Summary of Success
Business of Insurance Podcast
Episode 72 - If you’ve been listening to the last few episodes, we’ve been breaking down the steps you need to consider before starting a business. The concepts shared in these episodes are the foundation of building a successful business, no matter what kind. Bottom line in business is You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know You see, too many people jump into starting a business without doing any planning. Then they wonder why they aren’t finding success, as if business should just fall from the sky! For some people even if they don’t plan, they might get lucky but the majority of...
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Business Pre Planning Part 2
Business of Insurance Podcast
EP -71 If you haven't listened to episodes 65-71, they set the stage for this final episode on things to think about when starting your own insurance business. Regardless if you are starting an agency, an insurance company or a related business to the insurance industry like technology, claims or risk management, the concepts of starting a business are the same. These are discussed in these episodes and can help with your thought processes and planning. Pre-planning, part 2 provides ideas to implement 6-12 months before you are ready to open your doors. If you don't have a year to plan...
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Business Pre Planning Part 1
Business of Insurance Podcast
EP - 70 This episode provides additional insight into starting your own business in the insurance industry. We'll cover ideas to help you map out the process over the course of several months so you don’t have to do everything at one time. We'll talk about tasks that can be broken down over 12 months or done in 30 days if you don't have much time. Month 1 -2 Define your ideas - what area are you going into? Agency, carrier, claims, Life, health, will you just do something like work comp, airlines or medicare? Maybe you are thinking technology in the form of a CRM for insurance, maybe...
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Who Should Be On Your Team
Business of Insurance Podcast
EP 69 - We get training for being an insurance agent but we don’t get training for being a business owner. They are two completely different hats. If you want to succeed in Business you need to have a team. I was recently listening to another podcast with an angel investor and she said the first thing she looks for is who is on the team and what is their experience. You need a team. It’s nice to think you can do everything yourself, but something will be lacking if you don’t bring on help. So here’s what your team should look like. Accountant Consult with an accountant for...
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Understanding The Business Owner Mindset
Business of Insurance Podcast
Today’s episode is one of several episodes about how to get started in the insurance business. I’m not talking about becoming an agent, I’m talking to those of you that are thinking about starting an agency, an insurance company, or an an insuretech business. There’s a lot more to hanging a shingle that says you are open. As part of the planning process for starting a business there are some concepts to consider, these are about yourself. As exciting as it is to start a business, there’s a lot to consider. It’s not all glamor and glory! Most business owners would agree it’s a lot...
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How To Start A Business Without Failing
Business of Insurance Podcast
WHY DO BUSINESSES FAIL? EP 66 - In this episode, we are talking about the top 10 reaosns businesses fail and what you can do to keep your business from failing. This episode is one of several episodes about how to get started in the insurance business. I’m not talking about becoming an agent, I’m talking to those of you that are thinking about starting an agency, an insurance company, or an an insuretech business. These are real issues to consider. It’s geared for those of you who are thinking about getting started or those that have started and are looking for ideas to build a better...
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Don't Be Fooled By Entity Structures
Business of Insurance Podcast
SET UP YOUR BUSINESS PROPERLY EP 65 - Today’s episode is one of several episodes about how to get started in business. Some of you might be working for someone now and thinking about going off on your own and some of you might just be entering the industry and doing so as an independent. If you are in either of these two categories or if you are someone that works with agents that are working independently, this episode is for you. I started in this industry on the property and casualty side and quickly moved into commercial insurance when I started. Working with my dad, his personal...
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Risk Management Basics
Business of Insurance Podcast
SMALL THINGS MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE EP 64 - Todays episode was inspired by a recent CE class on Ethics. There were many great ideas shared, in a boring ethics class, but the tips I'm sharing today were from the discussion. There was actually a list of 50 risk management tips and I've taken 10 of them and offered my thoughts on them from my own experience in the industry. States didn't always require ethics, it's only been a requirement for about 20 years. When I first entered the busines we didn’t have to take ethics. It’s a good refresher but it can also be boring! I’ve...
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Making An Impact
Business of Insurance Podcast
THERE IS MORE TO THIS INDUSTRY THAN MAKING MONEY EP 63 - Like teachers, social workers and doctors and nurses, you have the power to make a difference. This episode provides three examples of how people have benefited from having a solid insurance policy and an agent that will works for them. It also talks about a few situations where agents need to do a little more to protect the people they serve. CHECK OUT OUR SPONSOR: This is a mailing service I’ve been using for over a year now and I love them. I send all of my birthday cards, thank you cards and marketing post cards from this...
