Utah Entrepreneurial Strategic Plan

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2

BACKGROUND RESEARCH 3

ALLSTATEBACKGROUND 9

RESEARCH RESULTS 11

GOALS & OBJECTIVES 14

MESSAGING 15

RECOMMENDATIONS 17

WORKS CITED 19

APPENDIX 22

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARYAllstate asked Bradley PR to conduct primary and secondary research to answer the following ques-tions: What are the top resources for Utah entrepreneurs to learn about entrepreneurial opportunities?

What key messages resonate with Utah entrepreneurs to learn about entrepreneurial opportunities? What are Allstate’s primary obstacles in reaching this audience with their message? With the above research, what should Allstate do differently? Where should they be taking their message? What should they be saying?

Since the 2008 recession, Allstate has experienced a decrease in its number of agents. This resulted in a loss for Allstate’s ability to cater to current/future customers. Currently, Allstate is having a diffi-cult time defining and finding potential agents in Utah’s unique environment. After performing on-line research, focus groups, and live interviews, we have developed solutions to Allstate’s problem. To separate itself from competitors, Allstate must focus on recent college graduates and increase the number of internships they offer. From here, Allstate can encourage these new employees and interns to open up and manage new satellites. To attract individuals that fit into this public Allstate must distance itself from the image of being a sales and franchise company.

At the end of our report, we have included full documentation of our research in the appendices.

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BACKGROUND RESEARCHAllstate is the second-largest personal insur-er in the United States. As a large insurance company, Allstate provides auto, motorcycle, property, life, and home insurance to cus-tomers nationwide.

The company is always looking for opportunities to grow its business across the nation through its many independent agents. These agents typically open with a minimum of two employees to help ensure customer satisfaction. An Allstate agency owner needs a maximum of $50,000 liquid capital to invest in their agency. This money ensures the agency can run normal day-to-day costs and be successful. The money does not go to Allstate (Marketwired).

Due to Utah’s current strong and growing economy, Allstate is looking to expand in the state. Before the recession of 2008, Allstate had 200 agents across the state. Today, Allstate has 75 agents in the state, their least amount of agents in years. According to a research by Find the Best.com, USAA is the highest rated Utah auto insurance provider in the state. This shows that while Allstate is well-recognized across the nation and the state as an insurance provider, it is not a first choice among publics, and thus not a popu-lar choice for potential insurance agents to pick (Find the Best.com).

Utah Demographics

Utah’s demographics are unique for a variety of reasons. The state’s population is younger and lives longer, a high fertility rate,

and more persons per household than the na-tion as a whole. These characteristics reinforce what is the hallmark of Utah’s demographic profile -- its rapid rate of population increase (Utah Business Demographics).

On December 2013, the US Census Bureau estimated Utah’s population to have reached 2.9 million (Davidson). This makes Utah the second-fastest growing state in the nation with a growth rate of 1.6 percent. De-mographers in the state view this growth as a sign of Utah’s fast recovering economy since the recession. The main reason for Utah’s fast growth is its birth rate, coming in at number one in the nation. This shows that there are large numbers of families settling in the valley due to new job opportunities that are being created. People are looking to settle down in a good area and have a steady income.

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Utah’s population tends to be younger than the norm. Thirty-one percent of Utah is young-er than 18 years, compared to the 23.5 percent of the nation. A minority of Utah population (9.5 percent) are older than 65, lower than the national norm of 13.7 percent. The overwhelm-ing majority of Utah population is white. The national norm for whites is 77.9 percent, lower than the Utah’s 91.8 percent. Only 1.3 percent of Utah residents identify as Black or African American. Utah median household income is $58,164, slightly higher than the national aver-age of $53,046 (Utah QuickFacts).

Entrepreneurial Environment Utah has been named in different sources as one of the states with the highest concen-tration of startups and entrepreneurs (Fast Company Staff). Fast company.com analyzed the bureau of labor statistics to figure out the states with the highest amount of innovators and entrepreneurs, with Utah ranking in at 18. Due to this high number of entrepreneurs and startups in the state, there are several organi-zations that provide services for entrepreneurs and startups across the state. Research done by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2012 reported the best states for entrepreneurs (Brooks). The research used five key components to measure the en-trepreneurial opportunities: businesses’ percentage growth and per capita growth, business formation rate, patent numbers per thousand residents, and income per non-farm proprietor. Massachusetts was ranked first for entrepreneurial activities. Utah was not in the top 10, however, in his article Chad Brooks said “ Utah was the highest climber in the

rankings.” From No. 44 in 2011, Utah climbed up to No. 21 in 2012.

In 2013, Utah was ranked number 3 after Washington and Nevada based on how friendly a state is to entrepreneurs (Gaille). This rank-ing implies that Utah is open to entrepreneurial opportunities, which fosters better environ-ments for business.

A small survey done by Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development in partnership with the Kauffman Foundation reported that Utah was ranked no.1 state overall by small busi-nesses. The Kauffman Foundation also con-ducted a study of “high-tech start-up density,” which measures the ratio of start-ups to popu-lation in the same year.

The Provo-Orem and Salt Lake City metro areas were ranked #11 and #12 nationally (Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development). Moreover, Utah is #7 in the nation in the num-ber of new firms launched that year per every 1,000 residents according to U.S. Census data compiled by the State Science & Technology Institute (Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development).

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In another article, Utah Governor’s Office Economic Development states Utah is the best managed stated in the nation. And Utah is ranked #1 most competitive state for business (Utah Governor’s Office Economic Develop-ment).

Fast Company reported that Utah ranked 18 out of 51 for innovation. Utah together with Alaska and Washington DC ranked 4 for private sector establishment births (Fast Company). This article also ranks top 5 states with entre-preneurial activities, percent growth in entre-preneurial activities, etc, but Utah is not on those lists (Fast Company).

One of the resources for entrepreneurs is the University of Utah. According to John Cook, the University of Utah ranked top for spinning out startup companies in 2009. The University of Utah has invested a lot of money on research, which helps students have a foundation to start their own business (Cook).

Another resource is Utah Small Business Devel-opment Centers (SBDC) which helps strengthen Utah entrepreneurs and small businesses. In its report, SBDCs stated it have created 389 jobs and saved 336 jobs. SBDCs have a total of 2,895 clients. The positive aggregate sales impact SBDCS have had is $17,337,320 (Utah Small Business Development Centers).

Bellow is a list of the number of new businesses started in Utah each year, as re-leased by the Utah State Capitol:

2000 – 36,506 2001 – 37,796 2002 – 42,018 2003 – 44,314

2004 – 47,979 2005 – 52,820 2006 – 57,890 2007 – 60,311 2008 – 53,869 2009 – 50,332 2010 – 45,331

The number peaks at 2007 before steadily declining. The decline can be explained by the economic recession in 2009 (Utah Gov).

According to the U.S. Small Business Admin-istration, in Utah 58,412 are small employers (<500 employers) and 135,794 are no employ-ers. The table below reports that the number of private-sector employment is 988 and the number of self-employed is 122. Business own-ership in Utah is becoming more inclusive. The number of both women and minority business owners has grown, as illustrated on the chart on the next page (U.S. Small Business Adminis-tration).

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According to Time magazine, it is easier for a person to start a business when they are young. A young person has more freedom and energy compared to people of other ages. Also people are willing to invest in young people because they are “more impressionable and have fewer habits to unlearn” (Wolverson).

However, research done by Vivek Wadhwa re-ports that the average age of successful startup in biotech, business software, and high-growth industries is 40. In addition, high-growth start-ups are almost twice as likely to be launched by people over 55 as by people 20 to 34 (Wol-verson).

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Wage and Employment

As of 2013, there are 1,059,632 employees work-ing in private sectors in Utah.

There are a little over 82,000 private establish-ments. The five private sectors with the most employees are retail trade, health care and social assistance, manufacturing, accommodation and food services and scientific and technical services. The average monthly wage for all private sector employees is $3,341 (Employment and Wages).

There are 229,050 employees working for the lo-cal government. The average monthly wage for government workers is $3,340 (Small Business Profile). Utah’s unemployment rate is 4.1 percent, lower than the national average of 6.7 percent. As of 2011, there are roughly 122,000 people who are self-employed (Utah’s Employment and Unemployment).

Personal and State Debt Overall, Utah households have moderate fi-nancial stability. When compared to the rest of the nation, Utah is located somewhere in the middle. Utah’s median outstanding mortgage debt relative to income is higher than the na-tional norm. However, Utah’s credit card debt per borrower is below the national average. Utah ranks average among states with regards to monthly homeowner costs and home value (Wilson). One explanation for these results is that an estimated 60 percent of Utah residents identify themselves as Mormon (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). This number has held steady for the past six years. Members of the church are considerably thrifty, with many having shopped at or donated items to good-will stores. It is taught in the church to try to live a lifestyle sufficient to ones needs and to avoid debt.

Despite the Mormon debt-free culture that exists in Utah, the state’s consumption trends could be a cause for concern. During previ-ous economic recessions, overextended home equity loans caused a wave of bankruptcies. Based on previous trends, the recent economic downturn could lead to an increase in bank-ruptcies (Growth in Household Debt). Utah as a state handles its debt very well. A Forbes magazine review states, “[Utah is] num-ber one in its prudent handling of debt, when looking at factors like changes in tax revenue, unfunded pension liabilities, debt as a percent-age of GDP, growth expectations for employ-ment and the state economy and debt per capita.”

As a result of Utah’s well-managed state debt, it has been recognized as the “best managed state,” the “happiest state in the nation,” and the “best place for business” (Raymond).

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Insurance Agencies As of 2012, the Bureau of Labor Statistics stat-ed there are 1,770 insurance claims and policy processing clerks whose annual mean wage is $33,660. There are 60 insurance appraisers for auto damages whose annual mean wage is 54,550. There are 250 insurance underwrit-ers whose annual mean wage is $69,140. There are 2,480 insurance agents whose annual mean wage is $61,210 (State Occupational Employ-ment).

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistic, the national employment of insurance sales agents is 336,740. The national mean hourly wage is $30.48, and the mean annual wage is $63,400. In Utah, the employment of insurance sales agents is 2480. The mean hourly wage is $29.43, and the mean annual wage is $61,260. Utah has a location quotient of 0.80 (less than 1) which means that insurance sale agents is less prevalent than the national average con-centration. In addition, the employment per 1000 is 2.08 (Bureau of Labor Statistic).

The U.S. Small Business Administration re-ports that in the finance and insurance sec-tor, 9.6 thousands are nonemployer firms in Utah. Nonemployers businesses have no paid employees and most nonemployers are self-employed. The total of all employer firms are 3.2 thousands with 2.7 thousands firms of one to 19 employees. The employment of this sec-tor is 58.1 thousands with 7.2 thousand firms of one to 19 employees (U.S. Small Business Administration).

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ALLSTATE BACKGROUND

Advertising Lauren McKay conducted an interview with Ed Gold, advertising director of State Farm in 2012. The article stated State Farm Insurance had been successfully used music as an adver-tising venue. State Farm participated in a Spo-tify app Hackathon, which is a competition for app developers. State Farm believes through music sites or streaming devices, it can reach out to younger publics. The article also pointed out that video sharing site such as Vevo at-tracts a large population of Hispanic (McKay).

