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_outlineEpisode 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 people put in a lot of hard work, time, money and sweat equity to get their dream of owning their own business off the ground.
For many people it’s trial and error
It’s figuring out what to do as they run into trouble or finding answers when they least expect to.
Even if you do extensive planning and research before you start your business, you will hit obstacles, but the more you are prepared with your foundation, the better chance of success you will have.
In this episode I want to recap the top 5 things I think you should focus on when planning to open your business. I’ve talked about these before, but I’m hoping that if they have their own episode, you’ll pay attention.
Quick recap
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Marketing Plan
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Focus
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Business Team
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Capital
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Contracts
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What’s your end game
Ideas To Consider
- Have a plan. You can take courses on how to create a business plan, and your plan can be 30 pages or 3 pages. I’ve even heard of a one page business plan, but it’s hard to get a lot of details on one page! There’s two things I think are essential in your plan.
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The first is marketing. And I think this needs to be very well defined. Maybe you need to do a little market research to test your idea before you can create a solid marketing plan, but without this, you are doomed. I also think that when you define your marketing plan up front and look at the costs for each tactic you want to implement, then you can budget accordingly which is the se cond part of the plan that I think is essential. I’ll get back to that part but let's talk about marketing first.
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The second is financial - For someone like me, this is the toughest part because while I understand math and some accounting, financial projections aren’t something I can easily wrap my head around. I see this part as start up costs - what you need to really open your doors, how much capital do you need to pay yourself or a staff for the first year while you are growing your business and how much reserve do you need in the event things don’t go as planned? Map this part out, give it to your banker friends and ask their opinions. This is essential and often overlooked by many startup entrepreneurs. It’s why first year entrepreneurs have such a high failure rate.
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Focus on what you want to do - It’s ok to pivot down the road as many companies do, but if you are starting as an agency, an insurance company or a related insurance partner, be focused. Don’t try to be all things to all people. It is the greatest component of success for startups.
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Put together you business team. I’m not talking about staff but the other professionals that can guide you. Don’t hire your family member if they don’t specialize in what you need. For example, you need a business attorney, not the family law attorney. Get a good business accountant, and make friends with your banker, payroll, bookkeeper, human resources and even other insurance professionals that aren't doing what you hope to do.
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This ties into the financial piece, but having enough capital to get you through is essential. This is really the hardest part. So many people want to start but don’t have the capital. They bootstrap it which can work but it would be so much easier if there was capital. If you are working as you are thinking about starting a business, get your loan while you are working for someone else because once you become self employed, the lending rules change and it’s not easy. In 2023 when everything is out of whack from COVID, getting a bank loan is really difficult so get it before you leave your salaried income.
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Contracts - Be sure to read all of your contracts thoroughly. I would strongly recommend having them reviewed by your business attorney. It might cost a few extra dollars, but trust me, they’ll see things in a different light than you will and offer good tips for negotiation. If you have a partner, have a contract - the more detailed the better. It needs to discuss what is involved if there is a breakup. Better to get it right before you start then pay thousands when no one is talking to each other. A business breakup is no different than a marital breakup. Your business pre-nup is the most valuable document you can create. Have contracts with business vendors, employees and review your insurance company contracts thoroughly. Don’t sign on the dotted link just because you get offered a contract.
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This last one is a bonus idea but I think it is essential to set yourself up with the end in mind. It doesn’t matter if the end is 30 years away, be thinking like that. Build a business you can sell if you need to. We don’t know what life will bring us tomorrow so if you set it up right from the beginning, you don’t need to worry about a surprise obstacle getting in your way.
If you can’t tell from the past few episodes, this is my passion. I love helping people get started in business. I’m not as good with someone that already has 100 employees, but for the start up, my heart sings!
If you have questions, feel free to reach out. You can find me on LI and FB. I have a group called The business of insurance, but it’s not that active. If you want to be a part of it, let me know and I’ll let you in!
Thank you for listening to this series on how to start a business. If you know someone thinking about getting started or someone that has been in the business for a short period of time, please share this information with them.
It’s free and valuable!
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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.