Childhood Friends Become Franchise Business Partners

Marianna, FL. (PRWEB) June 30, 2014

Lifelong friends and Marianna residents Travis Ephriam and Tavares Horne wanted to extend their friendship into a business partnership for years. After searching, the pair discovered the unique opportunity with Brightway Insurance that allowed them to use their skills and grow an independent insurance agency business without previous insurance employment experience.

Ephriam and Horne now operate a new Brightway Insurance store at 4389 Lafayette St., Suite A in Marianna.

"We knew we wanted to start a business together and we began looking into options available to us in Marianna," Horne said. "Insurance was a great option for us as it's something that everyone needs, and we wanted something that would sustain us for many years."

Horne is no stranger to running his own business; for the past five years he owned Tri-State Power Washing. Prior to that, he was a business and government representative for Alltel Wireless. He holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from the University of West Florida.

Ephriam worked as an instructor for three years at the Federal Correctional Institution in Marianna, where he helped prepare inmates to take and pass the GED. With a background in education, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in history education from Florida A&M University and a master's in education leadership from the University of West Florida.

"In my research, we found that there were a number of opportunities in the independent insurance industry, yet none compared to Brightway," said Ephriam. "With the other agencies, getting carriers would be difficult for us without backgrounds in insurance. Brightway provides the training and resources that we – and our customers – need to be successful."

The central office handles service transactions, carrier relationships and technology for the agents and their customers while Brightway's independent insurance agents focus on growing their books of business. As a result, Brightway agents consistently sell more new personal lines policies than other independent agents.

"Tavares and I wanted a business that we could pass down to future generations," Ephriam explained.

Both Ephriam and Horne are eager to provide the people of Marianna access to competitive insurance carriers and exceptional customer service.

Brightway Insurance has 108 locations throughout the U.S. today. The company has earned recognition from Entrepreneur Magazine as the No. 1 insurance franchise in the country (2013), from Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the country (2008-2013) and from Franchise Business Review as a "Top 50 Franchise" (2012, 2013). Inc. Magazine also awarded Brightway its Hire Power Award, recognizing the company as one of the top 100 job creators in the U.S. (2012, 2013). For more information, visit http://www.brightway.com or call 888-254-5014.

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