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"Recession Proof Businesses"

Published June 2020

 

This blog highlights one of our LIVE INSURANCE CE courses, HOW TO BECOME A MILLIONAIRE.

Renee E. Bryan also publishes writing at her blog: WrongWayLizzie.Me.

 
Most of us are blessed to have a fairly recession proof business. When I say, "most of us", I am referring to myself as the owner of Bryan Ventures and the vast number of insurance professionals who read this blog. Since we offer an item people need, they will continue to buy, most times, even when money gets tight.

Bryan Ventures has gone through a couple of recessions. Some bigger than others, and generally, our revenue remains fairly constant. I have found two things that broke through our "recession proof" tough exterior, legislative changes and COVID-19.

I started this insurance continuing education business, Bryan Ventures, in 1999. OUR PHILOSOPHY IS SIMPLE, offer entertaining classes that provide insurance agents with ideas that help them and their clients accumulate more wealth.
And it worked. Within 10 years, I'd built this business into a staple of the insurance CE fabric of Minnesota and some of the surrounding states. Insurance agents loved our classes, whether online or in a live classroom. They raved about the value they received from Bryan Ventures. This was particularly true of our LIVE CLASSROOM INSURANCE CE. We would pack the house in most locations, many times with a 100 or more insurance agents in attendance. Life was good. I'd arrived--I had created the thriving business I had envisioned.

Then in 2010, Minnesota changed the insurance CE rules. Previously, insurance agents were required to take half their continuing education hours in classroom. LIVE CLASSROOM INSURANCE CE is where Bryan Ventures really shines. We have engaging and entertaining presentations. The teaching philosophy is centered into what insurance agents considered of value, and we offered FOOD. We fed our agents both figuratively and literally, and LIVE CLASSROOM INSURANCE CE is where we made the most money.

Because the state removed the requirement for LIVE CLASSROOM INSURANCE CE, by 2012--two years later--my six figure income fell to one-sixth what I had been earning before. Now, you envision whatever six figure income you'd like that is below $300,000 and multiply it by 17 percent, which is about one-sixth, and you'll see how hard I was hit financially.

I looked for a job, but salaries hadn't increased since I'd left the employment market. Besides, I love teaching at Bryan Ventures, and I love the insurance professionals I have come to know. I did two things, I found ways to increase revenue and reduce our business expenses, and I learned to live on less. I talk about these principles in our financial classes. This year's financial planning course in which we exam three excellent books on the topic, HOW TO BECOME A MILLIONAIRE, includes my personal journey.
This financial journey means I live on the sort of income I earned in the early 90s. Or put another way, it's about 40% of what I was earning pre-2010. Granted, it was a GREAT income in 1992, and it's still higher than 75% of most Americans, but given I am a single income household, it's a lean ship around here. There is not much for forgivable margin here. (Click here to find out what percentage your income is against other Americans, https://graphics.wsj.com/what-percent/.)

I've tried several things to increase my income. We started offering DESTINATION CE classes and began hosting insurance continuing education at tropical resorts. We expanded to other states like Iowa, or began offering new product lines like MORTUARY SCIENCE CONTINUING EDUCATION. None of these took off in ways that were truly impactful to our revenue.

All of this brings us a decade from 2010, to 2020 when COVID-19 hit. Any cushion Bryan Ventures might have had is now removed by inflation. During March and early April while we were in quarantine, our ONLINE INSURANCE CE sales increased. I knew that would be short-lived, however, since it would slump later when we could get back to the real world.
 
I used that time wisely though and gained approval for INSURANCE CE WEBINARS. I thought I'd found the golden ticket. Agents could get live instruction of their insurance continuing education by meeting safely in an online virtual classroom. Sadly, that was not the case. Some agents were holding out for LIVE CLASSROOM INSURANCE CE so we converted our our upcoming LIVE INSURANCE CE SCHEDULE to half classroom, half webinar.

The problem is insurance agents still aren't booking classes. I just spoke with one of our loyal agents. She and a group of women she works with attended our first DESTINATION CE classes in 2019, and they'd like to come with us for 2021, but with so much unknown, they simply cannot commit. She said, "You may see us pop in to a INSURANCE CE WEBINARS last minute."

I think that's what lots of you are doing--waiting to see what might happen before you commit. I can't blame you. I'd probably do the same. However, in the mean time, our revenue is down 25%. We have fewer expenses because I have not been traveling around to teach classes, but my income is down 20%. That's a big hit and a hit I cannot sustain long term.

There are lots of small businesses saying, "Please support us." But there is only so much we can do to help support those businesses. Some of them will not make it through the current recession. I don't want Bryan Ventures to be one of them. And honestly, I know most of the insurance agents who attend our classes want us to be here well after this current COVID-19 shake up.

So, if you are someone who wants Bryan Ventures to keep offering LIVE INSURANCE CE, please do at least one of these four things for me:

1. REGISTER for LIVE INSURANCE CE today. Pick a location or a webinar and plan to attend.

2. SHARE OUR COURSE OFFERING with other insurance agents in your office, agency network, and community.

3. HELP ME OUT with ideas to increase sales at Bryan Ventures or expand into new markets.

4. SAY A PRAYER for prosperity for Bryan Ventures and other small businesses that are at risk during this season.

Thank you so much. Whatever comes out of this will be good--of that I am certain. As I talked with my daughter yesterday about my concerns she said, "Well mom, get ready. Every time something like this has happened, something really great ends up happening." She is, oh-so, right! How in the world did she get so smart? ;)

Take care and be well. I hope everything is good in your world and praying you are showered with blessings.

 

WANT TO SHARE YOUR IDEAS?

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Comments are based on the personal experiences or opinions of Renee and may not reflect the objective of Bryan Ventures, Inc.

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