Questions From a Future Broker

Hi Everyone,

I apologise in advance if what I ask about sounds silly to you.

I am writing anonymously because I currently work for a bank and I am saving some funds prior to escaping into my own business, which is something I intend to do over the next few months.

I’ve worked for the bank for a few years now and since my latest department switch / promotion, I’ve come to realise that the level of service that I want to offer is probably more in line with what brokers offer than just bank staff. I love connecting with clients and helping them, hence wanting to move into broking. Furthermore, I am finishing my postgraduate finance qualification and am so passionate about finance, having worked in multiple areas, so hopefully I won’t be the silliest newbie out.

I have a 17-point plan to get to my goal and I am actively working on as many of the items as I can work on but there are dependencies.

My questions are:

1. How hard is it to find a good mentor in Sydney? I am willing to split my commission and I work hard.
2. I will start a company. To avoid a lawsuit from the bank I work for, even if my clients are different, I shouldn’t start my company until after I quit – or can I (legally)?
3. What type of volumes should I expect in my first 3 months?
4. Can I really even add value in the first 3 months? Shouldn’t I feel sorry for my poor clients who have to deal with a noob broker, or do mentors generally get involved enough to prevent the most important loan in many people’s lives being ruined by someone’s newness?
5. If I start with an aggregator’s ACL (I’m thinking I’ll go with Connective anyway), does it matter for my business if I later change to my own?

Thanks very much for your time and I appreciate your responses.