Part-Time to Full-Time Public Adjusting

If you’ve read my previous blog, you already know my backstory. If you haven’t, what are you waiting for?
To recap just a bit, when I finished my public adjuster training and first started as a public adjuster, I did it part-time.
In the afternoons I used to teach tennis. Later on, I was hired by State Farm, decided I didn’t like it, quit there and went back to teaching tennis and doing public adjusting part-time.
Now, you may be wondering why I didn’t simply give up teaching tennis entirely and focus all of my energy on public adjusting. Well, the answer to that question lies in the fact that I was broke.

How can I earn money as a Public Adjuster?
Public adjusters earn money from contingency and a percentage of what their clients get paid in the end.
What that means is that your insurance claim will first need to go through and get paid before you can earn any money.
So, it’s safe to say that relying solely on your public adjuster salary might not be the best idea in the very beginning.
For that reason alone, I decided to stick with tennis for some time. Teaching tennis enabled me to still earn some money to pay bills and support my family while simultaneously trying to grow my career as a PA.
Since insurance claims could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few years to get paid, I needed to ensure that I can sustain myself financially during those times.
What this means is that, unless you have enough means to fully sustain your business financially, you may consider starting it as a part-time venture at first.
Learn How To Settle a Claim Fast WITHOUT Having To Wait Years To Get Paid!
Where can I start?
As I was mostly teaching tennis in the afternoon, I had the rest of the day to dedicate to my PA career.
What this meant was that I would make a lot of phone calls, send a lot of emails and contact a lot of people. I also joined numerous networking groups and attended various networking events (more on that later).
Of course, the goal during this time was to move away from the part-time commitment to full-time as soon as possible.
That being said, it took me about 4 years to really manage to make it a reality.
During that time, I was able to make enough clients built up so that they would refer me to other people.
Also, I was trying to establish enough relationships with other referral partners. The reason behind this was the fact that those other referral partners would continue to refer me clients.
This way, I would secure a consistent flow of claims coming in, which would – in turn – result in a consistent flow of income.
After about a year, the money finally started to come in from public adjusting.

What about networking?
When you are starting out as a PA, if you don’t have claims, you don’t have work, and if you don’t have work, you are not making any money.
That’s why you should use any downtime you are bound to have at the beginning of your career to grow your network. Join networking groups, go to networking events, happy hours, lunch meetings, etc.

For instance, my goal was to try and attend at least 5 networking events a week. Of course, this was sometimes quite exhausting, but nobody said that growing your business and trying to make it successful is easy.
The best part is that you don’t even have to focus on meeting solely the people from your industry.
Rather, the more people you meet the greater your contact list will become and the easier it will be to get your venture “out there”.
If you are just starting out and struggle to find the work, I suggest you watch the 1st episode of my Claims Advocate Webinar and learn my 3 secrets to success in our industry.
Pro tip: Think outside the box!
When attending networking events, you should focus on finding different avenues that will enable you to find more work.
Here, it’s not only about finding referrals, but you also want to find strategic referrals.
These are the contacts that can potentially bring plenty of work your way. For instance, a regular referral would be a person who has suffered extensive damage to their property during Hurricane Katrina.
A strategic referral in such an instance would be the painter or the plumber the person hired to fix the damage done to their property.
This way, you can partner up with different professionals and have them refer you to their clients whenever the need arises.
That’s why it’s safe to say that securing enough strategic referrals is probably the most important part of your business. Of course, make sure you return the favor whenever possible.
How can I transition from a part-time to a full-time public adjuster?
My advice to anyone who’s looking to start their own business – no matter what that business may be – would be to make it a full-time endeavor and dedicate your every waking hour to making it a success as soon as possible.
The reason behind it is the fact that the sooner you do so, the sooner you can expect to reach success.
An excellent way to go from part-time to full-time endeavor is to hustle harder than anyone else.
What this means is that you shouldn’t just sit doing nothing, wishing your days away. Instead, get up and start actively pursuing your goals.
Show long term interest
If you’re starting this business looking for a way to earn a quick buck, you should rethink your decision.
In this industry, your business will be slow at first.
But the harder you hustle and the more you grow your network, your business will start to grow exponentially.
More than anything, growing your business will require you to invest a lot of energy.
Self-motivation is key
You are the main driving force behind your business.
The more motivated you are to grow your endeavor, the easier reaching your goals will be.
However, finding proper motivation can sometimes be quite difficult.

This is particularly true if you happen to have days when you virtually don’t even have to get out of bed because you don’t have anything to get up for. That’s when you may find yourself struggling to find your drive and motivation but you’ll just have power thorough.
So, stay confident and focus on the bigger picture even when you don’t feel very motivated.

How will you know if you’ve made it as a full-time public adjuster?
The turning point in your career will be the moment you have so many claims that you need to get yourself an office – be it a physical or virtual space – and hire a full-time assistant to handle all the incoming business.
Additionally, you should also consider hiring either a part-time or a full-time assistant to handle your social media.
Public adjuster marketing done right will bring numerous benefits to your venture and social media is certainly a good way to do so.

Reaching this point in your business efforts will not only bring you the benefits of choosing when and how much you want to work but it will also provide you with a consistent income and other perks, such as various investment opportunities.
By having enough time to make some smart investments, you’ll be able to start growing other parts of your life both in a personal and professional sense.

Hi Vince,
My name is Marlene (IA) and I love your Youtube videos and all the advise on how to become a PA. My partner/husband is in process of taking a course with Adjuster Pro to get his 620 license and then he can possibly transition to a PA license. I’d love to speak with you to discuss a few questions ref PA apprenticeship. Thank you.
Thanks,
Marlene
I do agree that assuming that I am working as a public adjuster, it makes sense for us to network as it helps us build our clients. My son is looking to pursue a career as a public adjuster after he realized how these people help them obtain their claims. I will encourage my son to build his network to boost his clients list.