Insider Secrets to Successful Freight Brokering

The Scoop on Skype

Skype has taken the world by storm. Skype is a telephone/video service that enables communictions over the Internet. You can sign up for unlimited calling in the USA for a little over $50. You can call other countries at near bottom rates.

If you call Skype to Skype no matter where in the world the callers are located, the calls are free.

It is not good for making multiple calls as  you are prospecting for customers. Why? You have to enter the phone numbers through the Internet dial pad and it is more cumbersome than speed dialing and such.

Nevertheless, don't overlook signing up for Skype. I even think they have added faxing capability as well.

Good luck.

Freight Broker Expectations - Part I

What can you realistically expect as a freight broker? Many callers want to know "how much money" can one expect to make. This is a legitimate question and it should be asked.

However, other callers get more specific. For example, how many customers can they expect to get for every 100 calls. Or, how many set-up packages can they expect to send out for each 100 calls. Or, how much profit can they expect to make on average from their loads that are moved. Or, how many loads can they expect to do every week. These are more specific questions and the answer to these questions will reveal how much money ultimately can be made.

In Part II, I will provide more information on these expectations.

 

How Big Can You Grow Your Freight Broker Business?

One of the nice things about freight brokering is that you can stay small or you can grow it as large as you want. I have mentioned this before. It's not as if you are starting a McDonald's franchise where you HAVE to start with a ton of money ..... where you HAVE to constantly deal with all the issues related to growing a large business.

Many brokerages are one and two-person operations. That is good enough for many people. Others want to really ramp it up - and they prepare themselves for it.

One of the best ways to ramp up your brokerage is to hire agents. But, let me caution you - hiring a staff of agents is an entirely different ballgame than running a small brokerage. You have to know all the details about managing a staff of agents. You have to have a real clean operation so EVERYONE knows what to expect and what others expect from them.

You will hear more about this in the future.

You Have Probably Heard It Before .....

When it comes to performing and performance, you no doubt have heard some say, "Execute! Execute. Don't try to hit a home run. Just concentrate on execution!"

Then others say, "Establish your goals. Think about results! Go for it!" So which is it? Who is right?

Well, maybe both are.

I tend to focus more on execution. I like to know what is to be done and how. I figure, the results will follow. For example, after a farmer plants his seeds, he doesn't run out to the field everyday, fretting about whether his crops will come in or not.

No, he knows that if he does the right things at first, his goals will be achieved.

Freight brokering raises interesting situations with different people. Some only focus on "how much money can I make?" This is a legit question and, even though no one really knows, it is a real concern for some.

However, in my training, I focus on principles, strategies, techniques and tactics. Pretty much in that order. Knowing what to do, how to do it, in what sequence and why. This is important to me.

Principles don't change. Strategies may change but not haphazardly. Techniques and tactics may change often but should fall within the scope of a particular strategy or principle.

Does this make sense to you? Many people are falling for the end results. "Where's the $$?" Others get so entangled in everchanging techniques and tactics they don't know what they are doing.

So, here at ATEX, we first lay out some principles and corresponding strategies. Then we get into the techniques and tactics. At least, this is my approach. Success comes from "doing", not just thinking.

Freight and Logistics

It dawned on me the other day that I entered the logistics business at the ripe age of 14. My learning field was at the Ben Franklin variety store in central Illinois. I started out at 60 cents an hour and four years later was raking in 90 cents an hour. That's about a 12% average annual increase. Not too shabby.

Every Thursday, a shipment came in. My boss first showed me how to get a count on every box that was unloaded. You know, we were checking for any shortages. He showed me how to open the boxes and check the contents to see if there was any readily apparent damage.

He showed me how to remove all the contents and check off each group of items against his order sheet. At the same time, he had the retail prices available and we would put the price onto each item. Then I would move the inventory to their respective storage areas - usually in the basement.

This was the old fashioned way and, to some extent, these same basic procedures are followed to this day.