Social Media Messaging Allstate’s main competitors for online preva-lence are GEICO, State Farm, Farmers and Pro-gressive. Each of these companies has accu-mulated a large number of likes on Facebook and followers on Twitter. The following is a list of these numbers as of February 26th 2014:Facebook: •Allstate: 403,000 likes, 3,070 people talking about it. •GEICO: 351,000 likes, 2,770 people talking about it. •State Farm: 351,000 likes, 2,768 people talking about it. •Farmers: 2,247,000 likes, 1,555 people talking about it. •Progressive: 237,500 likes, 5,341 people talking about it.Twitter: •Allstate: 13.1K tweets, 43.3K follow ers, following 4,902. • GEICO: 3,364 tweets, 24.2K follow ers, following 1,724. @TheGEICOGecko:

1,820 tweets, 13.6K followers, following 1,212. • State Farm: 22.3K tweets, 47.5K follow ers, following 9,554. • Farmers: 8,846 tweets, 20.6K followers, following 4,384. • Progressive: 9,610 tweets, 25K follow ers, following 7,382. @itsFlo 2,053 tweets, 23.5K followers, following 57.

Each of the companies post on Facebook at least once a day with little variance in messag-ing. On Facebook, GEICO has chosen to distrib-ute messages that are quick witted and humor-ous rather than directly promoting its product. Almost all of GEICO’s posts link to one of their humorous television ads. Progressive is another company that seems to favor the entertaining posts over the informational.

Farmers insurance has more likes on Facebook than all of the other companies combined. There is no evident reason why, but its mes-saging is very similar to that of Allstate’s. State Farm has a separate Facebook page entitled ‘State Farm Nation’ that has 1.5 million likes.The only noticeable difference about the ‘State Farm Nation’ page is that it posts interesting facts about the world that don’t always relate to auto insurance.

It should be noted that the companies that fol-low more and tweet more on twitter, frequently have the most followers. Twitter is used by all companies to promote upcoming deals and quotes on insurance. Progressives’ second twit-ter account (@itsFlo) is strictly humorous and not used to promote its products, but does

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Allstate is the second-largest personal insurer in the United States. The following back-ground infromation focuses on Allstate’s national presence.

have a large number of followers compared to how many it is following.

When searching how to become an agent for each of these companies, there are two differ-ent approaches that the companies are taking. Allstate, GEICO and State Farm all have a link on their homepage to possible careers. When this link is clicked on, the user is taken to a page where they can easily navigate through the instructions on how to become an agent. None of these sites promote becoming an agent however; the company promotes its superior insurance quotes (allstate.com, geico.com, statefarm.com). Progressive and Farmers do not list possible careers on their home pag-es, and it is harder to find out how to become an insurance agent (progressive.com, farmers.com). Even if you Google how to become a Farmers insurance agent, you will not find any information on it.

For each of these companies, it is not part of its main messaging to tell the public about be-coming an insurance agent. The company that promotes becoming an insurance agent more than these five companies is Aflac, which spe-cializes in health and life insurance (aflac.com). The quickest way for someone to find out how to become an insurance agent is to Google it. It is harder to find out how to become an insurance agent if you go straight to the source since it is not an emphasis in their messaging.

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RESEARCH RESULTS

Under 3 years

Methodolgy: Jessica Cannon and Stefani Blayden, both Allstate employees, selected the top performing agents, with less and more than three years experience. These agents have worked for Allstate for less than three years. According to our focus group, these agents are not all from Utah and worked in other industries before becoming agents with Allstate.

All the agents in the focus group decided to be-

come agents because of the freedom it gave them to be their own boss and earn what they put into the job. They love the flexibility. One of the agents was pursued by Allstate and he likes that they were very persistent with him. The other agents were brought into the in-surance business because of acquaintances, friends and family that were involved in the insurance business and/or Allstate.

During recruitment, the majority felt Allstate was very clear and did not “sugar coat” the business to them, which they liked since they felt they could trust the company. They enjoyed the training and felt it was good for someone going into the business, but not for someone who is already familiar with the insurance business. They empha-sized that finding a balance between job, family and outside responsibilities was the hardest part of the job but like that Allstate helps them with some parts of the job such as in advertising and problem solving.

All of the agents received some college but didn’t think it was necessary to succeed in the business

Over 3 years

These agents have been with Allstate for more than 3 years. Based on our focus group, the majority of the interviewed agents bought their agency from others instead of starting a scratch agency. When asked which method of establishment they pre-ferred, all preferred to buy an agency rather than start from scratch.

The group constituted of mostly male agents with one female agent. Half the agents start-

Existing Allstate Agents

Future Allstate Agents

These are those individuals who have an entre-preneurial mindset. Required equity would be in the range of $50,000. These individuals are very ambitious, motivated, and business oriented. Allstate would want these agents to be able and willing to put their business above all else. This public would most likely be found within the in-tervening publics of Competitors and Entrepre-neurial Resources

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Competitorsed in a different business but were lead to the insurance business by a friend/acquaintance in the business or were exposed to the insurance business around their early 20s/ mid 30s through school, internships, family working in the busi-ness, and business acquaintances.

It is important to note that the minority in this group were Utah natives, with the majority having come from other states to study at the universities in the state (BYU) or buy other Allstate agencies in the state.

After a discussion on recruitment of more agents, agents expressed an interest in reaching out to younger employees and mentoring them in the hopes that they will eventually help the agent set up a satellite and then start their own agency. They enjoy the freedom of being their own boss and consider themselves entrepreneurs. They en-joy Allstate’s training programs and believe think its a great resource and provides great training to new employees. However, they all agreed that the starting capital was too high.

Many people that have become insurance agents for other companies are similar to All-state agents in both their personality and their self interests. Competitors interviewed were from independent agency firms for Progressive, Farmers, State Farm and Geico.

Insurance agents for other companies are similar to Allstate agents in both their person-ality and their self interests. Competitors inter-viewed were from independent agency firms for Progressive, Farmers, State Farm and Geico.

The majority of these competitors went into the insurance business because they enjoyed the freedom and flexibility of being “their own boss.” The majority of the agents chose the company they did because they had fam-ily and/or acquaintances that worked for the company.

These agents like the job security the busi-ness provides and the benefits their company provides for them (e.i retirement fund, buy-ing an existing agency). Two of the five agents interviewed took out loans or had to raise the capital to start their agency, but liked the industry enough to take the chance. The other three agents either worked in the agency and had enough capital to buy the agency later on, or were taken on and made age.

Two of the five agents interviewed took out loans or had to raise the money to start their agency but liked the industry enough to take the chance. The other three agents worked in the agency and had enough capital to buy the agency later on or were taken on and made agents under the agent owner’s agency.

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Entrepreneurial Resources

These resources are a great place to start be-cause they attract many people that are inter-ested in starting and owning their own business. This is exactly what they will be able to do as an all Allstate agent, but many of them just don’t know it.

Resources for entrepreneurs in Utah include forums that make it possible for entrepreneurs to meet and discuss ideas with each other, eco-nomic and investment programs, entrepreneur-ship business magazines, and entrepreneur centers that advertise opportunities, offer ad-vice and connect fellow entrepreneurs. All of these resources are located on, or distrib-ute to the Utah County/ Salt Lake City area.

These businesses are situated in Utah, one of the largest entrepreneurship hubs in the coun-try, and receive good publicity to their events/magazines.

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GOAL & OBJECTIVESGoal

To increase the number of people interested in becoming Allstate agents in Utah.

Objectives

1. What are the top resources for Utah entrepreneurs to learn about entrepreneurial opportunities?

2. What key messages resonate with Utah entrepreneurs to learn about entrepreneurial opportunities? 3. What are Allstate’s primary obstacles in reaching this audience with their message? 4. With the above research, what should Allstate do differently? Where should they be taking their message? What should they be saying?

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Existing Agents under 3 Years Primary Message:

The No Sugar Coating Policy. Allstate will give you the facts and the tools to make you an

Agent.

Secondary Message:

•Buy an existing agency or start from scratch, Allstate is there to for you

•24 Hour Support System with After Hour Support line provides you with the flexibility you need

•Be your own boss. Develop your own business plan and decide how to run your business

Existing Agents over 3 Years Primary Message:

Keep your agency growing through Allstate’s College Internship Program and mentor a future

agent.

Secondary Message:

• Younger and newer employees can help you out in the office, and the business • Employees can help set up and run your satellite business

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ALLSTATE NATIONAL MESSAGING

Competitors

Primary Message:

You’re the boss. Keep your own books and de-velop your own business plan, that’s the Allstate

way.

Secondary Message:

• Allstate provides 24 After Hours Support to help your customers. No more staying in the office late

• Opportunities to earn commissions and bonuses

• Free comprehensive training to get your business started

• Experience true freedom. You’re not the employee, you’re the indepen dent contractor. Earn and control the economic interest in your company

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Entrepreneurial Resources

Primary Message:

Become your own boss by becoming an Allstate Agent.

Secondary Message:

• Allstate provides 24 After Hours Support to help your customers. No more staying in the office late

• Opportunities to earn commissions and bonuses

• Free comprehensive training to get your business started

• Experience true freedom. You’re not the employee, you’re the indepen dent contractor. Earn and control the economic interest in your company

RECOMMENDATIONS1. Make information about becoming an Allstate agent easier to access & utilize

social media

When comparing the various insurance com-panies, Allstate was better than many of its competitors. However, we feel there is room for improvement. The benefits of being an Allstate agent and what makes it different are found only after some sales pitches about how good Allstate products and quotes are. While prod-uct is something potential agents are curious about they also want information on remuner-ation, training and need to know that Allstate is different because it lets them own their busi-ness. Allstate has an opportunity to set itself apart here and do something that its competitors aren’t currently doing.

Allstate should consider creating agent vid-eos to share on their website and social media channels. Current agents can explain what they like about working for Allstate and how easy it is to become an agent. No other insurance company is doing this. Allstate’s competitors are primarly focused on the quotes that they can provide. Allstate should also consider dedicating an on-line Website detailing the benefits of being an agent. The website can pull directly from ex-isting Allstate materials, such as the Allstate benefits flip chart and use its messaging. This dedicated “Interested in becoming an Allstate agent” website should also include detailed in-formation about support and training, expecta-tions of earnings, time it takes to reach a level of proficiency and a FAQ section.

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2. Associate Allstate with Utah entrepreneus

Allstate agents (and Jessica, Stephanie and Melinda) dislike the label ‘franchise’. The agents all see themselves as small business owners who receive good reward for hard work. To this end we recommend that Allstate needs to have its brand associated with more with the label ‘entrepreneur’ in Utah.

Allstate has a great opportuinty to label itself as with entrepreneurs seeing as Utah has the highest concentration of startups and entrepreneurs (Fast Company Staff).

Sponsoring a general job fair is not spe-cific enough. Consider sponsoring a regular event such as a day conference or set of lec-tures given by experts in the field of self-em-ployment on topics that would be of inter-est to both existing and potential agents. (Existing agents in the crowd would make ex-cellent word-of-mouth recommendations).

We recommend that Allstate have a presence in terms of a table, sponsorship with messag-ing along the lines of ‘brought to you by’ rather than blatantly pushing job opportunities.

