Startup Advice
Starting an Excess & Surplus Insurance Business
This advice is written for those who plan on opening an excess and surplus insurance business. Read these tips before you begin your venture.
Thinking about opening an excess and surplus insurance business? We tell you what you need to know to get started.
Business Plan Mechanics for Excess & Surplus Insurance Businesses
If you haven't written a business plan for your new excess and surplus insurance business, it's time to get started.
Rather than avoiding your business plan, keep your business plan simple. Ultimately, your business plan is intended to be a resource for you, the business owner.
If your time is limiting, outline the essentials of your excess and surplus insurance company's business plan now and make a commitment to come back to it later.
Take a Look at the Competition
Well in advance of opening an excess and surplus insurance business in your area, it's essential to see how you will fit in the competitive landscape. We've provided the link below to help you get a list of local competitors near you. After clicking on the link, type in your city, state and zip code to get a list of excess and surplus insurance businesses near you.
If there's too much competition, it may be wise to consider starting the business in a less competitive marketplace.
Finding a Non-Competitive Business Mentor
As part of your due diligence on opening an excess and surplus insurance business, it's a smart move to learn as much as you can from somebody who is already in the business. Local competitors are not going to give you the time of day, mind you. It'd be crazy for them to teach you the business.
But, a person who owns an excess and surplus insurance business in a location that is not competitive to you can be a great learning resource for you, provided that you won't be directly competing with them. Indeed, many experienced entrepreneurs enjoy offering advice to startup entrepreneurs. Our estimate is that you may have to contact many business owners to find one who is willing to share his wisdom with you.
How do you locate an excess and surplus insurance business entrepreneur in another city who you can speak with?
Simply, try our helpful link below, type in a random city/state or zipcode, and start calling.
Why You Should Buy (Instead of Start) an Excess & Surplus Insurance Business
We know . . . From the time you were a kid you dreamed about starting a business from scratch and growing it to a position of market dominance.
Yet a healthier and safer strategy may be to purchase an existing excess and surplus insurance business.
Existing excess and surplus insurance businesses are proven operations with dependable revenue streams. And that's not to mention the fact that a purchase let's you avoid the trial-and-error mistakes that are common in startups.
Consider Buying a Franchise
The odds of achieving your primary goal of being a successful business owner are greatly increased if you buy a franchise and benefit from the prior work of others and their lessons learned.
As part of your process in starting an excess and surplus insurance business, you ought to investigate whether franchise opportunities in your space might help you avoid common entrepreneurial mistakes.
The link below gives you access to our franchise directory so you can see if there's a franchise opportunity for you. You might even find something that points you in a completely different direction.
Other Useful Articles for Startup Entrepreneurs
These additional resources regarding starting a business may be of interest to you.
Buying vs. Starting a Business
Coming Up With Good Business Ideas
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