Spencer Hardy and how to get the most out of insurance.

Dex: 0:05

Hey, welcome to another episode of In the Black.I am Dex and I am trying something, and I know I say this on every, every episode,but I am trying sort of a different angle.This particular guest owns a franchise basically, and I, I forgot that this is something that people could even do.So just to kind of get into it, the things that we're gonna discuss today mainly are about owning a franchise,what it takes and, because that's actually a really good way to.Start a business, own a business,because the framework is already there, the support is already there,and we're just gonna jump into it.So without any further ado, I would like to introduce everyone to my man, Spencer Hardy.He is the owner of a farmer's insurance agency.Say, what's up, Spencer?

Spencer Hardy: 0:58

Hey, what's up everyone?

Dex: 1:00

Man, I'm so glad to have you on the show.We've had so many, issues with scheduling because you're such a busy man.So thanks again for taking the time out to be on the show today.Awesome.I didn't want to take away from sort of the thunder of everything that's going on.I wanted you to tell us because I, my mind is bewildered that I didn't think of this before.So please tell me about your business.

Spencer Hardy: 1:32

Okay, I'm an insurance agent.I've been an insurance agent,probably I guess, eight.I guess before that I was a banker for 18 years.My last part of my banking career,I was commercial banker for six.Like anything you realize, hey, maybe it's time for me to start my own business.A year prior to, getting outta the banking business, I kinda looked at insurance.I had a number of insurance clients that were doing well, and I'm like, you know what, the money is always gonna be residual based.Um, you know, as long as you care of.They're like, listen, you can just get your license.You have to have so much in reserves built up.I think at that time to have a farmer's agency, I think I had to have, um, 55,000 in liquid assets.And so what I did was, I took a second mortgage on the house or equity line on the house, and took some other cash that I had and put in an account.they, they showed the liquid assets and it also helped me with, expenses related to opening up all the employees, et cetera, et cetera.So that's kinda how I jumped into it.Um, but I mean, but for me, just looking at, that that particular business I just looked at insurance business, it's one of the oldest professions on the planet.You've never seen an insurance.Corporation fail at, at Houston Banking Corporation.But if you really think about it,there really are no insurance companies that ever failed in the history, uh,in the world, if you think about it.So I kinda looked at the stability of the business and how it works.So that's kinda how I jumped into it.

Dex: 3:14

That is awesome.I, I guess I never really thought of it as sort of recession proof.But it really is.It really is recession proof.Yeah.

Spencer Hardy: 3:23

Well, I wouldn't necessarily say recession proof, but it is one of those businesses that if you plan it correctly, I mean, cause there's so many, ways to operate the business that you can actually, yeah, you're right.I guess not necessarily recession proof, but you can pull a wall, have backstop if you said it correctly.

Dex: 3:47

That's awesome.So I know there's a lot of people, and I'm sort of in that party that, you know, insurance isn't something that's considered sexy, you know what I mean?

Spencer Hardy: 3:57

Right.

Dex: 3:58

it's, but it's such a necessary tool, not just to backstop people's businesses, but to, I guess, get ahead.Um, so you know, in case there's listeners out there that don't have a home that they could.Pull a second mortgage.From what other avenues do you suggest that they look forward to, you know, building up the

Spencer Hardy: 4:21

So,

Dex: 4:22

like that?

Spencer Hardy: 4:23

so insurance is an interesting business.And that was in particular, just to get into the, I would say get into the, I guess the farmers or State Farm or you know, however you choose to go whatever direction and.Capital standpoint.So like insurance is so easy is you get your license and you just have to find companies that will allow you to sign on as, uh, basically registered agents to sell their products.Right?So I mean, you could do that from your basement, ? You work your network and just start, selling certain products like homeowners or, if you get signed up with a, a auto company, you can sell auto insurance.So it's not, it could be low capital or high capital, but it just depends on how you wanna ramp up.You can, be a scratch agent and build it slowly.That's the hardest approach because obviously you're gonna start with zero and you have to build a book of business.Or even if, let's say, if you wanna go into a situation where you wanna learn the business, you work for somebody.And some insurance companies have programs where protege programs or where you can come in as an agent for somebody else and maybe in two years.They have a program where you can go into the ownership route.So you just kinda have to look at your situation and look at what programs are out there.If you're a hustler and you think you can do scratch it can be done.I it just depends on your comfort level and how busy you wanna be.

Dex: 5:59

Okay, so what made you choose Farmers specifically?

Spencer Hardy: 6:05

When I started, I looked at,, I looked at all the big ones, you know, the State Farms, the, the All States.And there was one thing that stood out for me was Farmers had a system where if they didn't sell a certain type of product,that you didn't have to captive to.To their process where a lot of, and when I say that, for example, some companies if, let's say health insurance, right,if they don't sell health insurance, it doesn't matter if they don't sell it or not, you can't sell it because you're locked into what your, your contract is.You sell what they sell.Nothing else.Farmers didn't have that rule.So if I wanted to go out there and contract with an Aflac agent, To sell Aflac, I could, if I wanted to go out there and sell, some sort of disability insurance I could, or if there were things that Farmers didn't do, I wasn't handcuffed.So it allowed me to have the ability to grow my book, my insurance book Beyond the Farmer book Farmer's book.So that's why I went that route.

Dex: 7:11

Oh, that's, that's smart.You never wanna limit yourself.Yeah.I, Hey man, I, brother, I dig it, man.I'm all about the freedom and doing your own thing and just not being sort of handcuffed into it.We keep using that word, but at the same time, they do provide some sort of framework to get you started.Tell me about that framework some more.

Spencer Hardy: 7:39

So, um, I think the biggest piece of it in particular when I got started was, I guess I'll just use laid out at the time that I started cause things have changed a little bit.But when I, when I started,they were like, okay, you, I came in as a scratch agent.I buy a book of business, which traditionally, if you're an insurance agent, sometimes you have the ability to buy somebody's business incorporating your route.So I went out there, they basically were like, listen, we'll give you, additional commission on top of what you earn.We'll give you bonuses if you get to a certain threshold of business.So that was the compensation framework that helped me out in the beginning.And then also the beginning framework was they helped pay for leads.If I needed calls and needed purchase, let's.Names or individuals whose policies are coming up for renewals that I can hit those customers up or if I needed to, have advertising dollars.That was the beginning framework.That helped out a lot in the beginning that farmers provided to help me, move my business forward.So that was the benefit of,that particular process.

Dex: 8:57

Okay.Okay.Well, we're a business show and you know,we, we definitely gotta talk about that.

Spencer Hardy: 9:04

Mm-hmm.

Dex: 9:05

out of all the products and stuff that you sell, which is.The one that you would say earns you the most?

Spencer Hardy: 9:13

Believe it or not, uh, business policies,

Dex: 9:16

Okay.

