Articles by Tom Herald - Professional Consultant and National Trainer

The single most important element you need to acquire and maintain as a business owner is knowledge. According to research conducted by Dun & Bradstreet, seven out of 10 small businesses fail, and 90 percent of these failures can be traced back to poor management that results from a lack of knowledge. Knowledge is power.

Lending money is a risky business. Making loans to people with bad credit is perhaps the most risky financial endeavor, especially from a traditional banker’s perspective. They simply won’t do it, and affordable loans for working capital to those who loan money to people with bad credit is very scarce.

The number-one key to success for a finance company is its ability to collect on loans. You can be mediocre (or outstanding) at all other elements of the business, but if you cannot effectively recoup your investment, you will quickly run out of cash to lend. This one common factor is the same for all financiers regardless of the size of the operation.

What impact will the Cash for Clunkers law have on the SF or BHPH industry?

How are special finance departments now working with these unbelievable bank fees that are being attached to client approvals?

Tom Herald- What do you do when your go-to finance companies are not buying? What do you do when sales are down and you see customers leaving your store without a car? What do you do when your business model no longer delivers the profits it once did? The answer is to change.

Tom Herald - There is plenty of discussion about money, or the “lack” of money as I should say, today throughout the automotive special finance industry. Dealers, finance companies, customers and even industry vendors are all scrambling for hard-to-find cash.

Tom Herald - “The Nation has entered the most severe recession since the Great Depression;” “Investors are running scared from stocks … waiting for the bloodbath to end;” “The tightening of the money supply has resulted in sky high interest rates (20 percent) and 11 percent unemployment.” Sound familiar? Well, that was then, not now.

Tom Herald - "Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future." – John F. Kennedy

Q: Recently, you moderated a class at the 2008 Special Finance Convention in Dallas. What did you learn from other attendees during the convention?