However, in other areas of logistics, there have been gigantic leaps forward. The large distribution centers have extremely sophisticated mechanisms to automatically pick products for order fulfillment. The picking devices, the conveyors and the laying out of each order - they are all modern day marvels where exceptional efficiencies are obtained.

When you go about your daily business, ask yourself which procedures and functions that were used many years ago are still in place. And which ones are brand spanking new.

It just proves one thing. Many old standards and procedures are needed to this day and not everything "old" needs to be chucked to the wayside.

Can you relate to any of this? Logistics, including the entire supply chain, is a fascinating industry and I would bet many of you have your own stories of yesterday compared to today.

It's Just Amazing .....

Every day I get alerts on just about every blog post and other postings regarding freight brokers and what this all entails.

I am just amazed at how much JUNK is out there floating around. Some of the information is correct on particular messages. Then, all of a sudden, the message contains some very bad information. It is no wonder that I get so many phone calls from people who come to me with all sorts of misinformation.

Many of the blog posts and messages are done by people over seas who do "research" and then post the false or bad information for the entire world to see. To be blunt, they don't know beans from buckshot.

Now, I ain't a know-it-all; but I do know a lot about running a business especially when it comes to freight brokering. If you hear something or read something that does not make sense to you, give me a call at 1-888-526-ATEX (2839).

I will give you the straight scoop - and if I don't know, I will tell you I don't know.

Setting Up an LLC for Your Freight Broker Business

I recently completed live training here in El Paso for two clients. They are going to be working together as partners and have selected to form an LLC for their business structure.

Many people want to know what is the best way to go for their business. There is no pat answer as it depends on their current and estimated income among other things.

In the near future, I will be putting together a short video lesson on how an LLC works and what the advantages and disadvantages might be.

Have a great weekend!

Starting a New Business?

You can get some real good information on starting a business from most states at their Secretary of State portal. When you get inside the Sec of State website, look for links related to business names, assumed names, corporations, starting a business, etc., etc.

They usually have some very good infomation and it is free.

Go to your seach browser and type in "Secretary of State Florida", for example. Replace Florida with the name of your state (but you can still learn some good stuff from other states' websites.)

 

Do You Need This?

Many of my clients begin with a passion to be more independent. They want to work from home. They want to be with their family more often. They want to kick back on the weekends with a movie or going out to dinner or just flopping down to watch TV for awhile.

Yes, they have this passion and a dream. And they have plans.

Plans, you say? Well they have plans but most of their plans only exist in their minds and dreams. This is okay, it is a start. But if you are planning to become fully independent and successful being your own boss, don't you think it deserves enough attention to put things down in writing? A written business plan?

It takes more than just some dreams and a passion to get off on the right foot. As simple as a freight broker business appears to be, it is not that simple. Take the time to sit down and THINK what you want to do and how you want to do it. Put your dreams and plans in writing. Then put them into action.

In our training, we provide a sample business plan to get you started. All you have to do is start modifying it to make it YOUR written business plan. Most individuals don't do this. And many people fail simply because they either don't have a plan or they don't put it into writing.

Check out the website for more detail about this business: http://www.atexfreightbrokertraining.com

How Large or Small Do You Want to Grow?

Freight brokering has many advantages. One being that you can grow your business however large or small you want to grow it;

It is wide open in more ways than you might imagine.

Some of my clients want to work their business from their home and remain small. Others, however, have dreams of building and expanding. For example, I have some clients who are successfully putting on agents to grow their freight broker business.

Others want to become freight forwarders. Some want to do cross-border brokering into and out of Canada and Mexico. Some want to get into warehousing. Some want to get into imports. These people are limited only by their imagination.

While we tend to focus on truck brokering in the 48 states, the business fundamentals we teach can span which ever business venture you choose. For example, every business needs to employ good cash management techniques, create good marketing strategies, set up operations for optimum performance and conduct essential planning sessions.

Don't neglect the fundamentals. These should be the foundation and the strength of your freight broker business.