Starting an Insurance Career at 40

[xsw239]

Hi everyone... I am new to the forum and seeking wisdom here from those of you willing to help.

My wife and I have decided to start over in our early 40's and move to Boise, ID from the Orange County, CA area... Just need 4 seasons again and a decent ski slope I can get to.

I have been a successful Real Estate agent here for 15+ years in both the good and bad times, but I really want to build a business of my own and feel comfortable with the insurance industry as an option. I feel comfortable with the lead generation, prospecting, PPC, and other aspects of client acquisition but I am struggling with how to get set up.

The move is 9 months out, and I just finished getting my licenses here in CA. My plan was to start working for a firm here that maybe does business in Idaho as well, but what I really want is to start as an independent agent in Boise once I get there.
I have $100,000 allocated to getting started and need some direction. I am willing to hire a coach, etc but would like some help along the way. Please let me know who is worth looking into for this.

Also, I still don't have a good idea of how to get the carriers to work with as an independant. I have read that there are groups I can join, but are there other options and if so what is the best one?

Thank you in advance for all of your help!!!

[ocbroker]

Good luck to you. As my handle indicates, I'm a broker here in Orange County. I could likely give you some pointers with regards to starting up a brokerage here in Southern California. But I'm not going to be very helpful with the nuances of a state like Idaho. My suspicion is that the dynamics of carrier distribution and appointments are quite a bit different in each state. Here in CA, it often seems like the requirements for getting appointments with certain carriers aren't much more than having the ability to fog a mirror. That is particularly true right now with soft lines like workers comp, where distribution and top line production seem to be the name of the game.

While going it alone sounds attractive for a variety of reasons, your best bet might be to partner with a California agency that has a variety of national carrier appointments, understands your long term vision for Idaho, and is comfortable with hiring you to eventually work remotely and sell under their license. If you can work out an arrangement that gives you ownership of your own book, you will likely be far better off than if you try to build an agency from scratch.

Once you make the move, you will probably need to have access to several regional carriers. Going through a wholesaler is the easiest way to do that, but it comes at a significant cost (revenue and control). Long term, you want to know who is competitive in the regions and industries that you target and you want to have direct access to those companies if possible. Really that just comes down to knowing your marketplace and cultivating relationships with people who are in a position to help you - carrier reps or sales managers who make the decisions on agency appointments. Again, good luck in your new direction.