Continuing education is a key part in keeping your insurance license in good standing. Continuing education is meant to help insurance professionals stay up to date on products and ethics within the insurance industry. Each state has their own ethics requirements in terms of hours required to renew a license and the types of classes that are acceptable for credit. For example, in the State of Colorado, insurance professionals are required to have 24 hours of continuing education credits every two years. Of that 24 hours, 3 hours must be ethics, 18 hours must relate to major insurance lines of business, and 3 hours may be miscellaneous. Additionally, insurance professionals in Colorado can’t repeat the same courses year to year, they must take new courses with new topics each year. It’s important that insurance professionals research their state’s requirements and follow them; not having the appropriate credits will prohibit you from renewing your insurance license.

There are many ways to obtain your continuing education requirements. Below is a list of sources our agents use to obtain their credits:

1. Online Courses: Online courses are usually paid courses through companies such as Kaplan Financial or WebCE, though there are dozens of companies available. Online courses allow you to complete your studying in your own time and it also allows you to customize the content you are learning. Online courses also allow you to spread out the classes over the allowable period of time in your state.
2. In-Person Classes: some people like to take in-person classes and get all their credit done at once. This can mean taking a three-day, 8 hours per day course that covers the required material. It allows the individual to get their credits done at one time and enables people who prefer in-person learning to complete their classes that way.
3. Professional Designations: many professional designation courses provide the individual with continuing education credits in their home state. Designation courses such as Certified Insurance Counselors (CIC), Certified Insurance Service Representatives (CISR), or Certified Personal Risk Managers (CPRM) are courses that provide continuing education credits, while the individual is working towards their designation.
4. Carrier Offered Courses: many of the insurance carriers provide agents with free continuing education opportunities throughout the year. Whether that is free online carrier sponsored courses, free in-person courses about a specific line of business (i.e. homeowners), or even topic-specific courses provided to your agency only are opportunities to gain credits.
   
   
   

At Secure American Insurance, we make sure that our agents have numerous opportunities throughout the year to get their CE credits. We understand fitting in separate classes on weekends can be hard, so we set up free carrier sponsored classes during the year, we provide agents with free online classes when available, and provide a database of CE resources for each agent. Staying on top of your CE credits is important and as an agency, we want to make the process as simple as possible for our team.

Starting your agency can feel like a daunting task. There are countless “to-do” items and a seemingly never-ending list of details to consider. We want our agents to feel empowered to take the challenge of starting their agency head-on. We support this through training, mentoring, and a vast network of resources, however, more often than not, one of the best ways to further your knowledge is by reading. There are hundreds of books out there that offer business mentorship, sales skills concepts, insurance related knowledge, etc. Joe Duncan, founder and President of Secure American Insurance, has over 30 years of experience in the insurance industry and is an avid reader; below are two books he highly recommends to new agents.

Game Plan: The Definitive Playbook for Starting or Growing Your Business by Warren Barhorst with Rusty Burson

- Game Plan is not the typical, traditional, how-to business book. So many “how-to” business books are tedious reads and bog you down with so much information you don’t even know where to start. This book provides easy to read material with simple examples. The authors write in a relatable tone with humor added in, making this an enjoyable read as much as an informative read. Game Plan focuses on seven key concepts: Hold on to Your Dreams, Business Funding, Activate Your Marketing, Sales, Leveraging Technology, Human Capital, and Build a Dynasty. By focusing on these key concepts, the book provides the groundwork all new agents need to start their agency, but not feel overwhelmed by the process. Additionally, Game Plan has a website to provide additional resources and guidance related to the concepts detailed in the book. This is a great read and we highly recommend it for new agents entering the industry!

The 8 Best Practices of High-Performing Salespeople by Norm Trainor

- Many sales books can be dry and focus on textbook skills and concepts, this book not only doesn’t follow that outline, but it teaches sales skills from the stories of real sales professionals. This viewpoint allows the reader to learn the sales skills but to also relate to the stories and challenges. The book offers practical advice and simple strategies. The easy to absorb the material and situational details allow people to immediately start utilizing the practices outlined in the book. We highly recommend this book for new agents starting in the insurance industry. Excellent sales skills are an extremely important part of being successful; this book will allow agents to build that foundation of success. 

If you think you can skip a business plan, head over to our “Why You Should Write a Business Plan” article first, it will give you a few great reasons to take the time to put together a plan for your new business.

