Fortunately, launching your home-based business as a freelance industry broker is relatively easy and affordable for most. Additionally, the hardware and software items you will need you likely will already have if you have any type of existing home office. But, actual needs will also vary depending on what type of broker you intend to enter as (blogger, part time, or full time)
In the lesson below, you will learn about our recommendations for startup and these are hardware, software, and other essential items you should have based upon how you intend to operate your new consultancy.
One of the most popular types of industry broker and certainly the most common is the “Referral Agent” or simply Factors Agent. Factors Agents are individuals that align themselves with a single factor or factor’s BDO and generate leads. They are heavy into networking whether face-to-face or on social media and do absolutely no direct marketing. They are nothing more or nothing less than quality lead generators for their chosen factor and are paid very handsomely with residual commissions for doing so.
Specifically what you will need to start operations as a freelance factoring consultant will depend greatly upon how you intend to enter the industry. All brokers, whether launching their business as a blog, part-time broker, or full time consultant will require these items from day one…
But, once you have a basic home office, the methods you can use to develop clients in the industry and begin earning your share of factoring’s residual, life-of-account monthly income are limitless. Full time consultants, part time consultants, bloggers, affiliate marketers, social media professionals…the list is endless.
For many new to the industry and especially those that will be operating on a part time basis, operating your factoring consulting business as a Business Blog is one of the most popular and certainly least expensive methods of entering the industry. Blogging provides a platform that represents the ultimate in flexibility for this specialized type of consulting and in addition to being great for part-timers, it is the perfect solution for active seniors and retirees that enjoy traveling and seeing the world and making some spending money while they do so. Factoring is an international method of finance which means this is a business than can be taken with you anywhere and any place. You will also be astounded at the professional nature of the business. Being associated with the factoring industry is a great “ice breaker” as you meet others that ask what you do.
Those factoring brokers that utilize a blogger format for their operations are “content marketers” and other than their blog, need very little when it comes to getting started. In fact, all that is really essential is…
Blogs are becoming more and more popular everyday for all types of consultants. As a freelance factoring broker, your blog should work hand-in-hand with social media to build lead-generating relationships. And, the sooner you begin blogging and adding content, the sooner those relationships can lead to results.
For those working a traditional 9-5 weekday job but with a goal of building a career in factoring in their off hours, you will need….
Part-time freelancers in the factoring industry tend to feature a broad variety of operating structures. Some strictly operate as after hours networkers, attending functions promoted by clubs, local Chambers of Commerce, SCORE, SBDC’s, etc. Others tend to operate a website related blog and focus primarily on contacts made using social media. Still others, use direct marketing techniques featuring postcards and mailers found in Factoring 202’s Annex along with telephone follow up.
The use of a CRM (Pipedrive recommended) is also optional for those entering the business part time, although the absolute need for a CRM will be evident once successful marketing campaigns are implemented.
Those entering the industry on a full time basis will require virtually all of the following items at the time of launching their business or soon thereafter.
Individuals that enter the industry with a full time career focus from day one, marketing support items as found in Campus IACFB’s Business-in-a-Box will be essential as most will not only generate leads through networking and social media but will also take advantage of face-to-face networking and direct marketing as well. Additionally, prospect list building will be an important task and to build quality lists efficiently and effectively, a CRM will be required. Pipedrive, supported heavily by IACFB, is our CRM of choice due to it’s ease of operation and exceptionally low cost for subscription.