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Continuing Education Thoughts
Business of Insurance Podcast
STAYING FOCUSED ON A MONITOR FOR 8 HOURS EP 62 - This episode is about getting CE credits As a CIC, we are required to do annual updates and the classes are usually a deep dive into a topic that you won’t find elsewhere. I’ve done updates every year since 1992. In 2012 I did an update and received a certificate that I had been a CIC for 20 years. To my surprise that meant that I only had to do my CIC update every other year now, instead of every year. This created CE issues for me because I need 24 hours of CE’s a year in my state and since the CIC updates are only 16 hours, I’ve...
info_outlineEP - 70 This episode provides additional insight into starting your own business in the insurance industry.
We'll cover ideas to help you map out the process over the course of several months so you don’t have to do everything at one time. We'll talk about tasks that can be broken down over 12 months or done in 30 days if you don't have much time.
Month 1 -2
Define your ideas - what area are you going into? Agency, carrier, claims, Life, health, will you just do something like work comp, airlines or medicare? Maybe you are thinking technology in the form of a CRM for insurance, maybe you’ll white label a product that is working in another industry. There are a lot of things in between, these are just examples. But give some thought to your direction. Will you set up your business like everyone else or do you have ideas for being innovative? I don’t believe any of this is incorrect, you just need to define what you want to do and make sure you have done the research and have a great plan for moving forward.
Month 2-3
Assess the impact on your life and family - I believe this is often overlooked and is an essential component of going into business. A business is like having another child. It is expensive, it takes a lot of your time, it can eat up your resources until you start making sales. Your spouse needs to buy in emotionally and financially. When I started my first agency back in the early 90’s I thought I had my husband's support. We agreed that I could tap into our home equity loan which was $25,000. Our marriage was set up where we each paid 50% of everything so I needed that money to pay my portion for awhile.( 2 kids with childcare, mortgage, groceries, and a car payment, along with the business expenses) 6 months into starting my agency, my husband was freaking out. I was making sales, but not enough to pay 50% of my bills around the house. Since I was home based, he thought I was doing nothing all day and that we could stop sending the kids to daycare and same some money. He just didn’t get it. Ultimately, we got divorced and while it was over a completely different issue, my being self employed weighed into it heavily. When I went looking for another partner, I wanted them to be in sales and understand being in business. I wasn’t going to be with someone else that did not understand you have to make some sacrifices short term for long term success. I can’t stress how important it is to get complete buy-in from your spouse or partner about how the finances and time will be for the next 2-3 years. If you aren’t making money after that then you might need to reassess!
Month 3-6
Locate sources of business advice and support - in the last episode, episode xxx, we talked about different members of your team. This wasn’t people that would be on your payroll but people that you would get advice and wisdom to make sure you are successful. If you missed that episode, please go back and listen to it again.
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Continuing in month 3-6
Obtain necessary skills - depending on what type of business you are starting, will depend on the types of skills you need. If you aren’t good at sales, take some sales classes. If you aren’t good at leadership, take some classes, if you don’t know what is involved in running a business, take some classes. Do this before you get started, so you have a better chance of finding success earlier, not after you open your doors. You’ll always need to be learning and there are different ways to get the information that you need, but the more you do this before you open the doors, the less mistakes you’ll make when the doors open.
Research carriers, IMO’s, Aggregators,industries etc.If you are going on the agency side, who will you write your business with? I think it is really important that you really do your due diligence here. Get the contracts. Read them. Have your lawyer review them. Sit on them and make sure you ask questions. Don’t take anything for granted. It’s easy to sign one, it is not always easy to get out of one. It might mean going to a few industry events to ask people who they are using, getting some feedback from others before moving forward. By doing this part before you open your doors, you will save yourself a lot of time and aggravation down the road.
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Topics to consider:
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What are the sales expectations, what technology do they provide?
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Can you test ride it?
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What type of support is available?
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How are commissions paid?
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What about overrides and contingencies?
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What happens if you want to leave or move to another organization?
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What happens if you sell your business?
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There’s a lot of information you need before you sign up that will help you to be more successful.
Since there’s a lot of information to planning to open your business, we are going to stop here for today. We’ll pick up what to do in the next episode.
So until then, KEEP CREATING OPPORTUNITIES
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ABOUT THE HOST
This episode of the Business of Insurance podcast is produced and hosted by Debbie DeChambeau, CIC, AAI, CPIA - an entrepreneur, business advisor, insurance professional and content creator. Her goal is to inspire you to think differently and explore ideas that disrupt the status quo.
Debbie has an extensive business and marketing background with a focus of helping insurance professionals be more successful. She also works in the health insurance space, focusing on helping people navigate the Medicare Maze.
She is the co-author of Renewable Referrals.