When you ask small agency owners what they dislike the most about running their business, the answer is usually 1) all the costs 2) the back office and admin work. Small agency owners have been known to sell or close up shop for these two reasons.

A small agency is subject to most of the hard costs that much larger agencies face. This is why so many small agency owners have just given up and sold if they got the chance.

There are various strategies for survival in an industry that is constantly evolving and one of the new solutions is to get out from under the crippling costs and workload of operating your own business but still stay in business. How, you might ask?

There is an alternative to selling out: join a host agency. Much in the same way that home-based agents rely on their host agency to take care of the many costs associated with running a business, now smaller agencies are realizing that they too can take advantage of working with a host agency.

Imagine no longer having to pay your own registration fees and association fees, your own Errors & Omissions insurance costs, your telephone system costs, your accounting costs, your website, marketing, and on and on. Add this up in dollars and you’ll find it is a substantial amount annually.

Think of all the time you’d then have to focus on selling travel.

When you join a host agency, you also become part of a community with a support team and other agents, so that when you need support, advice or information, you’ve got it. And many of your additional costs disappear.

There are solutions for staying in this industry we love and escaping some of the onerous costs and tasks that come with running your own business. Be sure to look at all your options for survival.