Page 83 - The UnCaptive Agent

56 THE UNCAPTIVE AGENT

of your business plans, plans for depositing in the bank,
and your plans for growth. Let her know that although
you have no current plans, you may want to borrow
money at some point in the future. Starting early like
this will help you later when you do want to make a
loan. Not only that, but bankers make excellent centers
of influence and referral sources.
Another place to borrow money, although very expen-
sive and not recommended, are on your credit cards.
Joe Gebbia, a co-founder of Airbnb (one of the world’s
most valuable companies) has said that his company
was founded on and its operations sustained by a raft
of credit cards during its first year in business.
One more place to look for startup capital is from
investors. While insurance agencies aren’t particularly
sexy investments, as compared to tech companies, they
are generally far less risky for an investor. You may know
someone yourself who would like a better rate of return
than they are getting elsewhere and who would invest in
your business. There are organizations of Angel Investors
who specialize in making investments in startups. Your
state government Commerce Department would be a
good resource for finding those types of investors.
The second prerequisite for a successful launch of
your insurance agency is a plan for business and personal
income for the first several years of operations. This is
in additional to the capital and working capital from
the budgets that you have just completed.

Pay the Business First!

You’ve made an estimate of income for the business. You
can readily see whether there will be any excess income
in its first year of operation or not. If, according to your
estimates, there will be a net income to the business,