Starting a note brokerage doesn’t take much money, but a few early decisions about your bank account, supplies, equipment and office setup will make you look and work like a professional from the first call. Here’s a practical checklist.
Hold off on a business bank account
Don’t open a business bank account until you’re ready to deposit your first commission check. Business accounts often carry high minimum balances, and falling below the minimum brings steep service fees.
Until then, use personal checks to fund your start-up costs. You can account for those personal funds as a short-term loan to your business.
Office supplies and a filing system
What you need depends on whether you run a paper or a paperless office. In a paper office, the lowly manila folder will be your friend. Quad-ruled paper pads help you organize handwritten information into columns while you take details from a note seller over the phone.
Essential supplies
- Pens, pencils and a sharpener
- Yellow highlighters
- A good-sized magnifying glass for reading fine print
- Metal or plastic sorters to keep accounts and leads organized
- Stapler and staple remover
- Business envelopes
- A card file (or contact list) for your contacts
- Quality white printer paper
Keep accounts organized
- Attach a call-sheet log to each manila folder to track every call.
- Number each account with the date you created it.
- Give accounts, not prospects, a unique identification number.
- Remember that one prospect can have more than one note.
Equipment that makes you look professional
Get good fax capability and voicemail on your phone. I personally despise call-waiting: it’s an insult to the person you’re already talking to. Let the new call go to voicemail.
Printing
- Buy a laser or inkjet printer with at least 600 dpi.
- Consider an all-in-one unit that prints, scans, copies and faxes.
- Print your contracts and correspondence yourself.
- Don’t print business cards for handing out; micro-perforated cards look awful.
- Have a print shop make real business cards, and consider two-sided cards.
Protect your computer
- Plug everything into a surge-protector power strip.
- Back up your files regularly; a hard drive crash can cripple your business.
- Keep your anti-virus software up to date.
Set up your phone and home office
When you can afford it, get a second phone line just for the business. A two-line phone with a display and caller ID helps, and routing your line through your computer can handle fax and voicemail.
If you work from home, make sure you sound like a business office to every caller. That means no background noise during calls: no flushing toilets, children or TV shows.
Record a professional voicemail greeting. For example:
“This is John Broker. Thank you for calling JB Investments. I am either in conference or on another line. Please leave your name, your phone number including area code, the best time to return your call, and a brief message. I’ll get back to you. Thank you.”
Also get a standard directory listing under your full name, so people who look for you can find you.
Marketing and a business mailing address
Skip display ads and yellow pages. Use direct marketing with professional brochures instead.
- Place your brochures in real estate offices, dry cleaners, law firms, medical offices and similar businesses.
- Always get the owner’s permission first.
- Print a different “department number” on each batch of materials so you can track which placements work.
For your address, rent a mailbox at a UPS Store or a similar service and use it on your letterhead and business cards. Pre-qualify prospects before you invite anyone to your home office, and consider visiting clients at their location when that makes more sense.
