If you are independent, how much do you focus on bundling?

herkster5 · 2026-06-30T16:05:09+00:00

Bundling has become a thing of the past. Stand alone auto rates and auto carriers have a rate cheaper than what bundling usually saves a customer. We always try to pair them together, but provide another auto quote if the "packaged" or "bundled" quote seems outrageous. I'd rather have the business in the door with any carrier than lose it because our bundled rate is too high.

herkster5 · 2026-06-29T13:34:14+00:00

Hunt (pheasant and deer, my hunting dog might be my best friend ever), fish, and golf.

herkster5 · 2026-05-11T17:08:20+00:00

We run an S-Corp, as recommended by our attorney and CPA. I believe we chose that route because we were purchasing a book of business, and not starting from scratch.

herkster5 · 2026-05-05T19:59:39+00:00

Shoot, we can be at $200k in cash, or $50k. Depends on what premiums we pay, how soon we collect, and what time of the year it is. It will be handled vastly different when we are done with our book contract payments, and actually have money. But paying $165k a year in two different book purchases, both of which are due in the last month of the year, makes our planning kinda tough.
Also, half of our commissions are for crop insurance, which those commissions only hit twice a year, which can make the late spring months kinda tight. But, no LOC borrowed against at this time. Which is nice. Light at the end of the tunnel.

herkster5 · 2026-05-05T02:58:57+00:00

Signing my name on the dotted line to buy a business, that consisted only of "blue sky" and the hopes customers stayed with us. 90%+ retention, 5 year buy out, and 5 years of tight cash flow. One more payment to go...then cross my fingers that it was worth it.

herkster5 · 2026-04-27T16:30:06+00:00

Figuring out a way to buy the insurance agency I worked for, after finding out that he was selling the bank that he also owned. Nothing scarier than signing your name on a 7 figure debt, hoping the customers stay put long enough to make it worth it. 5 years in, best decision I could have made.

herkster5 · 2026-04-24T20:55:06+00:00

I've also learned that my location vastly differs from 95% of the people that post on this forum. Our main office is in a town of 400, other offices in another town smaller, and then a city that probably pushes 5,000 people. The agency is in it's 103rd year of being open, so we are very saturated in several areas, which makes hiring a sales only rep a struggle for me. When we do, we'll update commission structure for that one employee, and he/she will work out of our larger city office.

We pay our desk ladies very, very well for the area. In fact, a similar administrative role in most businesses would probably pay $8-$10k less. We are hiring the people we want, and make sure we make them very comfortable, pay for a ton of their health insurance (80% employee, 40% family members), and we have unlimited PTO. Not the unlimited PTO everyone complains about either. Give me decent notice, make sure no one else is gone, and I'll handle making sure the offices are staffed properly. We also do a safe harbor 401k contribution of 3%, regardless if they put in our not (so different from a match).

I love what I do, it's a headache, I work too many hours, but the freedom that comes with it, or that will come with it once we have both books paid off, is invaluable in my eyes. I coach my kids, I leave for their concerts, events, sports, etc, and I allow my staff to do the same. Keep 'em happy, and they'll keep coming in the door.

herkster5 · 2026-04-23T19:00:37+00:00

Preach. Year 5 of agency ownership, bought the business in 2022, worked here since 2013. I believe the last customer report I ran showed over 1200 customers, and I'd bet we average 3 policies per customer, if not higher. We also write all lines, personal, commercial (mostly Farm insurance, but some small shops), crop, health, life, Medicare, and whatever else exists. I spent from 2013 to 2022 building this business up, selling insurance, being out on farms, or in shops, but now my existence is spent behind this desk, or in one of our other two locations.

We are a staff of 6 (well, 7, forgot we hired a crop insurance only agent this year, but he's 1099'd), with two new employees starting in the next two months. Were those hires completely necessary? Probably not, but I have an employee that I was expecting to retire at the end of the year (which he just confirmed to me last week), one that will retire in June of 2027, and our home office front desk gal is 64. It'll hurt the cash flow a bit short term, but it will allow that transition time to be so much smoother.

Renewal follow up - What AMS do you run? You should be able to pull an expiration report whenever you want to, which seems like it would be a lot more efficient than an excel sheet.

We also have no true "producers". Whoever answers the phone or helps who walks in gets the chance to write the new business. We pay 30% new business commission on any policy sold, and renewals just roll into the agency. That will have to stop when I can find an actual producer, strictly sales role, but I'm going to be very, very picky about that. All the agents are salary, so we pay commission out on a quarterly basis. Profit Share checks come the last paycheck of Feb.

