How to Start a Finder Business

Do you like to investigate and find a good deal? Do you have an independent, outgoing personality that would be conducive to making many different contacts in order to match up buyers with sellers? If you answered yes to these questions, then operating your own finder business may be the perfect opportunity for you. As a finder business, you will operate on the premise that you will profit from charging a finder's fee, a charged levied for putting together a deal for your client (Reference 1).

Instructions

How to Start a Finder Business

1. The first important task should be to register your business with your state authorities. For instance, in many states this task can probably be accomplished by registering with the secretary of state. This registration may give your business certain protections under the law and provide credibility to your business (Reference 2). You should also check with you state's tax authority to see if you will be required to collect service-based taxes.

2. Consult with an attorney and develop a set of legally sound documents oriented around the contractual codification of the finder's fee process. This paperwork could be vital to your success as there will be little more frustrating than connecting a purchaser with a seller only the have the purchaser refuse to pay your fee. By compelling your client to sign the necessary paperwork prior to initiating a finding action, you will help ensure that your hard work does not go unrewarded.

3. After starting your business it will be important to get off to a quick start by finding new clients. In order to find business, you will need to develop a contact list of individuals who are seeking for a certain item or set of items. Often times these individuals can be found by perusing the classified wanted sections in industry-specific publications (check your local library for these), newspapers and the Internet (Reference 3).

4. As your business grows, you should develop a policy of working with what you are familiar. If you become very knowledgeable and familiar with a certain area of industry, you should consider specializing in just that industry. For instance, let's say that after going through a number of energy industry publications and working with oil field equipment providers, you develop a number of contacts and a strong working knowledge about surplus oil field equipment. By leveraging this expertise and the now-extensive reference list, you may be able to lock up a significant segment of your area's oil field work.

Tips & Warnings

• Be careful to avoid attempting to collect finder's fees in regulated industries such as securities and real estate. The line between finder and broker could become very thin in these areas, which may lead to state regulators attempting to force you to hold a license in these industries.

References

• Finder's Fee Defined
• Kentucky SOS Office
• Louisville Wanted List