Brightway Associate Agency

[shawnmwalker]

John,

So it looks like you are a sub agency of Rocky mountain west (Trout is a great guy- I know him personally and he is wonderful). It looked like, on the surface you have lots of locations, but they all read your name.

So the splits and ownership are all contingent upon your other contract.

I got to say. I struggle with this, 100%. But Heaven bless you! ​

 

[Derrick]

Going independent, market access was/is my #1 problem. Especially because Michigan insurance is a fickle son of a bitch. I could have solved that with Brightway and maybe the Brightway franchise model is a great fit for some people but I felt like it had a ton of limitations. I felt like I didn't "own" anything, not even in the slightest and that's my biggest reason I went from working for somebody to working for myself in the first place.

I joined a cluster instead that gave me instant access to all the same carriers and then some with the ability to get other carriers on my own, I can "leave" the cluster for just 1x, no non-compete, and I can be appointed with the carriers immediately after I terminate cluster agreement (no 2 year wait period).

I felt like, by far, it was the best trade off between getting instant, direct appointments to many carriers and staying as independent as I could. I could have technically gone truly scratch independent, but I don't think I would have got many carriers on board.

 

[shawnmwalker]

John,

Lucky for everyone, including myself, I just don't have the energy for the rest of the year to address this with the depth and energy it deserves.

Merry Christmas!

 

[AZDave]

Yes a sub-agency network. Trout is a great guy. Correct, but if a Big Rock Associate wants to purchase Big Rocks share of the business at a later time, they are welcome to do so at a guaranteed 1.5x the renewal amount. We can roll them over into Horizon, if they would like without any initial cost to them. Our hopes, is that the services and resources we give to get each Associate started and build a business is enough for them to stay with us for the long haul.

Big Rock Insurance goal is for us to be the Netflix to the Blockbusters (brick and mortar insurance agency's).

John, what is your purpose with all your postings and links to this Cluster? Are you that excited, Is this for the greater good for Agents, or is it for some other reasons? I see in the Clusters web site, "Earn a 5% override on an agent you personally recruit.".

Something smells fishy.....

 

[AZDave]

So you are personally recruiting on this Forum for the 5%.

 

[shawnmwalker]

He is the principle agent owner as it is defined in his contract with his aggregator/ group. I hope the group has a good definition.

 

[Danimal]

Going independent, market access was/is my #1 problem. Especially because Michigan insurance is a fickle son of a bitch. I could have solved that with Brightway and maybe the Brightway franchise model is a great fit for some people but I felt like it had a ton of limitations. I felt like I didn't "own" anything, not even in the slightest and that's my biggest reason I went from working for somebody to working for myself in the first place.

I joined a cluster instead that gave me instant access to all the same carriers and then some with the ability to get other carriers on my own, I can "leave" the cluster for just 1x, no non-compete, and I can be appointed with the carriers immediately after I terminate cluster agreement (no 2 year wait period).

I felt like, by far, it was the best trade off between getting instant, direct appointments to many carriers and staying as independent as I could. I could have technically gone truly scratch independent, but I don't think I would have got many carriers on board.

Does that cluster participate in Louisiana and if so what is their name or how could I go about finding one that does?

 

[Derrick]

Does that cluster participate in Louisiana and if so what is their name or how could I go about finding one that does?

I honestly don't know. I know they do GA but not Florida, so I'm not sure about Louisiana.

I chose ASNOA (ASNOA.com). Why I chose them personally is that they have a lot of markets which was my #1 concern, personally. But for the most part every cluster has a decent selection of carriers, some better than others, but then less favorable terms. With ASNOA I am able to get market access AND favorable terms AND support. And they are willing to listen if I have a problem. Other clusters or aggregators were like, "Here's access, go write and btw we're going to restrict THE HELL out of you if you ever try to leave."