Since leaving school I had always had an aspiration to be self-employed and to be in charge of my own destiny, but was never quite sure in what. I have worked in the Financial Services Industry in an admin capacity for 20 years. In August 1996 I was offered redundancy or a role in a Home Insurance Call Centre managing a team of 15 advisors. Having just moved house and taken on a larger mortgage I decided to take up the offer of the role. Looking back I should have taken redundancy and used this as a 'kick up the backside' to achieve my dream of being self-employed.
In 2003 I began seriously looking at an exit route. Property and people seemed to be the arena I enjoyed and if I could mix this with being self-employed...wow! It was during this time I came across franchising as a way of working for yourself but without being completely on your own and I started to read the franchise magazines and attend a variety of franchise exhibitions. I considered a number of franchises and in January 2005 I discovered Mortgage Force. I knew this was for me!
I signed the Franchise Agreement in September 2006. The initial training was both excellent and enjoyable and the continued support from both central office and people across Mortgage Force has been and remains excellent. Mortgage Force certainly is a franchise where you do work for yourself and are in charge of your own destiny, but help is at hand if needed.
I started with a blank canvas, having no client bank and have used various lead providers to build my business. I now have clients referring people to me and have additional business being passed to me from existing clients. For example, I might have done a mortgage on their main residence and they now want a mortgage for a Buy-to-Let.
I meet people from various backgrounds and walks of life and no two customers are the same. The challenge of placing business with lenders and ensuring everything goes smoothly to achieve a quick completion for the customer is both exciting and rewarding. Being able to offer advice in terms of protecting the customer and their family against the unknown is also very rewarding.
A personal thought I have always tried to live with is 'never to look back with any regrets'. Having experienced the Mortgage Force franchise for 18 months now I sometimes struggle with myself to admit I have a regret...which is that I should have done this much sooner!