123, IT’S SHARK TANK!
First into the tank is the inventor of a directory that will help notaries vastly improve their business.
JB: Hi, Sharks. My name is Jeremy Belmont. And I’m seeking an investment of $500,000 for 10% of my company, 123Notary.com. How many times have you needed a Notary public, and thought “Damn. Where can I find me a decent Notary Public?” Sharks, your searches are over. With 123Notary.com, we get the most serious customers, because we have the best quality notaries. We get 170,000 visits per month. That’s 170,000 more visits per month than Mr. Wonderful makes to the barber.
MR. WONDERFUL: I’d much rather see my money grow than hair.
ROBERT: So walk me through the business model, Jeremy.
JB: We use a lot of social media and search engines to gather up steam, to get good traffic, and we also keep the site well organized. Make sure people have good notary public note sections, reviews. We spend a lot of time making sure people improve their knowledge and pass their certification.
BARBARA: How is that different from other sites?
JB: They don’t put as much attention into the marketing and organization as we do.
LAURIE: Tell us a little about you. How did you get into this line of work?
JB: I started out by being a notary public.
MARK: Good for you, man.
JB: Starting from the ground up is okay as long as you don’t get ground up.
BARBARA: I get a good feeling from you, Jeremy, and I’m going to make you an offer. But I need a little more skin in the game.
MR. WONDERFUL: Hopefully not the skin around your neck.
BARBARA: I wasn’t talking to you, skinhead. I’ll offer you $500,000 for 20% of the company.
MR. WONDERFUL: Ouch. She just cut the value of your company in half.
JB: I appreciate your offer, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to respect the other sharks and hear if anyone else has an offer.
MARK: I like what you’re doing. I like that you started from the ground up. As you know, I own the Dallas Mavericks. And every time they swear to me they won’t blow a shot, I’d like them to swear in front of one of your top-notch notaries, so I’ll tell you what. I’ll go in with Barbara if she’ll have me.
BARBARA: I’ll have you, Mark.
MR. WONDERFUL: Gross.
MARK: 500 K, 20%. But you get two sharks. Ten percent each.
JB: Would you be willing to split the difference at 15%?
ROBERT: I’ll take that deal.
JB: Would you agree to take that deal by signing this paper I have one of our top notaries witness?
ROBERT: I’m out.
LAURIE: You never told us. Why do you need the money?
JB: I want to buy an office.
MR. WONDERFUL: Where are you working now, out of your car?
JB: No, I’m working at home. I want to get an office, so I can have my staff all under one roof. It’s hard to stay unified when you’re all working in separate places.
MR. WONDERFUL: You live in your car?
BARBARA: You’re so mean.
JB: I don’t want to rent an office, because I don’t like the fact you can’t open the windows. I want to be able to customize it to my own needs, which includes having windows that actually open. I have a hard time working without oxygen.
MR. WONDERFUL: That makes you an “airhead” for the right reasons. I’m fine with that. Well, Jeremy, I’ll make you an offer. I don’t want any equity. Zero. Zip.
MARK: Here it comes.
MR. WONDERFUL: I want a 2% royalty for every signing you make. And after I make six times my investment back – Poof. I’m gone.
JEREMY: Darn. You’re still here.
LAURIE/BARBARA/MARK: For that putdown alone, we’ll match your offer.
JEREMY: I’m about to say yes in… 1…2…3!
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You might also like:
A string of all our Shark Tank Posts
http://blog.123notary.com/?tag=shark-tank
A Notary enters the Shark Tank
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=14088
Apps that Notaries have never heard of that could change your life
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16311
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Minimum wage for Notaries
I was thinking about this yesterday. Notaries would be much more happy if there was some sort of a minimum wage. I remember Ben Carson claimed that there should be a separate minimum wage for people fresh out of high school or college otherwise they might never get hired. Personally, I think the government should stay out of wage setting as it creates artificial market situations which might make it too expensive to do business. If someone is sluggish, minimum wage might be more than they merit. And when you combine minimum wage with taxes, insurance, unemployment, and the rest, it might lead many to outsource their work overseas!
Our average Notary averages $105 per signing.
But, you can’t outsource Notary work overseas — at least not yet. Notaries would feel like they were being treated better if they were paid a fair wage. On the other hand, Notaries surveyed half a year ago were averaging about $105 per signing which is not bad at all. Just because you get bad offers doesn’t mean that you actually do signings for $60. It is sort of like looking at the asking prices for houses on the market. The asking price and the sale price are often very different and will give you a distorted view of the market.
Do beginners have merit?
In any case, I feel that beginner Notaries with no experience and no 123notary certification do not merit a minimum wage. Most of the Notaries I test by phone do not know their documents, signing terminology and additionally do even worse when I ask them simple Notary questions. The fact is that we have a lot of unqualified people out there who feel they are worth a lot. In addition to minimum wage for Notaries, I feel there should be minimum standards as well. I feel that our new 30 point test should be the standard, and a particular test result such as a 14 or 15 should be the minimum to be hired at all.
What should qualified Notaries make?
A Notary who has signed 400 loans (and an prove it with journals) and who has passed the 30 point test with an adequate score in my opinion is entitled to some sort of standardized minimum wage. I feel that
$60 per signing of 5-99 pages
$65 per signing of 100-125 pages
$70 per signing of 126-150 pages
$80 per signing of 150+ pages
10 cents per page for printing
50 cents per page for fax backs
I feel that a Notary with good test scores who has signed 4000 or more loans deserves a lot more than this, but the market can determine their value. Just because you test well, doesn’t mean you show up on time, well dressed and with a good attitude.
What do you think a fair minimum wage for qualified Notaries should be? What about for not so qualified Notaries?
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You might also like:
$40 for a signing 72 miles away?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=14959
Is $75 enough to print 2 sets of docs, notarize & do faxbacks?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=10369
The “Met my fee” list of signing companies
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16979
A Notary Union? How would that work?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18878