I'd like to be a mini Martin - any suggestions?

Martins_apprentice

I would like to set up a service, very similar to what Martin did on his TV programme, where I can audit an individuals or a families finances and see where I can save them money. I love doing this and have become quite proficient after doing it for myself and a few friends.

Being honest I would like to earn a little for myself from doing this as it takes a lot of work but I'm having trouble thinking of how to charge. My thought is possibly taking a % of how much I save the person/family and then they pay me over 3 or so months so with their savings that I've made them (except mortgage) so they are not out of pocket. And would people actually want this service?

Can I have peoples thoughts and suggestions on this please? Thank you.

richardw

People would expect 'perfect' advice from you and then claim against you when they find exceptions, thus reducing your income.

honeypop

Why would they pay for it when all the information is freely available on this website?

supermonkey

I would love to do this as well, but i think the problem is that anyone who is genuinly interested in saving would do it themseleves (using this website, research & time etc) and anyone else probably wouldn't be interested!

blue_haddock

As Richardw suggests you would need to be spot on with your advice and even then you are open to claims against you - for example if you advised people to put money into the icelandic banks just before they went belly up i'm sure people would blame you personally and have some kind of claim against you. Also what you are offering to do and take a payment for may well be verging on some kind of financial advisor role for which you would have to have some kind of training/qualification.

MrsTinks

And what experience and qualifications do you have to set yourself up as an independant financial advisor or Debt Management Advisor?
Bear in mind that on here we provide the service for free... and frankly spend a lot of time pointing out that people charging are little more than vultures taking advantage of peoples misfortune - people who could come here or go to one of the free debt charities in my signature... none of whom charge anything...

jesdan

I know exactly what you mean! I know all this info is freely available but I think there are a lot of people out there that either don't have regular internet access or are actually too scared to "rock the boat" (no disrespect at all - this was me a few years ago) and I would dearly love to get into helping other people - ideally making a career out of it - perhaps by helping through the credit unions?? I don't want to make money out of the individuals, just perhaps a government sponsored scheme (so it can pay me a wage) to help each other???

Martins_apprentice

Food for thought there regarding being sued but I would only be giving the same advice as Martin and can he be sued? Maybe if I charge some sort of fee I would be liable - I will look into it. But it would not be Icelandic Bank advice - that is for the professionals.

Also I would not be doing this to be a vulture - this service would be for people who have no inclination or enough knowledge to do these things themselves. And I do not see many people doing this for strangers (except for Martin) out of the goodness of their hearts.

At the end of the day I would be saving people money, but it takes a long time to audit thoroughly and I need to pay my mortgage at the end of the day. It seems a win/win to me.

All comments appreciated though and keep them coming. I'm very interested in what people have to say.

Thanks.

Martins_apprentice

Mrs Tine, Just to answer your post, I would not be a debt management service. This would be a service for people who just want to be clever money savers on their bills, insurances and other everyday charges.

jesdan

I'm actually really disappointed in your reply Martins Apprentice, if I had enough money to pay my mortgage bills etc then yes I would do this for free full time, in fact now, working full time I would also spend time getting experience / giving my experiences free of charge during non office hours i.e. "spare time" but the opportunities do not seem to be there - whether through the credit unions or CAB or any other body!
I suppose there is the opportunity in the great job these board guides do but personally I need human contact IYSWIM - I need to actually see those reactions to know that I'm making a difference (again no disrespect to board guides - you're doing a fantastic job)

Martins_apprentice

jesdan wrote: »

I'm actually really disappointed in your reply Martins Apprentice, if I had enough money to pay my mortgage bills etc then yes I would do this for free full time, in fact now, working full time I would also spend time getting experience / giving my experiences free of charge during non office hours i.e. "spare time" but the opportunities do not seem to be there - whether through the credit unions or CAB or any other body!
I suppose there is the opportunity in the great job these board guides do but personally I need human contact IYSWIM - I need to actually see those reactions to know that I'm making a difference (again no disrespect to board guides - you're doing a fantastic job)

I'm totally confused Jesdan. This would be a full time job for me which means I would have to earn a little from it but it would also be financially beneficial for my moneysavers. There is no service like this, apart from Martins advice. I am at a loss to see why this would make me a bad person, although I respect your opinion.