If you have longed to have greater control over your success by becoming your own boss and are willing to work hard to make that dream come true, owning an auto insurance business may be a good fit for you. A franchise is a turnkey-ready business that just needs a great owner’s capital and hard work to make it profitable.
Perhaps you are an insurance professional who is currently working for someone else, or maybe you are a savvy professional who is newer to insurance but has a great track record in sales and a deep understanding of professional relationship management. If owning your future instead of helping someone else build theirs appeals to you, starting your own auto insurance business could be a great move. There are many questions to consider when it comes to starting an exciting new venture. Here are some to get you started.
What Are Some Advantages to Opening an Auto Insurance Business as Opposed to Other Industries?
Unlike other franchise opportunities, everyone needs the auto insurance business. It’s the law that they must have liability insurance to drive. By being in auto insurance, you are in the position to educate your customer while being a trusted advisor with whom they can do business for many years to come.
Some drivers are classified as needing nonstandard auto insurance by virtue of their demographics or their past driving record. Things like being a new driver, being older, owning a sports car, having poor credit, or having some flaws on your driving record can require you to need nonstandard auto insurance. Nonstandard auto insurance is a market niche where drivers who are in a non-perfect situation need professional guidance to choose a product that will get them back on the road with the safety and peace of mind that they need. Needing nonstandard auto insurance is a common issue, which means it is big business. By providing a necessary product with professional expertise in a judgment-free manner, you can help both your customers and yourself.
How Do You Build a Customer Base for Your Auto Insurance Business?
Brand recognition, a strong website, and insurance professionals dedicated to becoming a resource in their community are powerful in the steps to open an auto insurance business. Although you may have many customers who come to you by clicking on your website, having a local presence, and building relationships that turn prospects into customers and customers into repeat customers will be a matter of diligence and offering quality products. Being available in person, by phone, and on social media will be key to the success of your business.
As an auto insurance agency franchisee, you will be an owner, coach, and sales professional all in one, sharing your vision and sales expertise with your employees and teaching them how to serve your client base.
What Are the Necessary Steps to Open a Business Selling Auto Insurance?
The most important qualities are strong sales experience and the drive to become your own boss. Of course, you will need to become licensed to sell insurance in any state in which you conduct business (and also to do things like gain appointments from insurance companies to sell their products), but that is not a prerequisite to start the process.
To be prepared to become an auto insurance agency franchisee, you will need business experience, capital, and drive. Already being an insurance professional will give you a head start, but either way, you will need to learn a great deal about the industry and the role of a franchisee.
Is It Better to Strike Out on Your Own or Become a Franchisee of an Auto Insurance Business?
Becoming a franchisee can be better because owning a franchise allows you to go into business for yourself, but not all by yourself. Becoming a franchisee gives you the instant advantages of name recognition and a parent company that has already done much of the hard work for you. According to an article in Forbes about the pros and cons of buying a franchise, “Whereas starting a business often comes with a lot of unknowns, a franchise is proof of a successful model already in motion.”
If you strike out on your own, your name recognition will initially be based upon your own name and whatever professional reputation you have already had a chance to build with the target customers whom you are hoping to serve. Having a strong brand behind you can be a wiser move, especially with social media’s role in the current business environment. It is a huge asset to be associated with a known and trusted brand. So why make the steps to open a business selling auto insurance more difficult?
How Can You Tell If an Insurance Agency Franchise Opportunity Has a Good Reputation?
Find out what experience the company has in the business that is being offered as a franchise opportunity. How long have they been in the auto insurance business, and how many franchisees do they have? Do they have experience in the specific franchise opportunity and the demographics of the target customer that you are hoping to serve? Open dialogue and ask questions, including what process they use in selecting franchisees, if you can visit their main office, and if you can interview any of their current franchisees to get a feel for what their experience has been like. Remember, they are interviewing you, but you are also interviewing them. It is important that a business venture is a good fit for everyone involved.
Ask questions about the type of initial training and ongoing support the company gives its franchisees. They should have a business model that is proven to be successful, and they should be invested in your success by giving you tools to get the job done. Well-established franchisors, like Freeway Insurance, offer both initial and ongoing training in business management, insurance trends, and sales skills.
Visit us at Freeway today or call us at 1-877-822-3024 to learn more about the exciting opportunities available through owning an auto insurance business!
