Broking Success: Playing with a straight bat

Opening his office in Kennington in 2003 was quite a challenge for Rajan Amin. For the first two years, he did not receive a wage. Amin comments: "It was only because my wife Hina was working and we had another income to live off that we didn't have to shut the office down."

In his own words, Amin took a "scattergun approach" to building his business initially, buying databases from Yell, sending out 12,000 mail shots and quoting on every type of insurance under the sun. With disarming honesty, he admits: "I was foolish, I overestimated and my business plan was way off target."

With two full-time employees to pay, he quickly worked out that his business needed to specialise and settled on property owners' insurance, businesses and liability. The office now has 85% of its business in the commercial arena, has grown every year since opening bar one and has started 2010 very strongly. Amin highlights: "In January and February this year, compared to last year, we have grown by 27%."

Pursuing a career in financial services only occurred to Amin in his mid-twenties and he focused on assurance rather than insurance at first. His parents owned a newsagent and a regular customer recommended that he contact Allied Dunbar. Amin explains: "I talked to the group director, an ex-military captain; in fact, 75% of the team were ex-military. I was very impressed with everything they said and that they sent you to Swindon for training."

His decision was not, however, endorsed by his father, who felt that the life industry had a bad reputation. Amin reveals the advice his dad gave when he started as a tied-agent in 1991: "He said to me 'don't ever sell a policy where if you go to a wedding and see someone you have sold to, you have to turn your back and look for a door to get out. Sell as if you are selling to me so that the person will walk to you and shake your hand'."

First steps

At the end of 1996, Amin joined Croydon-based RA Insurance Services to work as an independent financial adviser, a period he describes as "the best three years I'd ever had". It was in August 2000, when a friend was made redundant during the closure of the AA's high street offices, that Amin jumped at the chance to open his first Coversure franchise in Wimbledon. The partnership was not destined to last. He comments: "Unfortunately we fell apart. We didn't share an ethos for the business so we parted company."

Despite the setback, Amin was determined to pursue a career as his own boss. He selected Coversure again - a franchise group with 87 franchisees and £65m of gross written premium.

To establish a franchise with the company currently costs £15,000 (see PB Jan-Feb 2010, pp.32-34), followed by a 10% charge on commission and fees a year, for which franchisees receive a broking-in-a-box package.

Amin cites the agencies and support offered as the reasons for choosing this route over starting up alone: "They give me the authority, power and control to run my own office. You don't have an overbearing big brother." He warns anyone thinking of taking the same steps to be prepared for plenty of hard work and to ask a key question of themselves: "You will have control of your own destiny: is that the sort of life you want to lead? When we first opened, I used to work until nine and I used to come in on a Saturday."

While the office sits proudly on the high street, Amin says that it is less passing trade than repeat business and word-of-mouth recommendations that allow him to access the opportunities within his local community and further afield. The office, which has retention rates of 80% and above across all its operating areas, focuses on cross-selling policies and is fast approaching a rate of two for each client. He says: "We don't sell on price only and we make that clear from the word go. If you want to be a successful local community broker then you can't turn away certain types of business just because you think 'I don't want to do it'. You've got to find ways of writing it rather than looking for ways of saying no."

Now well established, Amin is keen to push harder to reach his goal of £1m premium income. A big help in achieving this aim is Coversure's online presence. For instance, a Google search on property owners' insurance, one of Amin's franchise's key areas, returns Coversure on the first page; potential clients can then source a quote online or find the contact details of a local branch.

Amin is also focusing on previously unavailable business areas. Coversure has switched from a personal lines focus to being predominantly commercial lines based and has developed a bespoke technology system. Amin mentions this improved insurer access as one reason that his plan to push into taxi insurance will be a success. The office has also added Polish to the impressive roster of client languages catered for - which also includes Sinhalese, Tamil, Punjabi and Hindi - all of which again helps in reaching the 200 taxi offices in its marketing area.

Adverts in Asian Voice, free weekly Polish newspapers and StreetSkins - an idea featured on Dragons' Den for adverts to be placed on roller shutters on shops at night - are also being tried in a concerted marketing drive.

Training

Investing in staff is integral to the broker: Amin organises this through the Chartered Insurance Institute and achieving his own Certificate was a valuable learning curve in understanding the importance of training and qualifications. He is eager for his staff to have the same opportunity: "We pay for the CII training but we also make staff sign a declaration that if they fail then they will pay for a second test out of their own pocket and take it within three months!"

The final piece in the jigsaw is new product development: an ongoing process. Working with Lambeth Council, Amin has, for instance, created an accredited scheme that has secured more business with property owners.

The council runs a one-day course on the legal requirements of being a landlord along with advice on treating tenants properly. Any landlord attending the council's course (which it runs for 33 London boroughs) is entitled to a 15% discount on a landlord's building insurance scheme underwritten by Towergate's underwriting arm - a Coversure exclusive of Amin's Kennington branch. Further deals with other London councils have followed, including a rent guarantee product and buildings contents product.

Like all brokers, Amin prizes good administration and efficient service from insurers. For property owners' cover, he praises Policyfast - a sister company and Coversure's underwriting agency - as well as Allianz and Fortis. On quotes, taking out policies, adjustments, renewals and claims, he says: "We don't want to be chasing an insurer. If you can do it electronically online then that is the sort of insurer we want to deal with."

Situated less than 500 metres from the Brit Oval, the former amateur medium-fast bowler is also now a golf devotee, although he concedes that hitting the ball straight remains a challenge. He says: "I just can't get enough of golf. I have been playing for four years and have a handicap of 24. It's completely under my skin."

Amin has also been a Rotarian for four years and is currently president of the Balham chapter. He says: "It is purely about wanting to give something back to the community, about professionals getting together and giving up their time for people who are less fortunate." The Rotary Society's motto seems to fit this man, who lists honesty, integrity and openness as the qualities that sum up the ethos of his office: service above self.