Spencer Hardy: 9:17

business policies,and for different reasons is.Just from a stability portion.My business clients, typically if you have a, if you're a business,owner and you want stability, you want your agent, you want your, know what your situation is every year.On the personal side, when I say personal talking about homeowners auto, that business tends to be viewed the consumer as more of commodity based product.And even though the insurance companies say that it's a relationship driven product, my opinion is they, they even deal that like a commodity based product.Right.So what happens is, you know, they're sense, you know, insurance companies have taught people to be sensitive about rates.Right.Makes sense.So what happens every six months or a year or two years later, people get very sensitive about, they're not really looking at quality, they're just more sensitive about the rate situation.So they're more willing to turn over their, their personal lines versus,when you look at commercials, most businesses, if they're stable, they wanna know that they got good coverage,they have a good agent, and if they need something they can get done.And typically on the business side,it's, it's the, the stability is there, the profitability is there,and even from a servicing aspect,business clients won't bother you unless they really have a big need or concern or a change in their business.So that's, so from that standpoint, I view that as my most profitable line of business.

Dex: 10:55

That's awesome.That's awesome.So besides, you know, just sort of protecting people in general, how else do businesses use business credit per se,

Spencer Hardy: 11:07

So

Dex: 11:07

business credit, I'm sorry, but business insurance.I apologize.

Spencer Hardy: 11:11

I know that's a whole other conversation.Depending on, the type of industry you're on, I the amount of insurance of those,you know, quality of your insurance will allow you to get certain contracts.Contractors, most of them, they're going into it, they're, they're operators.If they're not the GC.They're, they're, and their subcontractors, they have to have a certain amount of co coverage.It allows 'em to get jobs,but also there's protections.So for example, um, if, you know,there, there's misnomers about how commercial insurance works.So I'll, I'll just give this example.Let's say I am a subcontractor,right, on a project.And I have worker's comp, right.But then I subcontract, the guy on the street to do the painting job.And something happens and that guy gets hurt on the job.Some people believe that,they're a subcontractor.But technic, unless they have workers' comp themselves, they can file under your workers' comp,

Dex: 12:10

Oh,

Spencer Hardy: 12:11

know?Yeah.

Dex: 12:13

oh, wow.

Spencer Hardy: 12:15

Yeah.There are processes from protection standpoint of your ability to do business or even, I've seen a situation where,had a client, they, were working on a job site and a door broke, right?Electrical door broke.The company was like, well,your people are on site.And we think your people broke the door.So they automatically filed a claim against my client's general liability in the, and just outta,from a protection standpoint there was a 15,000 claim for electric Door.You just don't know what thing, what can happen.So from a protection standpoint or how you leverage it just depends on how, these are small things that most think about.

Dex: 13:02

Yeah, it really is always the small things that people don't think about.Are you familiar with Wilder?He owns an agency over in Douglassville.

Spencer Hardy: 13:12

I'm not familiar with

Dex: 13:13

Okay.

Spencer Hardy: 13:14

if him,

Dex: 13:18

I had a conversation with him a while back, on life insurance and how it was connected to businesses and so a business owner, they could make a bunch of money on whatever product or service that they sold and instead of taking a payment out, they could pay their insurance.Through, let's say a life, their life insurance, and then borrow against that.

Spencer Hardy: 13:43

Yeah, yeah, there are tons of options on the life insurance.You have universal life products and then you have variable life.There are so many options on the life side that right, where you can make income or, take money for future dates.Yeah, yeah, definitely.You can have your business own a policy against you as a keyman policy.And if something were to happen, the money would be, allotted to your business and it go to your business value.Or you can have it, go to your business partner.So to leverage against if you know you,you die and you have a business partner.So, I mean, there, there, there's huge,huge, huge opportunities on that side.Yes.

Dex: 14:27

The way that he explained was if,let's say a business made half a million dollars in sales that year and or in profit that year, and instead of, the irs,charging them their taxes based off that half million product, profit, they could actually just put that into the insurance.And then borrow against the insurance,and then that would be tax free money

Spencer Hardy: 14:58

Yeah, because you'll pull it out as a loan.Yes.

Dex: 15:00

and, and this is all completely legal,

Spencer Hardy: 15:05

Yes.So, yeah, so like, so he here, put it in framework.Um, so what, for example,uh, um, a universal index life insurance policy, right?So let's say if you do a, I, I'm just gonna throw out our high random number.Excuse me.Let's say you do 5 million, right?

Dex: 15:30

Mm.

Spencer Hardy: 15:31

And, your premiums may be over the life of the policy, 2 million.I'm just kinda throwing it in there.Right.So you put the premium in there.I mean, by the time you put the 2 million that life insurance policy could be worth at your death could be worth 14 million.Right.And then from a, potentially what you could borrow out of it over time could be close to the 2million, maybe even more than that.So you can, so let's say you can borrow 3 million outta it.So you can borrow the 3 million outta it.And I mean, again, these are random numbers, these are not accurate numbers.So I just wanna let out see your, you know, listeners.But you can borrow that money back out and as a loan And it's tax free.Cause it's a loan and you don't have to pay Repay it back.

Dex: 16:18

Oh wow.So is that something that, let's say if a business wanted to expand,they could borrow against that and

Spencer Hardy: 16:26

Yeah, there are metrics that are built into it or formulas that are built into it.But yes, you could do that potentially.

Dex: 16:33

So this is something that just a lot of beginning entrepreneurs just simply aren't aware of then.Right.

Spencer Hardy: 16:39

Right.I, my, I always caution people who wanna jump into, universals, products.They're great products, but you have to, you really have to understand what you're doing because there are some things that could work against you, but that's where you really have to get what a good.Agent who understands that it can help you navigate those possible traps or pitfalls.

Dex: 17:04

Oh, okay.Like, uh, this one farmer's agent in Powder Springs, uh, Georgia.I hear he is amazing and he is a good soccer coach from what I understand too, so

Spencer Hardy: 17:15

Yeah.Well, he's in Mapleton now.

Dex: 17:17

Oh, he is.Oh, that's right.You're in Ableton now.Yeah.Yeah.That, that's crazy.So besides those particular products,what are other things that people can know about insurance that they simply just aren't thinking about?Because I deal with a lot of, new entrepreneurs, people that have been, doing side hustles and just maybe it's just never been formal.

Spencer Hardy: 17:41

Most people's insurance.You know, obviously, the thing about insurance, there's so many options that you could really specialize in anything.You can be a life insurance guy, you can be a worker's comp guy, you can be a commercial specialist In general,liability workers' comp, you can specialize in any area, a particular business or even within, let's say,if you wanna be a commercial agent,but you wanna just do truckers.You could specialize in that and work that.I think that's where the business is going, but, I think, insurance is just,it's not just, I can sell a policy.You know, I, I think insurance is like anything else.You can go as far as you want to in it or stay as basic as you want to.And I don't know if that necessarily answers your question,so.

Dex: 18:35

actually.Yes, it does.It does.One of the things I also wanted to bring up on this particular episode is, uh, business' relationship with politics, local politics,national politics, and the whole

Spencer Hardy: 18:49

Mm-hmm.

Dex: 18:51

Okay.So you're, part of, the local politics scene, and particularly the Cobb County Democrats.Tell me about,

Spencer Hardy: 19:04

Douglas also.Yes.

