brightway insurance brokerage in florida

[nire61]

Blah22, it must be the 80/20 rule. 80% do the work and 20% do the complaining. I'm also a Brightway agent. I'm satisfied, am building my book quickly, making a nice net profit with more potential on the horizon . The service support is better than I could achieve on my own and I've owned a prior captive for many years. My captive had excellent loss ratios and retention and these numbers are consistent with Brightway. The accounting support is spot on... they handle millions of transactions and I haven't found an error. A few times I thought there was an error but a quick phone call showed me where I was wrong. With the recent systems conversion, new reports are being rolled out to track progress and understand my book, even down to the producer level. Brightway allows access to many carriers I would not have been able to get when first opening and they take care of a lot more than I initially realized. 45% is a fair bargain and I have less to manage.
Are you in the 20%, Blah22? If so, stick around, work hard and smart and you will see your efforts pay off... I would like to see you with the 80%.

[TheFieldman]

Personally, I think it is just a matter of choice and what your longterm goal is. I've always thought of the American Agency System as a good franchise system that someone can come into and generate equity in a business. The problem is getting the contracts, but if you have a good track record with an independent and the right relations, that shouldn't be a problem. There are always those pesky non-compete agreements when you want to make a move though.

Brightway does provide a turnkey opportunity, but no doubt about it, you are shackled to them. But this may be okay if the backend support and access to markets is that important to you. And Brightway is not the only source that do what they do, I would encourage anyone looking to affiliate with a brand to check out http://twfgagentsolutions.com or http://www.siaa.net . Myself, if I am going to create equity, it's gonna be for me and mine.....just sayin....

I like the old adage "theres more than one way to skin a cat".

[Havsum]

PLEASE READ!! I AM A BRIGHTWAY FRANCHISE OWNER. Please let this be a warning to you all. I bought a franchise from Brightway and in my opinion have been mislead from the beginning. I was promised all kinds of training which they do provide training at your expense but it was ridiculously insufficient. Their systems are very difficult to use and I have gotten lots of monthly charges that I was not told about and ALL of venders they required us to use were terrible and way over priced. I feel that there is no leadership in the company and they open franchises with the number game just like cold calling, some will make it some will not. I do not get call backs very often when a question or problem comes up, I did not get all the appointments I was told I would. I have never been contacted by the management to see how things were going. They told me that only a couple of franchises had closed but never would tell me much about it. The agreement you sign does say that franchises have closed but not why and does not say that outside of Florida none are profitable to my knowledge. I have worked for many large corporations and owned a few different types of companies. I have to say that getting involved with Brightway Insurance has been, by far, the biggest mistake of my life. I would encourage anyone thinking of going this route to think hard and call lots of AAO's outside of Florida and refuse to sign the agreement as stands saying that your clients are really their clients. Please understand and I think anyone would know why I am stating this, everything I have written is of my opinion. Please do your own research!

[AgencyEquity]

The number of Cluster groups, including Alliances, Networks, and even Franchise organizations are growing at a huge rate. There are well over 100 of these types of groups across the USA and even perhaps as many as 200. A number of these organizations have a worldwide membership. The big question is, which group is right for your agency? Each agency is different, here are some questions you may want to ask before joining. Please keep in mind, the answer to these questions may mean different things to different agencies, so there is no right or wrong answer. The best you can get from asking these questions is knowing the difference between the groups and what answers best serve your specific agency.

1. What is the initiation cost?

2. What is your membership fee or commission split?

3. What other costs are involved?

4. What additional services do you offer? Below are example of what some groups may offer (which you may or may not want):

a. Is a management system included?

b. Is E&O insurance included?

c. Are quoting or other agency support services included?

d. What other items or support services are included?

5. What percentage of profit sharing is distributed back to the agency members and what formula is used to divide this among the members?

6. Which carriers do you represent?

7. Will my agency get our own code or will you work off the group's master code?

8. Will your commissions come from the master agency or will they come from the carrier?

9. Will the master agency become a partners or will have any ownership of my agency?

10. Are there any stipulations if I leave the group, is there an exit fee or requirements where I must sell to the group?

11. Who makes up the ownership of the group? Do the members own it? Will I be able to purchase shares in the group?

I would also encourage you to add to this list with some of your own questions based upon what is important to your agency.