A Collect Calling How can I start a judicial recovery business?

Question: I've receivedsome information on processing judicial judgments from home. Arethese companies and their training legitimate? How difficult isthis business to start and operate? How competitive is it? Is itlucrative?
Mark Shelly
Valencia, California

Answer: The fundamental workof a judgment recovery specialist is collecting money-doing thepaperwork and legwork to seize bank accounts, garnish wages andplace liens on or seize personal property. That's in additionto locating debtors who have moved, sometimes to escape paying offdebts. And you have to personally contact debtors about paying thejudgment you're handling. Sometimes a letter and a phone callproduce results-some debtors, when vigorously pursued, will jointhe million-plus people and businesses filing bankruptcy eachyear.

We suggest you do three things:

1. Go to local courthousesand ask the court clerks for their assessments;

2. Use search engines likegoogle.com, altavista.com and deja.com to learn from others whatthe problems are and how they're solved, what the rates are,and what people in the industry discuss. Many companies offertraining manuals, and there are member associations you canjoin;

3. Talk with people in thebusiness-find them using the Yellow Pages or engines likeswitchboard.com.

Charge a percentage-usually 30 to 50 percent-of what you collectas a fee to your clients. Collecting judgments is hard work, so howwell one does in a collections-type business depends on effort andpersuasive skill.

Another option is to buy a business opportunity. If the vendorwon't give you other buyers' names, or those you contactdon't seem to be doing the work, consider that a warning. Checkout the company with your local state regulatory office, the BetterBusiness Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission's ConsumerResponse Center at (877) FTC-HELP or https://www.ftc.gov/ftc/complaint.htm-especiallyif it asks you to spend more than $150 or so for businessopportunity manuals. In-depth research is always a good idea whenbuying a business opportunity.

Small-business experts Paul and Sarah Edwards' latestbook is The Practical Dreamer'sHandbook(Tarcher/Putnam Publishing Group). If you have aquestion regarding a start-up business issue, contact them atwww.paulandsarah.com orsend it in care of Entrepreneur.