Economy

First of all I want to say hi, I am a new member and have been reading through all of this great information for hours and hours. What a great source of information it has been....

I am in the middle of my due diligence, contemplating the possibilty of stepping into the bonding business. As with everything else, I am curious what effect this crazy economy has had on this line of work?? I assumed that with a down economy, you have a rise in crime, therefore a boost in business.......but I have feeling you guys might be getting ready to tell me something different.

Give me your thoughts-

Thanks

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Heritage and Profession Together

J.G. Marshall
MARSHALL FUGITIVE SERVICE
Lic. # 2008-392
Moderator


Its the Irish in my mind that keeps me sane,
and the Irish in my heart that keeps me strong.

In a perfect world, more crime would equal more work and profit for us, but unfortunately our business also suffers with the economy. Defendants and their cosigners often can't afford our fees. The bond agents that write the discounted or financed bonds can't afford to pay either the bond, or pay someone to chase the money or the skip. They usually end up out of business unless they have another source of income to cover their loss.

Many of us that write bonds have gotten stricter on our requirements. Even if we collect the immediate cost to write the bond, we still have additional business and personal expenses that have to be covered. The average person doesn't understand the cost of operating a business. They don't see that we have bills to pay, just as they do, only ours are higher because we are self employed. We are at the bottom of their list, until they are in jail, and think we should assume their liability to get them out.

Somehow, when a person is in jail, they expect their problem to become our problem, and try to make it our responsibility to take care of them. The hardest thing that a bondsman has to learn is that we are not responsible for these people. They all have sob stories, but they are the ones accused of the crime for whatever reason. They may be innocent, they may be guilty. That is up to them and their attorney. It is up to them and their potential cosigner to make the decision to pay the price to get them out of jail until they are proven innocent or guilty. No matter what story they tell you, or how bad you want to believe them, every bond you write has to be done with a business decision on whether or not you can afford to write it.

The decision to write a bond is up to the agent, so from a BEA standpoint, if they try to pull the poor, poor me, I can't pay you because I didn't get paid crap, you have to stand strong. It isn't your fault they wrote a bad bond, and it isn't your problem if they didn't collect enough to pay you a reasonable rate for your services. If they are calling you, they apparently can't clear the bond on their own, and you should be paid for your services, whether it is apprehending the subject or your knowledge in finding another manner to get the exoneration.

What we all have to understand and enforce is that one person's decision cannot be forced on another. If I write a bad bond, that is my problem. I know that I am responsible, and will do my best to clear the bond on my own. If I can't, I can either pay the bond, or pay another BEA to assist me. I say assist, because if I can't find the person, chances are that others can't either. I do the work, and pay for the muscle to go out with me.

I do bail enforcement for other bondsmen that don't have access to information or contacts that I do. Those that play the "didn't collect enough to pay you" game get consideration if we have done work for them, but fall below those we have been well paid, so you are on our priority list. I don't want to insult either, but when we are well-paid by one, and not so well-paid by another, we tend to do the best work by those that pay us. That is life. We do what we do to pay our bills. If we had jobs, we would expect to get paid whatever the job agreed to pay us.

When we are self-employed, we choose who to work with, and what we get paid. It isn't a regular job, so it is up to us to decide how we charge and get paid. This isn't easy work. If you make the choice to let your clients decide how to pay you, you will probably fail. Stand strong, and have another source of income. That is the best advice I can give you.

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Kathy Blackshear
Blackshear Investigations
Blackshear Bail Bonds
Sales Associate, Prepaid Legal Services, Inc.
Walsenburg, CO

Proud Member of the AB Reject Club

... and always the same from me............. DO NOT QUIT YOUR DAY JOB... not just yet.... there are plenty of threads on this very broad subject.... read, read, read... and fix up a good intro with a fact filled signature line and also, you will quickly determine the people that have the best info on FRN.... although occasionally... a lot of factual stuff pops up by some that only post infrequently.... use the search engine on the home page after you register... lots of good stuff on here.... you are in the right place... and welcome.

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Bill Marx, Sr.
"FREE STATE BAIL BONDS"
"FREE STATE INVESTIGATIONS"
DCJS: 99-176979
Cell: 434-294-0222

"Endeavor to Persevere" "Lone Watie"

"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that , comes from bad judgment" "Will Rogers"

Thanks for the reminder on making a proper introduction. I have done so, and appreciate any info you guys would like to share. I hope to have a business to put in a signature in the near future.

Off to use the search engine!!

Another thing to be aware of. You are just one of hundreds if not thousands, that have the same idea. The economy is bad, so more people will commit crimes. ( That has not been proven to be true.) Bail bondsmen and women will get a boost in business. More people will skip. There will be a need for more bounty hunters.

That also, is not necessarily so.

Secondly, many bail agents may decide to do more of their own pickups. If it is already lean times, those that can work their own cases will do so to save what little money they do earn.

As Kathy stated many bondsmen and women will actually write FEWER bonds because we know that more people are less able to pay the premium because they have lost their job. So over all they are a higher risk.

I will not take more risks in a bad economy, thats the last thing one should do.

i should have been more clear with my original post. i am interested in becoming a surety bondsman in my county/state, not an FRA. I may also couple the Bail Bonding business with some PI work. I am still doing my research. At this point in my life, me and my partner both are more interested in doing something that interest us, and something we enjoy, instead of just something that we simply make money at- although we of course still have to make money.

i am having difficulty finding enough information to determine a realistic income potential to use for a business plan. if anyone has any magic formulas, please share.

thanks

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R&R
Professional Skip Trace Service
_________________________

This time of year is generally slow..in my area, we're just starting to pickup..when I can be out all night writing and not get home unil 515 in the morning...it's a good night...


That was last night..

_________________
Kate
650.863.8470

" Yeah, I see ya, you ding dong..."

I just posted something you may want to read in your other thread... your intro...

_________________
Bill Marx, Sr.
"FREE STATE BAIL BONDS"
"FREE STATE INVESTIGATIONS"
DCJS: 99-176979
Cell: 434-294-0222

"Endeavor to Persevere" "Lone Watie"

"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that , comes from bad judgment" "Will Rogers"