Debt consolidation: how it has worked for a female entrepreneur
Debt consolidation: how it has worked for a female entrepreneur
I have two financial services broker businesses : ABC vos Crédits offering debt consolidation to French consumers and France Home Finance offering mortgages to non-resident investors and expats in France.
www.francehomefinance.com
www.abcvoscredits.com
2. What prompted you to start up in business?
My dream has always been to live and work in Paris. I joined a large multi-national bank with hopes of getting a transfer to France. Years later when it finally happened, I was asked to take a position outside of France after only 2 years in Paris. It became clear to me that to excel in the corporate world, I would need to continue to be mobile and work on projects that I was not always passionate about so I decided it was time to create my own destiny. I must give to credit to my fiancé at the time, now husband, who had a full time job and agreed to support me while I was working on my start-up venture. This is a luxury that not every entrepreneur has and for which I will always be grateful.
3. What was the market situation when you started up?
One of the bank’s growth areas at the time was debt consolidation. This was a brand new market in France with very limited distribution and very few mortgage brokers offering loan re-structuring. While working on a survey project on debt consolidation brokers it occurred to me that I had lots of ideas on how to do it better. There was very little competition and almost nobody offering this service online. That has completely changed over the last three years. The market has caught on to the opportunity and there are new entrants with big budgets every day.
While I fully researched and wrote a business plan for the debt consolidation brokerage, the second business opportunity came to me. As a native English speaker living in France and working in financial services, I had many requests for assistance with property finance. The demand was so great that I decided to launch a second business and capitalize on the bank partnerships I had already created for the first.
4. Do you have a vision for your business and if so, what is it?
I can’t say that I have a clear vision today for where we are going next. Three years ago, I did not speak French fluently and had almost no management experience. Today I have two profitable businesses in France with combined sales of over one million euros and a team of ten people. I am exhilarated and in a bit of shock. I always fully believed in the market opportunity for the solutions I was proposing but can’t say I clearly saw myself at the head of a market leading company. Now that we have come this far, that vision is slowly starting to take shape.
5. What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome and how did you do it?
The biggest learning curve for me was learning how to read people in business – how to separate the professionals from the people just out to take your money. There is nothing like trial by fire. I started the first business with a French partner with more experience than I who was meant to deal with partnerships and negotiations. When our partnership didn’t work out, there was no one but me to create strategic alliances, choose suppliers and negotiate contracts. I did it because I had to and made many mistakes but just kept going. Over time I gained more confidence and it became easier. I also relied heavily on the many mentors I have in the Paris business community. So many entrepreneurs have generously shared their advice and experience with me in times of need.
6. How did you find the finance to get started?
I started the two businesses with 15,000€ of personal money and luckily to date we have not needed to raise any more.
7. What are your personal qualities that have that have helped you to succeed in business?
I would single mindedness - spotting the opportunity and going after it without worrying about details (like not being able to speak French fluently ...); humility – not afraid to admit my weaknesses and ask for help from others and tenacity - believing beyond a doubt in the market opportunity uncovered.
8. How do you keep going when things get tough?
I surround myself with “cheer leaders” – people that love me and encourage me when things are hard. Being an entrepreneur is such a mind game. We are the biggest obstacle to our own progress.
9. How do you measure success?
Success for me is being passionate about my work, maintaining balance in my life and having financial freedom for myself and the ones I love.
10. If you had one piece of advice for a woman starting out in business, what would it be?
Be bold and don’t look back.
Debt consolidation how it has worked for a female entrepreneur - To learn more about this author, visit Sue Stockdale's Website.
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1. What is your business?
I have two financial services broker businesses : ABC vos Crédits offering debt consolidation to French consumers and France Home Finance offering mortgages to non-resident investors and expats in France.
www.francehomefinance.com
www.abcvoscredits.com
2. What prompted you to start up in business?
My dream has always been to live and work in Paris. I joined a large multi-national bank with hopes of getting a transfer to France. Years later when it finally happened, I was asked to take a position outside of France after only 2 years in Paris. It became clear to me that to excel in the corporate world, I would need to continue to be mobile and work on projects that I was not always passionate about so I decided it was time to create my own destiny. I must give to credit to my fiancé at the time, now husband, who had a full time job and agreed to support me while I was working on my start-up venture. This is a luxury that not every entrepreneur has and for which I will always be grateful.
3. What was the market situation when you started up?
One of the bank’s growth areas at the time was debt consolidation. This was a brand new market in France with very limited distribution and very few mortgage brokers offering loan re-structuring. While working on a survey project on debt consolidation brokers it occurred to me that I had lots of ideas on how to do it better. There was very little competition and almost nobody offering this service online. That has completely changed over the last three years. The market has caught on to the opportunity and there are new entrants with big budgets every day.
While I fully researched and wrote a business plan for the debt consolidation brokerage, the second business opportunity came to me. As a native English speaker living in France and working in financial services, I had many requests for assistance with property finance. The demand was so great that I decided to launch a second business and capitalize on the bank partnerships I had already created for the first.
4. Do you have a vision for your business and if so, what is it?
I can’t say that I have a clear vision today for where we are going next. Three years ago, I did not speak French fluently and had almost no management experience. Today I have two profitable businesses in France with combined sales of over one million euros and a team of ten people. I am exhilarated and in a bit of shock. I always fully believed in the market opportunity for the solutions I was proposing but can’t say I clearly saw myself at the head of a market leading company. Now that we have come this far, that vision is slowly starting to take shape.
5. What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome and how did you do it?
The biggest learning curve for me was learning how to read people in business – how to separate the professionals from the people just out to take your money. There is nothing like trial by fire. I started the first business with a French partner with more experience than I who was meant to deal with partnerships and negotiations. When our partnership didn’t work out, there was no one but me to create strategic alliances, choose suppliers and negotiate contracts. I did it because I had to and made many mistakes but just kept going. Over time I gained more confidence and it became easier. I also relied heavily on the many mentors I have in the Paris business community. So many entrepreneurs have generously shared their advice and experience with me in times of need.
6. How did you find the finance to get started?
I started the two businesses with 15,000€ of personal money and luckily to date we have not needed to raise any more.
7. What are your personal qualities that have that have helped you to succeed in business?
I would single mindedness - spotting the opportunity and going after it without worrying about details (like not being able to speak French fluently ...); humility – not afraid to admit my weaknesses and ask for help from others and tenacity - believing beyond a doubt in the market opportunity uncovered.
8. How do you keep going when things get tough?
I surround myself with “cheer leaders” – people that love me and encourage me when things are hard. Being an entrepreneur is such a mind game. We are the biggest obstacle to our own progress.
9. How do you measure success?
Success for me is being passionate about my work, maintaining balance in my life and having financial freedom for myself and the ones I love.
10. If you had one piece of advice for a woman starting out in business, what would it be?
Be bold and don’t look back.
Debt consolidation how it has worked for a female entrepreneur - To learn more about this author, visit Sue Stockdale's Website.
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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