Once upon a time, there was a debt collector named Jake. He had been working in the collections industry for many years. He had seen it all – from borrowers who genuinely wanted to pay their debts but were facing financial hardships to those who simply didn’t care and thought they could get away with not paying.
One day, Jake received a file for a borrower named Maria. She had taken out an installment loan to fix her car. Shortly afterward, Walmart cut back her hours, so she could not make her payments.
Jake had heard this story many times before and was prepared for the usual excuses and pleas for leniency. But when he called Maria to discuss her account, something unexpected happened.
Maria answered the phone, and Jake could hear the sound of a baby crying in the background. He asked if everything was okay, and Maria burst into tears. She explained that her husband had recently been laid off from his job, and they were struggling to make ends meet. They were about to lose their home and had no idea how they would feed their family.
Jake, the debt collector, was moved by Maria’s story and knew he had to do something to help. He took the time to listen to her and understand her situation. He then suggested that they work out a payment plan that would be manageable for her and even offered to call other creditors on her behalf to see if they could work out a plan.
Maria was extremely grateful and thanked Jake for his kindness. She could make her payments on time, and eventually, her husband found a new job. With Jake’s help, Maria could get back on her feet and start rebuilding her credit.
[Jake’s employer, a personal loan company, signed up with a new platform that reports their subprime consumer loan customers’ payments to 2 of the 3 major credit bureaus! Their verified loan payment information is submitted directly to Transunion and Equifax! PS: This helps Maria and her husband build their credit AND provides leverage for subprime Lenders!] Thus, thanks to Jake, the debt collector’s efforts, Maria and her husband are rebuilding their credit.
Jake’s colleagues were impressed with his ability to connect with the borrower and find a solution that worked for both parties. They could see that by treating borrowers with empathy and understanding, they were more likely to work with them and find a way to resolve their debts. From that day on, Jake’s peers followed in his footsteps, tried to connect with the borrowers, and helped them in any way they could for the betterment of their employer and the debtor.
The moral of the story? A good debt collector always tries to understand the borrower’s situation and find a solution that works for everyone. A little empathy goes a long way!
PPS: Are you a Lender to the subprime? Would you like an introduction to this new credit-building platform? Email me at TrihouseConsulting@gmail.com. Your subject? “Credit Builder.”
20+ years in "the business of lending to the masses." Operator, lender, consultant... a virtual CONDUIT for the industry. Need help getting into the industry? Have questions? Looking for 3rd party vendors and suppliers? Reach out... Jer
A new CFPB study revealed, "Between our 2021 and 2022 surveys, use of payday loans, installment loans, and car title loans increased dramatically nationwide! Demand for car title loans, in particular, rose nearly 3%."
The financial stability of Black and Hispanic consumers, renters, and under-40s suffered dramatically between 2021 and 2022, said the CFPB.
The anticipated recession and higher unemployment in 2023 do not bode well for this demographic!
“Despite a tight labor market, pandemic-era relief programs, including expanded unemployment benefits and stimulus checks, and lower consumer spending, financial well-being has returned to where it was in 2019,” the CFPB report revealed.
“Unemployment remains low in December 2022, but many consumers are not prepared financially for unemployment, despite building large cash buffers and paying down debts during the first years of the pandemic. If they lost their main source of income, 37 percent of households could not cover expenses for longer than one month by using all sources, including savings, selling assets, borrowing, or seeking help from friends or family; 51 percent of Black and Hispanic households could not cover their expenses for longer than a month.
During a downturn, unemployment often lasts more than one month, and unemployment benefits can take several weeks or more to be deposited, leaving many households financially vulnerable to an unemployment period.”
[As a result, we lenders are tightening up our underwriting considerably. This strategy is reflected in our “loan-to-value” [LTV] metrics, our “ability to repay” calculations, and multiple KPIs as discussed in our Manual focused on “Lending to the Masses.” Car title loans, installment loans, and payday loans.]
Credit card debt has increased since June 2021 after falling early during Covid for all income groups.
“Meanwhile, one in eight households experienced lost income from unemployment or reduced work hours. Even more common, 34 percent of households experienced a major unexpected expense from vehicle repair or replacement, 31 percent a significant unexpected medical expense, 30 percent a computer or mobile phone replacement or repair, and 27 percent major household repairs.”
