Cost of New Independent Agent

FieldAgentNewbie

New Member
3
I apologize if already asked in other posts.

What would be a good rough estimate of what it would cost to really start up as an Independent Agent. Website cost, dialer, leads to get started building a book of business, licensing cost, and marketing?
 
It seems to depend on what you are looking at. I've been looking at the same thing and realistically it's like any other business. You will need the startup costs plus personal expenses to get off the ground.

Personally I'd want at least a couple months in the bank since you will be burning your capital to get off the ground.
 
I apologize if already asked in other posts.

What would be a good rough estimate of what it would cost to really start up as an Independent Agent. Website cost, dialer, leads to get started building a book of business, licensing cost, and marketing?

It really depends on the market you want to target and if you plan on selling over the phone or in person.

A few hundred bucks for school and licensing!

then

If you wanted to target the Final Expense market, pretty much whatever the cost of gas is! FE agents with no loot can get a targeted list with names and addresses and door knock it.

If you're a professional with a business oriented mind, I would suggest having $5,000 set aside but mainly for Final Expense Direct Mail Leads. As time goes by, you can invest into a website but it's not necessary for FE!

Either way, find a MARKET that you want to target, get yourself a mentor that can hold your hand through the first few months, and do everything he tells you to do!
 
It cost me about $4k to start my p&c agency. But I was doing things like using a prepaid phone, utilizing the cloud, focusing on free/cheap marketing tactics, and working out of a month-to-month office complex.

I started small just to see if I could write policies and then started adding infastructure as the money started coming in.

What's great about insurance is a low cost of entry for people willing to put in the work.
 
I got licensed and started with about 500 bucks, bought online leads and worked every one of them. Slow and steady wins this race.
 
I just did the math and for just the requirements for licensing are going to run about $300. Add in E&O and some leads to get started and you're getting to about $1500 all in. That's not including a website or dialer you mentioned and I'm figuring on one set of leads. Throw in gas, phone, and additional leads and the cost will be going up but income should quickly offset that.
 
As indicated throughout this thread, there are a lot of factors to consider, depending on what type of operation you are planning, what you plan to sell, etc.
You can easily go into six figures to start out but "it depends".

For starters, some or all of this might apply. This is for the "full-blown" operation:

Location - rent; utilities; maintenance
Equipment - phones; printer/scanner; gen office supplies
Software - comparative rater; agt mgt system; website
Personnel - payroll; taxes; benefits, inc healthcare; education
Insurance - biz ins; e&o ins
Misc - licensing; prop tax; incorp fees; acctg; advertising; marketing

Use it as a checklist. All the best to you.

PS: I have accompanying figures, from high to low estimates in each category. If anyone is interested in knowing that data from any category, give me a call. 941-527-7823
 
Back
Top