Basketballer-turned-broker Brendan Scotter has been building his business Commercial Point Finance rapidly. He sat down with The Adviser to chat about how he’s been building his team.
How and why did you become a broker?
I started broking in 2011; so going on 12/13 years.
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I’ve worked for myself essentially for about 25 years and I was a sales and marketing consultant for building products. But before that I was a teacher.
I’ve always liked the commission-only or brokerage-only model because essentially you’re not held down with regard to your incoming earning capacity. It’s a great challenge.
I like the idea of commission-only or brokerage-only, growing your own business, running for yourself … I was keen for a change and that’s why I left teaching.
What type of loans are you writing at the moment?
Asset finance; the average business will be looking for asset finance (depending on their industry). So, we start with the equipment finance relationship and loans, but stay aware of many different products in the field. It branches from there because you get to know them really well and all of a sudden [they] need a mortgage or [they] need some cash flow because [they’ve] got a crop that they have to put down … We can look after that.
If you could be king of the industry for the day, what would you change?
One of the things that I think makes a huge effect on business is credit scoring.
As a broker, we’re having to reach out to different lenders and every time the lender is hitting their credit file for an inquiry to make sure they’re creditworthy. That’s normal practice, but the crazy thing is that the algorithm that is set up behind it all reduces their credit score each and every time. So many lenders base their decisions very strongly on the credit score of the director or the beneficial owner of the business.
I’ve got clients that are fabulously successful, but have a 500 or even under-500 credit score. But you’re scratching your head because they’re a ‘gold brick’ client and if they’re just in one of those unlucky industries, they need lots of different transactions. But, if you’re in an industry that doesn’t do a lot of transactions, you’re fine, you got a 900 score. That’s just unfair.
You’ve brought ex-sportsmen Matthew Hodgson and Tom Rockliff into your team. How did that come about?
I’ve now got three in my team and another one knocking on the door, but all of them have approached me.
I’m a bit of a sucker for mentoring, I enjoy the challenge … [but] I’m going to teach [them] how to fish, I’m not going to feed [them]. That’s because I want to see them grow.
The best thing about being an ex-sportsman is that it transfers well into business. They’re very coachable; they know how to take instruction, run a game, and plan. Any sportsperson would have lost selection into teams because they would have had an injury. That type of resilience is what you really need and that's what I was inspired by.
But they have to be their own proprietary limited entity and their own business.
What are your top tips for other brokers looking to start their own broking business?
Find a good mentor.
Work with your lenders. Your business development managers are a great source of learning and support because they’re obviously going to try and want to get the deal as much as you.
Be prepared mentally for the fact that it’s hard, but it’s extremely rewarding. The best feeling you can ever have is to look back on a deal or a great month (or year) of hard work and see the results and realise you did it out of thin air.
It really puts a smile on your face and [makes] you realise you genuinely have a great deal of effect on people’s lives.
If you want to find out more about Brendan Scotter and Commercial Point Finance, tune in to the Elite Broker episode, How Brendan Scotter has made equipment finance a slam dunk, below:
[Related: How Brendan Scotter has made equipment finance a slam dunk]