Dex: 19:05

Oh, perfect.Tell me about the why businesses,especially entrepreneurs, need to be involved in their local political scene.

Spencer Hardy: 19:16

Well, I, I think, as a business owner, I think the first thing is you need to know what's going on in your community in terms of the decision making, and then also you need to have a voice on, you know let's say the county's looking at creating sales tax.I mean, if you have a store, guess what?That sales tax's gonna affect you If you know they're talking about property taxes, and you have an office building, and you may have a cam that you, that you're paying to your landlord that pays the property tax, for your landlord, that's gonna affect you.Or, in terms policy, you know, You know,you're there and also in, in there.

Dex: 20:02

Yeah.

Spencer Hardy: 20:04

Yeah.And also, the thing about politics, right?Is the reality is politics is driven by money.And I'm not, I'm not saying this as in a way that nobody knows, but if you want to be able to get people in decision, you have to support candidates.You know?And if you have a candidate who you know that supports.Know, not changing local option sales tax or a candidate that you know that there needs to be certain zonings done.Um, you gotta let them know.So,so,

Dex: 20:41

Yeah.absolutely.Absolutely.And so if people were inclined to either start an insurance company or they need business insurance and they need to get started with clearly the best insurer in all of Cobb and Douglas County, where is the best place they could find you?

Spencer Hardy: 21:05

Oh, you can, Google Spencer Hardy Agency in Mapleton, Georgia.It'll come.Um, just I'll give you my phone number.Seven, eight, five.

Dex: 21:23

Awesome, awesome.And, I will, as always, I'll be leaving all that information in the show notes, any social media information in the show notes.Spencer's a great resource.Um, you really need to talk to him when it comes to getting insurance for your business.Transferring yourself from a side hustle to a full-time gig because you structure, structure is, is a big deal.And

Spencer Hardy: 21:51

Yeah, it is.

Dex: 21:52

yeah, and having that, that backing,having something behind you to protect you and yours is, It's incredibly important.Nobody wants to get sued and more importantly, even when you do get sued, you want to make sure you're covered in some way.You don't end up losing everything that you built.So, so, yeah, I, um, so Spencer,I got, I gotta thank you, man.I really

Spencer Hardy: 22:17

You're welcome and I appreciate you having me on your show today.

Dex: 22:20

Oh, absolutely my friend.Absolutely.So, again, I'll have all that information in the show notes.Um, If you have any questions,please go to intheblack-podcast.com.Please share the show, like, subscribe.If you don't like the show, share it with two people that you don't like.It's a great way to, uh, support the show and to keep everything going and keep our voices out there.So, so for my man, Spencer, I am Dex.This is in the Black.Please find us on all of your.Podcast platforms, Spotify,apple, or wherever you listen.Don't forget to review and again, share with a friend.So again, thanks again to Spencer and you guys have yourself a

Spencer Hardy: 23:05

Thank.

Dex: 23:06

All right.Hey, welcome to another episode of In the Black.I am Dex and I am trying something, and I know I say this on every, every episode,but I am trying sort of a different angle.Um, this particular guest is, he owns a franchise basically, and I, I forgot that this is something that people could even do.So just to kind of get into it, uh,the things that we're gonna discuss today mainly are about owning a franchise, what it takes and, because that's actually a really good way to.Start a business, own a business,because the framework is already there,the support is already there, and we're just gonna kind of jump into it.So without any further ado, I would like to introduce everyone to my man, Spencer Hardy.He is the owner of a farmer's insurance agency.Say, what's up, Spencer?

Spencer Hardy: 24:11

Hey, what's up everyone?

Dex: 24:13

Man, I'm so glad to have you on the show.We've had so many, uh, issues with scheduling because you're such a busy man.Um, so thanks again for taking the time out to be on the show today.Um, awesome.I didn't want to take away from sort of the thunder of everything that's going on.I wanted you to sort of best tell us because I, my mind is bewildered that I didn't think of this before.So please tell me about your business.

Spencer Hardy: 24:49

Okay, well,um, I'm an insurance agent.Um, I've been an insurance agent, probably I guess, eight.I guess before that I was a, a banker for 18 years.My last part of my banking career,I was commercial banker for six.Um, you know, like anything you realize, hey, maybe it's time for me to start my own business.So, um, a year prior to, um,getting outta the banking business,I kinda looked at insurance.I had a number of insurance clients that were doing well, and I'm like,you know what, you know, the money is always gonna be residual based.Um, you know, as long as you care of.They're like, listen, you can have, um, just get your license.You have to have so much in reserves built up.I think at that time to have a farmer's agency, I think I had to have, um, 55,000 in liquid assets.And so what I did was, um, I took a second mortgage on the house or equity line on the house, um, and took some other cash that I had and put in an account.they, they showed the liquid assets and it also helped me with, um,expenses related to opening up all the employees, et cetera, et cetera.So that's kinda how I jumped into it.Um, but I mean, but for me, just looking at, you know, that that particular business I just looked at insurance business, it's one of the oldest professions on the planet.You've never seen an insurance.Corporation fail at, at Houston Banking Corporation.But if you really think about it,there really are no insurance companies that ever failed in the history, uh,in the world, if you think about it.So I kinda looked at the stability of the business and how it works.So that's kinda how I jumped into it.

Dex: 26:41

That is awesome.I, I guess I never really thought of it as sort of recession proof.But it really is.It really is recession proof.Yeah.

Spencer Hardy: 26:50

Well, I wouldn't necessarily say recession proof, but it is one of those businesses that if you plan it correctly, I mean, cause there's so many, um, ways to operate the business that you can actually, yeah, you're right.I guess not necessarily recession proof,but you can pull a wall, you know,have backstop if you said it correctly.

Dex: 27:15

That's awesome.So I know there's a lot of people, and I'm sort of in that party that, you know, insurance isn't something that's considered sexy, you know what I mean?

Spencer Hardy: 27:25

Right.

Dex: 27:26

it's, but it's such a necessary tool,you know, not just to backstop people's businesses, but to, I guess, get ahead.Um, so you know, in case there's listeners out there that don't have a home that they could.Pull a second mortgage.From what other avenues do you suggest that they, that they look forward to, you know, building up the

Spencer Hardy: 27:51

So,

Dex: 27:52

like that?

Spencer Hardy: 27:53

so insurance is an interesting business.So, and that was, and that was in particular, just to get into the,um, I would say get into the, you know, I guess the farmers or State Farm or you know, however you choose to go whatever direction and.Capital standpoint.So like insurance is so easy is you get your license and you just have to find companies that will allow you to sign on as, uh, basically registered agents to sell their products.Right?So I mean, you could do that from your basement, you know?And then the main thing is, you know, let's say.You work your network and just start,you know, selling certain products like homeowners or, you know, if you get signed up with a, a auto company,you know, you can sell auto insurance.So it's not, it could be low capital or high capital, but it just depends on how you wanna ramp up.You can, you know, be a scratch agent and build it slowly.That's the hardest approach because obviously you're gonna start with zero and you have to build a book of business.Or you know, even if, let's say,you know, if you wanna go into a situation where you wanna learn the business, you work for somebody.And some insurance companies have programs where protege programs or where you can come in as an agent for somebody else and maybe in two years.They have a program where you can go into the ownership route.So you just kinda have to look at your situation and look at what programs are out there.So just, you know, if you're a hustler and you think you can do,scratch you know, it can be done.I mean, it just depends on your comfort level and how busy you wanna be.

