Hiring an operations manager: Most agency owners cite the operations and management part of the business as the leading cause of stress and burnout. For agency owners who have a strong sales focus, an operations leader is the perfect partner to regain balance and change your trajectory. It's like Batman and Robin, Jordan and Pippen, and Kosar and Newsome. Two work partners supporting and bringing out the best of each other.
Take a breath and develop a strategic plan for the agency: Most agencies operate YOY without a strategic plan for growth. This can feel overwhelming and uninspiring when all of your carrier partners are demanding growth to retain the relationship. Taking time to actually develop a plan will put you in a better position to understand what you need to do to grow the agency and restore balance in your life.
Consider bringing on a partner: If you are a single agency owner, consider bringing on a partner to share in some of the leadership and management duties of the agency. A partner could also help shoulder some of the financial risk of agency ownership and give you a teammate to grow the business with.
Merging with another agency: We believe this option should be explored before selling. There are many agencies with strong operational leaders who love the operations and management of an agency the same way that you do selling insurance and taking care of your clients. Finding the right partner to merge with could be the solution for providing you with relief from the duties and tasks causing you stress and burnout. Typically, in these situations 1 + 1 = 2, meaning you find the right cultural fit for your agency and clients, relinquish the parts of the job that cause undue stress, and retain ownership in a larger entity.
Develop a strong peer network of agency owners: The independent agent community is one of the most giving, sincere, and supportive structures in business. The number of times we have heard an independent agent say, “There is enough business for all of us,” is remarkable. If you find yourself lacking a peer structure, this is the first solution we would recommend to combat burnout and stress. It is comforting to know there are non-competitor peers dealing with the exact same issues you have in your agency.

Jeff Smith is CEO of IA Valuations and can be reached at jeff@iavaluations.com. Opinions are the author's own.

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