10 Stupid Mistakes Made by the Newly Self-Employed

I stumbled upon a cool article written by Steve Pavlina, 10 Stupid Mistakes Made by the Newly Self-Employed, and was happy to relate to several of his opinions. I even learned a thing or two... or three. Seeing an article like this one lifts my spirits b/c it gave me a figurative slap to the back of the head and it gives me a sense of camaraderie with the thousands of other folks out there on their own trying to be their own bosses. With a little common sense, we can get a lot further!

Tinkering w/ Technology

After a few switchovers, I finally settled on a template for the blog (you're looking at it now). There is soooo much content on the web these days feeding the blogging masses! I had to sift through dozens of websites claiming to have great templates and widgets, only to discover it's a lot like finding a good "work at home" solution that wastes gigabytes of traffic every hour! I spent way too much time pursuing this.

Fortunately, a few sites did deliver:
http://buzz.blogger.com/2009/06/spruce-up-your-blog.html
http://www.deluxetemplates.net/
http://www.bloganol.com/

For whatever reason, I couldn't settle for an easily provided design from blogger.com. I had to get something more complex and refresh my xml skills. I will say that the nice thing about my obsessions is that they all seem to be fairly short lived. To all of those blogging sites: Veni, vidi, vici.

No more templates. No more processing rebates at home.

Captive vs. Independant Agency

When it comes to insurance agencies, there are many different forms/sizes/types... but I’d love to rant about one distinction: captive and independent insurance agencies. When an insurance company has captive agents, they work strictly with that company and its products. An independent agent works with multiple companies and does not have any allegiances.

So, is one better than another? Nope. I say this confidently b/c there are many different situations that afford each type the advantage.

For instance, captive agencies naturally have more interest in their agents' individual success. This may be the best way to get into the insurance industry as fresh meat (over 90% of ppl fail in their 1st year… you better find somebody who’s willing to hold your hand through the beginning). I began as a captive agent and was given free training, coaching, office materials, and best of all… free leads! As a captive agent, however, you have a limited line of products to meet clients’ needs and may not beat out the competition.

Insurance companies working with independent agents have an interest in the success of their product b/c their producers are actively shopping around. Because of this, an independent agent won’t always be afforded a huge support system/free training/free resources/free leads. You must come up with these things yourself as a producer, but you gain a competitive edge when dealing with customers. You are an expert in the industry who can find the best deal for your clients… take that you competitors! (err, yeah, something like that)

So, if you can see the general trend of my logic, I started off as a captive agent, grew, and have now “graduated” to being independent. Let’s see if I’m up to the task.

Here’s a better article that expands on my little rant: http://www.agentssalesjournal.com/content/view/670/108/

Pyramid Peak

This weekend brought me to the highest peak in the Desolation Wilderness of Northern California, Pyramid Peak. We hiked approx. 10 miles to get to/back from the west side of the Peak. This included an easy and slow ascent to Lake Sylvia followed by a rapid climb to the west saddle going up to the peak. We didn't attempt to summit the Pyramid b/c of time constraints and it was my first time hiking above 6000 feet (Our highest elevation was about 9000 feet). All in all, it was a great hike that allowed me to use an ice ax for the first time and hike in semi-high altitudes for another first. Thanks go out to BB for an excellent Saturday hike!

Here are some camera-phone pics:


Looking NNW from 1/2 way to Pyramid Peak.


Lake Sylvia where we stopped for lunch. The climb seemed to be straight up directly from the lake below.


Another cool view. We hiked from the top-left portion of the picture.

Recruiting

The great thing about starting your own business is the independence. It provides a great feeling to create one's own horizons! I've been working on a business growth model for the past two weeks (what licenses are needed for each step, how much needs to be made to maintain profitability while bringing on new expenses, different markets to attack in the future, etc.). I am in the early stages of Phase-I at the moment and have put initial recruiting in Phase-II, which begs the question, "why the heck is the topic about recruiting?"

Well, I've had three people call me up this week to ask how it was going and asking about the logistics of the job. They want to come on board sooner than I had anticipated! Awesome, Right? Well, I’ll call it a good problem only because it poses a couple of challenges. Do I go for it and bring folks on board when I am still learning the processes and don’t have total security? I’m not one to take much risk, especially with other people’s lives. I’m in insurance for crying out loud! On one hand, growth is good. On the other, I am not able to train new people as well as I will be able to six months from now.