Allstate has the unique opportunity to also part-ner in a statewide inintiative with the Mountain-land Economic Development District (MEDD). One of MEDD’s goals is that graduates from Mountainland Economic Development District colleges and universities can find employment with local businesses and build lifelong careers in the district.

MEDD plans on accomplishing this goal by build-ing, “a centralized web portal for job listings in the MEDD that includes skill requirements and career paths, potentially in conjunction with the existing Utah Department of Workforce Services job site.” Since this MEDD-specific web portal is still in its early stages, Allstate has the opportunity to be-come a sponsor from the very beginning (MEDD 2013).

3. Consider creating an internship/mentor program

The Allstate employees that participate in our fo-cus group all agreed that Allstate would be wise to start some internship/mentor program. Interns can be mentored by senior agent for several years. Once the interns have had several years of

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Allstate, you’re in good hands. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.allstate.com/careers.aspx

Aflac Supplemental Insurance. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.aflac.com/

Brooks, Chad. “The Best States for Entrepreneurs.” Business News Daily. Business News Daily. 02 Oct. 2012. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. <http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/3210-best-states-for- entrepreneurs.html>

Cook, John. “How Utah Tops Washington: A University That Spins out More Startups with Fewer Dollars.” GeekWire. N.p., 30 Nov. 2011. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. <http://www.geekwire.com/ 2011/utah-tops-washington-university-spins-startups/>. “Employment and Wages.” Jobs.utah.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://jobs.utah.gov/jsp/wi/utalmis/ industrydetail.do>.

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GEICO. (2014). Retrieved from http://careers.geico.com/ “Growth in Household Debt: An Analysis of Saving and Spending in Utah and the U.S. “UtahFoundation. org. N.p., Feb. 2009. Web. <http://www.utahfoundation.org/img/pdfs/rr689.pdf>.

McKay, Lauren. “State Farm Finds Targeting Opportunities in Streaming Music.” EMarketer. N.p., 02 Mar. 2012. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. <http://totalaccess.emarketer.com/Interview.aspx? R=6000699&dsNav=Ntk:relevance%7centrepreneur%7c1%7c,Ro:10>.

“MEDD 2013 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Update.” . MOUNTAINLAND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT, 19 Dec. 2013. Web. . <https://mountainland.org/site/ webroot/images/upload/files/ED/Mountainland%20Full%20CEDS%2012-19-14-1.pdf>.

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Progressive. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.progressive.com/

Raymond, Arthur, and Laura Hancock. “Utah Recognized for Best Debt Management.”DeseretNews. com. N.p., 12 Feb. 2010. Web.

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“Start & Grow Your Business.” Start and Grow Your Business in Utah. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. <http://business.utah.gov/start/>.

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“The United States Of Innovation: Ranking The States (And A District) For Innovation | Fast Company | Business + Innovation.” Fast Company. N.p., 15 Apr. 2013. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. <http://www.fastcompany.com/3007772/united-states-innovation-ranking- states-and-district-innovation>.

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Pictures:

Competitors. 2013. Photograph. n.p. Web. 23 Apr 2014. <http://lifeworkdesign.nl/wp-content/ uploads/2013/02/business_teamwork_competition-1024x686.jpg>.

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Entrepreneur Resources. 2013. Photograph. n.p. Web. 23 Apr 2014. <http://intraredes.com/wp- content/uploads/2013/07/C-Users-jschum-Desktop-Business-Etiquette.jpg>.

Older Employees. 2013. Photograph. n.p. Web. 23 Apr 2014. <http://www.gapcommercial.com/im ages/bg/bg15.jpg>.

Young Employees. 2013. Photograph. n.p. Web. 23 Apr 2014. <http://www.insurancejournal.com/ wp-content/uploads/2013/04/young-agents-580x571.jpg>.

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Appendix

Appendix A: List of resources

Appendix B1: Interview questions for entrepreneurial resources

Appendix B2: Results of interviews with entrepreneurial recourses

Appendix C1: Interview questions for Allstate agents

Appendix C2: Allstate focus group transcription- Allstate agents under 3 years

Appendix C3: Allstate focus group transcription- Allstate agents over 3 years

Appendix D1: Interview questions with competitors

Appendix D2: Transcription of interviews with competitors

Appendix A

List of Resources

Business Week--The New Entrepreneur

Utah Business Magazine

Utah Valley Magazine--families, our generation (http://utahvalley360.com/uvmag/)

Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum

o About: The Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF) is a volunteer non-

profit support group linking entrepreneurs to money, markets and mentors.

UVEF empowers current and future business leaders to thrive in today’s

competitive market. We provide real-world, practical education and valuable

resources on how to access needed capital, attract new customers and tap into

industry experts.

o Services: Monthly networking events featuring a captivating keynote speaker

and special programs. Members also enjoy exclusive access to the group

membership directory and discussion board, podcasts and much more.

o Contact: http://uvef.net/ Cindy Thurber. Email: cindy.thurber@uvu.edu

Phone: 847.312.9882.

Utah Entrepreneurship Circle

o About: Utah’s largest, most inclusive and active networking group for

entrepreneurs and business owners. It is a networking group for serious

entrepreneurs and professionals with a professional, accountable culture. In

2012, over 1000 entrepreneurs and business owners attended events.

o Offers: There are numerous events each year including business networking

breakfasts, lunches and evening events, seminars and workshops, and offering

mentoring for entrepreneurs, early to mid-stage companies, and professionals.

o Contact: http://www.meetup.com/Entrepreneurs-Circle/ Richard Swart

Startup Grind

o About: Startup Grind is a global startup community designed to educate,

inspire, and connect entrepreneurs. “We believe in making friends, not

contacts. We believe in giving, not taking. We believe in helping others before

helping yourself. We are truly passionate about helping founders,

entrepreneurs and startups succeed. We intend to make their startup journey

less lonely, more connected and more memorable.”

o Offers: “We host monthly events in more than 50 cities and 15 countries

featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators and investors who

share personal stories and lessons learned on the road to building good

companies.” Startup Grind features monthly fireside chat interviews, startup

mixers and annual conferences.

o Contact: Utah Chapter Director – Kyle Shields.

Grow Utah Ventures

o About: Grow Utah Ventures is a privately funded, non-profit organization

dedicated to accelerate the creation of innovative, entrepreneur-led, high-

growth businesses that will strengthen and expand the future growth of Utah’s

economy. The vision of Grow Utah Ventures is to create a robust

entrepreneurial eco-system in Utah that fosters entrepreneurial talent, drives

innovation to solve market needs, aligns community resources and support,

and ensures funding for products, entrepreneurs and businesses of promise.

o Contact: http://www.growutahventures.com 450 S. Simmons Way, Suite 500.

Kaysville, UT 84037. info@growutahventures.com

Utah Funds of Fund

o About: The Utah Fund of Funds is a $300 million State of Utah economic

development program aimed at providing access of alternative or non-

traditional capital to Utah entrepreneurs. The Utah Fund of Funds will not

invest money into any company or individual but rather will invest in venture

capital and private equity funds that commit to establishing a working

relationship with the Utah Fund of Funds, Utah's start-up and business

community and commit to making investments in qualifying companies. The

Utah Fund of Funds will invest in venture capital and private equity funds

located both in Utah and outside Utah.

o Contact: 801.521.3078 info@utahfof.com utahfundoffunds.com

Entrepreneur Launchpad

o About: The group’s objective is to provide a “hands on” approach to helping

each other build successful businesses. ELP has forums in 6 locations in

Northern Utah. ELP is a non-profit business and offers no cost services to

budding, early-stage, and mid-level entrepreneurs. ELP is for you if you have

a business idea, want help with an existing business, are considering creating

your own job, have resources for other entrepreneurs, or are just interested in

entrepreneurship in general.

o Services: Weekly Offers with other entrepreneurs to discuss business topics.

Mentoring one another through business challenges and growth. Helping

launch a new business idea. Sharing contacts and referrals. Providing relevant

presentations to improve business knowledge. Sharing how to use technology

and the Internet to market. Making entrepreneurs aware of free and low cost

support for working through startup and 1st year business issues. Connecting

entrepreneurs with key mentors and financial services. Networking with

service providers serving the entrepreneur community.

o Contact: http://www.entrepreneurlaunchpad.org/

Utah Entrepreneurs and Artists

o About: Entrepreneurs and artists share a willingness to challenge conventional

views. This group is designed to activate the creative potential of these

individuals in Utah. As a peer-to-peer learning community, we use stories and

participatory experiences to exchange new ideas and proven methods.

o Outcomes: Regular participation enables the cultivation of useful skills and

knowledge, connection with other professionals, personal and leadership

growth and the discovery of abundant opportunities for change.

o Contact: http://www.meetup.com/Utah-Entrepreneurs-Artists-Circle/ Twitter:

@drewhansen26 http://www.forbes.com/sites/drewhansen/

Startup Utah

o About: A regional initiative driven to entrepreneurs to increase the visibility

and connections among entrepreneurs and supporting organizations, improve

access to entrepreneurial education, and build a more vibrant entrepreneurial

community across the state of Utah. Startup Utah’s various programs are

intended to encourage greater entrepreneurial activity that will deepen the

communal backdrop out of which new companies emerge. Vibrant new

company creation, by extension, improves the broader economic base of Utah.

o Contact: info@startuputah.com 801.633.2004 StartupUtah Headquarters.

Miller Business Resource Center. Sandy, UT.

Utah Entrepreneurial Forum-- non profit

Entrepreneur Centers

o Brigham Young University--Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and

Technology

Utah Startup Marketplace (Feb. 4th)

o University of Utah-- Pierre Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute

Student Entrepreneurship Conference

Utah Entrepreneur Challenge

Utah Entrepreneurship Series

Allstate could sponsor a competition?

o Utah Valley University-- Entrepreneurship Institute

o Utah State University-- Jeffrey D. Clark Center for Entrepreneurship

o Salt Lake Community College

o Dixie State

Outlier Labs

o Outlier Magazine--national, helping entrepreneurs

Micromentor.org--connects entrepreneurs to mentors

Utah Student 25

National Resources that Utahans go to:

Inc.com (amp entrepreneur experience, step by step)

Entrepreneur.com (opportunities, sites etc.)

Appendix B1

Interview Questions for Entrepreneurial Resources

Target organizations

1. Grow Utah Ventures

2. Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum

3. Utah Business Magazine

4. Utah Entrepreneurship Circle

5. Entrepreneur Launchpad

Questions

1. On average, how many individuals attend your entrepreneurship events (i.e. CrowdPitch,

Entrepreneurship Elite trainings, summits)?

2. How do those who go through your organization typically experience success in the

business world? Or do they?

3. What would you say are some of the keys to starting a business?

4. What do you think are some of the unique advantages and disadvantages that

entrepreneurs face in Utah as opposed to other states in the country?

5. What financial advice would you give new entrepreneurs regarding startup fees?

5a. Where do recommend individuals go who are in need of capital?

5b. How much capital do they often require?

6. What other resources would you encourage entrepreneurs to go to if they are looking to

start a business in Utah?

7. What are the more popular business/industries in the Utah area that you see entrepreneurs

going into?

7b. Do you see more franchise or self-employed startups?

8. Do businesses/industries looking for owners work through you? If so, how do they find

the people they need?

