The very first thing you need to do if you are thinking about becoming a bail bondsman and starting your own bail bonds agency is to get properly licensed through the state you want to operate in. Most licenses are governed by the department of insurance for the particular state you are interested in. Once you are properly licensed as a bail bondsman you will be able to solicit bail bonds and begin building your own business 24 Hour Bail Bond Company.
As Cliche as it sounds, succeeding as a bail bond agent implies your services are familiar to those who need it most. It is a challenging business to run, to put it mildly, but many people eventually learn and master the business. Basically, it carries with it other serious responsibilities, such as knowledge of criminal justice, a solid sense of human psychology, and making effective gut decisions, such as writing bail bonds, after considering someone’s character. You must also be aware of what happens when a defendant skips town, and insurance company tightens its guidelines making it more difficult to sign bonds.
Aside from solid familiarity with criminal law procedures, a good first step is to talk to local law enforcement officers to get a feel of the business: your competitors, the frequency of people who need to post bail, etc. Talk to some lawyers too, because their referrals and recommendations will certainly work wonders.
While word of mouth is a great way to start your business, investing in marketing will definitely help you grow. It is important that you advertise your service to people who are required to post a bond like you offer. Just like any well-researched business, you need to have clear ideas who your target market is, and what important details they have in regards to social class, or other factors such as income.
Try to see if the local courts list bail bond businesses in their building; try to have yourself listed as well. Your target market might also be in the habit of frequenting pawn shops and bars, so try to put up some sort of advertising in those as well.
Put up a website too, and keep social media accounts as these help out in marketing for a very low cost. Before you invest too much money in your marketing, find out what's legal according to your state laws. Certain states limit how bail bond agents advertise their services.
In case your area has healthy competition, your advertising has to measure up too. You will have to rethink your positioning very well, in order to be a persuasive alternative to your rivals. If you plan well, there will always be an edge you could present or a loophole to exploit, whether it be a better payment plan or perhaps customer service.
What happens when your clients gets scared about the possibility of going to jail for a long time? it's very likely they will try and leave town to get away from it all- the legal struggle, people they owe such as you, etc. One thing you want to do is enlist a bounty hunter on your team. The bounty hunter will do all of the necessary leg work to track down your client and return them to the court of jurisdiction. Choose your bounty hunter well.
One last idea to consider in this quick guide on starting your own bail bonds business is to try to buy an established business. Often this is much easier than starting one from the ground up. It will already have an established clientele and existing income.
