While Canada’s life and health insurance industry employs more than 110,000 people, only around half of them work in the independent channel and are not directly employed by captive insurance companies. If you’ve been part of the non-independent group for a longer time, you might as well consider a change. After being involved in the life insurance market for 14 years, I felt that I could better help others secure their financial situation and take my own career further as an independent broker. Many people have recently asked me about the specific reasons that led me start LSM Insurance Services, and I’m ready to share most of them.
- Being able to recommend better solutions – This was probably one of the most important things I had in my mind. After so many years of knowledge, I wanted to create my own portfolio and build my own structure of services. I wanted to create something that would be more attractive for my clients and ensure that both of us profit from our interaction.
- Having a deeper understanding of the industry – Although I gained a massive amount of knowledge from the previous years, starting your own brokerage company is a whole different endeavour. The sheer fact of learning more than ever about my chosen career field excited me from the beginning.
- Commissions – Naturally, when you deal with the insurance companies directly, you get better commissions and have access to a larger palette of products.
- Opportunity for growth – Being a captive agent limits your choices and opportunities – however as an independent broker, there are no limits.
- Competitive edge – The fact that I can set new standards creates opportunity for being one of the top. My credo was always shooting for being the very best and with my own company we are able to approach our goal without additional hurdles.
- Financial flexibility – With your own budget, you can plan for the future better. For example, I have always spent a significant amount of money on promotional items and advertising in general, but with my own company now, we can target our promotional budgets even more effectively.
- Creating your own team – It is very important to surround yourself with positive people and motivate each other to be more successful. I was very lucky to find people that are not just reliable professionals, but also excellent team players. They are able to bring a lot of fresh, creative energy to our workplace and ensure that our clients get more for the money. With a strong team, you can get more done.
- Opportunity for better organizing – The independent channel allows you create your own systems. With my team, we’ve introduced a workflow and process that allows us to focus more on dealing with people, yet provide the maximum service.
- Motivation – After I started LSM Insurance Services, it felt like driving the same car with a new set of wheels and a great deal of tuning. I’ve become excited about life insurance more than ever and it affected all the areas of my life in a very positive way.
- Authority – Now as the head of an independent brokerage business, I get invited to speak at numerous events and get a lot more coverage in the media. Not only does this brings us more coverage and new leads, but also allows me to connect with other extremely successful professionals. We can learn from each other and get fresh new ideas that result in an immediate increase in productivity.
Along with all the fun, there is even more work and responsibility as an independent broker. Be sure you are ready before you make the move.