Appendix B2

Results of Interviews with Entrepreneurial Resources

Entrepreneur Launchpad (interviewed George who runs the group in Orem)

Purpose: Someone wants to start a business and they come to us. We help them so they know

what they are doing, won’t make mistakes and get help from people that have been

there and have experience. They get support. And it’s also a good place for

networking.

SCORE: Another organization we work with; retired business people that donate their

time and give help and advice to entrepreneurs.

1. On average, how many individuals attend your entrepreneurship events?

12 to 13 meet for a weekly class in Orem; there are 7 other groups in Utah like the

one in orem

Have different speakers and events each week in different areas for everyone to attend

to; anyone can attend.

o e.g. This week there was speaker who about financing without going to

a bank, there will be a speaker next week talking about start up franchises.

Several hundred people attend the main events

Stirling Bateman 801-302-7110 - one of the heads of SCORE and Launchpad

o possible speaker for Bradley?

2. How do those who go through your organization typically experience success in the

business world? Or do they?

They come until they get on their feet, until they find the information they think they

need.

Some people may have some questions, and then they don’t come back once they get

answers.

3. What would you say are some of the keys to starting a business?

Often people start out with a hobby, or have a really good skill or product, but they

don’t have good business skills

They need to get good business skills

They need to get involved with organizations, to get help and learn from others and

get advice.

They need to find ways to raise money, like crowdfunding.

Know who your customers are, who you are targeting with your business.

People need to take time to prepare, to set up a business plan. They need plan for

challenges and have a vision of what they want their business to be and where they

want it to go

Get help from others who have been there before.

Be prepared to work long hours, more than 40 hours a week.

4. What do you think are some of the unique advantages and disadvantages that

entrepreneurs face in Utah as opposed to other states in the country?

Advantages

Utah has about the largest amount of entrepreneurs in the country

Small business are very common and so is help for them

People coming home from military and starting businesses a lot here in Utah

One of the best economies

Disadvantages

A lot of people get started with a business not being prepared enough

5. What financial advice would you give new entrepreneurs regarding startup fees?

5a. Where do recommend individuals go who are in need of capital?

Crowdfunding - people say they need so much money, offer something they can get

later in return for donations; helps to push the message via social media.

Utah Micro loan fund - banks will donate money, up to $25,000, and then that person

pays it back with 10 percent interest, and then that money is recycled.

Angels - people with lots of money, they will loan you money, but they will want to

take a big chunk of what you make later (not suggested)

Venture capitalists - they loan you money and get a certain percent back, more than

10 percent interest, but not a big chunk like Angels.

6. What other resources would you encourage entrepreneurs to go to if they are looking to

start a business in Utah?

Score - retired businessman who donate their time and they counsel and work with

you.

SBDC - small business development center - again people that will help you create a

business plan.

o Winthrop, Jeanfreku, he would be willing to talk, directly south of the ihop by

uvu, has counselors that will meet with entrepreneurs and plan with you so

you don’t make mistakes

o There are different locations throughout the state.

o They are all free

o Business resource center at UVU and other colleges.

7. What are the more popular business/industries in the Utah area that you see entrepreneurs

going into?

Most have to do with computers, software, and computer programs.

o e.g., his wife created a math program that teaches it in a more visual way,

which is the way many people learn.

7b. Do you see more franchise or self-employed startups?

more self-employed; a lot of people with MBA’s will try to start their own businesses.

Brad Donar - 801-438-6384 talks about how to start up franchises

o meet in Steven Henagers.

8. Do businesses/industries looking for owners work through you? If so, how do they find

the people they need?

No , no one yet.

Most people already have a business in mind and come to us, we don’t have existing

companies usually come to us.

Methodology:

We wanted to assess if these entrepreneurial organizations would be a good place to

work with to find new Allstate agents.

We refined our questions over and over for a few weeks so we could make sure we

found the information that would best help us in our assessment

o e.g. - How do those who go through your organization typically experience

success in the business world? Or do they?

Results of interview with Entrepreneur Launchpad

A good example of one of the organizations we interviewed was Entrepreneur Launch

pad. Some of the main takeaways were:

o Main Events are good for networking, hundreds of people

o Most members are highly transient, but a few meet consistently every week

o Crowdfunding and Utah Micro Loan bank, which donates up to $25,000 at

10% interest are good place to go for financing

o Make sure to get help from those with experience and success in business

Appendix C1

Focus Group Questions for Top Allstate Agents in Utah

1. Where did you start as an Allstate agent and why did you choose to come to Utah?

1b. If you were an Allstate agent in another state before coming to Utah, how did your

work differ from your work in Utah?

2. Have you worked for other companies before? What industries have you worked in before?

2a. If you have, why did you switch to Allstate? What factors determine your decision

to switch to Allstate?

3. Give me your thoughts on Allstate recruitment

3a. How did Allstate recruit you compared to others?

3a. What aspects of the Allstate recruiting methods were effective to you?

4. Give me your thoughts on Allstate training

4a. What part of the Allstate training influence you the most?

5. What are the most difficult parts of your job as an Allstate agent?

6. What keeps you working for Allstate now instead of working for another firm?

(What keeps you working as an entrepreneur, as opposed to working for another company?)

7. What could Allstate do to help you run your agency more effectively and efficiently here

in Utah?

8. Could you define and tell the differences between these terms:

- business owners

- self-employed

- franchise owners

- entrepreneurs

8a. What do you consider yourself?

9. What type of people would be interested in becoming an Allstate agent? Could you list

some characteristics?

Appendix C2

Allstate Focus Group Transcription – Allstate Agents under 3 Years (Started recording after the first question was asked)

A = Aaron, agent for 2 years, all in Utah

J – Jenny, agent for 5 months in Utah, with State Farm for 5 years previous

S – Stephaney, Allstate recruiter

Italicized – Josh Naumu, the mediator

Everything is anonymous, by the way

So you came to Utah and started here in Utah as an Allstate agent. Correct?

A- Nope I was in a totally different field before.

What were you in before?

A- I was in construction, in sales and marketing within the company.

Have you worked for other companies before? And if so, what industries?

J – I was a delivery driver for UPS and a stay at home mom before I went back to work 6

years ago.

The job that never ends right, a stay at home mom?

J- Yea its easier to go to work, trust me.

And Aaron what was the name of the company you worked for?

A – Brundidge building company, before that I worked for Kraft foods and Nabisco.

What did you do for Kraft foods and Nabisco?

A – Sales, I was working in that here in Utah while my wife went to law school.

Which law school?

A – at BYU.

J – Does she practice? Or is she staying home with the boys?

A – She’s with the boys.

S – do you guys want the bagels or juice from upstairs?

All – No thank you.

This applies more to you Jenny, shy did you switch to Allstate from State Farm?

J – To be an agency owner.

What were the more specific reasons that you were talking about earlier?

J – You control you own destiny. I mean you do somewhat at state farm because you do

make money the same way but you have no say in what happens to your book of

business. You actually work for the company. Here we are independent contractors.

A – We can market how we want. We can work as much or as little as you want.

J – Yea it’s just on you, what it is you do, if that makes sense.

A – You can hire 50 people or you can just hire one person.

J – There’s some people that have none. Yea it’s better.

That’s awesome.

A lot of people don’t realize that when they think of insurance, that there are other options

that what state farm does. That’s good, I like that.

Would you say your answer would be the same as what you said, the factors that made you

decide to work for all state?

A – The main reason is because I had a son that almost died, he has some lasting effects of

what happened to him and so I needed to be able to be more flexible. So I needed a job that

allowed me to have better flexibility, to have better access to him.

Thanks for sharing that.

The next question is about recruitment and again just give me your thoughts about

recruitment

J – For me or my staff?

For you.

J – Being recruited to Allstate?

It would be Allstate recruiting you.

J – I met Jessica at a Sandy city chamber lunch. And I was vacillating back and forth for a

really long time, I wasn’t sure what to decide, I’m not really sure how to answer that. They

did a great job recruiting me, they never dropped the ball, they kept on me. In fact I probably

never would have been an agency owner had I not met Jessica and Kyle. And Gale Hall is

who really sold me on doing this.

And how did the way Allstate recruit you compare to others?

J – They were a little more aggressive, they got my attention, and not aggressive in a bad

way. I think the other thing was there was a lot of honesty. I felt like a lot of my answers

with Jessica and Kyle were upfront, they weren’t sugar coating things. Some of the other

companies I worked with sugar coat it and you can’t really get the answer you are looking

for, and I for one am one that appreciates honesty. That was another thing for me. And

speaking with other agents in the industry that have been doing this for a long time, that

basically said you are stupid if you don’t do this. You can, so why aren’t you. So that’s

really what it was. A couple other agents with Jessica and Kyle did their job. The reason I

bring in Kyle which you don’t know, he came in when Jessica was on maternity leave, and he

step in and started recruiting a little bit more, so that is who he is. He is New Mexico now.

A – It was a little different for me because I pursued them. My father in law was an Allstate

agent about 6 years ago and so he did a lot of the groundwork before me. To do it, I was

talking to his counterpart while in Oregon, who is like Stephanie, and so when I decided on it

I decided to move to Utah because of Arthur Sturges. As far as recruitment goes, I think they

were actually sugarcoating it. They have these spreadsheets that are kind of, they show

unrealistic results I

think because there are so many other variables that come into running a business that can’t

be compiled into a spreadsheet. So it looked all grand and glorious but in reality it was a

completely different thing. It’s hard you know it’s probably a lot different when it’s a scratch

agency.

J – That’s what I was thinking too.

A – When you come into a business you don’t really know what you are doing because you

are so new to the industry, so take that for what it is. I made a lot of bad mistakes when I first

started. The recruiters wanted to get you there, and once you are there they are still there for

you but only to a certain extent, because it’s not their business; you’re an independent

contractor, they can only do so much. You know I made a lot of poor choices the first little

while and it really hurt me the first year and into the first of the second year. Once I figured

it out and got my hands around it, it went well. So as far as the recruitment, we had very

different experiences, but like putting a lot money on the table to buy the business and so

there was a lot to loose.

J – Where as in my case I had nothing to loose.

Would you say that there were methods during Allstate’s recruitment of you that were

effective?

A – Well yea, just because most of the stuff that isn’t true you realize after you are already

there. It’s not that it’s not true, it’s there on paper as it should be, but bringing in all the other

variables into play can skew the reality.

J – Was staffing an issue that helped or hindered in any way?

A – Well for me yea it did, because I kept the lady that I bought the business from, an she had

a lot good things and she also had a lot of bad things that hurt her. There’s a big turnover

when you switch agents just because people don’t like change. You know they’ve been with

Allstate for a long time and this new guy comes in that doesn’t always know all the answers

and you know they lose confidence in that person quickly you know and they leave. And you

know they tell you to expect a 10 percent loss and when I bought the book it was 2.7 million

dollars, and you know that’s 270,000 at premium at 10 percent, and I lost about 160,000 and I

lost a lot but not as much as they said which I felt good about.

J – And yea that’s good because I’ve heard 20 percent. So that’s really good.

A – Yea it is but it sucks. Because you still lost the money.

S - You also lost it in a time when Allstate wasn’t as competitive, so you did very good.

