This toolkit is designed to educate and assist in the process of starting an independent agency, but it is up to you to make it happen. Building an agency from scratch is possible. If you're successful, the rewards are considerable, but on the other hand, starting an agency is challenging.
Critical success factors necessary to make it:
- Capital: Expect to need approximately $40,000 to $50,000 in start-up capital to pay for things such as office space, equipment and furniture, E&O insurance and marketing.
- Company appointments: You can get licensed but you can't sell insurance without access to insurance companies and managing general agents. Getting an appointment usually requires, among other things, experience in the business, a track record of successful marketing and selling, a marketing territory geographically desirable to the companies and a solid proposed business model.
- Sales production and administrative skills: Starting an agency from scratch will require both sets of skills until you get large enough to hire others.
- Thorough technical expertise: Customers are placing their risk management needs in your hands, therefore you need to understand the products you're selling. Add to that the importance of understanding the risk management process itself, and you have a very knowledge-intensive profession.
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