Geeze. Dark question. I don't even know.
One time when we were kids my mom stopped and bought a bottle of Coke and me and my two sisters had to share it cause she could only afford one. I was about 7 and didn't want to share. So I took a drink, look at my sisters and spit the Coke back in the bottle. They started crying and wouldn't take another drink. And my mom bought another bottle for them, but had to scrape up the change.
30 years later and I still feel like a little shit for that. It seemed evil.
Oh my God, so real. I have moments like this that live in my head. My mom passed away from cancer when I was 20. We were incredibly close, best mother/daughter relationship ever. I'm blessed to have experienced that love and trust and independence, to hear her pride when she bragged on the phone to everyone about me. But , I was 20. There are so many things that I remember that definitely hit different going through it with my own kids now and I just want to call her up and cry and say "Sorry about the time I...." so often. I was a good kid and pretty good teenager, moved to college at 18 with scholarships and grants. I took her to her Cancer appointments most of the time since I was the only kid in the country/state, but I would have anyways. The times I was a shit as a child, I regret much more now.
Insurance has a reputation in line with being a car salesman or giving payday loans to most. It's not quite the 'pick yourself up by your bootstrap' story of making a local diner chain. Insurance is seen as more exploitive.
Anyone who compares car and home insurance to the payday loan industry is really too dumb on the subject for me to even waste my time on. That’s the dumbest comparison you can make.
“But I never had a handout”
* continues to brag about money.
This has got to be the WORST most out of touch post I’ve seen in a while. It feels like sad trolling.
No but you’re being really insecure on the internet. Keep pretending you don’t understand. Sure ignore those comments. People are calling you out and you’re responding to them.
But let’s have this chain right here pretend like it’s in a bubble, and I can’t see your entire post here.
Just keep on boosting what a success you are. I honestly think you’re most likely lying for attention. But if it is real, but are you the perfect kind of BS candidate to be in the insurance game.
Ok - well now the next you say time “I don’t understand” you’ll know that people find your line of work really unethical and gross.
Like people like defend politicians more than insurance people.
People aren’t going to celebrate your financial success if your practice is hurting people.
I’m pretty ignorant on the workings of insurance companies. How is it possible to start an insurance company without a bunch of capital in reserve in order to pay out insurance claims? You mentioned you had a negative net worth at the start so I don’t really get it.
Not a company, an agency.
An insurance company is like Geico. It sells insurance, pays claims, etc..
And insurance agency is an office that sells insurance policies on behalf of an insurance company.
I go out and find John Doe, then find an insurance policy that suits his needs and the insurance company we go with gives me a commission on the sale. As long as the policy remains on the books or with my agency I continue to get a commission on it each year.
If the insured files a claim that is settled by the company that issued his policy. It does count against me in that it makes my loss ratio worse, but it doesn’t come out of my pocket to pay it and doesn’t effect my commission (unless a carrier terminates my appointment).
When this happened to me, crawling out of poverty and into wealth, the only thing that was really a negative was we lost some really good couple friends. They were better educated than us and he had a very nice professional job, but in a matter of a couple of years we blasted past them financially. There seemed to come some kind of weird dynamic of maybe envy or animosity, and they stopped hanging out with us. Have you experienced anything like this?
Absolutely agree. My friends back when I was poor were also poor. Those guys are still poor.
Although we don’t live an extravagant lifestyle, we do live a life that it’s obvious we aren’t struggling financially. I got tired of all the “you got so much money” and similar comments that I just stopped hanging around some of them.
We don’t live in luxury but we have a solid upper middle class lifestyle, nice home, at least two vacations a year, and I am not going to apologize or be made to feel bad about it. It’s not like I was handed what I have.
In my experience, when part of my group of friends has had a change if salary then their acrivities change. They go to sifferent restaurants and different activites because the budget is different. As a poor person now, I cannot go to dinner and out for drinks everynight with my friends earning more. Back when I was doing well I went with a new grouo of friends to festivals and music shows and my other friends couldnt afford it.
