The Credit Repair Business Owner's Guide to a Successful First Year

Having a successful first year in the credit repair industry is based on defining what “success” means to you, and for all intents and purposes, reaching it. For many credit repair specialists, success means:

• Helping others climb out of the vicious cycle of debt so they can afford homes, cars and other necessities of life
• Taking the power back from credit bureaus through the art of strategic dispute letters
• Hearing stories from clients who have been freed from emotional stress now that they’ve found financial stability

But, in order to achieve your version of success in the first year of business, you’ll need a plan. This post will guide you through how to use the concept of a Minimum Viable Business Strategy (MVBS), to start and scale successfully.

Strategize & Plan

An MVBS-oriented startup uses short, real-world feedback loops allowing you to quickly build the business that people want, not slowly build the business you think they’ll want.

Think of yourself as a scientist setting out to prove a hypothesis. If the first hypothesis is disproved, you don’t simply pack up the Bunsen burner and retire. No, you move forward and try alternatives based upon your learnings. The business equivalent to the scientist’s hypothesis-testing is the “measure-learn-build loop”. You measure real-data and customer feedback, learn from it, and build your business accordingly.

Laying the foundation of your credit repair MVBS in place is essential. This framework will guide both your ongoing planning and the messaging you use to promote your business.

You’ll need to be clear about:

• What you’re trying to achieve and why
• The key elements of your MVBS

So, shall we get started?

Define goals that represent success

Ask any person what success means and you’ll likely get a different answer. The only answer that matters here though, is yours: how do you envision the credit repair company of your dreams?

• Discuss the vibe of your organization and what it means to bea mission-driven business that operates to help others
• Define your long-term vision, like your desired annual revenue
• Set business targets for your first year, such as how many clients you’d like to help each month
• Discuss potential areas for value-added services, like offer education to help clients maintain financial independence after credit repair
• Use a SMART goal worksheet to break goals down into KPIs and milestones
• Consider your own mentality, and how you plan to keep the ‘grit’ , or ability to overcome adversity, throughout your entrepreneurial journey

Write your business case

You don’t need to write a 50-page business case to be successful. In fact, many business plans are a waste of time, because they will never prepare you for emergencies and the near-impossible things that not even your dog could have dreamt of.

Instead, your business case should draft the details for your launch, and outline key messages you want to ingrain in your company’s foundation.

Write a short bulletproof business case that includes:

• Business description: Think deeply about the reason why you’re starting a credit repair business, and use that mentality to create your business description. For example, maybe you created your organization to empower your community and free them from the vicious cycle of debt. Use that messaging to give a clear idea of what your business is about.
• Market analysis: During this phase of your business plan, identify gaps in the market, and who you might zero in on as a target audience. For example, you may decide to focus specifically on families who want to attain homeownership for the first time.
• Competitive Analysis: Take your market analysis a step further by identifying how your business is different than others in the market. We often hear how limited credit education is for clients, so as a response, you might add an education component to your services to ensure your clients have long-term financial success after their score has been fixed.
• Operations and Management: How and where will you operate your business? For instance, will you work from home or will you rent office space? Do you plan to work alone, or will you hire employees? And, what tools will you use on a daily basis to ensure productivity and success?
• Financial Predictions: Just because credit repair is selfless doesn’t mean it’s profitless. You’ll need to assess how many clients can you help each month, and what that looks like monetarily. You’ll also need to compare your revenue number to your overhead to understand your business viability.

You should also take the time to understand the basics of the measure-learn feedback loop and set a target date for launch.

Create space for success

When Henry Ford embarked on his journey to build the world’s first V8 engine, his engineers saw the design and told him it was “impossible”. But he said, “do it anyway.” After continued attempts, complaints and failures, his engineers succeeded — much to their surprise. Henry, however, never faltered from his vision.

Ford’s tenacity allowed him to overcome doubt and bring his idea to fruition.

That’s the grit you should bring to the table as a credit repair business owner too. When you start a credit repair business, your success might be mostly resting on your shoulders, but credit repair is by no means an “impossible science.” In fact, there are countless credit repair success stories proving that with perseverance, and attention in every detail, there is no limit to your potential.

