourcing your payment process or investing in social media marketing software. In fact, according to a Forbes article in 2018, start-ups can increase revenue by 34% when they adopt digital-first strategies for their business. In a 2019 survey conducted by a global technology company (PTC) the top benefits of digital transformation were: improved operational efficiency (40 percent), faster time to market (36 percent), and alignment with changing customer expectations (35 percent). It’s relevant for SMBs in the education industry to embrace digital adaptation and take small, digital transformation steps forward, leading to higher customer satisfaction, increased revenue, and future growth.
Let’s look at the 3 ways that your business can benefit when you adopt a payment management system:
1) Save Money
It’s a myth that digital transformation can be too costly. In today’s digital age, going digital can be done at a low cost and fit budgets of all sizes. You can start by looking at areas of your business where technology can help to bring the most improvement and efficiency. Digital transformation does not need to be a full revamp of every aspect of your business at one goal; all you need to do is to take little, transformational steps to witness tremendous beneficial changes for your business over time.
When you invest in a streamlined payment management system, your Return On Investment (ROI) can be high if you take into account the improved customer experience and workflow efficiency.
You will be surprised by how much money you can save in the long run when you get a streamlined payment management system that ensures you do not miss out on any bills charged to your customers and keep track of any late payments instantly.
2) Save Time
When you run a business, time is money. Adopting a payment management system can save you precious time from performing all of the tedious, yet mundane, administrative tasks, such as tracking payments from diverse payment methods (e.g. cash, check, Paypal, Venmo, credit card, etc.) and client scheduling.
3) Improved Efficiency
With improved efficiency in workflow delivered through a simplified payment management system, educational businesses can focus on how to improve services by delivering a better and more interesting curriculum that can further benefit students. This will also help education businesses stay competitive and increase sales growth in the long run.
How can Finli help?
Finli is a simple payment management system for SMBs in the education industry. Our mission is to simplify small business owners’ lives by offloading tuition collection, invoicing, enrollment, and payment-related communications through our comprehensive business management software. We simplify payments so that you can simplify your life, and focus on the sweet spot of growing your business.
Many schools incur additional costs of about 3 – 4% on all credit card payments made by customers. With Finli, schools can now save up on these costs. Finli is quick to set up, easy to use, secure, and affordable. If you are interested to know more about how we can help you with your business, click here to request a demo.
Start with small, digital transformational steps today and reap the positive benefits that going digital can bring to your business.
Need help getting started? Finli was founded to help small businesses instantly invoice, collect immediate payments, and more seamlessly handle their accounts receivable. Sign up for a free trial here!
