Here's
a business idea that meets all the aspirations of anyone
who
wants a profitable, but easy, home business.
You
can start small with little or no investment, develop it in
your
spare time, and parlay it into a œ100,000 a year income - all
within
the next twelve months or so.
Really,
all it takes to move on this one is an empathy for people,
a
basic understanding of money management, about 500 business
cards,
some smart advertising, and you're in business.
Your
greatest
expense or investment, of course, will be for
advertising.
The
first, and most important thing to learn is the "thought
processes"
in the minds of the people or firms that lend money.
No
one lends Money with the thought of foreclosing on the loan and
taking
away a borrowers collateral. Whenever
the lender is forced
into
such a situation, everybody loses. The
borrower loses his
possessions,
and the lender ends up with about one tenth of the
money
he originally loaned out.
Therefore,
the lending institution will generally do everything
possible
to work with the borrower as long as he continues to show
good
faith in attempting to repay the full amount of the loan.
The
most important thing a borrower should do, once he finds
himself
in a financial bind, is to get in touch with his creditors
and
appraise them of his situation. Usually,
the lender will set
up
a meeting for an open discussion between himself and the
borrower,
in order to adjust or work out a more convenient
repayment
schedule.
Most
people who borrow money are having money management problems
to
begin with, and are actually terrified to death at the thought
of
people from the loan company calling them.
Although they
generally
won't admit it, most are aware that they've having
problems
managing their money. They're
embarrassed about it, and
instead
of openly seeking help, they attempt to cover up the
problem,
and then hide from or avoid the very people who want to
help
them.
Over
the past three years, personal and small business
bankruptcies
have been soaring to record levels.
People
want to file bankruptcy against their creditors, because
regardless
of how easy it is, the thought of having "gone
bankrupt"
still leaves a stigma.
And
this is where you should step in with your Professional Credit
and
Debt Counselling Service. You should
never have any trouble
finding
clients.
Remember,
step one is always to notify the client's creditors.
This
is the first instruction (or job) that you give to the client
after
you've heard his story. The borrower
should be the one to
notify
the creditors, and ideally, he should call each on the
phone,
set up a meeting, and then discuss with the lender his
current
financial situation as well as his plans to rectify the
problems,
and resume payments. The plan he'll
discuss with the
lender
will be the plan you assist him in setting up.
If
the borrower is in over his head and with no other alternative,
you
should immediately advise him to file for relief at the local
courts,
which gives the debtor time to regroup and reorganise his
financial
situation without being hounded by bill collectors.
Anyone
who's capable of earning wages, salaries or commissions,
can
make use of this plan. It should in no
way be thought of as
bankruptcy. This is simply a court supervised method for
a
borrower
to pay off his debts. The borrower
simply draws up a
plan
to pay off his debts over a three year period.
If the court
accepts
the plan, the lenders are almost always obligated to
accept
it. While more recent bankruptcy laws
still leave room for
abuse
by dishonest "big business", they fortunately have improved
the
outlook for the "little guy".
Your
job as a Credit and Debt Counsellor is to meet with the over
extended
borrower, listen to his problems, and help him to plan a
budget
to live by, and set up a plan for the proper management of
his
income that will include money for him to live on, plus
regular
payments to his creditors. In the
beginning, you can meet
in
the borrower's home, pretty much the same way as an insurance
agent
does. Later on, you'll probably want
your own office, but a
formal
office for your business will never be absolutely
necessary.
Many
people are reluctant to be seen walking into a Credit
Counsellor's
office. Again, there's a personal
embarrassment -
the
thought of their friends seeing them, and the worry of what
other
people will think of them. So if you do
opt for an office,
make
it as unobtrusive and as confidential as possible. A sign
stating
"Money Management Consultant" would be appropriate.
Gaining
the confidence and trust of your clients will be the
secret
of your success. And do not
underestimate the power of
"word
of mouth" recommendations by grateful clients.
Follow
the methods of the insurance salesman, making everything as
comfortable
as possible for your clients. So long as
you listen
to
your client's problems, and then work with him to plan a
budget
he can live with while paying off his bills, you won't be
required
to have a licence.
You
simply will listen, assist the borrower in planning a budget,
and
he administers it himself. He makes all
the contacts with his
creditors,
and makes all the payments directly to them.
To give
you
the money and have you disburse it among his creditors would
require
a licence for your business.