Dex: 29:41

Okay, so what made you choose farmers specifically?

Spencer Hardy: 29:47

So when, uh, when I started, I looked at, you know, I looked at all the big ones, you know,the State Farms, the, the All States.And there was one thing that stood out for me was Farmers had a, uh,a system where if they didn't sell a certain type of product, um,that you didn't have to captive to.To their process where a lot of, and when I say that, for example, uh,some companies if, let's say health insurance, right, if they don't sell health insurance, it doesn't matter if they don't sell it or not, you can't sell it because you're locked into what your, your contract is.You sell what they sell.Nothing else.Farmers didn't have that, uh, uh, that rule.So if I wanted to go out there and contract with an Aflac agent, To sell Aflac, I could, if I wanted to go out there and sell, um, you know,some sort of disability insurance I could, or if there were things that farmers didn't do, I wasn't handcuffed.So it allowed me to have the ability to grow my book, my insurance book Beyond the Farmer book Farmer's book.So that's why I went that route.

Dex: 31:02

Oh, that's, that's smart.You know, you never wanna limit yourself.Yeah.I, Hey man, I, brother, I dig it, man.I'm, I'm all about the freedom and doing your own thing and just not being sort of handcuffed into it.You know, we keep using that word, but at the same time, they do provide some sort of framework to get you started.Tell me about that framework some more.

Spencer Hardy: 31:32

So, um, I think the biggest piece of it in particular when I got started was, Uh, for,well, I guess I'll just use laid out at the time that I started cause things have changed a little bit.But when I, when I started,they were like, okay, you, I came in as a scratch agent.I buy a book of business, which traditionally, if you're an insurance agent, sometimes you have the ability to buy somebody's business incorporating your route.So I went out there, they basically were like, listen,we'll give you, uh, additional commission on top of what you earn.We'll give you bonuses if you get to a certain threshold of business.Um, so that was the compensation framework that helped me out in the beginning.And then also the beginning framework was they helped pay for leads.Um, so if, like, if I needed calls and needed purchase, let's.Names or individuals whose policies are coming up for renewals that I can hit those customers up or if I needed to,you know, um, have advertising dollars.That was the beginning framework.That helped out a lot in the beginning that farmers provided to help me,uh, move, move my business forward.So that was the benefit of,um, that particular process.

Dex: 32:58

Okay.Okay.Well, we're a business show and you know,we, we definitely gotta talk about that.

Spencer Hardy: 33:05

Mm-hmm.

Dex: 33:06

out of all the products and stuff that you sell, which is.The one that you would say earns you the most?

Spencer Hardy: 33:14

Believe it or not, uh, business policies,

Dex: 33:17

Okay.

Spencer Hardy: 33:18

business policies,and for different reasons is.Just from a stability portion.Uh, my business clients, you know, typically if you have a,if you're a business, uh, owner and you want stability, you want your agent, you want your, know what your situation is every year.On the personal side, when I say personal talking about homeowners auto, that business tends to be viewed the consumer as more of commodity based product.And even though the insurance companies say that it's a relationship driven product, my opinion is they, they even deal that like a commodity based product.Right.So what happens is, you know, they're sense, you know, insurance companies have taught people to be sensitive about rates.Right.Makes sense.So what happens every six months or a year or two years later, people get very sensitive about, they're not really looking at quality, they're just more sensitive about the rate situation.So they're more willing to turn over their, um, their personal lines versus,um, when you look at commercials, most businesses, if they're stable, they wanna know that they got good coverage,they have a good agent, and if they need something they can get done.And typically on bus, on the business side, it's, it's the, the stability is there, the profitability is there, you know, and, and even from a servicing aspect, you know, business clients won't bother you unless they really have a big need or concern or a change in their business.So that's, so from that standpoint, I view that as my most profitable line of business.

Dex: 35:00

That's awesome.That's awesome.So besides, you know, just sort of protecting people in general, how else do businesses use business credit per se,

Spencer Hardy: 35:11

So

Dex: 35:12

business credit, I'm sorry, but business insurance.I apologize.

Spencer Hardy: 35:16

I know that's a whole other conversation.Uh, but no, I mean, um, let's say.Well, I mean, alright, so obviously depending on, you know, the, the type of industry you're on, I mean, the,the amount of insurance of those, you know, quality of your insurance will allow you to get certain contracts.I mean, you know, contractors, most of them, you know, they're going into it, they're, they're operators.If they're not the GC.They're, they're, um, and their subcontractors, they have to have a certain amount of co coverage.You know, it allows 'em to get jobs, but also there's protections.So for example, um, if, you know,there, there's misnomers about how commercial insurance works.So I'll, I'll just give this example.Let's say I am a subcontractor,right, on a project.And I have worker's comp, right.But then I subcontract, you know, the guy on the street to do the painting job.Right.And something happens and that guy gets hurt on the job.Some people believe that, you know, well, you know, they're,they're, they're a subcontractor.But technic, unless they have workers' comp themselves, they can file under your workers' comp,

Dex: 36:36

Oh,

Spencer Hardy: 36:37

know?Yeah.

Dex: 36:39

oh, wow.

Spencer Hardy: 36:41

Yeah.So I mean there, there are, there are processes from protection standpoint of your ability to do business or even,um, I've seen a situation where, um,had a client, they, um, were working on a job site and a door broke, right?Uh, electrical door broke.The company was like, well,your people are on site.And we think your people broke the door.So they automatically filed a claim against my client's general liability in the, you know, and just outta, you know, from a protection standpoint, I mean, there was a15,000 claim for electric Door.So, I mean, you just, you know, you just don't know what thing, what can happen.So from a protection standpoint or how you leverage it just depends on how, these are small things that most think about.

Dex: 37:37

Yeah, it really is always the small things that people don't think about.Um, uh, d are you familiar with Wilder?He's, um, he owns an agency over in Douglassville.

Spencer Hardy: 37:49

Um, I,I'm not familiar with

Dex: 37:51

Okay.

Spencer Hardy: 37:52

if him,

Dex: 37:56

He, um, I had a, a conversation with him a while back, um, on life insurance and how it was connected to businesses and so a business owner, they could make a bunch of money on, on, you know, whatever product or service that they, that they sold and instead of taking a payment out, they could pay their insurance.Through, let's say a life, their life insurance, and then borrow against that.

