Has anyone here ever opened a call center / refi shop instead of a brokerage?
If so, how much was the upfront cost? What is the profit margins? How did you scale and go about hiring? How expensive were buying leads and the conversion rate on those?
Did you scale into a lender or anything of the nature?
Tell me your story
I plan on starting in 1-2 years, NOT IN THIS MARKET. This is for future planning purposes
Current retail LO doing mix of both purchase/refi, I have big goals of starting my own brokerage and growing a company.
I have recently been talking to company owners who have done the jump from retail to ownership directly and done it successfully , but based off the other past posts I’ve read in the subreddit. It is typically ill-advised, and I’ve seen people suggests to work at a brokerage first for a couple of years then start one. The thing is, and maybe this is irrational but I don’t really want to be an employee for another 5 years, like be an LO for 10 years to start my own company. If I do start my own company, I do plan on hiring and scaling as hard as possible, but I’m wondering what other professionals in the field think? Starting with a saving/buffer of 100-150k, and before anyone mentions it, yes I’m okay being different hats all the time and with the stress and struggle of starting. I’m aware it won’t be an easy endeavor.
I guess my biggest question is has anyone else done this jump from retail to ownership and been successful? If so, what were your biggest troubles or tell me about how you got started and how you went about it?