For entrepreneurs who want to create a small business that provides a steady stream of income for years to come, an insurance agency is an ideal opportunity, as customers buy the products to ensure coverage continues.
Among the types of insurance products an insurance company may sell are: life insurance, annuities, long-term health products, auto, homeowners, property, causality, and disability.
Prerequisites for Own Insurance Company
Opening an insurance company requires some preparatory steps.
1. Become a licensed insurance agent
Laws and identifiers vary by state, but in general you will require a Property and Insurance license and a Health and Variable Annuity license. For example, in the state of Florida, these licenses are referred to as 440 and 220, respectively. Each can be obtained online or through classroom instruction. Most community colleges also offer these courses.
2. Determine what products are offered
Typically, insurance agencies are not limited to specific products and have a wide variety of insurance plans. However, it is possible to consider specializing in a particular product while still offering other insurance plans. As an example, you may want to focus on corporate health benefit plans and employee benefits to sell insurance to businesses while continuing to offer life and variable annuity products.
3. Apply for a business and insurance loan
List all start-up costs, including but not limited to: office supplies, rent, staff costs such as salaries and benefits, and insurance, such as liability and errors and omissions insurance. Using these numbers requires an accountant or business planner to write a business plan to apply for a small business loan with the Small Business Administration from an approved lender’s database.
4. Locate a suitable office
Office space should be well-maintained exterior and interior and provide enough space for a reception area, one or two offices, and a conference room for holding initial client consultations and potential client workshops.
5. Buy a franchise or open your own agency
Choose between buying a franchise and opening your own independent insurance agency. The Advantages of Buying a Franchise Operate under a well-established name and have access to “in-house” financing provided by the parent company. The advantage of opening an independent agency is the freedom to choose any product.
Is it worth starting your own business?
The challenge of having your own business presents many challenges from the beginning, on the one hand it is very rewarding to work to see a personal project grow and at the same time, it can be a really exhausting task, especially when starting your own business from scratch, since all entrepreneurship has an initial period, quite complex.
Having your own business generates your own and collective well-being, since they are ventures that start from an idea, until their creator manages to put it into practice and convince their clients of its advantages, the entrepreneur is exposed to success and also to the risks.
If you are willing to work hard, to build a business, by investing time and money, to reap rewards in the medium and long term, then starting your own business may be the answer. However, it is better to be clear about the advantages and disadvantages of undertaking, to make the challenge worthwhile.
Advantage
An advantage is a favorable condition or characteristic that you have with respect to other people. It is a circumstance that generates better conditions to do something, such as the advantage of having solid knowledge on a subject.
- complete independence
- Personal satisfaction
- more productive work
- Selection of personnel and collaborators
Complete independence
The owner is in control of the success or failure of his business, before starting it he must be sure that he has the potential to try hard and work harder than he thinks, there are no excuses!!! The only one who can stop the triumph is the entrepreneur, which gives him freedom to make his decisions.
Personal satisfaction
Having your own product and knowing what customers prefer is the maxim of having your own business. When the clientele recognizes the quality and the work that is done to provide a good service, the entrepreneur feels happy and gets more motivation to continue working hard and project his business even more.
More productive work
Employees at all levels work to generate wealth for the owners of the company where they work. But, the entrepreneur works to accumulate his heritage, of course he does not get it at first, work and perseverance achieve very profitable businesses, which change the quality of life for many people.
Selection of personnel and collaborators
When you are a boss in a company, it is difficult to select subordinate personnel. But, a business owner can select their workers from the beginning, and can even train them, since they are in control of choosing the type of employee they need to make their business prosper.
Disadvantages
A handicap is an unfavorable condition or treatment. It is a complication, an inconvenience, a fact that stops possibilities of utility or benefits. A disadvantage, for example, is not mastering the language or not knowing the idiosyncrasy, nor its commercial culture of a country.
- hard work longer
- The entrepreneur starts from scratch
- The owner is the last to charge
Hard work longer
The owner of a successful business is the first to arrive and the last to leave the company. The work of an entrepreneur is really hard, you cannot limit yourself to conventional hours. The days can be endless and exhausting physically and emotionally. The commitment to the organization and the results is constant, there is no time to waste and there is no pause possible.
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The entrepreneur starts from scratch
Your own business requires exclusive dedication, you have to create the name, manuals, work styles and everything that the creation of a company entails. It is time and money invested without seeing short-term results. The entrepreneur does not have a guide, he must create his map and also, go solving each difficulty until he reaches the balance of the business.
You may be interested in reading our guide on how to lose the fear of undertaking or how to start a business without experience.
The owner is the last to charge
Every enterprise needs time to reach real profits, the priority is to cover bills, payment to suppliers, personnel, unforeseen expenses and if there is money left, the owner charges, to keep finances healthy. Later, after several years, it will be when enough income is received to save. This is a disadvantage to take into account before starting the project.