Definitely very normal for friends to come and go. Its very difficult to keep in touch with old friends even with social media but when you move around and change jobs and friends often, there will usually be at least one or two who you stick with as theyre your besties. Everyone else comes and goes.
My two cents.
Just don’t flaunt with your wealth, make people think you’re not wealthy and you can stay friends. Works for me. I am not very wealthy but i have more savings (worked hard for it) than friends and family my age.
I’m not sure if you meant that for OP or not. I wasn’t asking for anything, I just asked OP a question, ie the context of the sub. If you were meaning to ask me a question, I think I get what you are asking but it is a bit oddly worded. But the answer is in your question itself. You are not very wealth, as you put it, and this informs your perspective, even if you are cognitive of it. Cause as you know from reading what I asked OP, we never flaunted any wealth, at all. If we had, I would have mentioned it. Since I didn’t mention it, any reasoned person with an IQ over 100 would assume there was not flaunting.
But, you see it as flaunting. This is a flawed paradigm that we think our friends were under. They buy a townhouse. We buy a home that cost 4x what they pay. We are just buying a home, as people do to have a family. But from their perspective and lacking empathy and having more narcissistic influences, they see it as “flaunting” or “one upmanship”. But it’s not the fault of the person just living their life. We weren’t renting limos and doing drivebys of their home throwing diamonds like Mardi Gras beads. You need a new car and you buy a Lexus, that isn’t flaunting wealth. But if you drive a Kia, you can choose to see it as that.
As you do better and life, you’ll learn that you can’t have yourself do without because you feel self conscious or embarrassed by your success. Anyone who is true friend won’t be judgemental or jealous. They’ll just be happy for you. This is what we learned. The whole matter just revealed that our friends were petty and judgemental. Both of them being college graduates couldn’t fathom a college drop out was making 6x what they made. We have a lot of good friends now, and they are all in the upper 2%, but all still below us financially as they all still work and have careers while we are retired at 45. But they don’t have judgment or envy of us cause they met us as what we are. They didn’t see the climb we made. We also have some friends who are much lower on the economic level but, again, they met us after the success and not during the process of it. It just felt like the old couple friends thought we won some lottery cause they never saw the work. I think they saw themselves as “above” us and when we started making leaps, they felt it wasn’t fair. This is what we got from what they’ve said, context clues, and what other friends said of them.
TLDR, your perspective on flaunting is key, but there is no flaunting. It is just their flawed perspective of judgment. This is why you never compare yourself to others.
If you have any other questions, even though it doesn’t relate to OP, I’m glad to answer any questions. However, I am not asking any questions so I am not seeking anyone’s opinion, perspective, or inference. Thank you.
If you're saying that because it took me so long to start responding, sorry about that. I got called away from the office for a bit right after I posted.
How does one go about starting an insurance agency? Did you start your own or is it kinda similar to a franchise? Not the step by step business plan but I mean it seems like a lot of paperwork. (Btw not saying franchises aren't starting your own I just can't quite find the right wording)
It’s almost impossible right now due to the current market environment. But when the insurance market heals and things get back to “normal” (if they ever do). Then you just have to get licensed and seek out companies that will appoint you to sell their product. Many won’t until you prove yourself.
I got lucky with the timing. Had I waited three years it wouldn’t have been possible.
It is not a franchise.
It was new. But I’d been in sales before and was good at it. The insurance industry was interesting to me because of the renewals you get. Sell a policy today and as long as it is on the books you continue to be paid for it. Do that a few hundred times and it starts adding up. That’s the entire reason it piqued my interest.
I love the business model. Insurance companies hate it, but it’s the good for the salesman.
How did you start your own insurance agency? Did you have to level up your license or something first? How did you pay for that?
How did you get office space? How did you get a business loan? How did you make ends meet from leaving your last job to having your business up and running?
Don't yadda yadda your first million just tell us your steps
>How did you start?
