Advice on Opening my Own Agency. Which Way Do I Go??

[Laur818]

Hey! I'm just opening up my own agency too! Except I'm out here un Cali!!

 

[EagerForIA]

My concern is you're moving away from your existing referral network & will have to start a new one.

I worry about that too but I am pretty confident I can build one up in another state. Although I have been with my current agent for 12 years, I didn't start pursuing my outside referral sources until the past year and I've more than doubled my sales from having them.

My next question is when would be the right time to start applying for appointments? Would I be able to apply for them before I move down to GA from MD or would I have to have a residence address in GA before I could apply for an appointment in GA?

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The good news is, in the southeast the carriers that are competitive for this crowd are pretty easy appointments. Provided you're not in a super loss prone area like Atlanta.
The bad news is, with high loss ratios and fraud problems in this market for states like GA, it's very volatile. The cyclical nature of the market is super accelerated, and you will often find these carriers imposing binding restrictions or flat out moratorium while they wait for their next rate increase to take effect. Or carriers leaving the market altogether. You have to remain on your toes, and that's not even taking into account the difficulties inherent with the client demographic.

The thing with standard/preferred carrier appointments, they want to see more than just production, they want to know if the business you write is profitable. They want reports, and that's something you won't get from your captive carrier/agency. Unless you can somehow get P&L's before you leave.

Btw, in georgia, if you want to beat state farm on standard auto, talk to Haulers.

Thank you Indienoise. I will look into Haulers. What are some of the other standard/preferred carriers to look into down there? I am looking to move to the Savannah area. Hopefully the fraud isn't quite as bad there as it is in Atlanta. And I will check into P&L reports with my agent. Thanks again!

 

[Nina Le]

First off, I want to thank everyone for the plethora of knowledge and support that you provide on this site. I've been lurking on this forum for about a year now but have never set up an account and posted anything.

I think I am finally ready to get start but just don't know which way to go. The problem with reading this forum are the many conflicted opinions.

A little background on me.. I've currently live in Maryland and am planning to move to Georgia in the near future and start my own agency. I have been working for a State Farm agent for the past 10+ years and have been in the aspirant program for about 1 year now. I am licensed in P&C and L&H in MD, DC and VA. I have been averaging about 80 policies per month and around $60k-$70k in annualized premium. I used to write a lot of commercial lines but SF has really backed off of a lot of commercial stuff so I don't really seek that business out as much anymore but would like to under my IA. I am scared to death of going the State Farm route and this forum obviously solidifies this fear. Again, I've been working for an agent for 10+ years but I've never opened/run my own business. I feel like I'm running around like a headless chicken and I haven't even gotten further than researching/thinking about doing this.

I would really like to go the independent route and would really just like some advice and/or links on information to help me make my decision and get started. What I can't really decide on is to go straight IA or go with a cluster. Is a cluster a must when just starting out? From what I have read on here, it seems that it's next to impossible to get appointed with the bigger standard P&C companies on your own. Would my 10+ years experience with a captive company be enough?? I know a fair amount about the industry in the MD/VA/DC area but know nothing about the GA area. What are the best companies in the GA area? Any pointers/advice/contact that anyone on here could share to help me out?

Again, thank you in advance for any help at all!

I

 

[Nina Le]

First off, I want to thank everyone for the plethora of knowledge and support that you provide on this site. I've been lurking on this forum for about a year now but have never set up an account and posted anything.

I think I am finally ready to get start but just don't know which way to go. The problem with reading this forum are the many conflicted opinions.

A little background on me.. I've currently live in Maryland and am planning to move to Georgia in the near future and start my own agency. I have been working for a State Farm agent for the past 10+ years and have been in the aspirant program for about 1 year now. I am licensed in P&C and L&H in MD, DC and VA. I have been averaging about 80 policies per month and around $60k-$70k in annualized premium. I used to write a lot of commercial lines but SF has really backed off of a lot of commercial stuff so I don't really seek that business out as much anymore but would like to under my IA. I am scared to death of going the State Farm route and this forum obviously solidifies this fear. Again, I've been working for an agent for 10+ years but I've never opened/run my own business. I feel like I'm running around like a headless chicken and I haven't even gotten further than researching/thinking about doing this.

 

[Nina Le]

Hi EagerForlA
I'm a realtor in metro Atlanta Ga . Let me know if you need any help regarding to real estate ( buy , rent , free real estate consultancy ) . I'm also looking to open an independent insurance office , have been searching lots of insurance clusters & even talked to local insurance brokers . Please email me anytime @ [email protected] . We can discuss more . Good luck !

 

[Orion1]

Having taken the plunge with less experience this year I would say you should do just fine.
If you can't get any direct appointments in the begining cluster first and BOR the policies once you have enough premium to meet carrier requirements.
If you are already putting up decent numbers in your existing market you will be fine.
But if you are going into a new market you may run into unforseen issues in production.
I went the cluster then direct route after years of preparing. Has served me well so far.
What i can't direct write I write where I can move/keep it without worry. The beauty of IA is that you do what you feel works for you. I span across all LOA's except surplus so my mix/model is diffrent but to each their own...