Business Debt/Debt Placement

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Expert: - 11/19/2009


Question
QUESTION:   I am woman in the process of starting my own home based collection agency. I have been in debt collections for the last 8 years. My question is who should I solicit for businness and are their any agencys that I can call and have them place business with me?

ANSWER: Jim,
If you are starting your own agency, no agency is going to place business with you, you will be their competition. What type of business are you starting? Is it a collection agency?
If you give me more information I might be able to help you.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Sorry ,

  Let me rephrase this and Thank-You for getting back to me so quickly. My wife and I are in the process of starting our own home based collection agency. We have combined over 15 years in the debt collection and accounting fields. We would like to know the best place to go to get new business as we are just starting out. We prefer retail, credit cards etc. Funds are limited so we are looking for someone who wants to keep their portfolios but outsource them. Again Thank-You

Answer
Jim,
I am not sure if you are asking where you can buy debt or if you are going to work on a commission basis.  If you are going to purchase debt, check out www.InsideARM.com
If you are looking for customers begin locally. Join your local chamber, and start talking to business owners that use collection agencies.  Hopefully you have a marketing plan, and you can follow that as you do these things, this will help you to gain customers.

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Michelle Dunn

Expertise

As one of the Top 5 Women in Collections, one of the Top 50 Collection Professionals, and winner of the Business Excellence award, I can answer any questions about debt, debt collection, improving business credit, creating a credit policy, enforcing a credit policy and collecting on past due accounts. I can also answer questions in regards to starting a debt collection agency since I have been a bill collector for over 24 years, started and ran my own collection agency for 8 years, and maintain my 12 year old Credit & Collections Association for members of the credit & debt collection industry. I am also the author of the popular and award winning book "Starting a Collection Agency, how to make money collecting money" now on it's 3rd edition. This book has won a the Writers Digest self published award as well as the New York Book Festival Award. I am a repeat contributor to the Wall Street Journal, and have been featured on NPR, CNN, as well as many other national radio and television programs. I have also been featured in national publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Smart Money, MSNBC and much more. I have 17 published books to my name and am an accomplished speaker and consultant. I currently write 9 columns for newspapers, magazines and online portals worldwide.

Experience

I have over 24 years experience in debt collection, I started and ran my own collection agency for 8 years and I am the founder & owner of my Credit & Collections Association that I founded in 1998. www.credit-and-collections.com

Organizations
My Credit & Collections Association, I was also a member of the American Collectors Association and Plymouth Chamber of Commerce for 11 years. I am a member of many writing groups as well as my local Women Inspiring Women chapter. I am a member of Know More Media as an expert for their blog on business credit.

Publications
Business NH Magazine, Smart Money Magazine, MSNBC, CNN, Forbes.com, The Wall Street Journal, Home Business Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine and website, many books, newspapers and television programs as well.

Education/Credentials
I have written 17 books in my collecting money series and one for Entrepreneur Press called the Ultimate Credit and Collections Handbook. My newest book is being published by John Wiley & Sons in May titled, The Guide to Getting Paid, how to weed out bad paying customers, collect on past due balances and avoid bad debt. This book is also being sold to many colleges as a text book.

Awards and Honors
My book Starting a Collection Agency, how to make money collecting money won an award from Writers Digest and the 2007 New York Book Festival in the "How to" category. I have won 2 awards from Dun & Bradstreet and Governor Jean Shaheen. I was nominated as one of the Top 5 Women in Collections twice as well as having been selected as one of Collection Advisor's Top 50 Collection Professionals by my peers.

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