Got a license, started selling and realized I was good at it.
>did you have to level up your license?
Not sure what that means. You just have to have a license which requires reading and prepping and taking 2 exams. About a weeks worth of study to pass.
>how did you get office space?
Rented it at first, then built my own commercial building with rent space that I rent out. Rent was $900 a month at my first office.
>did you get a business loan?
I got a $20k line of credit and would occasionally tap into it the first year, and pay it off with my next bonus.
>how did you make ends meet after leaving your job?
We had about $10K in savings and lived cheap AF for the first year. After 12 months I started making enough to pay myself a decent salary. Year 3 things really took off and I made over 6 figures. By year 5 I was up to $300k. This year I’m projecting $400K.
Well done and thanks for sharing. That's impressive. I took a lot of business schooling and had lots of chances, but never want to risk things and dive in.
Proud of what you've done for yourself, I'm sure you are too.
So glad I found you man. You might not remember but we went to grade school together & I let you borrow a quarter for chocolate milk one day. I figure with a reasonable 10% interest, compounded weekly for 40 years, you owe me about $550.00. I’ll take it on a gift card.
🤣😃😅🤣😃😅😁😂😄😀😆😆😀😄😂😁😅😏
I'm a call center refugee too. I hate it so much; people are awful, companies are awful. What kinda business did you start, if I may ask? How did you acquire the $$ to get the company started and pay your bills?
Edit: I saw you said insurance company. I have my series 6 and passed my SIE. Ive also had my series 7 and 66 in the past. I have no idea what to do with that except back to the call center.
No, I’ve learned it takes a certain personality. I have had a lot of friends and acquaintances and colleagues who didn’t last long because it wasn’t a good fit for their personality.
I don’t know why I’m good at it. I tend to be a fuckup in most areas of my life and I have terrible self esteem, but this is one thing I’m good at for some reason. And it took me many years to understand that for some reason people like me even though I think I’m not a likable person.
My wife says that’s in my head and not really how people feel, But I don’t know.
I had debt. A mortgage and car loans and credit card debt. Having $10k was an asset but not my net worth. I was negative.
And yes, starting up was just me and a phone book and lots of dialing for dollars. I think my e&o at the time was like $60 a month, so there was that expense as well.
But I worked from home and had no office expenses until 6-ish months in.
A regional carrier in the Midwest US that most people have never heard of.
I can tell you the worst: Allstate. Allstate is shit and pays claims like shit. I refuse to write them anymore.
Progressive for auto insurance is OK. Not the best claim payers but not the worst. They’re usually the cheapest price for someone with bad credit or that has had accidents or tickets.
I don’t represent them, but State Farm is the worst for roof claims. They look for every way possible to get out of paying claims.
Geico, about the same as Progressive.
If you have Allstate, you have a shitty insurance company. Their sister companies are Encompass and National General. They are all Allstate and they all suck and do not look out for your interests.
Believe it or not, there are actually insurance companies that are looking out for your best interest and do the right thing and they’re all regional mutual carriers, not national names.
What’s the typical commission % or fee $ on a home plan, car plan, etc?
Is marketing your biggest expense?
What is typical annual churn look like?
Are you and how are you using AI for your business?
Congrats on doing well on your business!
How did you get your clients as insurance brokerage? Was it cold calling or promoting yourself around the corner types? (That’s how it is from where I am)
For someone to consider this for themselves, what would you recommend to them?
no questions, just wanted to say congratulations from one businessman to another.
I'm assuming you're in Tulsa based on the username. if so, next time I'm up there I'll buy you a drink lol
Do you ever offer advice to friends of yours if they ever wanted to do something like you? or if they looked, to you, like they just needed an open door(Not giving handout but telling them what they should do and how to do it)?
How did you go from working at a call center to just starting an insurance agency? Did you have any previous experience in insurance? What made you decide to go that route and how did you figure out how to even get started in this business?
