After being downsized by a large company, I was in search of an affordable home based, 1 man business opportunity. I came across Lease One Corporation in several of the 'Franchise Opportunity' websites. Although the $20,000 investment was substantial, it was realitively little in comparison to the type of investments required by most of the options I found (generally $50k or greater).
They have their sales pitch down: 8 out of 10 businesses will lease some portion of their equipment, it's a $270 billion a year industry and so on. When I inquired about competition, I was told "there isn't any, " and this was repeated to me by the "Random" Associate Brokers I was referred to, of course by the company. I'm now convinced that the brokers I was given to contact are being paid by the company to paint a rosey picture.
What they don't tell you is that there are literally 1,000s of independent brokers, just like you out there - bombarding your potential clients with weekly phone calls. And, because you're a broker, the rates are not competitive against the "big boys", most large banks have a equipment leasing department. Also, that there underwriting department is inadequate, literally killing almost every potential deal with either lack of timeliness, incorrect paperwork or outrageous rates.
Lease One is not making money by processing leases. They are making a fortune off the deams of those who are willing to invest all they have in their dream of business ownership. Of the 6 Associate Brokers I trained with nearly a year ago, only one has actually closed a lease deal and made back some of his investment. And he has decided it's way to difficult to deal with the company and is moving on to other endeavors. The remaining 5, have not been able to move 1 lease loan through the system to completion. And we are all business professionals who have been successful in the past.
I finally decided that it was my responsibility to warn others of this scam. It is truly a scam. Lease One is easily bringing in $200,000 per month by selling Associate Brokerships to suckers like me. Don't let yourself be the next victim.
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