Spencer Hardy: 38:25

Yeah, I mean, yeah, there are tons of options on the life insurance.I mean, you know, I mean, you have universal life products and then you have variable life.You know, there, there are so many options on the life side that right,where you can make income or, you know, take money for future dates.Yeah, I mean, yeah, definitely.Um, You can, you can have your business own a policy against you as a keyman policy.And if something were to happen, the money would be, you know, allotted to your business, to your business and it go to your business value.Or you can have it, you know,go to your business partner.So to leverage against if you know you,you die and you have a business partner.So, I mean, there, there, there's huge,huge, huge opportunities on that side.Yes.

Dex: 39:17

Huh.So the way that he, uh, described it is,um, if they could, if they wanted to take a loan against that, um, a lot of activity going down in downtown Potter Springs.Huh.All right, we'll, we'll give it a second.The way that he explained was if, let's say a business made half a million dollars in sales that year and or in profit that year, and instead of, you know, the irs, um, charging them their taxes based off that half million product, uh, profit, they could actually just put that into the insurance.And then borrow against the insurance,and then that would be tax free money

Spencer Hardy: 40:13

Yeah, because you'll pull it out as a loan.Yes.

Dex: 40:15

and, and this is all completely legal,

Spencer Hardy: 40:20

Yes.So, yeah, so like, so he here, put it in framework.Um, so what, for example,uh, um, a universal index life insurance policy, right?So let's say if you do a, I, I'm just gonna throw out our high random number.Excuse me.Let's say you do 5 million, right?

Dex: 40:45

Mm.

Spencer Hardy: 40:46

And, you know, so your, your premiums may be over the life of the policy, 2 million.I'm just kinda throwing it in there.Right.So you put the premium in there.I mean, by the time you put the 2 million that life insurance policy could be worth at your death could be worth 14 million.Right.And then from a, uh, potentially what you could borrow out of it over time could be close to the 2million, maybe even more than that.So you can, so let's say you can borrow 3 million outta it.So you can borrow the 3 million outta it.And I mean, again, these are random numbers, these are not accurate numbers.So I just wanna let out see your, you know, listeners.But you can borrow that money back out and as a loan And it's tax free.Cause it's a loan and you don't have to pay Repay it back.

Dex: 41:36

Oh wow.So is that something that, let's say if a business wanted to expand,they could borrow against that and

Spencer Hardy: 41:44

Yeah, I mean,you can, you can, yeah.So I mean there, there are metrics that are built into it or you know,formulas that are built into it.But yes, you could do that potentially.

Dex: 41:56

So this is something that just a lot of beginning entrepreneurs just simply aren't aware of then.Right.

Spencer Hardy: 42:03

Right.I, my, I always caution people who wanna jump into, uh, universals, uh, products.They're great products, but you have to, you really have to understand what you're doing because there are some things that could work against you, but that's where you really have to get what a good.Agent who understands that it can help you navigate those possible traps or pitfalls.

Dex: 42:29

Oh, okay.Like, uh, this one farmer's agent in Powder Springs, uh, Georgia.I hear he is amazing and he is a good soccer coach from what I understand too, so

Spencer Hardy: 42:39

Yeah.Well, he's in Mapleton now.

Dex: 42:41

Oh, he is.Oh, that's right.You're in Ableton now.Yeah.Yeah.That, uh, that's crazy.Um, what, um, So besides those particular products, what are other things that people can know about insurance that they simply just aren't thinking about?Because I deal with a lot of, you know,new entrepreneurs, people that have been, you know, doing side hustles and just maybe it's just never been formal.

Spencer Hardy: 43:11

Um, I mean, you know,most people, most people's insurance.You know, obviously, you know,the thing about insurance, there's so many options that you could really specialize in anything.You know, you can be a life insurance guy, you can be a worker's comp guy,you can be a commercial specialist In general, liability workers' comp, you can specialize in any area, you know,a particular business or even within,let's say, if you wanna be a commercial agent, but you wanna just do truckers.You could specialize in that and work that.You know, I think, I think that's where,you know, I think that's where the business is going, but, uh, I think,you know, insurance is just, you know,it's not just, I can sell a policy.You know, I, I think insurance is like anything else.You can go as far as you want to in it or stay as basic as you want to.And I don't know if that necessarily answers your question, so.

Dex: 44:15

actually.Yes, it does.It does.What?Um.One of the things I also wanted to bring up on this particular episode is, uh, business' relationship with politics, local politics,national politics, and the whole

Spencer Hardy: 44:32

Mm-hmm.

Dex: 44:33

You are a member of the Douglas County Democrats.How did

Spencer Hardy: 44:37

Well, I had been for years.I'm, I'm more now, but yes,I've, my whole life, yes.

Dex: 44:45

Okay, and t tell me about the importance of getting of businesses in particular, getting into local politics.

Spencer Hardy: 44:54

Well, I mean, I think that, you know, in particular, you know, I think one thing you understand is there's always a connection on whether it's.Taxes, property taxes, um, sales taxes,um, or even, you know, things are structured contracts, like for example, I,

Dex: 45:19

I'm losing you a little bit.You still with me?

Spencer Hardy: 45:27

yeah,you wanna start it over?

Dex: 45:29

Uh, yeah.Yeah.Uh, you want me, you want me to ask the question again?

Spencer Hardy: 45:34

Yeah.

Dex: 45:35

Okay.So you're, you know, part of, uh,the local politics scene, uh, and particularly the Cobb County Democrats.Tell me about,

Spencer Hardy: 45:50

Douglas also.Yes.

Dex: 45:51

Oh, perfect.Um, tell me about the why businesses,especially entrepreneurs, need to be involved in their local political scene.

Spencer Hardy: 46:03

Well, I, I think, you know, as a, a business owner, I mean,I think the first thing is you need to know what's going on in your community in terms of the decision making, and then also you need to have a voice on, you know, let's say they're, the county's looking at creating sales tax.I mean, if you have a store, guess what?That sales tax's gonna affect you If you know they're talking about property taxes, you know, and you have an office building, you know, and you may have a cam that you, um, that you're paying to your landlord that pays the property tax, you know, for your landlord,you know, that's gonna affect you.Or, you know, in terms policy,you know, You know, you're there and also in, in there.

Dex: 46:55

Yeah.

Spencer Hardy: 46:56

Yeah.And also, I mean, the thing about politics, right?Is the reality is politics is driven by money.And I'm not, I mean, I'm not saying this as in a way that nobody knows, but if you want to be able to get people in decision, you have to support candidates.You know?And if you have a candidate who you know that supports.Know, not changing local option sales tax or a candidate that you know, you know that there needs to be, you know, certain zonings, some certain zonings done.Um, you gotta let them know.So, so,

Dex: 47:38

Yeah, absolutely.Absolutely.And so if people were inclined to either start an insurance company or they need business insurance and they need to get started with clearly the best insurer in all of Cobb and Douglas County, where is the best place they could find you?

Spencer Hardy: 48:02

Oh, you can, uh, Google Spencer Hardy Agency in Mapleton, Georgia.It'll come.Um, just I'll give you my phone number.Seven, eight, five.

