Brightway vs Goosehead - Franchise Agency Opportunities

[GooseIns]

Totally understand. Honestly I was back and forth between the two companies for a while. Both have similar models. If anyone has any questions my office is out of Virginia Beach and I'll give you my honest opinion. I'm not a recruiter I'm an agency owner. I'll give you the good bad and everything in between. It's a huge decision so make sure you speak to multiple people from many different companies. I called over 20 random agents from both companies and I would encourage anyone else to do the same.

 

[tikibarrister]

There are companies that specifically hire and train VA's for insurance service work. I know several agents who are producing 100k a month in premium and have zero in house staff. They use only VA's. Franchise contracts sound great upfront until you have a 5 million dollar book and are giving away 50%. I started from scratch over 6 years ago and although it was less than enjoyable, I couldn't imagine giving up 50% right now. My only regret is not knowing about VA's before I started hiring in house staff.

Just my two cents

What is a "VA"?

 

[GooseIns]

My thought process is paying for customer service is expensive and a lot of liability. Would also need a manager and other staff which all adds to the cost. Then there is the systems and learning everything on your own. I know a lot of others who own both captive and independent and when everything is done in said this was an amazing happy medium. I totally agree giving away 50% sounds bad however my service team does all the back end work and I can focus on doing what I do best and that's selling insurance with very little overhead.

 

[SmittyNewAgent]

My thought process is paying for customer service is expensive and a lot of liability. Would also need a manager and other staff which all adds to the cost. Then there is the systems and learning everything on your own. I know a lot of others who own both captive and independent and when everything is done in said this was an amazing happy medium. I totally agree giving away 50% sounds bad however my service team does all the back end work and I can focus on doing what I do best and that's selling insurance with very little overhead.

So Franchising out with GH they do take 50% of renewals. When thinking about that do we know what the difference in compensation is from being a corporate agent vs a franchise owner. It seems like franchise you are still not in ownership of your book.

FYI i'm currently interviewing for a corporate agent position with GH and looking for what might be the best options further in my career. I saw someone post about buying someone else's book if they were retiring for example and if that might be the best way to transition into being completely independent.

 

[BADTROUT]

Go Indy IMO.

 

[SmittyNewAgent]

Don't think I can do that out of the gate, getting some experience and some money in the bank first. Unless you wanna hire me and show me the ropes hahaha

 

[GooseIns]

All in all if you want to give me a ring Just to talk about your path and such. Are you in sales?

 

[dwysywd]

I am a Goosehead Agency owner and I am new here as well. . I agree, some of the things are out of context. I am not really interested in re-hashing a debate that started a year ago. But if someone has questions, reach out.

 

[FiguringitoutIL]

I was all in on GH, had a great 'recruiter' like the model made sense for me. Then I had a "interview"with a director of sales in my state. That was the nail in the coffin. Guy was arrogant, cocky and I could tell his power trip would impede my ability to do business. Told me don't worry about training do what your told. Not the franchise for me.

 

[BADTROUT]

Any franchise, network,, or cluster trying to explain contingency away as no big deal is playing on people just not understanding and its pure rubbish. There's your nail in the coffin. You made the right call @FiguringitoutIL