It was only five years ago I set up Access FS as a one-man brokerage. It seems hard to believe we have just achieved 100 brokers in the firm.
You’ll want to plan where to get your leads from; what referral relationships can you put in place to help you?
The biggest challenges I faced on setting up were keeping abreast of product knowledge and finding support.
Status options
If you’re just setting out on your own, you’ll soon discover it can be a lonely place and you may feel isolated. Your first option is: do you go appointed representative (AR) or directly authorised (DA)? Or do something different, such as running your own brokerage as a registered individual (RI) of another DA firm?
Make sure you can advise on a whole range of products, not just mortgages and protection
If you’ve worked only at a bank, you will know only one set of products and will need to learn a raft of others.
Similarly, if you’ve been an employed broker and are now going self-employed, or if you’re going from being an AR to being a DA, you’ll be faced with a plethora of compliance.
Funding source
Other key things to consider include how you are going to fund yourself for the first few months. You’ll want to plan where to get your leads from; what referral relationships can you put in place to help you? Careful planning is key, as is always keeping a reserve of funds, not only for your tax bill but also for any potential downturn.
No matter how good your business plan, almost no business achieves straight-line growth. It’s usually more like a mountain range
Support is out there, however.
As an RI, for example, you can become self-employed but still receive training and support, and assistance with compliance and growth. The key is to work out what is important to you and find organisations to help.
If you know you want regular training to keep up to date, partner with someone who can provide that. If it’s help to structure your finances or to recruit, make sure you know where to access that help. Even having someone to motivate you and ensure you don’t become complacent can be important.
Peaks and troughs
However, no matter how good your business plan, almost no business achieves straight-line growth.
It’s usually more like a mountain range with peaks and troughs on your way to the top, so you need to be prepared for the dips and challenges as well as the good times.
The biggest challenges I faced on setting up were keeping abreast of product knowledge and finding support
Make sure you can advise on a whole range of products, not just mortgages and protection. The more adept you are at a broad spectrum of advice, the better able you will be to carry on in challenging times.
None of us knows what is on the horizon, whether it be more regulation, sudden changes to fundamental schemes from the government, or an economic boom or downturn. Plan for the best and the worst — and make sure you have partners to support you through both.
This article featured in the July edition of MS.
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