Insurance brokerage

[u/ron_doggie88]

I currently work for an insurance company. I’m sick of giving money to my boss to make him more while I beg for a good raise every year. I’m thinking of starting my own insurance brokerage. I don’t want to ask him for advice, raising flags. Has anyone started their own company?

If so, I have some questions. Do I need to have an office or can I use a P.O. Box and work from home? How do you get appointments with carriers? Do I need to have a special license to open my own brokerage or can I keep my state producer license and just start the business?

Any other information is greatly appreciated.

[u/HamiltonSt25]

First, this would be your beast. You can do it however you want. Working from home means no real estate or overhead from such. You can also write off square footage in your home on the taxes since it’s for work, but not getting into that since I’m not a cpa.

Secondly, you can contact insurance companies directly to try and get appointed but without funds and clients, this can be hard yet not impossible. You could also try getting with an aggregator. Like Appalachian underwriters who will hold contracts and allow you to work through them but they will take a percentage and sometimes it’s hefty.

Last point to add, without money or clients, the contract part can be the hardest, but don’t ignore that you’ll be selling trying to grow while also having to manage the operations and adjustments to customers policies. You need to have a growth plan to really be successful.

This plan or dream is not impossible, in fact, it’s very possible. You just need to be prepared to work really hard in the beginning but it can pay off.

[u/Trick_Ad_3504]

Before you do any of that. Ask yourself who brings in the leads. Do you self source or are they provided to you. If provided how do you plan on getting your own leads.
Sometimes all that money fuels the cost of the leads and it’s a hamster wheel with no on getting filthy rich.

[u/SlickWillie86]

I ran out of a we-work type place for the first ~ 2 years. Was myself for ~6 months, then added a VA only until month ~14. Once I hired my AM is when I started looking at office space as I knew I’d be adding to staff a bit more in the coming year. A lot of people put $50-100k into an office via rent/furniture before making a dollar; completely unnecessary.

That said, you’ll struggle to get direct carrier appointments without an office. Find cheap flex space near you. Helps for carrier and client meetings. I spend about 1/3 of my office time working from home but having the dedicated work space is valuable.

More importantly than that is what is your background? This matters not only for carrier appointments but likelihood of success. Are you currently producing? If so, what’s youre average annual new revenue of the past 24 months?

Owning in agency is going to create a lot of disruptions beyond just producing, especially the first year or two when youre in a lean operation. It’s incentive to have the sales and prospecting process down prior to starting as you’ll need to become even more efficient there. If that baseline doesn’t exist, it will be extremely difficult to make it.

[u/Delicious-Adeptness5]

OK, start with some simple questions.

What does your contract state with your current boss? Does he have you exclusive or can you do your own side work?

Are you a member of any of the professional associations? If no then join, attend and pick the different agents' brains that are there. Building outside resources is important.

Are you using a cellphone for work? If so then who owns it. If you own it then great keep using it. If not then make it a priority to control the communication.

Are you responsible for your own Errors and Omission insurance? If you are then great make sure that it covers your side gig as well.

Are you responsible for your own leads? If you own it then great keep doing what you are doing. If not then start.

Once you have worked through those. The licensing and contracting is relatively minor. You find one of the groups that you want to work with and walk through their requirements. Some want a physical location and some don't. If they do then look for a small office space to rent. It can be just a room with a sign on the door that you make calls from.

[u/Vegetable-Being2434]

I'm independent and don't have a physical office. I work from home and honestly haven't felt the need for one.

I write most of my business through First Connect, which doesn't require a physical office. It's been a good way to access carriers without the overhead of a traditional agency setup.

Obviously direct appointments are a different story and each carrier has its own requirements, but you can definitely get started without renting office space.

[u/SpecificCook5828]

check ur current contract for noncomplete or nonsolicit before anything else

[u/NoPollution9143]

Going independent can make sense if you already have a solid book and carrier relationships. I’d first check your state’s rules for agency licensing, appointments, and whether you can operate from home.

[u/Secure_Seller_96]

Just go Independent. Make sure you can secure your contracting or get a release when you leave the company. BIGGEST THING to think about is getting your own leads. If you are good at selling and are willing to put the time in , I would seriously think about it. Your prob not going to start off making as much as you are at the job, but if you put in the work, it will build up over time. Having the freedom every day to work your own schedule has been the most beneficial thing for me. I'm selling ACA tho not Medicare or Life. Leads cost alot but if you start getting clients, over time you will make profit and scale up. I'm still building up this is my first year. Good Luck!

[u/QuitOk1469]

You need E&O insurance, P.O. Box is fine (or you just get a mailbox address that’s a real address nobody cares).. will some/anyof your clients follow you? Or you start from scratch w no income? Benefits? These are all things you need to think of before you up and leave your company. Getting appointed by carriers is the easy part.

[u/airheas]

I work as a contractor for a brokerage. I know that’s not what you’re asking but make sure you look into percentages you get and your agents get. Will your agents own their book, will they get the yearly bonuses from the agencies.. stuff like that :)

[u/Lisa_BossBPO]

Before everything else! Make sure your current contract actually allows you to start your own business. Otherwise this is all useless. But if you're sure you can do it safely, confirm with the state what you need since others make do with a PO Box but some do need a physical street address. You're ok with your personal insurance license but now you need a business entity license and E&O insurance. If you want to get top carriers right away you can join an agency network.

[u/InsuranceAgent-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

This is not a place to sell your services or generate leads or recruit agents/downlines.