You buy leads. Should you buy $2.00 leads? $10 leads? $50 leads? $100 leads? $185 leads? [The average CAC [Customer Acquisition Cost in our industry is $185.00]
What’s the impact on your loan portfolio if you convert 8% of $50 leads vs 3% of $10 leads?
What if you increased your “reacts” to 65% vs. 42%?
What if you could hire an offshore VA [Virtual Assistant] at $200/month and work to increase your organic leads to 20/day vs. your anticipated 5/day?
What would be the impact on your portfolio if you purchased 150 leads daily at $8 with a conversion rate of 4% vs. 100 leads daily at $50 each with a conversion rate of 18%?
What is the impact on your portfolio if you increased your average loan principal to $425 vs. $385? To $500? $800? Whatever?
What is the impact on your portfolio if you decreased your FPDs [1st time Payment defaults} from 30% to 12%?
What’s the impact on your P & L if you increase your employee average hourly rate from $12.50/hr to $15.25/hr
What if you bring your call center in-house?
What if you add online/storefront title loans to your product offering? Say an average $1200 loan principal with a term of 6 months at $20/$100 loan principal? At $25/$100 loan principal for 30-day terms?
What if you offered a 36% APR unsecured loan product? An 80% APR? A 120% APR?
What if you implemented a formal referral program and spiffed your employees $25/funded loan? Spiffed customers $50/title loan?
What if your ACH fees increased from $1.50/each to $1.75/each?
What is the impact on your portfolio and P & L if your LMS [Loan Mngt. Software] provider increases its monthly fee from $150/month to $200/month & $1.00 per transaction?
What if your ACH fees increased from $1.50/each to $1.75/each?
What is the impact on your portfolio and P & L if your LMS [Loan Mngt. Software] provider increases its monthly fee from $150/month to $200/month & $1.00 per transaction?
And on and on and on… Only your imagination limits your possibilities!
The purpose of what-if scenarios is not to predict the future, but to influence it.
Plug-in different scenarios into our “Financial Modeling Projections Tool.” Develop a plan to improve those projections and execute them.
Your financial projection estimates your business’s future revenue and expenses based on various inputs. Our financial modeling tool enables you to “play” with these inputs.
Invest Now! Only $50.00. Delivered to your Inbox. Visa, M/C, PayPal…
Cash advance and payday loan businesses can offer superior returns for an entrepreneur focused on lending money to the masses.
Sure! We charge what are perceived to be high-interest rates because our customer acquisition costs and our default rates can be SCARY.
What to do? You simply build these metrics into your business plan.
You integrate with state-of-the-art customer acquisition channels, loan management software, and underwriting platforms.
The interest rates we charge enable us to offer the 60% of USA households living paycheck to paycheck access to money when faced with a sudden financial challenge.
Do you know that 38% of households earning $100,000/annually are living paycheck to paycheck as well?
In today’s economic environment, credit card companies are charging 29.95% APR. AND THEY HAVE LEVERAGE! Credit card companies report consumer payment history to the three major credit bureaus. We do not!
Cash advance, payday loan, installment loan and car title loan companies can be profitable. However, it is essential to note that the profitability of a payday loan/consumer loan business will vary depending on many factors, such as:
The amount of competition in the area.
The demographics of the area served.
Are you funding loans via the Internet, a brick-and-mortar or a “blended” model?
Internet-originated consumer personal loan defaults are generally double that of storefront locations.
The efficiency of the business’s operations. Meaning customer acquisition costs, underwriting costs, servicing costs, processing costs, and collections costs…
The overall state of the economy.
The state the consumer/borrower resides in.
Many states have regulations that limit the interest rates that payday loan businesses can charge, which will impact the business’s profitability.
For example, short-term consumer loan rates for borrowers residing in Florida are $10/$100 loaned. On the other hand, Texas is as much as $30/$100 loaned. California payday loans are $15/$100 loaned.
The ROI is strongly impacted by the types of loan products the Lender offers to the 60%+ of USA adults living paycheck to paycheck.
Personal loans
Car title loans
Installment loans
Amortized loans
Loans that depend on tips, accelerated ACH deposits
BNPL products that depend on merchant fees to earn a profit
Other
[A recent study revealed Buy-Now-Pay-Later [BNPL] companies are charging an average 380% APR when all the extra fees, tips, ACH acceleration fess… are computed!]
Achieving a 30% gross on your street money is typical. Many balance sheet lenders earn more. Many inefficient lenders earn less. As they say, “It depends!”
