Scaling From Solo Broker to Team

Key takeaways

• Hire processing before writing - it removes the actual constraint.
• A second broker needs authorisation and supervision, and those are your obligation.
• Document your process before you delegate it.
• The first hire usually reduces your income before it increases it.

What is actually constraining you?

Track your hours for a fortnight, split between selling and everything else. Most solo brokers discover that a large majority of their time goes to document collection, lodgement, lender follow-up and settlement coordination - work that generates no new business and requires no credit authorisation.

That is the constraint, and it has an obvious fix. A loan processor absorbs that work, which returns your hours to client conversations, which is where settlements come from.

A second broker does something different: it adds capacity you then have to feed with leads, plus supervision obligations, plus a commission split. If your lead flow is not already exceeding your capacity to write, a second writer makes the economics worse rather than better.

What does the sequence look like?

Most brokers who fail at scaling skipped to stage four. The result is two brokers competing for one broker's worth of leads, with the principal now also carrying supervision responsibility.

What changes when you employ someone?

More than the payroll. Three categories of obligation arrive at once.

• Employment. Award coverage, superannuation guarantee, leave entitlements, workers compensation, payroll tax above the state threshold, and correct classification - treating a full-time worker as a contractor to avoid these is a well-known and expensive mistake.
• Credit licensing. A second person providing credit assistance must be appropriately authorised - as a credit representative under your licence, or under the aggregator's. You are responsible for supervising them, and their conduct is your exposure.
• Privacy and data. More people with access to client identity documents and financial records means access controls and training become necessary rather than optional.

Practically, document your process before you hire. A written checklist for each stage - what is collected, in what order, what is checked - is what makes a new processor productive in weeks instead of months. Brokers who keep the process in their head end up doing the work twice.

And plan for the income dip. The first hire costs money immediately and returns it over months. Have the buffer to survive the gap, or the hire fails for cash reasons rather than performance ones.

Frequently asked questions

Should I hire a processor or another broker first?

A processor, in almost all cases. Processing work is what consumes a solo broker's time, it is cheaper to hire, and it requires no credit authorisation. A second writer only helps if lead flow already exceeds your capacity.

Does my loan processor need to be a credit representative?

Not if their work is administrative - collecting documents, lodgement, follow-up. Once someone provides credit assistance to consumers, they need appropriate authorisation. Where the line falls matters, so confirm with your licensee.

What does a first hire cost?

Beyond salary, budget for superannuation guarantee, leave entitlements, workers compensation, payroll tax if you exceed the state threshold, equipment and software licences. Expect the total cost to exceed the headline salary meaningfully.

How long before a hire pays for itself?

Usually months rather than weeks, since there is a training period before productivity arrives. Have a cash buffer to cover the gap - hires most often fail for cash flow reasons rather than performance.

Related reading

• Cost Per Funded Deal: The Metro Broker Maths
• Trail Book Valuation: What Your Business Is Worth
• Lead Quality vs Lead Volume

Sources

• Credit licensing: Responsibilities of licensees (RG 205) — ASIC
• Employer obligations — Fair Work Ombudsman