While most plumbers may like to think that they’re mostly serving routine maintenance or installation customers, the most common nature of those calls is likely panicked customers with a burst pipe, a backed-up toilet or another emergency that needs a response ASAP.

To tackle these emergency problems, many plumbers often cover the cost of a quick trip to the hardware or plumbing store for a customer in advance — but this practice is cutting into the already-stretched bottom line that many plumbers face. According to one recent survey, nearly 50% of plumbers believe that cash flow problems are the biggest issue facing the industry today. In a highly competitive landscape that often causes diminishing profit margins for already-struggling businesses, that’s not a good thing. Especially if you’re a large, distributed plumbing operation, this practice can be akin to a death by a thousand cuts for your business — $50 here, $100 there — it adds up and ultimately cuts into profit margins.