You’ve got to check out these new commercials by Chuck Brennan’s Dollar Loan Center!
Chuck Brennan is a GOAT* in our “Business of Lending to the Masses!”
From humble beginnings, Chuck launched his first 100+ consumer loan locations in 1998.
Chuck has provided leadership & phenomenal inspiration to lenders, marketers, kids rock-n-roll…
He even built a fabulous Arena on the outskirts of Las Vegas dubbed “The Dollar Loan Center!” [Click on 2nd Image below]
Chuck’s a special guy! A FORCE in our industry.
Now, with Chuck’s blessings, I give you access to his latest Dollar Loan Center Commercials.
I HIGHLY recommend you share these 20 short clips with your marketing department. Get them in a room for “idea sex.” For example, if you’re in the SouthEast, a NASCAR theme could work. Texas? FOOTBALL!
Watch “Loan Approval Machine” on YouTube [Access to all 20 commercials.]
Starting a car title loan business can be a great way to make money and be of service. By ensuring you have everything in place and are prepared for the challenges of owning such a small business, you’ll be able to get off on the right foot and make sure your new venture succeeds!
Research the industry.
You can start learning about the industry by reading books, magazines, and articles on car title loans. Most importantly, GET A CAR TITLE LOAN! Also, talk to people in the industry, especially existing car title lenders. Even if you’re planning an online auto title loan business, if possible, visit stores offering title loans, Take photos of the various state disclosures, licenses, and fee breakdowns typically posted in every car title loan storefront location. You can find this info on websites as well. [And, of course, https://thebusinessoflending.com/297-00/, in our 500+ page PDF Manual.]
To learn more about your competition, you should look at their websites and see how they market themselves. You can also get information from Google Adwords or Bing Ads that will provide you with data about keywords related to your business. You can use this information for keyword research to optimize your website and make sure that it ranks well on search engine result pages (SERPs).
You should also educate yourself about your customers so that you know what their needs are going into the business. This will help ensure you can fulfill these needs when providing services such as funding car title loans and other related products or services like title transfers.
Set your goals.
Before you start your car title loan business, it’s important to set goals. You can’t know whether or not you are achieving your business goals unless you have a clear idea. In the title loan industry, we refer to these as KPIs. [Key Performance Indicators]
There are two things wrong with setting goals before starting a car title loan business:
Some people think that it is not necessary because the goal will remain the same throughout their career in this field, and this makes them miss out on opportunities that could have benefited them greatly. This is true only if their goal was “be successful,” which leaves room for interpretation by each individual as long as they were able to achieve success as defined by them.
Other people get so caught up trying to achieve other people’s goals. They forget about their unique talents, strengths, and weaknesses which may make all the difference between success and failure when starting up something new like opening up an auto title loan company!
Know the laws.
There are several different laws that, if not followed, could result in serious penalties. For example, when it comes to how much money you can charge or how quickly your borrower must pay back your loan, each state has its own specific rules. It’s important to know these laws and whether they apply to your business, and how they would affect its operations.
Make sure you fully understand the regulations regarding licensing requirements for title loan businesses in your area and state before starting one yourself. There are rarely zero laws where you operate! That’s true for online and storefront auto title loan businesses. Research what other states have done regarding title loan legislation and mimic something similar for yourself (i.e., don’t just copy from another state’s code). If licensing requirements exist but aren’t enforced, then contact officials so they can start enforcing them! After all, YOU paid for your state license, bond…
For example, Texas requires title loan lenders to act as Credit Access Businesses – CABs. It’s crazy, but lenders cannot loan their own money! They must collaborate with a “3rd Party Lender.” [PS: Our Manual, “How to Loan Money to the Masses,” covers this thoroughly!] Know too that some Texas cities have passed city ordinances. You can’t legally offer car title loans in these cities. Solution? Offer car title loans online or set up your storefront in the county. [Again, our Manual covers how to operate in Texas & every other state in which this loan product is legal. ] Conversely, California passed a <36% APR cap on title loans! Every state is different. [If this were easy, everyone would do it 🙂 ]
Develop a plan.
As you begin your car title loan business, it’s important to develop a comprehensive plan. A well-thought-out plan will help you avoid mistakes and ensure that you are on the right path toward success.
Here are the critical components of your plan:
Loan product
Target market
Competition
Strengths/weaknesses compared to the competition
Financial situation (i.e., how much capital do I have?)