Dex: 48:20

Awesome, awesome.And, uh, I will, as always, I'll be leaving all that information in the show notes, um, any social media information in the show notes.Um, Spencer's a great resource.Um, you really need to talk to him when it comes to getting insurance for your business.You know, transferring yourself from a side hustle to a full-time gig because you structure, structure is, is a big deal.And

Spencer Hardy: 48:52

Yeah, it is.

Dex: 48:53

yeah, and having that, that backing,having something behind you to protect you and yours is, It's incredibly important.Um, nobody wants to get sued and more impor and more importantly, even when you do get sued, you want to make sure you're covered in some way.You don't end up losing everything that you built.So, so, yeah, I, um, so Spencer,I got, I gotta thank you, man.I really

Spencer Hardy: 49:19

You're welcome and I appreciate you having me on your show today.

Dex: 49:22

Oh, absolutely my friend.Absolutely.So, again, I'll have all that information in the show notes.Um, If you have any questions, please go to intheblack-podcast.com Please share the show, like, uh, subscribe.If you don't like the show, share it with two people that you don't like.It's a great way to, uh, support the show and to keep everything going and keep our voices out there.So, so for my man, Spencer, I am Dex.This is in the Black.Please find us on all of your.Podcast platforms, Spotify,apple, or wherever you listen.Don't forget to review and again, share with a friend.So again, thanks again to Spencer and you guys have yourself a

Spencer Hardy: 50:08

Thank.

Dex: 50:09

All right.Hey, welcome to another episode of In the Black.I am Dex and I am trying something, and I know I say this on every, every episode,but I am trying sort of a different angle.Um, this particular guest is, he owns a franchise basically, and I, I forgot that this is something that people could even do.So just to kind of get into it, uh,the things that we're gonna discuss today mainly are about owning a franchise, what it takes and, because that's actually a really good way to.Start a business, own a business,because the framework is already there,the support is already there, and we're just gonna kind of jump into it.So without any further ado, I would like to introduce everyone to my man, Spencer Hardy.He is the owner of a farmer's insurance agency.Say, what's up, Spencer?

Spencer Hardy: 51:13

Hey, what's up everyone?

Dex: 51:15

Man, I'm so glad to have you on the show.We've had so many, uh, issues with scheduling because you're such a busy man.Um, so thanks again for taking the time out to be on the show today.Um, awesome.I didn't want to take away from sort of the thunder of everything that's going on.I wanted you to sort of best tell us because I, my mind is bewildered that I didn't think of this before.So please tell me about your business.

Spencer Hardy: 51:52

Okay, well,um, I'm an insurance agent.Um, I've been an insurance agent, probably I guess, eight.I guess before that I was a, a banker for 18 years.My last part of my banking career,I was commercial banker for six.Um, you know, like anything you realize, hey, maybe it's time for me to start my own business.So, um, a year prior to, um,getting outta the banking business,I kinda looked at insurance.I had a number of insurance clients that were doing well, and I'm like,you know what, you know, the money is always gonna be residual based.Um, you know, as long as you care of.They're like, listen, you can have, um, just get your license.You have to have so much in reserves built up.I think at that time to have a farmer's agency, I think I had to have, um, 55,000 in liquid assets.And so what I did was, um, I took a second mortgage on the house or equity line on the house, um, and took some other cash that I had and put in an account.they, they showed the liquid assets and it also helped me with, um,expenses related to opening up all the employees, et cetera, et cetera.So that's kinda how I jumped into it.Um, but I mean, but for me, just looking at, you know, that that particular business I just looked at insurance business, it's one of the oldest professions on the planet.You've never seen an insurance.Corporation fail at, at Houston Banking Corporation.But if you really think about it,there really are no insurance companies that ever failed in the history, uh,in the world, if you think about it.So I kinda looked at the stability of the business and how it works.So that's kinda how I jumped into it.

Dex: 53:44

That is awesome.I, I guess I never really thought of it as sort of recession proof.But it really is.It really is recession proof.Yeah.

Spencer Hardy: 53:53

Well, I wouldn't necessarily say recession proof, but it is one of those businesses that if you plan it correctly, I mean, cause there's so many, um, ways to operate the business that you can actually, yeah, you're right.I guess not necessarily recession proof,but you can pull a wall, you know,have backstop if you said it correctly.

Dex: 54:17

That's awesome.So I know there's a lot of people, and I'm sort of in that party that, you know, insurance isn't something that's considered sexy, you know what I mean?

Spencer Hardy: 54:28

Right.

Dex: 54:29

it's, but it's such a necessary tool,you know, not just to backstop people's businesses, but to, I guess, get ahead.Um, so you know, in case there's listeners out there that don't have a home that they could.Pull a second mortgage.From what other avenues do you suggest that they, that they look forward to, you know, building up the

Spencer Hardy: 54:54

So,

Dex: 54:55

like that?

Spencer Hardy: 54:55

so insurance is an interesting business.So, and that was, and that was in particular, just to get into the,um, I would say get into the, you know, I guess the farmers or State Farm or you know, however you choose to go whatever direction and.Capital standpoint.So like insurance is so easy is you get your license and you just have to find companies that will allow you to sign on as, uh, basically registered agents to sell their products.Right?So I mean, you could do that from your basement, you know?And then the main thing is, you know, let's say.You work your network and just start,you know, selling certain products like homeowners or, you know, if you get signed up with a, a auto company,you know, you can sell auto insurance.So it's not, it could be low capital or high capital, but it just depends on how you wanna ramp up.You can, you know, be a scratch agent and build it slowly.That's the hardest approach because obviously you're gonna start with zero and you have to build a book of business.Or you know, even if, let's say,you know, if you wanna go into a situation where you wanna learn the business, you work for somebody.And some insurance companies have programs where protege programs or where you can come in as an agent for somebody else and maybe in two years.They have a program where you can go into the ownership route.So you just kinda have to look at your situation and look at what programs are out there.So just, you know, if you're a hustler and you think you can do,scratch you know, it can be done.I mean, it just depends on your comfort level and how busy you wanna be.

Dex: 56:44

Okay, so what made you choose farmers specifically?

Spencer Hardy: 56:49

So when, uh, when I started, I looked at, you know, I looked at all the big ones, you know,the State Farms, the, the All States.And there was one thing that stood out for me was Farmers had a, uh,a system where if they didn't sell a certain type of product, um,that you didn't have to captive to.To their process where a lot of, and when I say that, for example, uh,some companies if, let's say health insurance, right, if they don't sell health insurance, it doesn't matter if they don't sell it or not, you can't sell it because you're locked into what your, your contract is.You sell what they sell.Nothing else.Farmers didn't have that, uh, uh, that rule.So if I wanted to go out there and contract with an Aflac agent, To sell Aflac, I could, if I wanted to go out there and sell, um, you know,some sort of disability insurance I could, or if there were things that farmers didn't do, I wasn't handcuffed.So it allowed me to have the ability to grow my book, my insurance book Beyond the Farmer book Farmer's book.So that's why I went that route.