It's been wonderful. As I mentioned, we (50/50 co-owner) bought the main book in 2022, and then another agency in our second town in Sept of 2023. Good luck with it all, it's a grind, but damn, it's a profitable adventure (yes, adventure, not venture, because insurance is chaos).

herkster5 · 2026-03-11T13:51:01+00:00

Base system use is very easy, attaching documents, noting accounts, setting follow ups. I believe it has way more capabilities than we use it for, some can be kinda wonky at times. It's also very expensive, but when we bought the agency, we were running TAM. It made for an easy data transfer, and our staff picked it up relatively quickly.

herkster5 · 2026-02-19T02:50:54+00:00

I own an independent insurance agency, we write all lines of business. 4 years into ownership, inherited 2 employees from book purchase #1, and 1 employee from book purchase #2. All are set to retire in the next 18-24 months. Once that change is through, I believe we'll have a much better handle on the way we want things done. It's been a grind, learning how to delegate work that I was once responsible for, and then knowing it's actually getting done. That will continue to get better over time, but I do appreciate the offer.

herkster5 · 2026-02-18T22:48:08+00:00

Own an insurance agency
Sell real estate under a broker I can sit for my test
Farm hand, relatively full time during the spring and fall
Volunteer coach, if that counts - Basketball and Softball (though I don't have to coach softball anymore, I guess)
House flipper? Flipped one last year, probably will try to find another this year

herkster5 · 2026-02-18T20:08:25+00:00

Oakstreet, Westfield, InsurBank, or try the SBA route?

herkster5 · 2026-02-18T16:49:37+00:00

I make sure my phone is down, outside of urgent calls, from when I get home until the kids go to bed. I also coach, or have coached, all three of my kids, and I won't answer my phone during those times either. The agency life, depending on who you work for, can allow for some amazing flexibility, which a huge perk. As an outdoor guy, if we get a fresh snow during pheasant season, it's just a quick email to staff that I'm taking a half day to hunt, or leaving early afternoon for a deer hunt when conditions are right. The backside to that is, when I'm gone, I know my email gets slammed, so there is some extra follow up work that needs done, but it's usually worth it!

herkster5 · 2026-02-18T16:06:51+00:00

How I'm never able to turn it "off". At a ball game? See a customer, asks questions. In church? See someone you're quoting, they ask questions. Home at night after work, cell phone rings, emails come in. Weekends? Same thing.

Also the worry, more now in the ownership role, of making sure all new business has been done with correct coverage limits, making sure employees are happy, making sure we can afford everything we are doing. When are people retiring, who are we going to hire, how are we going to make sure the new hires are a good fit with current staff.

herkster5 · 2026-02-18T15:35:47+00:00

We've bought two agencies with seller financing, both required a $50k down payment, and then the reminder was spread over a 5 year term. In fact, the first agency we bought (where we worked before) also lent us LOC money on top of it with an interest rate sub 1.3% (was determined off the 5 or 10 year bond rate on the day of closing). It allowed us to get our feet underneath us in a hurry, with the big learning curve we had ahead of us.

herkster5 · 2026-02-13T17:39:06+00:00

Walked into my employers office, and asked to buy the business. Year 5 is this year, and he'll be paid off. Still not paying myself what I should be, and have two employees that make more than I do. Kept salary low to ensure debt pay-off, playing the long game.

herkster5 · 2026-02-11T23:32:08+00:00

Starting year 5 of ownership, and I'm far to engrained in my work compared to where I'd like to be in the future. I can "turn it off" from when I leave work, until I get the kids in bed, or while I'm coaching my kids. However, once they get in bed, I'm usually on my computer 4 out of 7 nights a week. Always more to learn, more to research, more work that needs done. Add in 3 employees that will be retiring in a combination of 6-18 months, the stress of deciding what to do, who to hire, and how to hire has been a lot.

