info@thenotaryacademy.com (Barbara A. Sonafelt) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 07:07:38 EST

In the past few months work has become extremely perplexing. I have witnessed other notaries/signing agents shuting down and taking what they call “real jobs”. I have seen small settlement services and title agencies fall prey to the mortgage crunch and shut their doors. It all has been very hard to watch and sobering. Some have vowed to come back and others have given up and moved on.Sadly now the work has slowed to a stream and most are left out in the cold, shutting down our business at an alarming rate. Organizations have now shifted their focus to the companies and future endeavors like E- Notarization and left us behind. Their support base has shifted from us to bigger fish. So in reality the only ones who benefited from this boom are the organizations themselves. So did we see this coming? Have we done this to ourselves? Or have we had our blinders on and ignored the signs? And if so how did we become so complacent?
Remember in life there is always a natural thinning of the herd and the business world is no exception. So make your business decisions accordingly and try to look down the road. Try to make decisions for the future, and most of all make them without those blinders and emotion.

I posted this back in November 2007! My work has gone from 3-4 signings a day to 5-6 a week. Still that is much more than most, but I hope there is a light at the end of the tunnel for us all!

Notaries Public or Signing Agents?

Is there a bright side?