How to Start a Bail Bonds Business – Sample Business Plan Template

4 Requirements to Start a Bail Bond Business

a. You have to be familiar with the criminal process procedures in your location, and most importantly, be a good judge of character. Without these qualities, you cannot write a bail bond because you need to be able to differentiate who is a flight risk and who is not. So you do not end up losing money and having to shut down your business.

b. You need to have insurance

The insurance companies are the ones who underwrite your bonds and give them legality in the courts. You will need surety insurance from the insurance company because it is the company that provides the financial support and backing for your business.

c. You need to have worked in the bail bonds business for about twelve (12) months full time and must have training in continuing education in bail bonding and have documentation to prove it. You also need to learn your state’s criminal procedures and have some knowledge of law enforcement.

d. Take and pass all your state’s required bail bond examination to get an operating license, be free of criminal convictions and have an immoral character that can be trusted. Submit an application, also called initial producer application (IPA) to the bail bond licensing body.

Financial Requirements for Starting a Bail Bond Business

You must deposit at least $50,000.00 with your state’s licensing board for you to start underwriting bonds at a ratio of 10:1

1. Application Requirements

You must submit to your state Bail Bond Board the following information:

Your name, age and address.
Your Business name and the address of your bail bond business
A sworn financial statement
Letters of recommendation from three reputable people in your community
Your fingerprints
Passport photo
Filing fee

N.B: These requirements vary from state to state; so make sure that you go to your state Bail Bond Board and get all the relevant information you need.

2. You Need a Bail Bonds Business Plan

Like any business, starting a bail bond business needs you to write up a business plan for it. You must clearly define your business idea and be able to succinctly articulate it. You must know your mission and examine your motives. You must make sure that you have a passion for owning a business and for this particular business.

3. Your Operating Plan

The operating plan simply describes how you plan to manage your company in both the short and long term. The operating plan guides you on how the day-to-day activities of the business would be run.

Starting a Bond Business can be exciting and fun in the beginning especially the way it has been glamorized on the television and in books, and it is easy to forget that you are running a business till you start having cash flow problems.

4. Location

Choosing a great location is part of what would enable the success of your bail bond business. The best locations for attracting potential customers are near the police station, the local jail or the court house. These locations make it convenient for clients to walk in and for you to have the ease to go to the jail or the court for you to conduct your business.

5. Marketing

Like any business, you are required to do some amount of marketing and advertising so that potential clients can know about you and your services. In this business, where there is so much fierce competition, so you have to come up with a unique selling point to attract customers.

You can develop a relationship with the court workers, jail officers and even family members and friends who can recommend your services to offenders. Remember, when advertising the business anywhere, you are not allowed to offer discounts in the pricing of your services. This could be taken as a crime and you could be arrested. You are also required to put up the business name and the address of your business space.

6. Hiring Staff

You will need to hire at least one clerical staff and a bounty hunter. The clerical staff can deal with client issues during nights and weekends when you are in the field. The bounty hunter can act as a apprehension agent to go after offenders who decide to skip out on their bonds.

Running your Bail Bond Business

Running the Bail Bond business is very different from running other regular businesses. The basic principles are the same though.

Starting a Bail Bond business involves you being involved in bail recovery, locating and picking up skips (as bail jumpers are called in the business). You must be very intuitive and smart at reading people so that you don’t lose much money. Knowledge about the legal system of your operating state so that you know your rights and responsibilities is a must have in the business.

In conclusion, operating a bail agency may be high financial risk, but it can also be highly profitable. You can become a useful member of the community by the services you render.

The Bail Bond business is very lucrative to smart entrepreneurs that have the capacity to expand because of the rising numbers of potential clients. With you earning ten per-cent of every bond set by the court as well as collateral pledged, you can comfortably undertake the journey to start your own bail bond business and make a successful career out of it.