Dex: 58:04

Oh, that's, that's smart.You know, you never wanna limit yourself.Yeah.I, Hey man, I, brother, I dig it, man.I'm, I'm all about the freedom and doing your own thing and just not being sort of handcuffed into it.You know, we keep using that word, but at the same time, they do provide some sort of framework to get you started.Tell me about that framework some more.

Spencer Hardy: 58:34

So, um, I think the biggest piece of it in particular when I got started was, Uh, for,well, I guess I'll just use laid out at the time that I started cause things have changed a little bit.But when I, when I started,they were like, okay, you, I came in as a scratch agent.I buy a book of business, which traditionally, if you're an insurance agent, sometimes you have the ability to buy somebody's business incorporating your route.So I went out there, they basically were like, listen,we'll give you, uh, additional commission on top of what you earn.We'll give you bonuses if you get to a certain threshold of business.Um, so that was the compensation framework that helped me out in the beginning.And then also the beginning framework was they helped pay for leads.Um, so if, like, if I needed calls and needed purchase, let's.Names or individuals whose policies are coming up for renewals that I can hit those customers up or if I needed to,you know, um, have advertising dollars.That was the beginning framework.That helped out a lot in the beginning that farmers provided to help me,uh, move, move my business forward.So that was the benefit of,um, that particular process.

Dex: 1:00:00

Okay.Okay.Well, we're a business show and you know,we, we definitely gotta talk about that.

Spencer Hardy: 1:00:07

Mm-hmm.

Dex: 1:00:08

out of all the products and stuff that you sell, which is.The one that you would say earns you the most?

Spencer Hardy: 1:00:16

Believe it or not, uh, business policies,

Dex: 1:00:19

Okay.

Spencer Hardy: 1:00:20

business policies,and for different reasons is.Just from a stability portion.Uh, my business clients, you know, typically if you have a,if you're a business, uh, owner and you want stability, you want your agent, you want your, know what your situation is every year.On the personal side, when I say personal talking about homeowners auto, that business tends to be viewed the consumer as more of commodity based product.And even though the insurance companies say that it's a relationship driven product, my opinion is they, they even deal that like a commodity based product.Right.So what happens is, you know, they're sense, you know, insurance companies have taught people to be sensitive about rates.Right.Makes sense.So what happens every six months or a year or two years later, people get very sensitive about, they're not really looking at quality, they're just more sensitive about the rate situation.So they're more willing to turn over their, um, their personal lines versus,um, when you look at commercials, most businesses, if they're stable, they wanna know that they got good coverage,they have a good agent, and if they need something they can get done.And typically on bus, on the business side, it's, it's the, the stability is there, the profitability is there, you know, and, and even from a servicing aspect, you know, business clients won't bother you unless they really have a big need or concern or a change in their business.So that's, so from that standpoint, I view that as my most profitable line of business.

Dex: 1:02:02

That's awesome.That's awesome.So besides, you know, just sort of protecting people in general, how else do businesses use business credit per se,

Spencer Hardy: 1:02:14

So

Dex: 1:02:14

business credit, I'm sorry, but business insurance.I apologize.

Spencer Hardy: 1:02:18

I know that's a whole other conversation.Uh, but no, I mean, um, let's say.Well, I mean, alright, so obviously depending on, you know, the, the type of industry you're on, I mean, the,the amount of insurance of those, you know, quality of your insurance will allow you to get certain contracts.I mean, you know, contractors, most of them, you know, they're going into it, they're, they're operators.If they're not the GC.They're, they're, um, and their subcontractors, they have to have a certain amount of co coverage.You know, it allows 'em to get jobs, but also there's protections.So for example, um, if, you know,there, there's misnomers about how commercial insurance works.So I'll, I'll just give this example.Let's say I am a subcontractor,right, on a project.And I have worker's comp, right.But then I subcontract, you know, the guy on the street to do the painting job.Right.And something happens and that guy gets hurt on the job.Some people believe that, you know, well, you know, they're,they're, they're a subcontractor.But technic, unless they have workers' comp themselves, they can file under your workers' comp,

Dex: 1:03:38

Oh,

Spencer Hardy: 1:03:39

know?Yeah.

Dex: 1:03:42

oh, wow.

Spencer Hardy: 1:03:43

Yeah.So I mean there, there are, there are processes from protection standpoint of your ability to do business or even,um, I've seen a situation where, um,had a client, they, um, were working on a job site and a door broke, right?Uh, electrical door broke.The company was like, well,your people are on site.And we think your people broke the door.So they automatically filed a claim against my client's general liability in the, you know, and just outta, you know, from a protection standpoint, I mean, there was a15,000 claim for electric Door.So, I mean, you just, you know, you just don't know what thing, what can happen.So from a protection standpoint or how you leverage it just depends on how, these are small things that most think about.

Dex: 1:04:39

Yeah, it really is always the small things that people don't think about.Um, uh, d are you familiar with Wilder?He's, um, he owns an agency over in Douglassville.

Spencer Hardy: 1:04:51

Um, I,I'm not familiar with

Dex: 1:04:53

Okay.

Spencer Hardy: 1:04:54

if him,

Dex: 1:04:58

He, um, I had a, a conversation with him a while back, um, on life insurance and how it was connected to businesses and so a business owner, they could make a bunch of money on, on, you know, whatever product or service that they, that they sold and instead of taking a payment out, they could pay their insurance.Through, let's say a life, their life insurance, and then borrow against that.

Spencer Hardy: 1:05:27

Yeah, I mean, yeah, there are tons of options on the life insurance.I mean, you know, I mean, you have universal life products and then you have variable life.You know, there, there are so many options on the life side that right,where you can make income or, you know, take money for future dates.Yeah, I mean, yeah, definitely.Um, You can, you can have your business own a policy against you as a keyman policy.And if something were to happen, the money would be, you know, allotted to your business, to your business and it go to your business value.Or you can have it, you know,go to your business partner.So to leverage against if you know you,you die and you have a business partner.So, I mean, there, there, there's huge,huge, huge opportunities on that side.Yes.

Dex: 1:06:20

Huh.So the way that he, uh, described it is,um, if they could, if they wanted to take a loan against that, um, a lot of activity going down in downtown Potter Springs.Huh.All right, we'll, we'll give it a second.The way that he explained was if, let's say a business made half a million dollars in sales that year and or in profit that year, and instead of, you know, the irs, um, charging them their taxes based off that half million product, uh, profit, they could actually just put that into the insurance.And then borrow against the insurance,and then that would be tax free money

Spencer Hardy: 1:07:15

Yeah, because you'll pull it out as a loan.Yes.

Dex: 1:07:18

and, and this is all completely legal,

Spencer Hardy: 1:07:23

Yes.So, yeah, so like, so he here, put it in framework.Um, so what, for example,uh, um, a universal index life insurance policy, right?So let's say if you do a, I, I'm just gonna throw out our high random number.Excuse me.Let's say you do 5 million, right?

Dex: 1:07:47

Mm.