A - The other thing, total side note, so the person that sold stayed with me, and the other I

bought 2 books of business and he went to another company and I told him he could take his

family with him. Little did I know he insured his whole family.

Like his second cousins and everything?

A – Yea and I lost a lot. Just little stuff like that just killed me.

J – Yea well hindsight is 20/20.

A – It’s like 20/10, it’s really good, so anyway, as far as they could have done they did a

good job, they got me here, but there’s a lot of variables, so whenever someone comes to me

and asks about buying a business, I tell them they have to sell, have to sell, that is the only

way to cover all the costs you’ll incur

As far as any training goes with all state, what are your thoughts in general about the

Allstate training? Did you like it? Was it helpful?

A – As far in my case goes I loved it, but Jenny talk first, I loved it.

J – Well I think that’s kind of how it is, is if you were in insurance before I thought it was

kind of a waste of my time. However I can see for someone who never had experience I can

see how it would be very very useful. Truthfully I thought going to Chicago and Phoenix for

me I didn’t get anything out of it.

A - For me I had a billion questions.

J – See and for me I didn’t have any questions, nothing. I can see how if you didn’t come

from the industry it would be really helpful but for me it wasn’t.

A – And the thing you have to realize is that it is all on us, we have to pay for the whole

thing. I booked all my flights, and then they changed the schedule so then I had $3,000

worth of flights that I had to change.

J – Really?

A – Yea and Allstate just said sorry, they told me that.

J – When was this?

A – It was during the holidays, and holidays they usually don’t change. And then they told

me that every march I get 3,000 dollars to buy new computers and stuff and then I spent that

money and didn’t get any because I wasn’t around during January first, so there’s that.

S – When did you start?

A – I started February 1 and I didn’t get any of it and they said I did, and stuff like and like I

said throwing out thousands of dollars.

J – And that’s not accurate, I was 12,000 in the hole before I started selling.

A – Right I went to October to march before I ever saw a paycheck and having kids and 2

mortgages its tough.

S – Were your expenses of the actual education and flights, was that always 6,000?

A – I only got three.

S – Why did you only get three?

A – I think they raised it, I rented a car, I paid for flights, I guess they fixed that, but it’s not

until the end that you get that. Until then its credit card, pay off the credit card. The classes

themselves were great, they helped me out.

What part of that training helped you out the most?

A – Probably in Chicago. And it was because these ones were the best professionals. When

I was there it was only one week there were trainings and what I remember most were the

stories of how insurance changed people’s lives. I don’t know and don’t remember why, but I

just remember that it was my biggest takeaways. Phoenix taught you how to use the

computers and the programs, but my biggest take away was there.

J - It’s called Allstate university in Chicago. I have done several classes with state farm and

others and they (Allstate) are by far the best instructors I have every had, they keep you

engaged, keep you in tuned.

Yea I know that for myself a good teacher really makes a big difference, thanks for that.

So the next question, what are the most difficult parts of your job as an Allstate agent?

J – Well staff, I haven’t had a lot of problems, but I see it around me and it’s huge.

What do you mean?

J – Well getting the right person and getting the right person to stay.

A – We want our staff to make us money, for as little as possible, right?

J – Yea, but I’m probably giving to a fault with my staff.

A – Yea well you want them to make you money, as much as they can.

J – I probably pay too much right now, and that’s just because my guy is good and he drives a

huge commute for me, otherwise I wouldn’t pay anyone else as well as I pay him.

Are there any other parts of the job besides staff that are difficult?

J – Property inspections.

A – The government.

J – let’s see….

If you don’t have more that’s fine. If you think of some let me know.

A – There are lots of things that are hard. I have 1700 households that I handle that’s hard,

and so I deal with a lot of different problems. And so it’s resolving customers concerns,

receiving calls to explain things, you know why did my premium double, questions about

coverages, my window well filled with water and it’s not covered by Allstate when it

flooded. Resolving concerns it’s never fun.

J – We are trying to keep everyone happy, from your staff, to yourself, to your customers, to

your family, you know finding the balance is hard.

A – My hardest thing right now is finding staff, no one in Utah right now wants a job.

That’s unusual.

A – Right now just one is all I need.

And you said it’s up to you how many staff you need?

A – Well its how many you can afford. I’m sure we would all like to have 20, but they would

all have to get paid. And you know you do want to reward the good work, but at the end of

the day, there’s not much money to make. And you know I don’t know if you understand

insurance, but you pay your insurance and the agent gets 50$ of what’s paid, and so

when someone makes a sell for you, you give them some of that 50 or all of that 50, and if

you have someone that only makes 3 sells a week, or 10 sells, there’s not a lot of money to

give, so it’s hard.

What keeps you working for Allstate now instead of working for another firm?

J – Being your own boss.

A – Yea after being your own boss, you’re never going to want to work for anyone else.

Are there any other more details besides that specifically?

J – I think it’s a good company. There are good people.

A – The sky is the limit here. You could go somewhere else and get a salary job, but there’ s

not as much opportunity as there is in this.

J – Yea you can make as much money as you are willing to put in the work that you can’t do

when working for the man, you are going to get your inflation raise every year.

A – I am working for the man and I am the man, and that’s the coolest part about it, and

that’s what it is all the hard work, all the sweat and tears you are the one that reaps the benefit

of that, no where else are you going to do that. I think that if an agent was tired of dealing

with problems and couldn’t handle the stress of it anymore then maybe they could just get a 9

to 5, clock in clock out and just forget about it. But I think most of the people that are in this

situation love it, because of the flexibility of it, I can go to my kids classes during the middle

of the school, and he’s like, my Dad’s here, and no one else gets to do that, the boss won’t let

him.

J – There’s a fine line, you have to work hard, and you have to invest. You know there are

some people they’ll make some money and then they’ll get lackadaisical, they’ll start golfing

and then buy a new car, and that will kill you.

A – You can’t live off the residuals, you will diminish. You have to keep working.

J – Yea it’s a good job, but you have to be disciplined.

A – You need to go on a lot of vacations, take a break, let your brain rest.

Sounds better and better. I might have to become an Allstate agent, take lots of vacations to

Hawaii.

So why are you working for Allstate and not another firm?

A – It’s something that everyone has to have, it’s recession proof. Well kind of. There are

lots of different companies

J – It’s like healthcare like working and being a nurse, there’s job security, if you are good at

it and work hard.

That’s definitely a good thing.

What could Allstate do to help you run your agency more effectively and efficiently here in

Utah?

A – I really think you guys are doing a good job, I don’t think there’s any one thing. I know

there’s lot of vocal people, but I’m not one of them.

What’s some of the things they have done to help you be effective?

A – Good training, more contests, I like more contests, those always seem to motivate me if I

have to sell 45 cars in a month as a target, than I’ll do it!

J – Keeps you focused.

A – I like contests, that kind of stuff I love. The sales producer database, if we could get 20

people working on that that would be great.

S – Yea we are still working on that.

J – Was is that the staffing tool?

A – Yea, the advertising that they got coming I’m really excited for that, I’m a premier agent

and I’ve seen a lot marketing come from that.

So you were referring to earlier that you can market and advertise how you want?

A – We have to use approved means by Allstate, which I don’t really like in particular. Like

the KSL adds, they are very limited.

S – We can look at adding more to it.

A – Yea I want some better stuff there.

S – That’s just the groundwork so just talk to Jo.

A – Ok.

J – And they do marketing on our behalf as well.

A – Yea I’ve seen tons of marketing banners online already, its great.

J – And then we do our own, they co-opt some of what we do as well.

A – Meaning they pay half.

J – So if I need a thousand and it’s approved they’ll give me 500, so really the support is

there on all aspects I feel.

A - Yea I don’t have much negativity there; I don’t feel like we’ve been burned too many

times I guess.

J – I think too you have to be adult about it you have to own your work, if you start playing

the blame game you are going to tank.

You have to take responsibility.

A – Yea I really don’t have anything negative to say, I think we have a really good sales team

here.

J – Yea I don’t have a complaint.

Well that’s good to hear, sounds like Allstate is doing what they can for you.

For this next part, we have a few separate categories that we want you to describe your

thoughts on them, just define and tell the difference on them, and they are business owners,

self-employed, franchise owners and entrepreneurs.

So could you define and tell the difference before these four things.

A – Man I feel like I’m in school again.

(Written Ansers:

A

J - Business Owners - Has an investment ina business, moy or may not work there. Self-

employed - works for self, may or may not own a business. Franchis Owners - Own different

business in the same industry. Possibly having people run them. Entrepreneurs

Just your thoughts, and if you have any questions just ask.

A – I stopped comparing

Just to end this part of the survey, what do you consider yourself out of those 4 categories?

A – Small business owner.

J – Same.

A – My company is called Grover insurance agencies, and I’m an Allstate captive agent, but I

can also sell through other companies that Allstate allows me to. But as long as I keep my

head down and work, Ron, my sales leader never, except for meeting his quotas, I never get

direction, I can do whatever I want.

What do you call it?

A - Grover insurance services

So maybe some of these other insurance agencies are Allstate agents in disguise?

J – No I’m an insurance owner for Allstate, we are captive for Allstate, but we are

independent, which means we produce for Allstate or whoever they say we can on the other

end, but you can’t 1099 without anyone else, for Burns and Wilcox, if you know what that is.

I don’t, but I understand what you are saying.

A – We signed an agreement.

S – It’s called exclusive agent contract.

Alright last question, so what type of people would be interested in becoming Allstate agents?

If you could just list some characteristics.

J – Common sense, work ethic, people person, have to have a pretty good personality.

What type of personality?

J – Outgoing, friendly.

A – You have to be successful I think, because there’s a money piece you have to come to the

table with so you have to have done okay because you have to have that.

J – You have to have capital upfront to even be considered.

A – You can’t be a criminal.

J – True, I mean common sense is true, I mean I’m surprised by how many people don’t have

common sense.

Could you expound on that, maybe with an example?

A – Understanding the computer systems, understanding what makes sense.

J – Yea like basic knowledge, like if I hit the building is it the building’s fault or mine?

A – And there are some agents that don’t understand… I call it street smarts and if you don’t

have street smarts you are not going to do well.

J – Exactly you can’t teach common sense or street smarts, its huge.

This is my own question, what role do you think education plays as far as being an effective

agent?

A – Like a university education?

Yea.

A – Well I definitely think it helps, I mean I have a Bachelor’s degree, some agents have a

Master’s degree, but I don’t think you need a degree.

J – I have an associates.

A – And then there are people that don’t have any college education, but I think it helps with

the common sense part.

J – It really does I mean you can get people in there that might be fabulous on the phone, but

they can’t type an email, so education does help.

A – But the biggest thing is to be able to, to me anyway, you need to be able to explain things

to people in a way they can understand it. So you are talking to the attorney here, you’re

talking to the mechanic here, and you are talking to the student so you have to be able to

adapt to all these different personalities. It’s big with Allstate right now to be an advisor,

that’s really big because that’s what we do is people call with questions, you pay your

premium and you call your insurance agent and ask, you know what should I do here? So we

need to be able to always listen, understand, and listen well.

J – Listening is always the best skill you can have. The best.

It’s definitely an overlooked attribute in a lot of things, I agree.

This is my own question again, so if someone was thinking of becoming an Allstate agent,

what advice would you give them?