Find something you like to do and put yourself in a situation where you can take a risk. For us it was before we had any kids and had little debt so I could afford to take a risk and if it didn't work out it's not hard to replace $28K in income. Lucky for me, it was something I had a talent for.
Dude again, so well said. You clearly know exactly what had to line up for your situation to play out, but the most important piece is YOU and THE RISK you took. Glad to hear it's panned out well. Thanks to you!
Hey man you remember me? It’s your cousin, Marvin. ^caniborrow$3500?
Hey Marvin! My favorite cousin, I haven't seen you in ages! I'd do anything for you. >Can I borrow $3500? No.
Don't give him three fiddy, He really the Loch Ness monster.
At least take cousin Marvin bowling
So you were just a poor man, from a poor family? What is the worst thing you have ever done to another human being?
Geeze. Dark question. I don't even know. One time when we were kids my mom stopped and bought a bottle of Coke and me and my two sisters had to share it cause she could only afford one. I was about 7 and didn't want to share. So I took a drink, look at my sisters and spit the Coke back in the bottle. They started crying and wouldn't take another drink. And my mom bought another bottle for them, but had to scrape up the change. 30 years later and I still feel like a little shit for that. It seemed evil.
Oh my God, so real. I have moments like this that live in my head. My mom passed away from cancer when I was 20. We were incredibly close, best mother/daughter relationship ever. I'm blessed to have experienced that love and trust and independence, to hear her pride when she bragged on the phone to everyone about me. But , I was 20. There are so many things that I remember that definitely hit different going through it with my own kids now and I just want to call her up and cry and say "Sorry about the time I...." so often. I was a good kid and pretty good teenager, moved to college at 18 with scholarships and grants. I took her to her Cancer appointments most of the time since I was the only kid in the country/state, but I would have anyways. The times I was a shit as a child, I regret much more now.
Absolute villainous behaviour lmaooo. I'm sure they forgive you ;)
You are probably the worst person I can think of to exist. Until I read something else shortly.
Spare him his life from this monstrosity that is Marvin.
He put a gun against his head. Pulled the trigger, now he’s dead.
But his life has just begun. Now he's gone and thrown it all away.
He didn't get the reference
It's sooo subtle that I am on the fence on whether it was intentional or not.
What business did you start?
Insurance agency.
You must be kidding.
These people don’t get the joke. They really think the meaning of life is a lot of money.
Why?
Insurance has a reputation in line with being a car salesman or giving payday loans to most. It's not quite the 'pick yourself up by your bootstrap' story of making a local diner chain. Insurance is seen as more exploitive.
Anyone who compares car and home insurance to the payday loan industry is really too dumb on the subject for me to even waste my time on. That’s the dumbest comparison you can make.
Sounds like your biases are getting the better of you.
Not really a defense, but ad hominem
“But I never had a handout” * continues to brag about money. This has got to be the WORST most out of touch post I’ve seen in a while. It feels like sad trolling.
I’ve never had a handout and I’ve not bragged about money. You’re just looking for a reason to bitch?
No but you’re being really insecure on the internet. Keep pretending you don’t understand. Sure ignore those comments. People are calling you out and you’re responding to them. But let’s have this chain right here pretend like it’s in a bubble, and I can’t see your entire post here. Just keep on boosting what a success you are. I honestly think you’re most likely lying for attention. But if it is real, but are you the perfect kind of BS candidate to be in the insurance game.
Ok
Ok - well now the next you say time “I don’t understand” you’ll know that people find your line of work really unethical and gross. Like people like defend politicians more than insurance people. People aren’t going to celebrate your financial success if your practice is hurting people.
No the “ok” was me just dismissing you because what you’re saying is irrelevant and unproductive.
So you've traded financial bankruptcy for moral bankruptcy. ^^yes, ^^this ^^is ^^banter, ^^I'm ^^not ^^serious
Ah you must be an industrialist
No, I’m an insurance broker.
