Identity Theft – Jim Alafat
Hybrid Meeting – July 27, 2023
Jim grew up in NH and started his 1st business at 12, mowing lawns, doing yard work, and shoveling snow. In addition, he was working weekends in his father’s restaurant, scrubbing pots and learning the business from the ground up. Throughout college, he worked in the 1,600-seat Club Casino, DJ at a local disco and the college radio station. After graduating college, he continued to work his way up in the family business and added a catering division providing custom “in Home” events to large concert venues.
In 1988, they sold the restaurant, and Jim moved to Florida, where he became involved in the SCUBA industry. He became a Master Instructor and was a Regional Manager for several stores in S. Florida. At that time, he was introduced to financial planning and decided to focus on mortgages. He is a Certified Mortgage Advisor and has held multiple licenses.
In August 2006, Jim started the Keystone Financial Company as a Mortgage Planning Firm financing residential and commercial properties as well as investment ventures in the commercial realm. He also included credit repair in his offerings.
With the mortgage meltdown, Jim revamped his business model to better serve the business community. He realized that small businesses and big businesses both have the same problems. From his experience working in other industries, he became aware of services that were tailor-made to the small business needs and the small business budget.
He currently provides business consulting services in different industries and educates owners on services that provide great value on a small business budget, saving them thousands of dollars on services they already pay for but most likely don’t use as frequently as they should.
He is a volunteer mentor at UCF Blackstone Launchpad and with 1 Million Cups. He enjoys working with startups and early-stage to midsize companies. Jim is a published author, having written articles on Identity Theft, commercial residential lending strategies as well as shielding your business and family from pitfalls associated with owning and operating a business. He has spoken to and trained business owners, employees, and others in 14 different countries. He is currently writing a book – “8 Life-Changing Lessons You’ll Never Learn in School”.
He has been married to Jo Ann since 2002 and has 1 daughter.
He enjoys playing golf, skiing, diving, cooking & eating fine foods & wine. He plays guitar & is learning keyboards.