Does a business plan guarantee success? Absolutely not. Does it improve your chances of success? Oh of course. Great planning can often be the difference between success and failure, and when it comes to dreaming about your business, you should do everything possible to set the stage for success.

There are many business plan formats out there, we hope you’ll take some time to search around and see what fits your style. Typically they go in a fashion similar to this:

• Executive Summary 

• General Company Description

• Products and Services

• Marketing Plan

• Operational Plan

• Management and Organization

• Personal Financial Statement

• Startup Expenses and Capitalization

• Financial Plan

• Appendices
  

Below is a quick overview of what each section of the business plan consists of. We have found that including these categories helps our agents to write comprehensive business plans that gives them an immediate roadmap for starting their Secure American Insurance Agency.

Executive Summary

We always suggest writing this section last; it is essentially a summary of the other sections. 

General Company Description
This section describes your company. This is not just how you imagine it but how you want to run it. What are the CORE values? What do you envision it to be in a year? 3 years? 5 years down the road? Take time to reflect on the industry, economics and how things will change in your life as well as clients lives. What is your ideal client? Where are they? What are your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats? (SWOT). There is a lot here to consider, which is why we like starting with questions you can answer.

 Products and Services
With Insurance, we have this covered, as an independent agent, you can sell a wide array of products, from dozens of carriers. Are you going to focus on Residential? Commercial? One state or multiple? Do you have family in another state where you could sell their lines and be their go to agent? Typically you would describe in-depth your products and services, so take time to consider what you want to sell, to whom and why. Learning those carriers and products, along with changes each year, is time consuming but rewarding when you can help a client with exactly what they need.

Marketing Plan
Marketing is one heck of a beast. This section is broken down into a lot of options on our business plan guide, as well as in our marketing on-boarding. We try to prepare agents to really understand that marketing is every part of the process - from developing the products you will sell to the research of your ideal clients. It’s not just about where you will put your money.

We also try to encourage our agents to focus their energy on excelling in two to three marketing avenues, instead of being mediocre in all marketing avenues . Marketing encompasses everything from print postcards, emails and text messages, to digital ads with Facebook or joining network groups - focusing on one or two things you enjoy and can do everyday will get you better results than throwing ads until it sticks. 

Operational Plan
This is the day to day of your business. What does your ideal day look like? What equipment do you need to do your job well? How will you keep track of receipts? Calendar dates? Ensure your customer service is top notch? Where are you operating out of? There are benefits to home offices as well as open office structures. Where are you getting your mail? Do you want people to know your home address or do you want to set up a PO? 

Taking sometime to imagine a week in your future life will help you think about the day to day operations. It’s okay to not get everything - some situations are just going to pop-up at the time, that is just a new business.

Management and Organization
This is also more of the day-to-day, management version; if you plan to expand and build your company - and you should DREAM BIG especially for agents - how will you manage it? Will you hire an admin when you reach a certain income goal? Will you seek outside marketing help? Will you recruit new producers to help you grow your agency? Do you want to bring in silent investors to move ahead faster - they like to see business plans. Who will you depend on? Bankers? Mentors? Financial advisors? 

Personal Financial Statement
Investors will often ask for a personal financial statement, then section is a great reminder, when you are building a business - many items will come out of your own pocket. It’s always a good idea to check in with a Financial Advisor to help you structure your new business the best way possible.

Startup Expenses and Capitalization
You will have many expenses associated with operating your agency. It’s important to estimate these expenses accurately and plan where you can source the capital to get started? Do you have savings? Have you considered a loan? Or even considered approaching family or friends for help? 

 Financial Plan
And finally, put those expenses, capital and expected earnings in a real budget. Many investors will ask to see a 12 month year long profit and loss projection. Even if you don’t have investors, this is still a great tool to allow you to understand your finances.

 Appendices
If you have added research, brochures or studies - this is a place to attach those extra items. This is particularly important if you referenced them in any of your explanations or plans. 

Your plan can be as many pages as you feel you need to get your best plan down on paper. Keep in mind you can come back and update it, add to it or expand a section later. Businesses grow, change and evolve just like people. We can’t wait to see yours and help you achieve it.

Why write a business plan? Why do we plan anything? For success of course. 

The humble business plan is the blueprint for your business. It can be as complicated as you need it to be, or as simple for you to grow with. You can change them, amend and add to them as you grow. A business plan is essentially a guide to the ideal business you want to create and reach for. You wouldn’t build a home without blueprints, you shouldn’t start a new business without one either.

