N1 Finance & Lease is the 10th placer in this year's Top 10 Independent Brokerages.
N1 FINANCE & LEASE
Established in 2011
Based in Sydney, NSW
Managing director: Ren Wong
A new entrant to our Top 10, and one of the most dynamic brokerages out there, N1 Finance and
Lease are not afraid to try new things. “In the last 12 months, we’ve done two different things,” explains director (and number seven in our Top 100 Brokers) Ren Wong. “We’ve focused on our digital strategy, and we’ve diversified into other areas of finance – car loans, equipment finance, financial planning and accounting.”
Diversification helps with client retention, and they’ve taken on new staff to help with the transition, including a qualified accountant, planner and other specialists. When it comes to lead generation, the launch of a new Chinese-language comparison site for Australian finance – possibly the first of its type – has made a significant difference. Notably, the leads it has brought in have mainly been from Australia, according to Wong: “They don’t actually come from overseas – we don’t do any marketing in China. They mainly come from Australia, although we do get some leads from China.”
Whilst N1 Finance were established in Sydney, Wong is finding that “more
and more [leads] are coming up from Melbourne; in the last two weeks, we’ve seen some from Brisbane”. In fact, they now have a broker based in Melbourne, and the clients they’re getting are looking to buy locally. Wong is confident in being able to attract clients nationwide. “The clients we’ve
spoken to don’t actually care about being local; it’s more about reputation,”
he says. That reputation has certainly been on the rise recently, Wong adds. “There’s a bit of luck in there, and good timing; the market is good and we do the right thing, and luck strikes.”
N1 Finance also do things differently within their office; all their brokers and staff are PAYG, the only brokerage to do so in our Top 10. Wong says this model “gives us more control … everyone works in the office, and we have the same way of doing things; we work nine to five, Monday to Friday”. Wong admits the system does have its drawbacks – namely, that you have to pay everyone “no matter how many deals they have”. Nevertheless, they’ve been running their PAYG model for two years now and aren’t looking back.
In many ways, N1 Finance and Leasing, with their unique approach to broking, are a good example of why brokerages should go independent. Wong himself used to be in a franchise and can see the difference. “It’s more about building your own brand. It’s more control, I would say … running your own business, you can do things your own way, without any restrictions.”
Established in 2011
Based in Sydney, NSW
Managing director: Ren Wong
A new entrant to our Top 10, and one of the most dynamic brokerages out there, N1 Finance and
Lease are not afraid to try new things. “In the last 12 months, we’ve done two different things,” explains director (and number seven in our Top 100 Brokers) Ren Wong. “We’ve focused on our digital strategy, and we’ve diversified into other areas of finance – car loans, equipment finance, financial planning and accounting.”Diversification helps with client retention, and they’ve taken on new staff to help with the transition, including a qualified accountant, planner and other specialists. When it comes to lead generation, the launch of a new Chinese-language comparison site for Australian finance – possibly the first of its type – has made a significant difference. Notably, the leads it has brought in have mainly been from Australia, according to Wong: “They don’t actually come from overseas – we don’t do any marketing in China. They mainly come from Australia, although we do get some leads from China.”
Whilst N1 Finance were established in Sydney, Wong is finding that “more
and more [leads] are coming up from Melbourne; in the last two weeks, we’ve seen some from Brisbane”. In fact, they now have a broker based in Melbourne, and the clients they’re getting are looking to buy locally. Wong is confident in being able to attract clients nationwide. “The clients we’ve
spoken to don’t actually care about being local; it’s more about reputation,”
he says. That reputation has certainly been on the rise recently, Wong adds. “There’s a bit of luck in there, and good timing; the market is good and we do the right thing, and luck strikes.”
N1 Finance also do things differently within their office; all their brokers and staff are PAYG, the only brokerage to do so in our Top 10. Wong says this model “gives us more control … everyone works in the office, and we have the same way of doing things; we work nine to five, Monday to Friday”. Wong admits the system does have its drawbacks – namely, that you have to pay everyone “no matter how many deals they have”. Nevertheless, they’ve been running their PAYG model for two years now and aren’t looking back.
In many ways, N1 Finance and Leasing, with their unique approach to broking, are a good example of why brokerages should go independent. Wong himself used to be in a franchise and can see the difference. “It’s more about building your own brand. It’s more control, I would say … running your own business, you can do things your own way, without any restrictions.”