Staying true to your vision is imperative. In order to do this, you’ll need to have the time and space to commit to it: give yourself the time and space for success. This includes taking care of your health and wellbeing, as well as personal development and honing your credit repair acumen, and learning how to market your business and close sales.

Launch Your Credit Repair Company

This is where the fun really starts: jump-starting your business to life. To get your credit repair startup ready you’ll need to:

• Set up the reports that will keep you in-tune with your long-term goals (including measuring ROI from training)
• Create a website that attracts and converts prospects using mission-driven language that resonates with your audience
• Establish a working space: for example a home office
• Get all of the hardware in place: computer, business phone etc.
• Set up your credit repair software and any other tools you’ll need for ongoing success
• Ensure you meet your state’s regulatory requirements in terms of taxes, business license, and insurance

For first-time entrepreneurs, starting a business may seem daunting. But the luxury of a credit repair business is that there is very low overhead to get started. With just a few housekeeping items you can get started quickly!

Get Out There

You may have launched your business, but people won’t know the value and purpose you can bring unless you tell them, so get out there.

For credit repair specialists, your marketing needs to take a specific angle. To start, you may need to overcome the stigma of credit repair. Many of your clients may have been burned in the past, so it’s important to zero in on how you’re different, and why they can trust you.

Some examples of marketing messages for your credit repair business might include:

• Zero in on what your business can do to transform your clients financial and emotional lives.
• Demonstrate resilience after financial devastation is possible, with your help.
• Tell a story. For example, Credit Repair Cloud’s website describes how we got into business after Founder and CEO, Daniel Rosen overcame his own battle with credit bureaus.

If you’re struggling with a fear of rejection — as many business owners do — just keep practicing.

And find channels to promote your messaging:

• Use social media to drive traffic to your website
• Find networking events, seminars and business fares by using resources like Eventbrite
• Earn referrals by doing an exceptional job with your first clients

As does a scientist testing hypotheses, the more marketing you do, the more feedback and data you’ll have, and the more you’ll learn what translates into high conversion rates.

Measure-Learn-Build

Measure

Congratulations, you’re a real credit repair business owner! Now it’s time to get up-close and personal with the results of your initial efforts.

Compile all of the data from your reports, prospects, and customers, and see how it stacks up against your goals. As you pull the info together, note any ideas that come to mind — you’ll be using those next.

Learn

It’s time to dissect the data from your measure phase; you’re aiming to learn as much as you can:

• Did you under- or over-estimate the success of your first month? If so, how far off were you?
• What did your target audience have to say about your product? Did it match your expectations?
• Have your goals changed at all?
• What does the data tell you that your business needs?

 Now that you've dipped your toes in the credit repair waters, perhaps you have questions about your new industry. Many credit repair specialists look for a mentor who has traversed the same waters and can help you dig deeper into your inner credit hero.

Build

Take the data and run a successful business with it! Build your successful credit repair company by using data and knowledge as a foundation:

• Check your progress toward goals at least once a quarter, and preferably once a month
• Keep learning - understand that becoming a better business owner is a life-long journey
• Congratulate yourself as you reach goals - give yourself a break once in a while while you are building a million-dollar credit repair company

Discover the strategies that credit repair business owners use to build and grow successful companies that last.

Be Consistent

This is the hardest step because it requires support, dedication, and a single-minded focus on your goals. It’s also where “creating the space for success” really comes into play. Now that you’ve settled into your new line of work, consistency in your day can help you to keep your goals in sight. Establish a daily routine that’s tailored to your needs and conducive to productivity.

Only if you have the roots in place, will you be able to keep scaling your business and help more clients than you ever imagined. Repeat the measure-learn-build process every month to ensure that you’re still firing from all cylinders.

Rinse and Repeat

Each of the steps addressed in this article will guide you through your first year as a credit repair business owner! We hope your first year in business brings you countless client success stories, and you have the tools to help hundreds of people in your community overcome their financial battles.

At this point in your journey, it’s time to take a look back on your business and evaluate:

• Was your first year a success based upon your original plans?
• Or, has your view of success changed since then?
• What new ways can you continue to help your community fight against financial hardship?

Whatever the answer is here, use this month to re-evaluate your long-term goals and create the next plan to make it happen.

Now that you know the formula for growing a successful credit repair business, it’s time to take action. Check out our online training to see how you can get started today.