J – Live really poor, work really hard, and diversify.

What do you mean exactly by that?

J – Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, like a lot of people put all their sales and just build

up p and c, well there’s an eb and flow insurance. Today Allstate is doing pretty well there, a

couple years we are going to be going down, without diversifying that will break you.

A – So p ad c is home and auto, but then there’s business insurance, financial services,

benefits, stuff like that, there’s a lots of different things so if you spread out your sales in that,

in different parts of insurance, so if you spread yours out you have different parts to keep you

floating.

And same question for you.

A – Well I would just say don’t expect much at the beginning because you are going to have

to prepare to not have much money.

J – And well at first you start getting some of those bigger paychecks that you’ve never seen,

but don’t go spend it.

A – Yea don’t buy a car with it because, you… I have $25,000 paychecks and I have

paychecks that are $12,000.

J – So you have to keep the fine balance in there.

A – My advice I would give to you is to be prepared to sell, be prepared to work hard and put

in the long hours. Again it would depend if you are starting scratch, if you are buying an

existing book, that’s a totally different situation. Make sure that you examine it. Talk to

other agents, to bounce ideas off of, do your homework, but don’t go into it halfway, you are

all in.

J – Yea you are all in and also stay away from the negative, because there’s going to be

negative all over, and that will bring you down if you feed into it.

A – when I first started I was with Allstate as an insured and when I told my agent in

Washington what I was doing, a staff guy said that you needed to get on this blog, so he sent

me a link to this blog and it was about all these Allstate agents talking about how bad it is

working for Allstate and I though why do I want to get on this, and get all these emails, and I

finally said enough of this, and I got off their email list.

J – When I’m in the hub, there were 5 of us in there, and one of us was extremely negative

and he started briging everybody down and what you have to do is step away from it and just

remember that that’s his issue, that’s his thing, don’t read into it. It’s not you. You know

how negativity can be gossipy. That’s it, just stay away from negativity.

Well that’s something good to remember, especially in this industry. Now I just have this

survey for you to fill out….

Well thanks so much guys, we appreciate it!

Appendix C3

Allstate Focus Group Transcription – Allstate Agents over 3 Years

Introductions

Lynn Mecham going on 6 years and I’m in the Sandy/Midvale area. I was with Bohmers

Freight Yard (?) before Allstate.

Debra Harris, I’m in the Tooele area and I’m not sure how long I’ve been here… (31 years)

Jessica: She has 2 agencies, just barely opened a satellite one in Saratoga Springs and her

main Tooele office. We have Ron Clyde with us who is a sales leader, me, essica Cannon and

Trent.

Trent Ferguson, Lynn and I started at the same time so a little over 6 years and I’m here in

Sandy. My experience prior was with an independent agency and I was a partner there down

in Provo. Go Cougars. I do mostly do health and benefits.

Ryan; I’ve been with Allstate for 11 years. I have two offices in Orem and Spanish Fork, so

Utah County. BYU graduate.

Chuck Evanston. I started my first time in 1999 in Florida and then 3 years ago again out

here after not doing anything for a few years so I’m new too.

Aaron Kroger. I’ve been with Allstate for a little over two years now moved from

Washington State to Utah to buy an existing agency instead of starting from scratch. Before

this I was in construction and I just wanted to change things and run my own business.

Start of Focus Group Ethan: First of all, in you introductions I heard that some of you started outside of Utah so

I’m interested to hear how you started as an Allstate agent and for those that didn’t start in

Utah, why you decided to come to Utah.

Chuck: I started in Maple Square in 1990. I interviewed with State Farm, Nationwide and

Allstate and an independence lab that was interested in insurance business. State Farm

offered me a position in Las Vegas, Seattle or Phoenix when I was living in Florida so I

wasn’t interested. I worked for Allstate in Maple Square.

Ethan: In terms of interest there, where you just looking to go to the Florida area?

Chuck: I was in D.C and I moved to Florida in ’80 and I was in the construction business for

a while and after the recession in ’89 I needed to be involved in something that didn’t involve

non-discretionary income. Something recession proved. We don’t need to build one more

house but we do need people to be insured.

Ethan: Great. So why Florida?

Chuck: The market in ’89 and through the 90s until 2002 it was the number one growth

economy in the country so it was good while it lasted. Not so much anymore.

Ryan: I’m originally from D.C too and came to Utah to attend school at BYU. I worked as a

supportive staff member at an Allstate agency while I was at school so that’s where I learned

the business. When I graduated I decided it was something I liked and I liked the residual

income. I graduated right after September 11 when the economy wasn’t so great. It was hard

for students to get work but I figured insurance is a very recession proved type industry so

that’s why I chose Utah.

Trent: I also came to Utah back in 1999. I lived in Rexburg and worked in the

investment/life insurance side of the business so I also came down to Utah to study at BYU

and got a job here and became a partner in an independent agency at that time. Went back to

BYU to do the MBA program which was awesome and worked in the Equity partnership and

that agency was sold by the majority owner and I continued to work there for about a year

and one of our clients was an Allstate agency in SLC. I was meeting with him one day and he

took me and said you should consider Allstate and I told him I was happy where I was. I was

the VP of an HR/insurance agency and had a partnership there. He continued to feed me

some information and I researched a little more and talked to 20 different agency owners and

other agency companies and decided Allstate had the best equity opportunity and came across

a retiring agent and decided to purchase it. It’s been great for the last 6 years.

Debra: Born and raised in Utah. I started working after high school for my uncle and his

independent agency and was registered to go to California for college. My uncle sat me down

and said the company could provided me with a lot of things and made a really good case for

me to stay. I had a good work ethic and he appreciated that. I was 18 when I started there. I

worked with him for 5 years and I was more ambitious in nature. I started investigating my

options and called Allstate and at that time they were in the market for hiring women and it

was a great opportunity. I went through every program with Allstate. I was hired at the Sear

Store and I’ve just been through every aspect of the evolution of Allstate. It’s been my only

job. 31 years.

Lynn: I didn’t start out in the insurance industry. This is the fourth job I had in my life and I

worked as a general foods manager for a food company that covered 15 states and SLC.

When the family owned business, the owner died and a major company bought it. I got out

and they ran the business into the ground. I started a restaurant in Provo. I had 65 employees

and had the business for 11 ½ years. I sold the business and went to work as a sales manager.

My resume ended up in Monster and Farmers picked it up. I had a good friend who was a

manager in Allstate and she tried for 5-6 years to get me to Allstate. I was interested in the

equity opportunity Allstate provided and I purchased an agency 6 years ago and I’ve since

bought another one. I hope to finish my career with Allstate.

Ethan: For clarification, some of you mentioned you worked for other companies and what

companies did you work for and what industries.

Chuck: I was in construction.

Ethan: Chuck, did you join any other agencies before or just Allstate?

Chuck: When I was in college I worked for a minute in New York Life. And I didn’t like it.

The management wasn’t honest.

??? ( Ryan, I’m assuming) :I actually interned back East in D.C and I interned with positive

energy and I was a private contractor with them.

Josh: What made you choose Allstate over that?

Ryan: I saw some employees weren’t as compensated as others. I was an entrepreneur.

Ethan: For the rest, why Allstate? Some of you started at other insurance agencies, so why

was Allstate a good fit?

Lynn: When I started with Farmers I realized I was in a situation that was like a cow run.

They would run as many agents as they could and the training was very sparse. They required

us to have our securities license which associates with some of the insurance we sell but there

is no training for it. There are a lot of people that fail those tests but they passed them

anyways. Pass me, fine but I did not have the expertise at all and I couldn’t pass the

requirements as a result there was no help with the system to pass the requirements. I had to

study on my own a lot and there were a lot of things that are regulated heavily and some

requirements are stipulated heavily on what you can or can’t do and it was a big learning

curve to learn insurance from scratch. What farmers basically does is they have over 3 times

more agents in Utah than Allstate and they bring you in and they expect you to approach all

your contacts and a lot of people get burned out from that but some seemed satisfied with

that. I wasn’t. Between Allstate and Farmers I saw a lot of differences between the two.

When I learned about the 5 week training program in Allstate and liked it.

I learned in the training program that a lot of people don’t know what their policy is or what

they are covered for.

Ethan: Why do you think that is?

Lynn: It’s a requirement by law you have insurance and there are generic charts that are used

for coverage. About 50% of drivers driving around are only covered by the minimum. I made

it my quest to have comprehensive policy reviews with my customers and that’s still difficult

to do. I’ve probably done that with 10-12% of them. Insurance is not a commodity, it has to

fit your needs and I think Allstate is good at that.

Debra: in the beginning Allstate fit my needs and I think the agent hiring process is very

similar to the agent owning process. We’re required in our business to grow our businesses

and maintain within the system. We do this ethically by the rules the company has set up.

Within the company if we can build a model that can achieve growth we can bring in new

agents but also have a platform to maintain agents. In my career there’s been good times and

bad times but I’ve maintained it. The company has given me the opportunity to grow and

maintain to keep my income. Initially we came and had benefits and family/medical leave

and it was great. How do you measure success? It’s hard but if we have very solid performing

agents the need to hire would be less because the company would be growing and obtaining

more market share.

Trent: I was going to comment that 6 years ago I almost passed up Allstate for two primary

reasons. 1. The field sales leader was not very responsive. She was the only voice for

family/medical issues as well as personal medical reasons and I couldn’t get the information I

needed from her to make an informed decision. Fortunately I found Steffanie Blaton and she

was responsive. I requested that she be my contact when I came on board. 2. The regional

sales leader, prior to Alison and before Randy, the guy was very arrogant and I was turned

off. It wasn’t professional and in Allstate you come in for interviews and tests and to be an

Allstate agent I thought I was very good. I had an MBA degree and capital from being a

partner before and yet that individual that interviewed me was not very helpful. The reason I

choose Allstate was that I could run an agency and have back office support and I could live

my lifestyle. Working during the day and be with my family on the weekends and evenings

and still have the back office’s support to help customers whenever they wanted. I didn’t

have to be in the office all day long. I love the brand recognition and the business equity

opportunity.

Ryan Larsen: As a young student I was convinced being independent was the way to go. As

an entrepreneur you want to be unshackled. I had two influences that steered me away from

that. I just got off my LDS mission and went to a singles party when one individual, a

wealthy guy, I talked to him and asked him what he did for a living. He was an Nationwide

agent and he told me about residual income with insurance. HE told me if he could do it

again he would go with one of the top 3 insurance agent brands because brand recognition is

huge but more than the is the resources the big 3 offer. At that time the big 3 were State

Farm, Allstate and Farmers. What the guy told me steered me to the Allstate and the big 3.

My second influence was my grandpa and as a family we had Allstate insurance. When I got

out of school and interviewed with the big 3 I was turned off by Farmers so my impression

with them was here is a phone book, call people. State Farm was a respectable firm but they

were very critical about who they hired and they were looking for college graduates, a

higher-class agency. I interviewed with State Farm and Allstate but Allstate had a unique

business model. Here at Allstate, agents are independent business contractors, not employees

so you have the freedom of entrepreneurs but all the financial backing and support from the

company and then you owe the economic interests of the policies you sell.

