Insurance Agency...start up vs. purchase

[msdw24]

I'm seriously considering a move away from my current position in the Bank/Financial Services area.

What I want is to own my own company, so that my customers are just that....MY customers...not the banks.

Insurance...P&C, Life, Health..etc has always been of interest to me....I've already got the Life Health license. I'm starting to do my research on starting my own agency OR purchasing one that is already up and running with a good base of clients.

My question is this....does the HornFans Network have any thoughts on which is better? Starting a new agency...where I could choose which companies to place biz with and which not to...or buy one. Who could I get to help me see if the price being asked for an agency is too high? Has anyone on here done this? Any thoughts would be great.

 

[CanaTigers]

Selling life and health can be done with no cost and very easy to get into. They churn and burn people every day. P&C is the better way to go in my opinion

If you start up a business it would have to be as a captive agent. A major carrier will not appoint you without a book of business as an independent agent. State Farm, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide and a few others have pretty good captive opportunities.

The problem I found with this is if they decide to pull out of Texas on a line of business you are stuck. Which happens whether they say it will or not. As an independent agent you can find a place to put customers that are being non renewed or new to your agency.

Buying an existing agency with some good companies would be the best way to go in my opinion. But it will be the most expensive. A good agency will usually sell at about 3X years revenue for the book of business plus any other physical assets you may buy in addition.

Becoming an agent for a company is the cheapest way to go. You can expect anything from 0 start up working out of a larger office to the cost of them splitting a larger agency off for you in your own location.