After some contemplation, I decided to settle for a middle ground: ask the recruits to wait a month while I change my priorities to enable myself to train and lead these folks in our new endeavor. Total security can be overrated. Adaptability is key. Growth is necessary. Let’s get to Phase-II!

Looks like I don't have to create my horizons completely alone.

Habit Hiccups

Picture a young man working out of his office at home. Look at him diligently work all morning long. Man, he's done a great job so far! Oh so productive, right? Absolutely! See him sit back and smile to himself as he is running ahead of schedule for the day. He deserves a reward... Watch him as he writes a few personal emails. Now he's calling a couple of family members! What? A 1-hr phone call with the 'rents followed by a couple of calls to buddies? What happened?!?! Where did the rest of the day go?

That was me today.

Being completely independent of supervision/quotas/requirements does have a flipside. You better be prepared to answer to your better-half on a regular basis if you plan on getting anywhere. This may be my kryptonite.

I will be punishing myself with an eight hour day tomorrow. No excuses. Only music playing tonight: Elliott Smith.

Weekends Are Great!

If you are ever considering life working for an insurance agency, say goodbye to your weekends. You will need to and be forced to work on a six-day workweek. I did it for a year and a half. You will have to. The thing about any kind of retail/financial/service business is that they are the suppliers to a demand created by individuals who are working (in most cases). You do the math: if a person works a lot, the best time to meet with that person is on a weekend or very late/very early in the weekdays. When that person has a significant other that works an opposite shift, you WILL see them during the weekend. Same goes with shopping malls, they have more customers on the weekends.

So, what's the solution? Maximize your weekdays and NEVER schedule a weekend appointment unless it is necessary. Work 1/2 day every other weekend. It isn't perfect, but Americans seem to be hardwired to spend their hard-earned money on the weekends. Who am I to fight that? Another solution would be to make your weekends on Mondays/Tuesdays. The nice thing about being self employed is that you don't have anybody telling you that you're wrong.

So, what did I do with myself last weekend? I relaxed & went shopping with my gf on Saturday, and went for an awesome hike on Sunday. Mt. Diablo of Northern California boasts some awesome views. It is hard to find a mountain that sticks so far above any other hill around itself so that your view is fairly unobstructed the entire 360 degrees around itself.

A couple of pics for ya:


A view from the summit looking southeast.



Looking west towards the end of our hike as the sun began to set.

First Week

It takes several steps to even begin to work in the insurance industry. First, you have to get licensed in your own state which can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months (depending on your determination). Second, you have to land a job, if you already haven't, and learn how to do whatever you are pursuing (Underwriting, Claims, Sales, Actuarial, Management, etc.). Third, you have to do it well because it is a dog-eat-dog world out there, and even your customers are out to have a bite or two of you. Fourth, you have to keep on doing step three and figure out how to keep ahead and motivated.

So, my first week on my own, I had to redo step one in four different states and am now licensed in CA, WI, MD, PA, and soon will add VA and IL to the list. Check. Step two has been a bit daunting, but I will be working with about 14 different accident/life/health insurance companies to start off with. Not quite "Check" yet... but I am well on my way to mastering their product lines. Lots of boring reading about HIPPA/MIB laws, application details, underwriting qualifications, and $$$ for each individual company. Fun stuff. Step three cannot be accomplished by slacking on step two, so I'll keep you posted.

On a side note, I'm loving the whole self employed new business deal because I do my own thing. I've started working out again, and have the energy at the end of the day to pollute the internet with yet another blog! Woohoo!

First Post

I am beginning a new chapter in my life and therefore feel the need to document and share it with those out there who care to listen. I have learned a lot since my emergence from college into the real world. I have done the captive insurance agent bit, recruited to fill insurance sales positions, and managed those I have recruited. I am now leaving that all behind to begin an insurance brokerage. Let's see how it turns out!

The purpose of this blog will be to share experiences in, vent frustrations of, preach up, and hopefully give a bit of insight about the insurance industry.