Start a Credit Counseling Business
Start Your Own Credit Counseling Business From Home
Your home Credit Counseling business should have an easy time attracting clients. Potential clients usually know that they have not done well in managing their own financial business and racking up consumer debt. Most people will do anything to avoid filing for bankruptcy against creditors. People are aware these days that once personal bankruptcy is filed it takes years to rebuild credit, let alone the label that a filing of bankruptcy can bring. You can work your new company right from your own home by meeting the client in their home or an agreed upon location. If you choose to have an office as your business grows (though this isn’t necessary for success); make sure that the sign used on the door is discreet and professional enough to protect confidentiality for your client. They will appreciate the privacy. This helps bring about trust and confidence for the client and will help you spread your business by positive ‘word of mouth’ feedback. What you will need is a caring approach for others, to be a good listener for your client’s situation and to be good at money management. To start your own credit counseling agency business from home you'll need some supplies. You’ll need business cards, a professional looking receipt book, an attaché case for appointments, a yellow legal pad, and pencils with erasers (gets rid of symbolic fear of any plan being permanent). You will need some well thought out and strategically planned advertising. In most states a license is not necessary. You’ll want to come to your appointments looking professional, well-groomed, and well-dressed; wearing warm colors helps your clients feel at ease. Never smoke or smell like cigarettes and always politely turn down any offer of alcoholic beverages. People will respect you if your present you financial management exptertise in a professional manner. Professionally, yet comfortably speak with your clients. Do not express any signs of disapproval over your clients past financial choices, and do not speak in a condescending or lecturing tone. Financial problems happen to people across all demographics and populations. Do not let your client focus on what they did to get to their current situation and negative self-talk; but help them to stay focused, and focus together, on a proactive stance to solve the situation. Work with your client at the kitchen or dining room table. If you are dealing with a couple, it is best that each spouse is seated beside you. If only one person, have them on your right if you’re right-handed, and on your left if you're left-handed. Do not ever have a client opposite you and across the table. Round tables preferable for setting an environment that is best for empathy, and encouraging agreement and cooperation. Three advice or counseling sessions are recommended. In the first meeting you’ll want to hear the client’s financial problems, and make your proposals. You may want to have them run a credit report from one of the three main credit reporting bureaus (Equifax, Experian, Trans-Union) to get an accurate picture of their credit history. The most important thing to advise your client to immediately destroy all of their credit cards by cutting them in half. This eliminate the obvious risk of more spending. In the second meeting you and your client will fine tune the financial information plan you’ve proposed. You may need a third meeting at the end of the first month to help your client in making their payments with the envelope method discussed below. Finally, contact your client periodically to see how they are doing with their finances. Statistically speaking, many clients may need your services once again within five years. Typical and reasonable charges for your services should be $150, more or less, over a one year period. The client can therefore pay $10 each month until paid. The payment method should be discussed in the first meeting. Your job is to listen to your client talk about their financial situation, help them plan a budget that they can follow and live with (including money for them to live on while making regular payments to creditors), and then to make sure they canlearn to administer it themselves. It is the client’s job to contact their creditors and make payments directly to them. The client needs to contact each of the creditors by phone and set up a meeting to discuss a payment plan and schedule for the debt (that you previously discussed with the client) and resume payments. You do not do this part as if you take this responsibility on it will then require you to have your business licensed. If your client, the borrower, has no other options on the debt he has, you will likely want to discuss with them consideration of filing for "The Wage Earner's Plan." This is discussed in Chapter 13 of the Federal Bankruptcy Act. This gives the debtor a time period to regroup and reorganize their financial issues without being troubled with bill collectors. Any one can take advantage of this plan as long as they are able to earn wages, salaries, or commission, and can use the plan. This is not bankruptcy, just a court supervised way for a person to get their debts paid. Your client, the borrower, has a plan drawn up to pay off their debts over a three-year period. The court must accept the plan and lenders have an obligation in most cases to accept it. If the client can realistically pay off their debts, the next step for you is to find out the total amount of cash your client has earned each month, and on what dates. Calculate according to the client’s current obligations, how much they need for living expenses: Rent or mortgage payment, utilities, food and clothing. The remainder of their available income you will budget for dividing among their creditors. The Envelope Method is one of the easiest and best ways of money management within a budget. A different envelope is marked by the client for each of their obligations. They then make a predetermined and set amount to deposit in each of these envelopes each and every payday. Promoting and Advertising your Credit Counseling Business:You will need to invest in advertising, though will not need a ‘saved up’ amount of money. Start with your local newspaper and run a two-column wide by three inch length ad. See if you can get a deal on a bulk space contract where you pay for a certain minimum number of column inches for the following year, and so your cost is lower. Newspapers will often bill you after your ad has run so you get 30 days to pay. Run this ad at least three days each week, especially have it run on Sundays. Other ideas are placing an ad in weekly shoppers newspapers, creating and passing out a business flyer about your service, also using descriptive business cards and tacking them to bulletin boards in high traffic areas. When you can afford it, advertise in your local yellow pages. Your ad should look good and you should feel that it will be well received by potential clients. Use an attention-grabber headline (first line) that shows the potential client how much using your service will improve their life and a line that removes the potential client’s fear that he will make a wrong decision using your service. Finally, have a statement in your ad demanding for immediate action. A good positive ad needs to include all three. Always remember your full contact information in the ad, including your email address and website if you’ve created one. Be a guest speaker at local civic clubs and luncheons. Another idea is to teach a credit and debt counseling workshops and seminars in your community. Do not offer this for free as people are less suspicious when they pay even a small amount to attend. Make sure these events are fully advertised. In your speech outline the ‘Envelope Method’ and close by inviting those in need of help to contact your office and make an appointment. If your business workload is growing beyond what you can comfortably handle, it’s a great idea to make a list of those in the future that you could train as employees to help you. When you have three counseling/advising sessions five days a week, on average, this may be the time to look into more help. You can pay this person, or people, by commission and still maintain a reasonable profit level. You want to consistently promote your business and seek new customers. In Summary: Your Credit counseling business can truly make a positive difference, as well as a lucrative income. Your client will likely have a renewed sense of confidence, self-esteem, and less stress, as they are able see that their debts are getting paid. They will have a great sense of accomplishment at the end when all their debts are paid off. Their creditors/lenders will be happy to work with the client, as long as the client is showing good faith in paying off their debts, otherwise they know that they will end up with about one tenth of the money originally loaned. Of course, as a business you receive satisfaction in helping people and earning positive income. Finally, if your client doesn’t succeed in keeping with a budget and having minimal debt in the future, than they may return within a few years if you served them well in the past, and you again will get paid.
Computer Work At Home Jobs Guide
|
||||
| te | ||||
Complete Work At Home Guide