The independent markets didn’t have contracts with the big 3 and you are stuck with off-

brands. That’s a disadvantage. The clientele is different in the big 3, higher income and

higher credit score people, etc. The independent markers attacked punks and drunks.

Chuck: When I started I looked at Allstate’s net worth and they were well off. The growth the

company has experienced is great. I went to school for economics and when you look at

American business, Allstate is one of the best-run businesses period. There isn’t a company

of this size that has Allstate’s growth pattern and manage to sustain it year after year. After

Hurricane Andrew in Florida Allstate grew from 8 billion to 16 billion in one day. The

company has changed since I’ve started with the advantages of technology. There are always

carriers that duplicate but we have an innovative approach to our business because we have

too. The industry is changing faster than anyone can keep up with. We have innovative

people here at Allstate so it’s a great place to be. We have all the tools but the question

remains why aren’t we hiring more people. Well I don’t think they give local management

resources to really do what is necessary for a new agent o be successful. I have agents who

call me all the time to ask questions. I think if Jessica had a better tool box and resources, in

particularly to technology and training. The other thing is the money. Allstate tells people

they have to have $50,000 capital lots of people don’t.

Debra: Especially the people Allstate wants, the young ones in their late 20s or early 30s.

Jessica: Are you all familiar with the hub?

All: Yes.

Jessica: That’s $20,000 instead of the $50,000. I don’t care if you are borrowing the money

but you need to tell me you are going to have access to use it. If you can show the bank

account but can’t use it won’t work. I’ve had this conversation with every single candidate in

the last 7 years. I made the mistake on my first hire by not seeing the account and he told me

and by the time he started he only had $5,000.

A lot of the things you guys have said is great but here is what we want BYU to find. Where

do we find the people to talk to, it’s not what to say.

Chuck: in 1997 Allstate started a program called the associate agent program. And I had a kid

who is an agent in Colorado who was in that program. The people in the program had a

college degree but little money in the bank but were willing ot work in an agency for a year

and learn the business. Allstate would pay them a small salary and they got bonuses based on

what they sold and in the end I would keep the accounts and then he went out on his own. He

learned enough that he went out on his own and is now an agent.

The best kept secret in America is the economic opportunity. A kid in our agency in SLC he

made a lot of money in his first year because he had mentors that showed him what to do.

The best value that adds to the opportunity is who they associate with because Jessica doesn’t

have time, Kyle doesn’t have time with his position.

Ryan: Here is an observation. We have positions in agency were we pay students $12 or $13

an hour. Better than working at the bookstore where you get minimum wage. They get a

commission on what they sell and when I advertise this at the Marriott School or on campus

if I say in the ad “office manager” or “insurance agent” but the minute I add the word sales in

there. Students run. Utah is an interesting market.

Jessica: Utah is this great state were people want to own their own business but some people

don’t know how to do it on their own. The best people that we talk to are referrals. However

rather than hounding you, how do we find them.

Chuck: There are guys in our business, sales and marketing, because as technology improves

the sector closes. There are a lot of talented people with capital but there is a disconnect as

far as Allstate being able to sever itself from potential liability. Sometimes you have to stand

back and hope it works.

Lynn: Some of the things we base in Utah is because there are a lot of people that want to be

entrepreneurs. I had a cousin who was an investigator for the real state department and

discovered that Utah has more people go to school for real state than any other state in the

nation. You see multilevel marketing skills and people who have tried NuSkin and that’s

changing.

Jessica: The biggest challenge we have here are STEM degrees (Science, Technology,

Engineering and Math).

Debra: The way our economy is headed to. Look at benefits. College graduates are going to

go to companies that have benefits, its huge. They are growing their families. Today, the

competition is fierce. It wasn’t like that years ago so we need a little bit of edge. I understand

some companies may not offer benefits but that is one of the deterrents when we have

students looking at companies.

Ryan: There are internships at Allstate.

Jessica: We are opening a new office in Draper. There are opportunities coming but that’s

down the road.

Ryan: Internships are important! They can come and work and you teach them and they’re

sharp, productive and make some money.

Jessica: If we were to work with all the different colleges to try to start finding people for

business internships and we were to start sending them to your agencies, and they are not yet

licensed, we could help them with licensing steps.

Ryan: The support staff is entry level in this industry. You would save me a year of looking

for someone.

Lynn: The problem is this friend of mine that was with Real State said that real state was so

easy to get into but there is no residual.

Jessica: So go after Real Estate.

Lynn: Yes!

Ryan: Life insurance is the same way.

Jessica: We’ve done, last year, we have a full time recruiter here, Arielle and other regional

recruiters who are calling people with real estate licensnes and college people with insurance

licenses and for whatever reason we just can’t.

Chuck: You can’t get involved in the small details of how the finances are going to work.

You are always going to struggle there and if you are looking on the agents to do that… these

guys that buy into small agencies, some don’t have expertise or resources. The job is to put

resources together to make people work. When someone is at school for 3 years and they

partner with an agent and the agent makes them a partner the agency makes money cause I

have the expertise and the capital and he says that in a few years he can buy me out and be

100% the owner in like 10 years. You have to strike a deal. Just make it work. You can make

a deal in the end. Show him the opportunity; in the end you’re building an asset. By the time

he buys me out, he wins, I win and everyone wins.

Debra: I have a kid that want to work but he didn’t have the capital and he didn’t want to

work in the hub. So what do I do? I told him to open the satellite and told him the

commission structure. In the satellite, it’s hard and he needs help. How do you get him help?

Chuck: You have to be willing to give him people. You see the way I look at it, I make

money either way. If I’m going to provide all the expertise… I did that for a guy in Florida.

He paid me $25,000 to look after his business after he was sick and we both won. His

business was taken care of and I learned things. In the end I bought his company.

Trent: We can feed sharp, college agents and grow something.

Ethan: Chuck, when you think of a business owner, what do you think of?

Chuck: Soomeone who understand the definition of activity. Not just being involved in an

enterprise.

Ryan: A risk taker, an entrepreunuer. Freedom

Ethan: Trent, when you think of self-employed what do you think of?

Trent: I think of some risk associated with it but also great reward. From an economic

background, where there is risk there is reward. Being self-employed you take risks but you

also take all the benefits of your efforts and that’s a huge win.

Lynn: Responsibility.

Ethan: And when you think of Franchise owner, what do you think of?

Lynn: Taken advantage of.

Ryan: An entrepuner, kind of.

Chuck: I used to insure a lot of franchises, food companies, that sort. It all sounds good from

the outside looking in… there’s not enough independence.

Debra: We own a convenience store that is franchised and everyday we thought it was a great

opportunity coming in because it presented some upfront costs but over the years there

wasn’t a day that we didn’t think, how can we get out. The day we did get out, the price was

greatly inflated but we had a gun to our head and we had to do it.

Chuck: Franchises are one-sided

Ethan: What do you think of when you think of entrepreneur?

Lynn: Larry Miller

Trent: He taught an entrepreunership class when I was at BYU. Amazing. We have a lot of

entrepreneurs in Utah that are motivated.

Ryan: It takes a lot of energy. Ive seen kids with a lot of energy but aren’t willing to take

risks.

Chuck: The guys that are entrepreneurs are in companies that are making something that we

don’t know about yet. We live in a different playing field with Allstate where there are rules

and guidelines. When you get a person that wants to own its own business but wants a hybrid

between a franchise and Larry Miller, will appreciate the economic opportunity.

Ethan: What do you consider yourself?

All: Business owners.

Lynn: You can go anywhere in the world and see McDonalds. There is an expectation and

even though we aren’t a franchise there is an expectation of what customers want when they

see Allstate. We have to be smart enough business owners to meet the standard. There is an

established standard.

Ryan: Quick sidenote. We all agree we are business owners and the biggest challenge was

starting from scratch. It’s a scratch agency. There is no revenue coming in until you start

accumulating customers. Personally I would not start a scratch agency, I would not even be

interested. It’s a risk and I’m driven and motivated but I want to have the security that I have

some revenue coming in up front so it’s a big challenge because Allstate only has some

agencies that are for sale and its hard to bring in new people and open up new agencies out of

scratch.

Trent: Agents should bring in young staff and then agents should have the chance to

open up a scratch satellite and put the mentor agent there. Lynn: That’s securing an agent.

Trent: Mentor them and share a business with them that they can take in a few years. Have a

revenue model that they can take with them, obviously not all of it but educate them. They

can take a portion of it that they have earned.

Chuck: That’s kind of like the Associate agent program. It was a great program.

Trent: I have a guy up in Alaska that wants to move to Utah and do just that! But I don’t

really have a business plan for that. It’ll be awesome if Allstate did.

Ryan: You should have a deal that’s sweet enough that the guy would open a satellite for you

and for him. But we don’t have that possibility right now with the current model.

Chuck: There are lots of people that have done that in the United States, and it works. I’m

telling you.

Jessica: So it’s us going to colleges and looking for interns, bringing them to you and when

you’ve found the right people hooking them up with satellites.

You recognize the opportunity with a satellite.

Ethan: When I say Allstate, one word?

All: Blue. Good hands. The image.

Ryan: We can organically grow within.

Chuck: In my agency in Florida, half of the people that are successful don’t have a college

degree.

Appendix D1

Interview Questions for Competitors

1. How long have you been an agent?

2. Where did you work before becoming an agent?

3. Why did you switch to becoming an agent?

4. Was working for yourself a factor in your decision?

If Yes:

· Why did you choose insurance over other self employment options? (especially for

long timers)

· Why this specific company?

If No:

· Why did you choose insurance?

5. For 3 years experience or less:

How did you find out about becoming an insurance agent?

6. What organizations or websites did you visit to get your information on becoming an

agent?

7. Did you have to raise capital to get started? (No specific amounts please)

· How did you do that?

Appendix D2

Transcription of Interviews with Competitors

Shay (State Farm)

How long have you been an agent? I’ve been an insurance agent for six years.

Where did you work before becoming an agent? I was in school.

Was working for yourself a factor in your decision? Oh definitely yes. Being a business owner and you know, being able to be away with my

family when I need to and being in a management role and just being your own boss, yeah

definitely. Some of the perks.

If Yes:

· Why did you choose insurance over other self employment options? (especially for

long timers) It’s in my family, my sister was an insurance agent before I became one, so I was able to see

first hand kind of the benefits and the day to day through her. And then kind of seeing the

freedom that she had when she wanted it, and then kind of the work that needed to be put in

to be successful. So yeah it was just more or less I’d seen that through her and kind of gained

some interest, and then once I looked more into it, it was just something that I was passionate

about so I just decided to move forward.

· Why this specific company? I looked into several different companies. State Farm I felt like had the best start up options

especially where I was younger. I had to purchase a book, there’s opportunities where you

can be given a book size that’s pretty good, and it’s basically an interview process and some

proof of numbers and some experience. For me just being out of school and not having

hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy books, it seemed like the best route for me. And as

far as the retirement plan that state farm has, it’s pretty good, so that made up for the

difference of not being able to sell your book.

What organizations or websites did you visit to get your information on becoming an

agent? Through some recruiters. I met with a few different recruiters and then learned the details of

them. And then I did some research on my own. Just as far as ratings and where State Farm

stood compared to other companies as far as claims and customer satisfaction and things like

that. I made sure it was a company that I wasn’t getting into that had financial problems or

customers that weren’t happy with them.