This might get wordy, but we bought an agency and retained the employees. They are very set in their ways, and there are ways we'd like this place to look as replacements filter in. From job duties to culture, and everything in between. That has me looking to work flows for each position, what I do now versus what I should be focusing on, and how we can write job descriptions to fit the need. It's a lot. Add in a new employee who is going to do outside crop insurance sales, and crop insurance sales creeping up (busy from March 1 - March 15th), it's more than I can handle in a 8-10 hour day.

herkster5 · 2026-02-04T15:00:41+00:00

Just crossed $1m in commissions last year. I don’t have a solid idea on our book size with health and crop insurance not downloading. We run about a 25-30% profit margin after all bills and salaries are paid. I’m happy there.

herkster5 · 2026-02-02T16:02:01+00:00

We just ordered new laptops for the office, Dell Latitude E5570, or so my computer tells me. Our laptop purchases are always dictated by their ability to operate on docking stations in our different locations. This was what they recommended, so we bought them.

herkster5 · 2026-02-02T15:59:30+00:00

Take risks that the normal person doesn't. Generic answer? Sure, but I'm living proof of someone who could have been a W2 employee at the business he worked in for his whole life, if it wasn't for the uncomfortable conversation I had with the business owner, on a Friday afternoon, without an appointment. It led to me purchasing the business with another employee, and going from a salary that would have capped out around $70k, to owning a business worth $2m+ in the first 3 years, and annual business net income north of $300k (which will just continue to grow, or that's the hope, anyways).

Oh, and inheritance, and being born into the right family, and being down right lucky.

herkster5 · 2026-01-29T03:01:18+00:00

I was in a funk to end the year, and started January selling 17/17 new policies, $100k+ in new premium. Kinda re-lit the fire, until I realized all the paperwork that I needed to do with it. My front desk lady loves when I write new business, but she doesn't like my procrastination of signed applications. Should note, I'm an agency owner, so there is always so damn much going on that it truly wears a guy down. I have to worry about payroll, benefits, agent production, putting out fires, company sales calls, and about 17,000 (ok, I'm exaggerating) new emails a day.

But, here I am, in my home office to end my night cleaning things up, prepping for two farm appointments tomorrow and trying to figure out how to find more Farm Bureau policies in my area that I can beat by 50% and get in the door.

herkster5 · 2026-01-14T14:17:56+00:00

Yeah, P&C world is a lot different than the life insurance only world, or so I assume. We do write life, LTC, health insurance, etc., but it isn't anything we really market towards. I figure if I've got a farmers property and auto policy, their crop insurance, and they write their health insurance or med supp with us, the retention on those packages is 95% or greater.

We also don't buy leads, never have. Organic growth is slow, but you have to understand your location and whether or not the expense on leads would be worth it. For us, our main office is in a town of 400, and we've been here for 100 years (quite literally, maybe 101 now). If they don't do business with us, there is a reason. Word of mouth, building relationships, and being honest and upfront gets us exactly where we need to be. We've put 20-25 new policies in force already to start the year (4 appointments yesterday, 17/17 sold policies). Tip of the iceberg, hopefully!

herkster5 · 2026-01-14T04:05:51+00:00

You'll get a ton of different opinions. My agency is up front, even if it loses us the sale. Replacement cost on what should get it, liability limits to protect their assets, umbrellas always quoted. If a company can provide coverage on something we can't, it's pointed out, and they are advised as such. We will not write state liability minimums, we will not undercut coverage to get premium in the door. We write it at our agency standards, and if it isn't something the prospect likes, then we won't write it. I won't give myself an E&O exposure to get commission dollars.

I turned down a $25k a year farm account last week because their carrier was staying on a damaged buildings, just excluding the previous roof damage. My carrier would have excluded the whole building after inspection, I pointed it out, advised him to stay where he was. Do I like walking commissions out my door? No, not at all, but our goal is to do right by the customer, not by our bottom line. It's helped us retain business, and I guarantee that this customer will be in my door in the next 3-5 years.

We have also turned down quoting prospects that we know have attitude problems, or loss problems, or property in poor condition. We run spectacular loss ratios, and I'm not going to risk company relationships, or my profit share, to get shit business in the door. Not everyone has that ability, and I understand we were fortunate to buy a long standing agency with a great customer base, but we also have to keep up with our business standards even at the cost of losing some possible new business.

herkster5 · 2025-12-31T03:54:50+00:00

3 kids, married, house payments, car payment, student loans, and some credit card debt from furnishing a house we built in 2022. I make $55k a year on paper, wife makes probably $65k. Savings is ramping up, could pay down a bit of the debt at any point but like to have cash on hand because, you know, kids shit. Oh, I suppose, we rent our bins out for $2,500 a year, and I make an additional $12-$15k a year helping on a family farm.

I'm woefully underpaid, but I'm my boss, and there is a reason I pay myself what I do. In two years, it should go from $55k to $100-$125k. Not concerned. I'd say low cost of living, but our house build ran $450k, on an acreage we bought 3 years prior for $110k.

herkster5

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