This past month, things have been really slow for this new financial business. I've done almost nothing. I can say 'almost' only because I did answer a couple questions and gave out a few business cards, none of which have led to anything productive yet.
My own availability is the primary reason. I've had a really busy month outside of this endeavor. I had a few additional things going on for a couple weeks with my full-time job, so I just didn't have any extra energy. I've also had to focus more on my martial arts training- I have a 1st degree black belt in Tang Soo Do and needed to pass my re-certification test. I neglected my training more than I should have these last few months, so I had to cram in a few extra karate classes in right before the test.
My potential customers also had some limited availability this past month. I used to schedule a lot of appointments on Sunday afternoons and evenings- then the NFL pretty much shut that down. Around here, only two things happen on Sunday: church and football. Even on a bye week, I couldn't schedule a Sunday appointment if I were giving money away! School and other similar activities also seemed to limit a lot of availability on weeknights for families with children (or even parents who are students themselves). With everything going on, talking about life insurance or saving for retirement/college became low on their priority list. And now that the Christmas shopping season is in full swing, things probably won't get any better until after the new year. So if this were my primary source of income, I would be really concerned (and probably exhausting any savings I might have). Jim, my RVP & trainer, has called me a few times trying to get me over this financial hump. I'm sure it's more of a concern for him than for me since my commission directly impacts his.
I am wondering if this opportunity well may have dried up. Things flowed so well in the beginning, it seemed like I had appointment after appointment. I had to do very little soliciting, since so many friends and coworkers knew about my new business and were happy to find out more about it. According to the plan, those initial appointments would lead to more appointments, but so far I haven't had that happen. People were happy to refer me to other people, but those leads didn't seem to go anywhere.
On the bright side, there hasn't been any financial loss for me. Primerica covered the cost for my life insurance license which is good until 2015. Primerica will also reimburse me for the series 6 and 63 exams, which I hope to take in January. Also, it's neat to be able to have my own business. I've learned a lot about money, I'm taking some additional tax deductions, and met some interesting people.
The best part has been helping a few people with better management of their financial resources and/or providing protection with a good life insurance policy. This might sound a little like a cheesy sales line, but it's also true.
