My suggestion is to get a JOB with an abstracting company.  Forget going independent for now.  Just put it out of your mind.  Of course, it wouldn't be prudent to tell the abstracting company that you want to go independent at some point because why train you so you can be a competitor?  I'm not suggesting you lie, I'm suggesting you forget going independent. 

Find a really good abstractor, maybe even someone slightly older who might be thinking of retiring.  I would submit that very few of the "independents" who post here STARTED as independents.  Most worked for someone else, learned their trade, made a to a profession.  Only then, when circumstances forced a change (company moved, attorney got sick and had to close the practice, moved to a new state, or other working conditions changed dramatically) did they take the plunge. 

As your own boss, in the truest sense of the word--you are it, there isn't anyone else, you and only you, have to deal with some of those negatives that were listed in your post (i.e. getting clients, keeping clients, getting paid, etc).  What you need to focus on right now is getting trained and getting solid experience.  So forget going independent.  Just go to work for a good abstractor or attorney.  That way you get trained by someone who knows what they are doing, plus you aren't responsible for the business side that sometimes causes headaches.  You can't focus on learning a new trade while dividing your mind into sections (receivables, payables, marketing, etc).  One of the plates will crash.

Each of the abstractors working for me, work only for me, they are my employees.  They were trained BY ME.  Not even my husband does the training and he's a great abstractor.  But their jobs give them extraordinary flexibility.  I simply email them the search requirements and the due date.  They perform the search and return it to me, I check it and create a report to send to the client.  Except for an unwavering commitment to accuracy, I really don't care HOW they get the work done as long as it is correct and done in a timely manner.  I don't care if they had a dentist appointment at one in the afternoon as long as the search is done and I know that it wasn't rushed which impacts accuracy. 

So, my suggestion is to forget being independent for now, you might be surprised working for someone else how "independent" you actually are.  You might not EVER go completely independent.  Focus on learning.  

to post a reply: login - or - register