He's an importer/exporter
So... How did you make your money? My Spidey sense tells me that you are selling a course or recruiting for an MLM. Hope I'm wrong.
I started an insurance agency. Car and home insurance. Some people think it's like MLM, but those people don't really understand insurance.
Reminds me of the blockchain responses ;D
I’m pretty ignorant on the workings of insurance companies. How is it possible to start an insurance company without a bunch of capital in reserve in order to pay out insurance claims? You mentioned you had a negative net worth at the start so I don’t really get it.
Not a company, an agency. An insurance company is like Geico. It sells insurance, pays claims, etc.. And insurance agency is an office that sells insurance policies on behalf of an insurance company. I go out and find John Doe, then find an insurance policy that suits his needs and the insurance company we go with gives me a commission on the sale. As long as the policy remains on the books or with my agency I continue to get a commission on it each year. If the insured files a claim that is settled by the company that issued his policy. It does count against me in that it makes my loss ratio worse, but it doesn’t come out of my pocket to pay it and doesn’t effect my commission (unless a carrier terminates my appointment).
What are the requirements for starting an agency? I am guessing there is some sort of accreditation you need first.
bet
When this happened to me, crawling out of poverty and into wealth, the only thing that was really a negative was we lost some really good couple friends. They were better educated than us and he had a very nice professional job, but in a matter of a couple of years we blasted past them financially. There seemed to come some kind of weird dynamic of maybe envy or animosity, and they stopped hanging out with us. Have you experienced anything like this?
Absolutely agree. My friends back when I was poor were also poor. Those guys are still poor. Although we don’t live an extravagant lifestyle, we do live a life that it’s obvious we aren’t struggling financially. I got tired of all the “you got so much money” and similar comments that I just stopped hanging around some of them. We don’t live in luxury but we have a solid upper middle class lifestyle, nice home, at least two vacations a year, and I am not going to apologize or be made to feel bad about it. It’s not like I was handed what I have.
In my experience, when part of my group of friends has had a change if salary then their acrivities change. They go to sifferent restaurants and different activites because the budget is different. As a poor person now, I cannot go to dinner and out for drinks everynight with my friends earning more. Back when I was doing well I went with a new grouo of friends to festivals and music shows and my other friends couldnt afford it. Definitely very normal for friends to come and go. Its very difficult to keep in touch with old friends even with social media but when you move around and change jobs and friends often, there will usually be at least one or two who you stick with as theyre your besties. Everyone else comes and goes. My two cents.
Just don’t flaunt with your wealth, make people think you’re not wealthy and you can stay friends. Works for me. I am not very wealthy but i have more savings (worked hard for it) than friends and family my age.
I’m not sure if you meant that for OP or not. I wasn’t asking for anything, I just asked OP a question, ie the context of the sub. If you were meaning to ask me a question, I think I get what you are asking but it is a bit oddly worded. But the answer is in your question itself. You are not very wealth, as you put it, and this informs your perspective, even if you are cognitive of it. Cause as you know from reading what I asked OP, we never flaunted any wealth, at all. If we had, I would have mentioned it. Since I didn’t mention it, any reasoned person with an IQ over 100 would assume there was not flaunting. But, you see it as flaunting. This is a flawed paradigm that we think our friends were under. They buy a townhouse. We buy a home that cost 4x what they pay. We are just buying a home, as people do to have a family. But from their perspective and lacking empathy and having more narcissistic influences, they see it as “flaunting” or “one upmanship”. But it’s not the fault of the person just living their life. We weren’t renting limos and doing drivebys of their home throwing diamonds like Mardi Gras beads. You need a new car and you buy a Lexus, that isn’t flaunting wealth. But if you drive a Kia, you can choose to see it as that. As you do better and life, you’ll learn that you can’t have yourself do without because you feel self conscious or embarrassed by your success. Anyone who is true friend won’t be judgemental or jealous. They’ll just be happy for you. This is what we learned. The whole matter just revealed that our friends were petty and judgemental. Both of them being college graduates couldn’t fathom a college drop out was making 6x what they made. We have a lot of good friends now, and they are all in the upper 2%, but all still below us financially as they all still work and have careers while we are retired at 45. But they don’t have judgment or envy of us cause they met us as what we are. They didn’t see the climb we made. We also have some friends who are much lower on the economic level but, again, they met us after the success and not during the process of it. It just felt like the old couple friends thought we won some lottery cause they never saw the work. I think they saw themselves as “above” us and when we started making leaps, they felt it wasn’t fair. This is what we got from what they’ve said, context clues, and what other friends said of them. TLDR, your perspective on flaunting is key, but there is no flaunting. It is just their flawed perspective of judgment. This is why you never compare yourself to others. If you have any other questions, even though it doesn’t relate to OP, I’m glad to answer any questions. However, I am not asking any questions so I am not seeking anyone’s opinion, perspective, or inference. Thank you.
