Husband thinking of selling our business and becoming full time CAT adjuster.....good idea?

Question

My husband and I are co-owners with my hubby's brother and his wife of a ServiceMaster. The business is doing very well. We have owned it for about 7 years and turned it into a profitable business w/ about 15 employees. During the Florida hurricane season a couple of years ago my husband & his brother became licensed insurance adjusters and went to Florida to help with the claims. They went again last year and even some this Spring to finish up some claims that needed to be redone from last season. We have discovered that CAT adjusting can bring in more profit than ServiceMaster can in a year! However, with ServiceMaster there is job security year round. My husband has to wait on calls for CAT adjusting and then he can only go to places in which he is licensed for.

He is thinking about selling ServiceMaster & going into CAT adjusting as his career. Are their any CAT adjustors out there that think this is a wise decision? Or should he keep his already successful business?

My husband worked for Crawford during the Katrina Hurricane in Florida. That's where he got the idea of selling the business and doing CAT adjusting full time. He made such great money with Crawford. I guess I'm just a little afraid that CAT adjusting is so reliant on catastophe's whereas ServiceMaster is reliable on a daily basis. Can CAT adjusting pay the bills for the next 50 years? Will it provide good insurance? Can it send our 3 children to college? These are some of the things we are discussing.

Answer 1

I am not a CAT adjuster so sorry for the non-direct answer but selling is definitely an option -- is it possible to make the servicemaster more self-running so he can explore the CAT adjuster more?

Can he hire a manager level person and be taken out of the day to day management?

I have a client in the same area (remediation) and it's a great business with high margins. I would hate to see you sell it unless there is clearly a better long-term decision.

Answer 2

I specialized in heavy libility and litigation for twenty years, but when there was a catastrophe loss, everyone became a CAT adjuster, including me. I didn't know how to write the estimates myself, but I knew how to work a camera and paid small claims from estimates and appraisals.

You should check with some of the independent adjusting companies like Crawford and Company if they are still around. Maybe someone there can help you with the requirements. Or perhaps you can work with them for a while to get basic training on how they do it.

Many Insurance companies hire their own staffs. But lately, there seems to have been plenty of work to go around.

Answer 3

I agree... why does it have to be one or the other... if it is running, let it keep running you can start to take over a little more and hire someone to keep it going and then you can be there to oversee it, while he is doing the CAT and then if it doesn't work out at least you still have a profitable biz... Also if you are interested in some tools that could help you make your biz even more profitable contact me directly. I help protect and grow small business for a living... Good luck with what ever you decide to do..