If you are wondering if you should or can open your own collection agency, the answer is yes, you can! There are some things you should do before opening your own agency. You should have experience in the collection industry. You must know what type of business the collection business is before you can understand what you are getting into. You need to know the day-to-day activities of collections. You need to know the laws in the state you are in and the states you will be collecting in. You want to have experience dealing with people and negotiation skills.
You should also be ready to spend a lot of time getting people interested in your business. If you have worked in the industry for other people, new clients will know you have experience and be more comfortable placing accounts with you. If you don’t have any experience, you need to build credibility so potential clients will know you can do the job and do it well.
Write a business plan. If you are going to borrow money to start your agency you will need a business plan to show the bank. Usually a business plan is made up of:
An Executive Summary
A Business description
Marketing Strategies
Competitive analysis
Operations and management plans
Financial statements.
I have an example of a Business Plan and a Marketing Plan in my book, How to make money collecting money, Starting a Collection Agency. You should also include a cover or folder for your business plan. Include a title page and a table of contents. This will be very professional and impress any bank you may present it to. You should LOVE collection work. You either love it or hate it! If you love it, you will be passionate about making your business work.
Michelle Dunn has over 17 years experience in Credit and Debt collection. She is the founder and president of Never Dunn Publishing, LLC, is a writer, publisher, consultant and the Editorial Advisor for Eli Financial Debt Collection Compliance Alert Newsletter.
Michelle started M.A.D. Collection Agency in January 1998 and ran it successfully until she sold it in December 2004. She owns and runs www.Credit-and-Collections.com an online community for credit and business professionals. She has been featured in Ladies Home Journal, PC World, Home Business Magazine, Home Business Journal, Entrepreneur, The Wall Street Journal, NH Business Review, Professional Collector, and in Home Based Business for Dummies, Shameless Marketing for Brazen Hussies, From the Home-Front The Simple guide to starting and Running a Home based business, she was a featured guest on (NPR) National Public Radio and has been in many newspapers and magazines nationwide. She has many published articles and 5 published books to add to her list of accomplishments. www.michelledunn.com |