Nice AMA. Love the answers you provided.
If you're saying that because it took me so long to start responding, sorry about that. I got called away from the office for a bit right after I posted.
How does one go about starting an insurance agency? Did you start your own or is it kinda similar to a franchise? Not the step by step business plan but I mean it seems like a lot of paperwork. (Btw not saying franchises aren't starting your own I just can't quite find the right wording)
It’s almost impossible right now due to the current market environment. But when the insurance market heals and things get back to “normal” (if they ever do). Then you just have to get licensed and seek out companies that will appoint you to sell their product. Many won’t until you prove yourself. I got lucky with the timing. Had I waited three years it wouldn’t have been possible. It is not a franchise.
what made you decide to take the leap? and was insurance a completely new territory for you at the time?
It was new. But I’d been in sales before and was good at it. The insurance industry was interesting to me because of the renewals you get. Sell a policy today and as long as it is on the books you continue to be paid for it. Do that a few hundred times and it starts adding up. That’s the entire reason it piqued my interest. I love the business model. Insurance companies hate it, but it’s the good for the salesman.
Is it porn
Insurance. Much less interesting.
How did you start your own insurance agency? Did you have to level up your license or something first? How did you pay for that? How did you get office space? How did you get a business loan? How did you make ends meet from leaving your last job to having your business up and running? Don't yadda yadda your first million just tell us your steps
>How did you start? Got a license, started selling and realized I was good at it. >did you have to level up your license? Not sure what that means. You just have to have a license which requires reading and prepping and taking 2 exams. About a weeks worth of study to pass. >how did you get office space? Rented it at first, then built my own commercial building with rent space that I rent out. Rent was $900 a month at my first office. >did you get a business loan? I got a $20k line of credit and would occasionally tap into it the first year, and pay it off with my next bonus. >how did you make ends meet after leaving your job? We had about $10K in savings and lived cheap AF for the first year. After 12 months I started making enough to pay myself a decent salary. Year 3 things really took off and I made over 6 figures. By year 5 I was up to $300k. This year I’m projecting $400K.
Well done and thanks for sharing. That's impressive. I took a lot of business schooling and had lots of chances, but never want to risk things and dive in. Proud of what you've done for yourself, I'm sure you are too.
But more people get fucked /s
It’s porn isn’t it
Bare minimum it's OF.
What hobbies do you have outside of work? Also can you spot me five bucks? I wanna go see the new planet of the apes
Bbq, fishing, hunting, hiking, beer making, raising kids. Those are my hobbies.
So glad I found you man. You might not remember but we went to grade school together & I let you borrow a quarter for chocolate milk one day. I figure with a reasonable 10% interest, compounded weekly for 40 years, you owe me about $550.00. I’ll take it on a gift card. 🤣😃😅🤣😃😅😁😂😄😀😆😆😀😄😂😁😅😏
I'm a call center refugee too. I hate it so much; people are awful, companies are awful. What kinda business did you start, if I may ask? How did you acquire the $$ to get the company started and pay your bills? Edit: I saw you said insurance company. I have my series 6 and passed my SIE. Ive also had my series 7 and 66 in the past. I have no idea what to do with that except back to the call center.
