Page 38 - The UnCaptive Agent

YOU ARE THE FOUNDATION 11

they have some other marketing skill that they partic-
ularly enjoy doing. Becoming very clear about what you
love doing (and being clear about how good you are at
it) will help you as you build your business plan.

How to Provide the Strengths You Lack

On the other hand, it’s imperative also to understand the
things that you’re not very good at. We all have weak-
nesses. No one is good at everything. Those weaknesses
will be the things that threaten your success—both in the
beginning and during the entire time you’re a business
owner. Being clear about your weaknesses allows you
to build a plan to backstop yourself with other team
members for whom your weakness is a strength.
There are many ways of doing this. Often agency
founders look to complement their own strengths with
a partner, as I did. And there are many successful part-
nerships in the insurance agency business. There are
advantages to having a partner. As I said, one of them
is covering your weakness or adding additional capabil-
ity to your team in an area that you’re not particularly
strong in. Another tremendous advantage of having a
partner is that there’s somebody to share the struggle
with—someone to celebrate success with and someone
in the foxhole with you when times are tough. Partners
may bring additional capital with them. Money is always
critical to the startup, especially in the beginning.
Partners may bring technical expertise that you don’t
have in one or more areas of insurance. Perhaps you are
a very skilled and knowledgeable personal insurance
agent, but you aren’t as strong in commercial lines.
Finding a potential partner who is experienced in com-
mercial lines may give you the synergy you need to be
incredibly successful. The two of you could build a