Philosophy aside, creating a business will help you confront real fears, risk and put it on paper, so to speak. It is a great time to test the feasibility of your business idea. Oftentimes we jump head first into new ventures that sound exciting or promising, but it's important to really be more considerate of what is possible. If you can take the time to create a business plan and work through the realities, you can decide if that business is a good fit for you, possible or even just marketable. Sometimes you can have a great idea, but it might not be worth the cost to produce it, market it and sell it. Making a plan gives you a full picture of your concept. 

Now, in the case of starting your own independent insurance agency, we truly believe in building a business plan ahead of time to give our agents the best chance at building a long term company. We also want to reflect on this each year and provide review opportunities, goal setting and growth classes. We are big on learning here at SAI. 

Insurance is a little different, you don’t control your products or cost - our multitude of A+ carriers decide that. However, setting up a business plan will give you a great sense of vision and help you establish the next best steps. Our goal is to always help our agents know the next best step (and then help them complete it).  

“The most important step a man can take. It's not the first one, is it? It's the next one.” 

― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer

So what is in a business plan? We go in depth over the basic sections in a typical business plan - as well as insurance specific items in our article: Building your Business Plan Road Map.

Secure American Insurance is a family-owned independent insurance agency headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with agents located in 26 States. We are currently looking for property and casualty agents who will be involved in the sale of personal, commercial, and life insurance products. 

Secure American Insurance is dedicated to helping our agents achieve tremendous success. Opening and agency with Secure American Insurance allows you to:

• Build a Recession Proof Business. 

• Build a Stream of Income. 

• The freedom to build your own schedule.

• Access to A+ Rated Carriers

As an agency with Secure American Insurance you have the freedom and flexibility to not only grow your business as you wish to see it, but to also spend more time doing what you love.

You will be able to earn more with our unique commission structure. Agents earn 100% new and renewal commission, while Secure American Insurance takes a small participation fee each month. This allows our agents to build a continuous stream of income as their business continues to grow. Our compensation structure, paired with our continuous training opportunities allows our agents to grow their businesses as quickly as they would like to. We also provide our agents with in house coaching, marketing support, accounting support, and compliance reviews. 

You will be able to provide their clients unbiased comparison shopping - we represent over 40 A+ Rated carriers - you can help your clients understand the need for exceptional coverage while providing a competitive price.

You will have no limits on the type of insurance you can sell - commercial, personal, life - we work with excellent carriers and don’t limit you on your production and earning potential. 

Market Diversification

Each agent at Secure American Insurance is able to represent well-known, highly regarded insurance carriers across the nation. With access to over 40 carriers you will truly be able to meet your clients needs in terms of coverage and price. This allows you to not only be competitive within the insurance industry, but it also allows you to become an educational resource to your clients. 

Freedom from Company Requirements

Secure American Insurance has no volume requirements for their agents. We believe that with the right tools and your own motivation you will be able to set your own goals and achieve them. Production goals can often hinder the success of agents, as they become focused on just one aspect of being an agent. We want to cultivate business focused agents - agents that are here to build a business in the long term, not be distracted by short term requirements.

State of the Technology

At Secure American Insurance we are proud to be early adopters of insurance driven technology such as EzLynx. We thrive on helping agents automate their business and help clients stay on top of their coverage. Our systems allow you to work from anywhere and continue to build your business at your pace. Our focus on technology has allowed our agents to build more efficient and organized agencies. 

Outstanding Compensation

As a Secure American Insurance affiliate agent, we offer higher commission structure with limitless renewal income. This income allows agents to really grow their business in a way that will have a lasting effect on their livelihood. Our goal is to help our agents build a business they can rely on for many years. 

On-going Company Support

Secure American Insurance offers assistance with compliance, accounting, business planning, and marketing support. Our agency also strives to keep our team up to date with appetite, product and underwriting changes, and incentive programs with all the insurance carriers we represent. We are also focused on expanding our carrier access when our agency needs it. We help our agents build a road map to success and continue to help them develop their business. 

Exceptional, Continuous Training

We provide our agents with continuous training opportunities throughout the year. We encourage our agents to expand their knowledge about our carriers, available technology for their agency, marketing options, and organizational skills to help improve the operation of their agencies. Secure American Insurance believes in the entrepreneurial spirit and aims to help agents capitalize on their ideas - while developing their own business strategy.