Risk tolerance (I can tolerate risk if it means I’ll be more successful in five years)
Exit strategy(s)
Check out our “Pro Forma Modeling Excel Tool” here: Pro Forma
Choose your location.
The online car title loan model is kicking butt today. Tremendous new tech platforms and GPS devices are revolutionizing our industry. Instant bank verification, same-day funding, AI-powered collection tools, loan management software, and income validation platforms… make lending money online enticing and easier than ever before.
Choosing a physical location for your car title loan business is one of the most important decisions you can make. You want to ensure that your location is accessible to customers and near a busy street or large parking lot. You also want to choose a safe area where there’s not much crime and an area in which many people live, work, and drive around.
The best locations are those with large populations. They have plenty of potential customers who need money fast because they are short on cash after paying their monthly bills, need car repairs, gas to get to work, rent…
Work up a budget.
Before you begin the process of opening your own car title loan business, it’s important to create a budget. This will help you determine how much money you need to invest in your business and how much profit you can expect. To create a good budget for your car title loan business:
List all expenses that are related to running your car title loan business. Don’t forget to include costs associated with equipment, software, supplies, marketing expenses, employee salaries, and training costs, insurance coverage (if any), state regulations on how much interest rates must be charged on loans—and anything else that may come up during the course of owning a successful auto title lender!
Calculate how much money each month will be spent going forward based on these estimates for operating expenses. Once this number is determined, it should be compared against projected revenue from loans made over time so that there’s an accurate picture of what may happen during different stages of startup operation as well as future growth plans if needed or desired later down the road when demand begins increasing dramatically due to word-of-mouth advertising strategies being implemented effectively not only locally but regionally and online as well. [Again, our “Pro Forma Modeling Excel Tool” is perfect for this!]
Marketing.
Marketing is a key component of running a successful title loan business, but it’s often overlooked. Instead, businesses believe that once they have the product or service ready, all they need to do is advertise, and customers will come. That might be true for some businesses—but for others, like car title loans where people are putting up their cars as collateral and can’t afford any payment defaults or late payments, there needs to be more than just advertising. You also need to build trust with your clients so that when you tell them about your plan to help them get out from under their financial burden and pay back the loan, they believe in what you’re saying and follow through on it.
There are many ways that marketing can be done—from advertising on radio stations with commercials at the beginning of each hour (or whatever time interval) promoting your business; having billboards placed strategically throughout town; posting flyers at local grocery stores and libraries; sending direct mailings via snail mail and emailing, customer referral rewards… There are countless ways to market depending on what business model fits best into yours (i.e., traditional brick-and-mortar store vs. online eCommerce).
To run a successful car title loan business, you must know all its aspects.
To run a successful car title loan business, you must know all its workings. You need to know the laws and regulations that apply to your business. You should know how to develop a plan for starting up and running your car title loan business. You also need to have knowledge of the latest technology for car title loan lenders and acquire car title loan customers by using social media marketing techniques like GMB [Google My Business], Facebook ads, and Google Adwords. [NOTE: several social media platforms do not allow subprime lending ads for loan products that exceed 36% caps! Workarounds exist, and we discuss them in our 500+ page Manual, “How to Start & Improve a Consumer Loan Business.] You must understand how things work so that you can underwrite car title loans effectively with minimal risk of your time and capital.
PS: We have a LONG LIST of resources focused on “lending to the masses” here: Resources
Conclusion
Don’t be afraid to ask questions, and don’t be shy about taking advice from others. You may have a lot of business knowledge already, but remember that there are always new things to learn—and other people who can teach you. Don’t let your pride stand in the way of this opportunity for growth!
Finally, INVEST IN YOURSELF! And always be learning!
CURO, a publicly traded lender, originates $1 Billion dollars [+/-] in consumer loans every 3 months. They have approximately a 3% market share. What's this mean for you? OPPORTUNITY!
The near-prime will soon be the subprime. Demand for loans of $500 to $5000+ continues to escalate. Opportunities are boundless for lenders.
As a lender, your inventory is MONEY! Not tulips dying. Not bananas rotting. The 99% will ALWAYS need money. Debt is the reality of living in America.
What do we do? We teach entrepreneurs how to lend money to the Masses. We lend money. We offer Courses, consulting, investments, access to our vast network of vendors, lawyers, Instant Bank Verification, payment processors, website designers, and underwriting...
We are 100% focused on the business of lending to the masses! Installment loans, car title loans, payday loans, line of credit loans...