Step
two in your service is to find out the total amount of cash
your
client has coming in each month, and on what dates.
Calculate
according to his current obligations, how much he needs
for
living expenses: Rent or mortgage payment, utilities, food and
clothing. The remainder of his available income is then
budgeted
for
division among his creditors.
One
of the best (and easiest) methods of money management within a
budget
is via envelopes. The wage earner marks
a different
envelope
for each of his obligations. He then
makes a
predetermined
amount of deposit in each of these envelopes each
pay
day.
Thus,
if his mortgage were œ500 per month, and he brought home
œ200
each day, you'd probably advise that he "deposit" œ125 each
payday
into the mortgage envelope. And so it
would be with each
payment
envelope.
Many
people find this kind of system scary in the beginning, but
after
they've used it for a month, they swear by it as the only
way
to keep bills up to date.
Of
course, the most important thing you want to advise your
clients
to do is destroy all their credit cards.
Best of all, cut
them
in half and send them back with a short note explaining what
they
are doing and why - getting a handle on their debts according
to
their actual income. Basically, that's
all there is to your
counselling
service.
You'll
need a first meeting to hear the problems, and to make your
proposals. A second meeting will be in order to polish
and
endorse
the planning. Perhaps a third meeting at
the end of the
month
to assist them in making their payments from their
obligation
envelopes. You'll find that most of the
people you
serve
today will need your services again at some time within the
next
five years - sad, but statistically true.
It's
a "fast track" and ever changing world. People who are poor
money
managers today invariably encounter money problems, again
and
again, regardless of how often they get everything paid off.
This
is, unfortunately, what keeps the lending institutions in
business,
and presents the opportunity for you to become wealthy
as
a Professional Credit and Debt Counsellor.
You'll
need a receipt book. Drop by any large
stationery store
and
get the most impressive available. You
should charge œ100 for
your
services. Three counselling sessions,
with the payments at
œ10
per month spread over ten months is an ideal arrangement.
Explain
your fee during your first meeting.
Always
carry an attache case, and at each meeting, work at the
kitchen
or dining room table. If it's a husband
and wife, be sure
that
each is seated besides you. If it's just
one person, have
him
or her to your right if you're right handed, to your left if
you're
left handed. Never have a client
opposite you, across the
table. Round tables are best for empathy, agreement,
and
co-operation,
this has been proven psychologically - just believe
it,
and be guided accordingly.
Always
carry a yellow legal A4 pad, and have plenty of pencils
with
erasers available. The legal pads lends
authority to your
knowledge,
while leaving plenty of room for alternatives.
The
pencils
and erasers eliminate the symbolic fear of everything
being
"cast in stone", and conveys the feelings of negotiation.
You
should be well dressed, a portrayal of the traditional
"financial
officer", and yet in warm colours to accentuate your
empathy
with the problems of your clients. By
all means, you
should
be sparkling clean and well groomed. Do
not smoke during a
meeting
with a client, and always diplomatically refuse any
alcoholic
drinks that may be offered. Try to
"talk" with your
clients. You must never show any signs of disapproval
of the
actions
that resulted in your clients being in their present
predicament,
nor should you sound as if you're lecturing or
speaking
to children. Remember - and you can tell
your client -
this
has happened to many stable, conscientious people.
Maintain
an attitude of understanding and a sincere desire to help
them
out of their current "tight spot".
Don't let them get going
on
a deprecatory tangent, either. Should
they start down that
path,
simply tell them, "These things happen to everyone, and
what's
done is done; the important thing now is working out the
solution
to the problem."
As
mentioned earlier, your only real investment to set yourself up
in
this business will be for advertising.
Even that does not have
to
be a "saved up" cash outlay.
You can start off by planning to
run
an advertisement in your most read area newspaper. Check with
the
newspaper office to get the best price on a bulk space
contract.
Under
this kind of agreement, you sign to pay for a certain
minimum
number of advertisements for the next year or so, and as a
result,
your rates are considerably lower than those paid by the
infrequent
advertiser. Best of all, the newspaper
will bill you
after
the ad has run, allowing you 30 days from the date of your
billing
to pay.
You
should plan to run an ad in the newspaper for at least two
days
a week, especially in the Sunday editions, every week. Also
you
could have a circular made up, advertising your circulars, and
distribute
around your area. With a little
imagination and
thought,
you could soon be running a really profitable business,
helping
others.
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