Start — For Captive Agents & Producers Going Independent
Most new agencies fail on economics: thin carrier access, base-only commissions, no leverage. OAA members launch with national appointments, five layers of income, and a coach who has taken captive agents to ownership for over twenty years.
The Startup Problem
A new independent agency starts at the bottom of every carrier's ladder: minimum-volume thresholds, entry-tier commissions, no profit-sharing eligibility. The book you write in year one earns less per premium dollar than the same book would earn inside an established shop. That gap compounds for years.
OAA closes it on day one. As a member, your new agency writes through the network's carrier contracts — top-tier base commissions, profit-sharing participation, and bonus layers that solo startups never see. You own the book. You own the codes. You compress the years of earning your way up into the day you join.
Technology, AI & Coaching
The systems question is the one nobody warns a captive agent about, and it is the one that quietly decides whether year one is survivable. These decisions are already made here.
Management system, rater, quoting, and the integrations between them — already chosen and already running across 180+ agencies. The single most expensive mistake a new agency makes is the system it has to replace in year three. 5
You are about to be sold a lot of it. OAA runs the evaluation and tells you which tools are actually production-ready for intake, service, and renewals — and which are a demo with a sales team attached. 5
In year one you are the producer, the service team, and the accounting department. Workflow and automation work is aimed at keeping that survivable until it is a real staffing decision rather than a panic. 5
Roughly 34 scheduled classes a year plus additional sessions, OAA-led and SIAA-led, split by state and line of business — plus a coach who started an agency and remembers what month four feels like.
Working with 6
The Launch Path
This is the path OAA has run with new agencies since 2003 — the year we pioneered the captive-to-independent transition model.
Before anything else: what your book (or your future book) is worth inside OAA versus outside it. Carrier access, commission tiers, profit-sharing eligibility — sized to your situation.
A real agency business plan, built with coaches who have launched hundreds of agencies — including the financing introductions to fund it.
National carrier appointments through the network from the start — the markets a solo startup typically waits years to earn.
Agency management systems, service support, marketing motion, and guidance on your first hires — so you sell instead of drowning in setup.
An OAA Agency Growth Coach with you through launch and beyond. The model OAA pioneered in 2003 for captive-to-independent transitions.
Your Starting Point
Bring your current book, your carrier list, or just your premium goal. We'll map the carrier lineup, the income layers, and the launch timeline for your specific situation.
Talk Through Your LaunchIs Start Right For You?
Started With OAA
Situation
New independent agency. The classic startup wall: carriers won't appoint you without volume, and you can't build volume without carriers.
OAA Support
Immediate access to national carriers through the network, plus coaching from people who had started agencies themselves.
Outcome
Launched with the carrier lineup of an established agency — and a coach on call for the issues every new owner hits.4
Read More Member Stories“OAA allows access to carriers I would otherwise not be able to obtain immediately. It is also very nice to have people who have been in my position assist me with the issues of starting and running my own agency.”
Tracey Talley · Wall Street Insurance, LLC
What You Keep
Every client relationship is yours. OAA is a network, not an owner — membership never puts your book on someone else's balance sheet.
Your appointments are written in your agency's name. You keep the direct carrier relationships you build through the network.
How you staff, price, and run your agency stays yours. The leverage is shared; the control is not.
And if you ever decide to leave
Membership is a partnership, not a trap. If the math ever stops working for your agency, you leave with your book, your codes, and your direct appointments intact — the same things you walked in with, plus everything you built. The exact notice and transition terms are spelled out plainly before you ever sign, and we'll walk you through them on the call.
Take the First Conversation
Tell us where you are — captive, producer, or already filing the paperwork — and we'll tell you exactly what launching through OAA looks like for your book. No obligation. Confidential.