This is part 2 of a two-part series about agents going independent. Part 1 examined the emotional and financial considerations behind leaving the captive model. Part 2 looks at common mistakes in the early process of building the agency: securing carrier access, building the right technology stack, and keeping staff through the transition.
For captive agents entering the independent channel, securing carrier access can feel like the first major test. After all, without markets, there is no product to sell and no agency to build.
Keith Captain, president of FirstChoice, a MarshBerry company, said the appointment environment has shifted since the height of the hard market. "If you had asked me a year or two ago about carrier appointments, I would have said, 'There's no chance you're getting them,'" Captain said.
As carriers return to growth mode, access remains uneven by geography. Agencies in California, Louisiana, Florida and other highly coastal areas face a harder path than founders in inland growth markets.
Every direct appointment comes with a production commitment, often tens of thousands in new premium. Captive agents accustomed to one carrier may be tempted to chase every insurer they used to compete against. But Captain warned against this.
"What you don't want to do is take on 10 different mouths to feed, have all those carrier representatives calling on you and try to satisfy everybody," he said. "You won't make anybody happy, and eventually you'll start losing appointments. One of the biggest blemishes comes when you fill out a carrier application and question four or five asks, 'Have you ever been terminated by a carrier?' Insurers weigh that history before deciding whether to appoint a new agency.”
His advice is to select carriers that match the agency's intended business mix rather than applying broadly and seeing what sticks.
For some new independents, obtaining access can be a smoother process. James Jenkins, CPCU, CEO of RiskWell, said access through his master agency, SIAA, was "exceptionally easy.” He began interviewing with carrier representatives four months before launch and opened with six direct appointments plus brokerage access to more than 200 carriers.
Don Ferlazzo, owner of Foursurance, had a similar experience, crediting introductions from SIAA and noting that some carriers proved more eager than others to take a chance on a new agency.
Networks, clusters and master agencies — like the SIAA relationship that helped Ferlazzo and Jenkins — can provide carrier access, coaching and advocacy without requiring every appointment directly. However, such arrangements typically come at a cost, whether through commission sharing or contractual restrictions.
Captain recommended examining commission splits, ownership of expirations, exit provisions and growth restrictions before committing. "Is this an organization you want to partner with for 10 years?” Captain said. “Are there hard handcuffs?"
A business plan can also strengthen an agency's standing with carriers. Captain said appointment requests can turn into a "beauty pageant" when a wave of captive agents enters the independent channel at once and carrier onboarding teams reach capacity. Attaching a concise plan, including a target market, sales strategy, and expected production, sets an application apart.
Once appointments are secured, an independent agency still has to choose systems capable of connecting multiple insurers.
Dan Garzella, founder and CEO of Garzella Group and Darkhorse Insurance Brokers, said that operational complexity is easy to underestimate. "You might have five or 10 different insurance companies, all with their own systems, feeding into a single system," Garzella said. "You have to figure out what that central system is. There's a lot of trial and error, and what's good for you today may not be good for you tomorrow because things evolve as you scale, build and grow."
Jenkins, who described focus as the hardest part of independence, warned against overspending on technology in particular: "It's extremely easy to get distracted and chase shiny objects that don't move the needle for your agency revenue or profitability," he said. "Technology and AI shiny objects are the most dangerous in 2026."
Finally, one of the biggest tests for new agency owners is finding and retaining staff. Employees who mastered one insurer's systems and underwriting rules may not want to relearn the job across multiple carriers. "The team that got you where you were may not be the team that gets you where you're going," warned Captain.
Garzella took a different route from the start, recruiting from local universities rather than trying to hire experienced staff he couldn't yet afford. "Their income expectations were low, but their ability and potential were high," he said. "I brought them in, coached them and trained them so they could grow with the organization."
Growth eventually creates its own staffing pressure. Ferlazzo said Foursurance's first two years were focused on new business, but service and remarketing requests climbed sharply by years three and four, prompting the agency to add a dedicated team member.
The pressure to generate commission income can pull new owners toward business that doesn't fit their long-term strategy. Founders may be tempted to write whatever is easiest to place because they need revenue quickly, but this habit can leave an agency with an unfocused book and hard-to-scale service accounts.
"Write the business that fits the agency you want to create," Captain advised. "Stay focused on that, and be comfortable not writing the business you aren't good at and don't want in your agency."
Jenkins echoed the importance of narrowing down. “Figure out your agency brand and market voice, decide on specialization, make sure you have the right optimization of human and digital assets, and then work on planning and executing your jump,” he said.
For Ferlazzo, it’s more important than ever for agents to step up and create more value for their client base. “In this market, the days of loyal clients sticking around simply because they like you and the friendly service and advice you provide seem to be fading in the rear-view mirror,” he reflected.
“Take the money you've been spending to buy internet leads or advertise heavily and invest it in a strong infrastructure at your agency that can handle the load of referrals you will get once you have more options for your clients.”