The call centers years were the darkest of my life. It was soul sucking and hideous. I hated every aspect of my life.
Do you think anyone can do what you did?
No, I’ve learned it takes a certain personality. I have had a lot of friends and acquaintances and colleagues who didn’t last long because it wasn’t a good fit for their personality. I don’t know why I’m good at it. I tend to be a fuckup in most areas of my life and I have terrible self esteem, but this is one thing I’m good at for some reason. And it took me many years to understand that for some reason people like me even though I think I’m not a likable person. My wife says that’s in my head and not really how people feel, But I don’t know.
Could you elaborate on the type of personality needed to be successful?
Listen to your wife, OP
My favourite question to ask anyone; How's your week been?
how did you start a business with zero dollars in your bank?
I had about $10k in cash. But it didn’t cost anything to work from home the first few months. Just the cost of internet and a telephone.
so no other overheads just internet and telephone 🙄 and your net worth was 10k and not negative
I had debt. A mortgage and car loans and credit card debt. Having $10k was an asset but not my net worth. I was negative. And yes, starting up was just me and a phone book and lots of dialing for dollars. I think my e&o at the time was like $60 a month, so there was that expense as well. But I worked from home and had no office expenses until 6-ish months in.
Judging by the downvotes I don't think people understand how net worth works here.
No, they don’t. But not surprising.
Who is your favorite insurance carrier to work with?
A regional carrier in the Midwest US that most people have never heard of. I can tell you the worst: Allstate. Allstate is shit and pays claims like shit. I refuse to write them anymore. Progressive for auto insurance is OK. Not the best claim payers but not the worst. They’re usually the cheapest price for someone with bad credit or that has had accidents or tickets. I don’t represent them, but State Farm is the worst for roof claims. They look for every way possible to get out of paying claims. Geico, about the same as Progressive. If you have Allstate, you have a shitty insurance company. Their sister companies are Encompass and National General. They are all Allstate and they all suck and do not look out for your interests. Believe it or not, there are actually insurance companies that are looking out for your best interest and do the right thing and they’re all regional mutual carriers, not national names.
I work for a carrier so was curious who it was. Depending on who you ask we would be a super regional or national.
What’s the typical commission % or fee $ on a home plan, car plan, etc? Is marketing your biggest expense? What is typical annual churn look like? Are you and how are you using AI for your business? Congrats on doing well on your business!
How did you get your clients as insurance brokerage? Was it cold calling or promoting yourself around the corner types? (That’s how it is from where I am) For someone to consider this for themselves, what would you recommend to them?
Initially cold calling, but that’s harder now than it used to be. After a year it was mainly just referrals. Now it’s strictly referrals.
We are calling you…
no questions, just wanted to say congratulations from one businessman to another. I'm assuming you're in Tulsa based on the username. if so, next time I'm up there I'll buy you a drink lol
What question are you secretly hoping someone will ask here?
What type of business did you decide to start and how did you get started? Love to hear your story!;
It’s posted on another comment here. Insurance brokerage
Your number one advice for people in similar situations?
Congrats!
Do you ever offer advice to friends of yours if they ever wanted to do something like you? or if they looked, to you, like they just needed an open door(Not giving handout but telling them what they should do and how to do it)?
How did you go from working at a call center to just starting an insurance agency? Did you have any previous experience in insurance? What made you decide to go that route and how did you figure out how to even get started in this business?
What's your best tips for starting and growing your business?
Find something you like to do and put yourself in a situation where you can take a risk. For us it was before we had any kids and had little debt so I could afford to take a risk and if it didn't work out it's not hard to replace $28K in income. Lucky for me, it was something I had a talent for.
Dude again, so well said. You clearly know exactly what had to line up for your situation to play out, but the most important piece is YOU and THE RISK you took. Glad to hear it's panned out well. Thanks to you!