Did you have to raise capital to get started? (No specific amounts please) Yeah you had to show that some funds were available, and yeah I’m pretty transparent, I

think that they requested you have $50-75,000 in funds that you could just show was

available any way. I mean a lot of people did it through home equity lines or whatever they

needed to show that they could get that money.

Doug (Independent/ Progressive)

How long have you been an agent? 11 years.

Where did you work before becoming an agent? I was in school, vacuuming buildings on BYU campus

Was working for yourself a factor in your decision? I always wanted to own my own business, and when I was in school the last thing I wanted to

do was graduate and then start selling something. So I wanted to own my own business but I

did not want to sell insurance. That was the last freaking thing I wanted to do. I couldn’t get a

job… The only reason I survived was because the owner of the company that I worked at

went to jail for insurance fraud so I absorbed his clients and I’m a horrendous salesman, but I

had this group of existing clients that I just took care of and they referred people. I tried to

bolt from this industry two or three times, nobody would hire me and so I kept plugging away

and eventually things work out. I’m pretty much unemployable. I don’t believe I could go

become an employee somewhere. So owning the joint is pretty important.

Where did you see yourself ending up? That was never very clear to me. I wanted to do business on some level. I thought I would get

a job and figure it out working for somebody else. I couldn’t get hired at the graveyard shift

at a Macey’s. Dude I could not get a solitary job. That opportunity never presented itself so I

had to keep grinding away in the insurance agency and now I don’t know how…I mean I

cracked the nut so now I’m making enough money. So now bolting would be difficult too.

What is it about the sales aspect that you don’t like? I hate people selling me things, especially people I know. That’s how 98% of the people

make it in this business, they hit up people they know. “Let me get you a price on whatever

insurance you have.” I have never once told anybody what I do for a living, unless they ask

me. The only way I survive is because somebody reffered their friend to me and so their

friend comes in here already with the understanding that I’m going to take care of them and

then all I do is beat their price. So I don’t even sell, I just find out what price I can do it for. If

I beat the other guy his friend told them to buy it from me so he’s going to buy. So my job is

actually really simple. Normally in the insurance business, You have to be a salesman and I

have none of those skills. In a twisted perverse way, it has worked out well.

How did you find out about becoming an insurance agent? I knew somebody that was selling mortgages for a dude who owned an insurance company.

For two months I sold mortgages and that little venture fell apart and so I got obsorbed into

the insurance side. I became an owner in the company eventually, one of the dudes went to

jail and then we split the company. Me and a partner work in Springville. I originally worked

for Blue Mountain Insurance.

Did you have to raise capital to get started? (No specific amounts please) Yes, we had to borrow 40 grand from my partner and his brother, and we probably had to

borrow another 20 grand just from credit cards. We separated from Blue Mountain Insurance

in 2008 so we had to go borrow at least 60 grand just to make it through the first couple of

years and then we had to borrow some more 2 or 3 years ago. Now our borrowing needs are

no more. We will have paid off all debt in the next 2 years.

Go get a real job, don’t sell insurance. It’s a crappy industry and I wouldn’t wish it on

anyone.

Gladys (Farmers)

How long have you been an agent? For 10 years

Where did you work before becoming an agent? In the United States I was working in insurance, State Farm’s customer service. But before

coming to the United States I worked for a Pharmaceutical market there.

Why did you switch to becoming an agent?

I really liked the industry, so that is why I continued in the company until I became an agent.

I liked that it was more commission based. I like the product, everybody needs insurance and

I saw the potential with insurance.

Was working for yourself a factor in your decision? Yes, I was working for a State Farm agent and then just decided to start my own business

mostly for the amount of free time.

What organizations or websites did you visit to get your information on becoming an

agent? I just went online and looked for a job and I applied online and the next day I got a phone call

from them. And they really liked that I had so many years of experience and they liked that I

was fully licensed. They hired me right away.

Did that bring on the move to Utah? No I moved from New Jersey because my daughter was moving to BYU and I wanted to be

close to her.

Did you have to raise capital to get started? (No specific amounts please) No, when I started you just had to have an education, so no it is not difficult to become an

agent. Also they want you to have raised $15,000 savings.

Ryan (Farmers)

How long have you been an agent? I’ve been an insurance agent for 5 months.

Where did you work before becoming an agent? I worked at Texas Roadhouse.

Was working for yourself a factor in your decision? I wouldn’t say so No, Not for me.

If No: · Why did you choose insurance?

The reason why I chose insurance was, I initially planned on trying to get into selling medical

equipment and so I saw it as a great resume builder for me, and so that’s the reason I got into

it.

How did you find out about becoming an insurance agent? I worked as a marketer for the same insurance company before I became an agent.

What organizations or websites did you visit to get your information on becoming an

agent? Yeah it was through Craigslist that I found out.

Did you have to raise capital to get started? (No specific amounts please) The way that it works for me is a little bit different from the way that it works with your

typical insurance agent. So I work as an agency producer so there is an agent in the agency

and I work alongside him as an agent. So it’s his agency but I’m an agent working under his

name.

In your position are their opportunities to take over that role eventually someday? Yes, the opportunity is there, probably not one that I’ll take advantage of but the opportunity

is there.

Have you ever thought about running your own business? My plans have entirely changed, I plan on going into venture capitalism/private equity so

there will be a lot of knowledge as far as running a business goes in that field.

Vaughn (Independent/ Progressive)

How long have you been an agent? 3 years

Where did you work before becoming an agent? I worked for a medical company who were distributers of home medical equipment.

Why did you switch to becoming an agent? Because of Obamacare, I didn’t like the writing on the wall and I have some family members

who are insurance agents and I decided to make the switch.

Was working for yourself a factor in your decision? Oh absolutely, yeah.

If Yes: · Why did you choose insurance over other self employment options? (especially for

long timers) I wanted to run a residual business as well, the fact that it’s a residual business.

You make the sale and continue to grow your book and just adding onto it. I like the people

aspect of it as well. I enjoy visiting the people, meeting the people and saving people money.

· Why this specific company?

Because it’s an independent agency rather than a captive agency…So for example, a Farmers

agent can only sell farmers insurance, Allstate can only do Allstate, and State Farm can only

do State Farm. Whereas we’re independent we represent multiple different companies and I

just thought about it and figured I wanted to work with an independent agency rather than a

captive agency cause If rates go up you’re kind of in trouble you know, with your one

company. With an independent agency, if rates go up with one company, you can always

switch over to another company as another option I guess.

How did you find out about becoming an insurance agent? Like I said, I talked to a lot of family members. I’ve got an uncle in Oregon who’s an

insurance agent, my brother’s doing it out in Oregon as well. I have my Bishop who is an

independent agent also.

What organizations or websites did you visit to get your information on becoming an

agent? I actually wanted to buy one…they’re tough to find because people pass them on to their

children. I wanted to buy a company and I spoke with eight guys and I had an acquaintance

that came across this company that I’m with and the partners one was 61 and one was 63 and

then the acquaintance that I had mentioned, you know I don’t know if they are going to retire

anytime soon but they’re retirement age so you may want to give them a call. So I just called

them up and spoke with them, and they decided to let me come work with them and I would

kind of be their perpetuation fund.

Did you have to raise capital to get started? (No specific amounts please) I did not, no. Where I worked before I was a partner and I sold out that company and with the

money that I had I was able to…and again I didn’t buy right into the company, I worked here

as an agent and unfortunately…how do I say this to make it sound nice…it worked out for

me that the partnership passed away. So the remaining partner allowed me to buy his part of

the business. That’s when I became a partner here.

David (State Farm)

How long have you been an agent? 5 years in Provo.

Where did you work before coming to Provo? Yeah I worked another year up in West Jordan.

Where did you work before becoming an agent? At the MTC. I was a training coordinator there at the MTC.

Why did you choose to become an insurance agent? That’s a good question. You know what, I was going to go into dental school so I was going

to be a dentist, couldn’t handle the blood. So Insurance for me was a really good thing that I

kind of felt like I was still a doctor. I have my practice you know? I have my clients, and the

advantage of being an insurance agent compared to a doctor or dentist is that I don’t have to

see my clients to get paid. As a dentist, if I’m not filling cavities I don’t get paid. As an

insurance person, I can have my employees that take care of my clients. My dad did

insurance too growing up so it was in the family too. He owned an insurance company.

Was working for yourself a factor in your decision? Oh yeah, of course. I don’t have to account to anyone and I know the thing that got me

thinking about that when you work for somebody else you have your salary where you work

80, 90, 10, 20 hours, you get paid the same. Us, you know when I run my own business and

want to buy a new car, you wanna buy a BMW, you work some extra hours and make some

extra money. So the sky’s the limit on how much you can make basically.

If Yes: · Why did you choose insurance over other self employment options? (especially for

long timers) To be honest there were just the two things. If I wasn’t going to do medical than I was going

to do insurance, and the reason why is for example, if I own a shop that makes shirts and ties

for example I have to sell ties every single day to make a living. I know that everybody likes

ties and I know everybody wants to buy ties. I actually have a product that everybody by law

has to have. Thats why I chose insurance, because I actually have a product that people must

have.

· Why this specific company?

State Farm? It’s the number one. Two reasons, one is to have a good company to back me up

and state farm is the number one insurance company. Second, they treat agents really well. If

you want to put in the time and effort to work hard they treat you really really well. I was a

client at state farm before I became an agent and they treated me well.

How did you find out about becoming an insurance agent? When I decided I wasn’t going to be a dentist anymore, I had a good friend of mine who's a

mentor here in Utah and we were talking about insurance and he told me ‘you know my son

in law is a State Farm agent, you might want to check them out, so I did my research. I went

and interviewed with Farmers so the American Family, Liberty Mutual, I did all of them and

State Farm I thought was best.

Did you have to raise capital to get started? (No specific amounts please) You do, you know cause you have to have money for marketing and stuff like that, so you

need to have access to money.

· How did you do that?

I actually went up that one year and worked in West Jordan, and I did well so I made pretty

good money there and I saved up. Then I had my home that I took out an equity line of credit

so I did a little bit of both. Through financing off myself and also through a loan too.

Honestly I did really well so I didn’t need to take a ton of money either. My business is really

producing quite a bit.

Alex (Geico)

How long have you been an agent? For about a year.

Where did you work before becoming an agent? I was a server.

Was working for yourself a factor in your decision? I mean I guess so, eventually. Yes.

If Yes: · Why did you choose insurance over other self employment options?

It’s steady, everyone always needs insurance so you know that you’ll be in more. I guess

more just more or less security factor and it’s just good to have that knowledge.

· Why this specific company?

They truly are like the low cost provider, and we really do try to provide excellent service

every time. Just from my own personal experience I find that to be true because I have

worked for other companies before.

How did you find out about becoming an insurance agent? I had a friend who was an agent for Allstate.

What organizations or websites did you visit to get your information on becoming an

agent? Yeah, I mean I guess so. I had originally planned to just, I don’t know, I don’t really

remember how I came across the information actually I think maybe there was actually an

advertisement on the radio or something of that nature. I just decided to look it up, and here I

am.

Did you have to raise capital to get started? (No specific amounts please) Not in this particular setting that we’re in, no.