Page 29 - The UnCaptive Agent

2 THE UNCAPTIVE AGENT

He told me that he had not known how much money
he would make in any month for the last twenty-five
years. Strangely, I found that compelling and exciting.
I have now not known how much I would make in any
month since 1982—thirty-eight years and counting. At
the same time, I have seen my personal income grow
more than I could have foreseen when I embarked on
an entrepreneurial career. That level of uncertainty
is not for everyone. But the rewards are certainly
there, in this business, for those who can embrace the
uncertainties.
When you embark on the journey of starting your
own insurance agency, you will have to learn at a rate,
and a level, greater than at any other time in your life. No
matter how experienced you are as an insurance agent,
or even as a businessperson, you are taking a new level
of risk with your career. And the risk is real. According
to the American Chamber of Commerce approximately
seventy percent of all businesses fail within the first ten
years. So, as you begin the journey to independence, to
setting your own schedule, to making more money and
building more wealth than you can possibly imagine,
it’s important to take the time to think through why
you would take those risks.
Clearly, building a business of your own is a part of
the American dream. Being an entrepreneur is some-
thing that many aspire to. In this country, we venerate
business owners. If you missed the opportunity to be a
football hero in high school, you’ll have an even bigger
opportunity as you build a successful business. Building
the business itself is incredibly rewarding. The personal
growth that you experience, along with the income and
business success that you enjoy, are tremendously satis-
fying. The money that you can make as an owner of a
business, and the wealth that you can generate for your