P&C Agency Ownership -Great Life

[insurance1822]

Almost 3 years since this post....it's an interesting read now. I see myself 3 years ago facing the reality that I would reach my income goals & was pumped up about it

Now, I would totally trade money for more time & less stress/responsibility.

 

[Mike Siegal]

Almost 3 years since this post....it's an interesting read now. I see myself 3 years ago facing the reality that I would reach my income goals.

Now, I would totally trade time for money & less stress/responsbility

Seems to be the Paradox of Life. We trade Youth for Money, and then spend Money seeking youth. There are many stories on this very subject, but now we get into philisophical debates to which their is no end. Whatever we want i life, there is a price to pay.

 

[indienoise]

Almost 3 years since this post....it's an interesting read now. I see myself 3 years ago facing the reality that I would reach my income goals & was pumped up about it

Now, I would totally trade money for more time & less stress/responsibility.

So why don't you? I know your pace is more than most people could stand. So hire 2 order takers to do your job for you, and spend 20 hours a week making sure your networking is still strong and referral sources are happy. Reap the rewards of what you've built. I'm already taking steps to phase myself out of daily operations, and am nowhere near the level you're at.

 

[insurance1822]

I'm working on that. When you spend years living a life solely focused on work & grow grow grow grow grow....it becomes incredibly difficult to break that (in my opinion) addictive lifestyle.

I'm getting there though. My group president has recently sat me down predicting my ultimate demise & sudden exit from the business as the result of burning out. Change isn't easy-

 

[todd02]

I'm working on that. When you spend years living a life solely focused on work & grow grow grow grow grow....it becomes incredibly difficult to break that (in my opinion) addictive lifestyle.

I'm getting there though. My group president has recently sat me down predicting my ultimate demise & sudden exit from the business as the result of burning out. Change isn't easy-

Dude you're in the Insurance business. You can take a break because you get renewal income... take the $995 you earn a month and go camping....

 

[mr_furly]

I am a bit less than 8 months in to Independent Agency Ownership, and a book grown organically of about $600k. First month just spent trying to figure things out. Now I have an AMS, way to generate leads, a few direct appointments, etc.

I don't think this is stellar, but solid start to year one, an I suppose $600k is better than $0... However, this has already caught some attention from a few captive insurers and they'd like to speak to me. I'm not too familiar with how they would operate or what sort of limitations I would have. I have a few calls scheduled next week (I'm doing this more as a courtesy to the individuals, not because I sought this out). Any pointers on good probing questions I should be asking???

The book is P&C 100% commercial lines.

I already heard the SIAA shpiel and thought it was extremely foolish, is it similar except for simply being able to work with 1 carrier???

how did you generate your leads to grow your commercial book?

 

[1manshow]

Guy's a bit of a dick...but his book helped me make the transition

 

[TwoLabs]

I missed this original thread apparently. Good stuff! And I agree with his original premise.

I started off buying out my father's 40 year old agency. Right about $300,000 in gross revenue. It's in a dying small town, so I knew I needed to expand. Bought a $200,000 revenue agency 2 years later and then a small neighboring $75,000 revenue agency a few years after that.

So right now it's about a $4.5m book, 2 locations and 3 full time CSRs and 1 part time. I do feel extremely fortunate to generate the income that I do. Probably on par with most physicians around this area, and I'm still in my early 30's. The debt I'm paying to my father for the agency will start dropping in the next few years. So I'll have another $100k in income freed up about the time my kids start going into college.

Like the OP though, I'm worried about the value of my agency in another 20 years. I doubt I'll be able to sell it for $1 million or so when I'm approaching 60. So I'm just saving hard for retirement and hoping to be on the golf course full time by the time I hit my late 50's/early 60's.

 

[rgleyzer]

Cold calling really. now I have a few appointment setters I'm trying out.

 

[LDG]

I've purchased 4 agencies in the past 5 years and acquisitions are a big part of our growth plan. And if you can purchase a good book with acceptable loss rations and merge it into an existing location it's a win/win.

We purchased an agency a couple of months ago that had an Auto-Owners appointment which was a big coup for us.

My two sons partner with me and they are my perpetuation plan. We will continue to research and purchase agencies when possible......