Spencer Hardy: 1:07:49

And, you know, so your, your premiums may be over the life of the policy, 2 million.I'm just kinda throwing it in there.Right.So you put the premium in there.I mean, by the time you put the 2 million that life insurance policy could be worth at your death could be worth 14 million.Right.And then from a, uh, potentially what you could borrow out of it over time could be close to the 2million, maybe even more than that.So you can, so let's say you can borrow 3 million outta it.So you can borrow the 3 million outta it.And I mean, again, these are random numbers, these are not accurate numbers.So I just wanna let out see your, you know, listeners.But you can borrow that money back out and as a loan And it's tax free.Cause it's a loan and you don't have to pay Repay it back.

Dex: 1:08:38

Oh wow.So is that something that, let's say if a business wanted to expand,they could borrow against that and

Spencer Hardy: 1:08:46

Yeah, I mean,you can, you can, yeah.So I mean there, there are metrics that are built into it or you know,formulas that are built into it.But yes, you could do that potentially.

Dex: 1:08:59

So this is something that just a lot of beginning entrepreneurs just simply aren't aware of then.Right.

Spencer Hardy: 1:09:05

Right.I, my, I always caution people who wanna jump into, uh, universals, uh, products.They're great products, but you have to, you really have to understand what you're doing because there are some things that could work against you, but that's where you really have to get what a good.Agent who understands that it can help you navigate those possible traps or pitfalls.

Dex: 1:09:31

Oh, okay.Like, uh, this one farmer's agent in Powder Springs, uh, Georgia.I hear he is amazing and he is a good soccer coach from what I understand too, so

Spencer Hardy: 1:09:42

Yeah.Well, he's in Mapleton now.

Dex: 1:09:43

Oh, he is.Oh, that's right.You're in Ableton now.Yeah.Yeah.That, uh, that's crazy.Um, what, um, So besides those particular products, what are other things that people can know about insurance that they simply just aren't thinking about?Because I deal with a lot of, you know,new entrepreneurs, people that have been, you know, doing side hustles and just maybe it's just never been formal.

Spencer Hardy: 1:10:13

Um, I mean, you know,most people, most people's insurance.You know, obviously, you know,the thing about insurance, there's so many options that you could really specialize in anything.You know, you can be a life insurance guy, you can be a worker's comp guy,you can be a commercial specialist In general, liability workers' comp, you can specialize in any area, you know,a particular business or even within,let's say, if you wanna be a commercial agent, but you wanna just do truckers.You could specialize in that and work that.You know, I think, I think that's where,you know, I think that's where the business is going, but, uh, I think,you know, insurance is just, you know,it's not just, I can sell a policy.You know, I, I think insurance is like anything else.You can go as far as you want to in it or stay as basic as you want to.And I don't know if that necessarily answers your question, so.

Dex: 1:11:17

actually.Yes, it does.It does.What?Um.One of the things I also wanted to bring up on this particular episode is, uh, business' relationship with politics, local politics,national politics, and the whole

Spencer Hardy: 1:11:34

Mm-hmm.

Dex: 1:11:35

You are a member of the Douglas County Democrats.How did

Spencer Hardy: 1:11:40

Well, I had been for years.I'm, I'm more now, but yes,I've, my whole life, yes.

Dex: 1:11:48

Okay, and t tell me about the importance of getting of businesses in particular, getting into local politics.

Spencer Hardy: 1:11:56

Well, I mean, I think that, you know, in particular, you know, I think one thing you understand is there's always a connection on whether it's.Taxes, property taxes, um, sales taxes,um, or even, you know, things are structured contracts, like for example, I,

Dex: 1:12:21

I'm losing you a little bit.You still with me?

Spencer Hardy: 1:12:30

yeah,you wanna start it over?

Dex: 1:12:31

Uh, yeah.Yeah.Uh, you want me, you want me to ask the question again?

Spencer Hardy: 1:12:36

Yeah.

Dex: 1:12:37

Okay.So you're, you know, part of, uh,the local politics scene, uh, and particularly the Cobb County Democrats.Tell me about,

Spencer Hardy: 1:12:52

Douglas also.Yes.

Dex: 1:12:54

Oh, perfect.Um, tell me about the why businesses,especially entrepreneurs, need to be involved in their local political scene.

Spencer Hardy: 1:13:05

Well, I, I think, you know, as a, a business owner, I mean,I think the first thing is you need to know what's going on in your community in terms of the decision making, and then also you need to have a voice on, you know, let's say they're, the county's looking at creating sales tax.I mean, if you have a store, guess what?That sales tax's gonna affect you If you know they're talking about property taxes, you know, and you have an office building, you know, and you may have a cam that you, um, that you're paying to your landlord that pays the property tax, you know, for your landlord,you know, that's gonna affect you.Or, you know, in terms policy,you know, You know, you're there and also in, in there.

Dex: 1:13:57

Yeah.

Spencer Hardy: 1:13:58

Yeah.And also, I mean, the thing about politics, right?Is the reality is politics is driven by money.And I'm not, I mean, I'm not saying this as in a way that nobody knows, but if you want to be able to get people in decision, you have to support candidates.You know?And if you have a candidate who you know that supports.Know, not changing local option sales tax or a candidate that you know, you know that there needs to be, you know, certain zonings, some certain zonings done.Um, you gotta let them know.So, so,

Dex: 1:14:40

Yeah, absolutely.Absolutely.And so if people were inclined to either start an insurance company or they need business insurance and they need to get started with clearly the best insurer in all of Cobb and Douglas County, where is the best place they could find you?

Spencer Hardy: 1:15:04

Oh, you can, uh, Google Spencer Hardy Agency in Mapleton, Georgia.It'll come.Um, just I'll give you my phone number.Seven, eight, five.

Dex: 1:15:23

Awesome, awesome.And, uh, I will, as always, I'll be leaving all that information in the show notes, um, any social media information in the show notes.Um, Spencer's a great resource.Um, you really need to talk to him when it comes to getting insurance for your business.You know, transferring yourself from a side hustle to a full-time gig because you structure, structure is, is a big deal.And

Spencer Hardy: 1:15:54

Yeah, it is.

Dex: 1:15:55

yeah, and having that, that backing,having something behind you to protect you and yours is, It's incredibly important.Um, nobody wants to get sued and more impor and more importantly, even when you do get sued, you want to make sure you're covered in some way.You don't end up losing everything that you built.So, so, yeah, I, um, so Spencer,I got, I gotta thank you, man.I really

Spencer Hardy: 1:16:22

You're welcome and I appreciate you having me on your show today.

Dex: 1:16:24

Oh, absolutely my friend.Absolutely.So, again, I'll have all that information in the show notes.Um, If you have any questions, please go to intheblack-podcast.com Please share the show, like, uh, subscribe.If you don't like the show, share it with two people that you don't like.It's a great way to, uh, support the show and to keep everything going and keep our voices out there.So, so for my man, Spencer, I am Dex.This is in the Black.Please find us on all of your.Podcast platforms, Spotify,apple, or wherever you listen.Don't forget to review and again, share with a friend.So again, thanks again to Spencer and you guys have yourself a

Spencer Hardy: 1:17:10

Thank.

Dex: 1:17:11

All right.