Which "White Collar" Business For The Unqualified MD
Discussion
Thanks to a couple of my business interests I get to meet people from all different walks of life with some of them making a living to others banking money like its going out of fashion.
As my main business is technology I have never needed or bothered with qualifications and hire people based on recommendation or work they have done in the past.
One thing I have learned is that a business that employs well paid, smart people is a lot less grief to run than a business which employs minimum wage staff who are only in to make up numbers.
So the question is , if you had some cash to play with, office space and can build web technology to "solve" almost anything what market would you be attacking where you can hire the talent to do the day to day running of the business.
Where is the money to be made in the new pension rules / financial products / legal services etc? Is there a good "white collar" professional service industry that's ripe to be taken on that's quick to learn and has longevity.
As my main business is technology I have never needed or bothered with qualifications and hire people based on recommendation or work they have done in the past.
One thing I have learned is that a business that employs well paid, smart people is a lot less grief to run than a business which employs minimum wage staff who are only in to make up numbers.
So the question is , if you had some cash to play with, office space and can build web technology to "solve" almost anything what market would you be attacking where you can hire the talent to do the day to day running of the business.
Where is the money to be made in the new pension rules / financial products / legal services etc? Is there a good "white collar" professional service industry that's ripe to be taken on that's quick to learn and has longevity.
Having worked in software for so long I agree that the days of resellers are limited with the only added value being training courses to support the platform.
I liked the idea of doing something with property and the openhouse concept is interesting but it can be a capital intensive business and to make it work you would really need to go in at the below market value model
A financial advisor I know has been trying to suggest we build a business round the new pension regulations and getting people to switch over to new investments but a lot of the finance guys I know are always complaining that rules are getting tighter every day and its harder than ever to bank hard..
I liked the idea of doing something with property and the openhouse concept is interesting but it can be a capital intensive business and to make it work you would really need to go in at the below market value model
A financial advisor I know has been trying to suggest we build a business round the new pension regulations and getting people to switch over to new investments but a lot of the finance guys I know are always complaining that rules are getting tighter every day and its harder than ever to bank hard..
Ossiantoad said:
By way of example, look at Simply Business. It was started by one of the people behind Match.com. Most of the insurance brokers I know sell between £2m and £50m in premiums annually and the bigger ones have all achieved that by acquisition.
SB has grown from nothing to £75m in a few years and will surpass £100m soon if it hasn't already. It has done this by not being and normal insurance broker but simply an online marketing machine that happens to have insurance as it's product. Quite frankly they don't actually seem to have anyone their who really understands how insurance works but that doesn't stop them selling it by the bucket load and screwing their suppliers in to the ground.
Someone suggested insurance to me and showed me the model they use but it seemed pretty risky. They were selling life insurance products via an umbrella group ( He says that how everyone starts) and get paid weeks after completion. The risk seemed to be the way the insurance company could reclaim the fee if the client stops paying..SB has grown from nothing to £75m in a few years and will surpass £100m soon if it hasn't already. It has done this by not being and normal insurance broker but simply an online marketing machine that happens to have insurance as it's product. Quite frankly they don't actually seem to have anyone their who really understands how insurance works but that doesn't stop them selling it by the bucket load and screwing their suppliers in to the ground.
Is commercial stuff like SB much different?
Ossiantoad said:
That's right, no real risk in selling commercial and personal lines insurance as opposed to life. You sell a product, collect the premium, take a commissions and/or a fee and pass the net on to the insurer.
It would be hard to start from scratch as with any business as relationships with suppliers are vital and related to buying power.
So how would you suggest approaching this to look at it in more depth? Any pointers appreciated It would be hard to start from scratch as with any business as relationships with suppliers are vital and related to buying power.
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