A very good question and certainly not an easy one to answer. The collapse of a network can and often does have catastrophic consequences. One of the first indications of a problem is usually late payments on proc fees or more likely commission payments from insurers. Historically, networks suffering financial hardships have invariably come forward with a string of... Read More
Starting down the road as an independent mortgage broker, or any new business for that matter during the Covid 19 pandemic might sound just plain crazy, but maybe not in all cases. Let’s make it clear that this article deals only with starting a mortgage broking business since that’s our area of expertise. However I’m sure there are similarities with... Read More
Hands up everyone who thinks that all banks and building societies have wrongly been portrayed in the popular media, are actually just massively misunderstood and are really not for profit institutions whose only aims are to help the public save money and provide a valuable income stream for mortgage brokers and IFA’s. Nobody, well I think you’re all just... Read More
So here’s the scenario, you’ve found what you are sure is the right financial services network for you, the terms look fine. You probably haven’t spoken to us or you wouldn’t be about to get into the mess you’re just about to get into, but let’s leave that aside for now. The pearl of wisdom I’m about to impart is... Read More
So first of all, let me apologise for the delay in publishing this quarters figures, nevertheless they may be late but they’re here now. As you can see, the table shows a modest growth of 38 (0.71%) in the basket of networks used for the compilation. As always, I should point out that the information for Jul/Aug/Sept as presented in... Read More
As a small or medium sized mortgage broker or financial adviser the quote “nothing is nothing” which has been variously attributed to Beckett, Molloy and Shakespeare is far more than just another insignificant saying. The phrase has been used more recently in advertising by an Japanese electronics company and a motor manufacturer, but actually is far more important in... Read More
Often when we think of businesses giving to charity we think of big business, like Jeff Bezos the founder of Amazon who gave away $2 billion last year or Microsoft and the Bill Gates Foundation giving a paltry $150 million. But the fact is that supporting local charities and worthy causes can also be a good thing for small... Read More
With lenders sometimes seeming to strike brokers from their panels for very little reason and no effective means of appeal for the unfortunate advisers it’s getting more and more important to check out any new introducers in as much depth as you can. This was brought graphically to my notice when Which Network had a call from a broker (let’s... Read More
So here we are, with half of 2019 already passed, “what happened there!!!” Anyhow if you can bear with me for the customary and possibly obvious warning. Although the information used for the table and this accompanying analysis were laser accurate at the time of compilation, retrospective changes may give rise to slight changes in individual entries. This doesn’t... Read More
In the US 80% of small businesses fail within the first 18 months. The UK’s figures aren’t quite so bad, with 20% failing in the first year and 30% in the second year. This is possibly due to less people taking the leap into independence over here maybe coupled to possible failure still being seen by some as having... Read More
