This Is How I Would Build a Brokerage from Scratch, Today
Sam Panetta lays out the six-stage hiring roadmap he would follow to build a brokerage from zero to $10M+ months: when he would hire, who he would hire, and why.
Six hires, in order, from pay-per-file support at $0–$2M to a broker team at $10M+. Each step frees you up for marketing and sales while the business becomes systemised.
1) When, who and why
Every stage answers three questions: when to hire, who to hire, and why.
- When: the monthly volume you’re writing.
- Who: the role that comes next.
- Why: what it frees you up to do.
2) Stage 1 ($0–$2M): pay-per-file support
In the early days, writing up to $2M a month, Sam would hire pay-per-file support. It’s cost effective, and it gives you time for marketing instead of working in the back end.
- Cost effective.
- Your time goes into marketing.
- Get your message out so people know you exist.
3) Stage 2 ($2M–$4M): an offshore processor
At $2M to $4M a month, hire an offshore processor to start systemising the business while staying cost effective.
- Start systemising.
- Still cost effective.
4) Stage 3 ($4M–$6M): offshore settlements
At $4M to $6M a month, go offshore again for settlements. You’ll fluctuate between marketing and delivering, so you need helping hands to avoid getting bogged down in the deals.
- Keep systemising.
- Don’t get bogged down in delivery.
5) Stage 4 ($6M–$8M): offshore credit support
At $6M to $8M a month, add offshore credit support. You’re now managing a team that processes deals, gets them settled and supports the sales process.
- Systems, systems, systems.
- You start managing a team.
6) Stage 5 ($8M–$10M): an onshore office manager
With consistent cash flow at $8M to $10M a month, hire an onshore office manager. They own systems, responsibility and client relations, connecting the back-end team with clients and overseeing everything.
- Someone to oversee it all.
- You stay on sales and marketing.
- You can take a holiday and the buck doesn’t stop with you.
7) Become a one-touch broker
At this point you’re a one-touch broker. You market and sell, and the entire delivery of the home loan process is handled by the team you’ve built.
- You market and sell.
- The team delivers everything else.
8) Stage 6 ($10M+): a broker team
Beyond $10M a month, decide whether to build a broker team or stay a one-touch broker. If you build one, it’s to take the sales off your plate.
- A real decision, not a default.
- Brokers take sales off your plate.
9) The six-step hiring roadmap
If Sam built another mortgage business, this is the order he would hire in.
- 1. Pay-per-file support.
- 2. Offshore processor.
- 3. Offshore settlements.
- 4. Offshore credit.
- 5. Onshore office manager.
- 6. Broker team.
The simplest version of the playbook
Hire in stages as volume grows, systemise the back end with cost-effective offshore support, add an office manager to own delivery, and only then decide whether to build a broker team.
