Ladies and Gentlemen:
In April 2014, my father-in-law had this crazy idea to start an insurance agency and have his daughter, my wife, run the business for him. My wife decided that the insurance arena was not her cup of tea and opted not to do this for him. He, no surprise to either of us, decided he wasn't going to pursue it any farther. So, seeing the potential, I made an arrangement to take the failed attempt off his hands and run with it, part time, to see what I could make happen. He did absolutely nothing with the business and had not even sold a single policy when I took over, and quite frankly, had no idea what he was doing. I immediately came to this forum to look for advice on what steps I should take and found a lot of information that has helped me get things going.
Initially, I intended to do this part time and eventually hire people to run this for me. I had been working in the oil and gas industry as an account representative and loved my job, so I didn't want to give that up. However, everything changed in February of this year when I was laid off. I had a decision to make, either give this up and everything I had accomplished, or commit to doing it full time and speed up the process. Obviously, my being here should tell you that I opted to commit and jump in with both feet.
I am learning more and more every day, what to do and what not to do. I believe perhaps my greatest weakness is that I do not like to ask other agents for help for fear of rejection, you know, competition and all. SO, some of the lessons I have been learning the hard way. This is something I intend to change. Too much is at stake to be prideful. I fully understand the insurance part of the business and how it works. My problems are in the management part of the business, such as what is the best and cheapest method for getting leads when starting out to maximize my ROI.
If you actually took the time to read this entire post, thank you so much, I know it was rather lengthy. In conclusion, if anyone has any advice at all, do's or don'ts, please feel free to share them with me. It is my intent to become an expert in this industry and I am a sponge for knowledge. Again, thank you in advance for any advice.
Christopher Shore
In April 2014, my father-in-law had this crazy idea to start an insurance agency and have his daughter, my wife, run the business for him. My wife decided that the insurance arena was not her cup of tea and opted not to do this for him. He, no surprise to either of us, decided he wasn't going to pursue it any farther. So, seeing the potential, I made an arrangement to take the failed attempt off his hands and run with it, part time, to see what I could make happen. He did absolutely nothing with the business and had not even sold a single policy when I took over, and quite frankly, had no idea what he was doing. I immediately came to this forum to look for advice on what steps I should take and found a lot of information that has helped me get things going.
Initially, I intended to do this part time and eventually hire people to run this for me. I had been working in the oil and gas industry as an account representative and loved my job, so I didn't want to give that up. However, everything changed in February of this year when I was laid off. I had a decision to make, either give this up and everything I had accomplished, or commit to doing it full time and speed up the process. Obviously, my being here should tell you that I opted to commit and jump in with both feet.
I am learning more and more every day, what to do and what not to do. I believe perhaps my greatest weakness is that I do not like to ask other agents for help for fear of rejection, you know, competition and all. SO, some of the lessons I have been learning the hard way. This is something I intend to change. Too much is at stake to be prideful. I fully understand the insurance part of the business and how it works. My problems are in the management part of the business, such as what is the best and cheapest method for getting leads when starting out to maximize my ROI.
If you actually took the time to read this entire post, thank you so much, I know it was rather lengthy. In conclusion, if anyone has any advice at all, do's or don'ts, please feel free to share them with me. It is my intent to become an expert in this industry and I am a sponge for knowledge. Again, thank you in advance for any advice.
Christopher Shore
