Your guide to starting your own brokerage

Mortgage broking is a vibrant industry built on diversity. It offers career opportunities for many different personality types, from natural born marketers to process-driven technicians.

Some people find their way into broking from banking or through the large franchise groups and boutique brokerages. Others have been self-employed business owners from day one. Our industry is home to high performing brokers in various business models and many have made the move from one model to another. 

But leaving a PAYG role to become self-employed is not as simple as picking a logo and choosing an aggregator. Starting a business is a life-changing experience that requires careful consideration and serious preparation.

Gaining a better understanding of the day-to-day realities of running your own company is essential for those contemplating this path. 

Download our guide and start your own mortgage brokerage today

In our better brokers’ guide to starting your own mortgage brokerage, you will discover everything you need to know about starting your own path to self-employment.

Identifying your strengths and weaknesses

Our guide is broken up into eight comprehensive steps. The first of these helps you to uncover your unique skill set, niche in the market, or help you to nurture your ambitions to be your own boss.

In this section we walk through the three most important principles every broking business needs:

• The Client: How are you going to attract business, promote yourself and maintain your customers? 
• The Process: What operations systems are in place? What technology are you using and is it creating efficiencies for you? 
• The Measure: How profitable is the business and what is the end goal?

The three top tips for a smooth transition

The second step in our eBook features an interview with Joshua De Buelle, who is a multi-award-winning Principal of FiNext, a WA-based brokerage. He shared with us his three top tips for a smooth transition into self-employment. 

1. Set aside some money: Cash flow problems can cripple even the most driven business owners in the first 12 months. Work out a budget and be prepared to live off your savings for a few months before you begin earning. As a rule of thumb, be sure to have six months of financial coverage.  
2. Lock in referrers: Have a chat with any existing referrers you may have. Ask them politely if they would stay with you should you decide to leave and set up your own company, subject to any contractual commitments they have. Find out if their allegiance is to you or the brand you work under.  
3. Find a rock-solid mentor: You need an experienced broker who has travelled the road before you to help you on the journey. Someone who will hold you accountable, challenge your thinking and support you through the ebbs and flows of operating a small business.

Get the most out of your aggregator

Later in the eBook, we discuss the support and tools you will need to kick start your business and keep it running smoothly while you find your first clients. 

We interview AFG Head of Sales and Distribution, Chris Slater, who has been helping brokers grow successful businesses for almost 20 years. 

“Brokers that succeed are those who can deliver a good customer experience, know their products and have the ability to engage with the customer,” he says. “If you’re starting up a broker business, you need customers. That’s the bottom line.”

Become a self-employed broker today

Avoid the ‘rookie’ mistakes many business owners make when taking the plunge into self-employment. The better broker’s guide to starting your own mortgage brokerage gives you tips and insights from brokers who’ve built successful businesses from scratch.

Supporting you throughout your broker journey

If you’re interested in our guide to starting your own mortgage brokerage, you might also be interested in the other eBooks in our better broker series.

Create waves in a sea of brokers with our guide to building profitable referral networks, which will give you practical steps on a path to a long and successful career.

We show you how to future-proof your income strategy in our guide to diversifying your business into commercial lending.

Considering opening your own brokerage? 

While there are complexities to starting your own business, the support available through certain aggregators, such as AFG, has never been better.

Contact us for more information about how we can support you throughout your journey. 

Remember you can always reach out to Them Lam, our National Manager of Recruitment and Partnerships for a chat here: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..