I have had a busy, busy week, travelling to appointments and finally launching the new brokerage. Finishing with regulated business, my notice period at Citri ended on the 28th March. I purchased a new business computer (well that was the idea but I ended up with an IPad), and I'm pleased to say that new business enquiries this week have been coming in thick and fast, with my first success on the purchased leads experiment.

  So I'll start with my success on my travels this week, in fact my only out of office appointment was at a lead that was purchased for a fiver from finance leads online, the 9th I’d purchased but the first I’d actually appointed. his Chinese lady is just set to sign a 15-year lease on this, her 2nd Chinese takeaway; she has let out her first one to long term tenants. The client  intends to stay put in this one, she's built the business up over the last 2-years to a turnover of around £1,500 per week. Her management accounts look great, and very unusually both the client and the vendor have agreed that they'll both abide by an independent surveyors valuation. The purchase price, that's the bricks and mortar OMV, they estimate is around £140,000.   Although she has a small amount of savings she is hoping for 100% funding, and with two other properties with a substantial amount  of equity I assured her that it was possible. So the client signed up and paid my fee of £295 minus the leads, which cost to date £45, has seen me £250 up, in addition to the completion fee which is still to come in, so one happy broker on that exercise.   I've now left the regulated world, for good I hope. I'm all for rules, professionalism, and a code of conduct etc, but regulation treats us all like foolish children. I used to fume at media reporters pulling advisers to bits whilst they're writing columns in the financial press and probably earning more for little effort than the people they are ridiculing for charging fees, and earning commission.   As for the FSA, well they lost the plot years ago, they've been responsible for spending millions of pounds of tax payers’ money trying to get the regulatory system correct. The problem here lies with the fact that most of what they were ‘correcting’, wasn't wrong, the wheel they're inventing was invented years before, and yes there has been some bad apples in the business, but isn't there in every business?   I've waved goodbye to the atrocious number of exams that I used to have to sit. As an IFA it is ridiculous, exams after every budget and annual exams on the four categories; pensions, investments, protection, and mortgages. These are all internal exams to add to the mandatory minimum qualification exams, and those are requiring more and more preparation beforehand, if they are to be sat and hopefully passed at the first attempt. The cost alone is extortionate.   However the thing I’ll really miss most (NOT) is the annual assessment where two experienced, fully qualified advisers, had to sit and present business to each other while some compliance body sat on guard marking off the mandatory points as they were complied. With about 200 mandatory points in the sales process, what a load of garbage!! Do they feel the public really want this? Well, I don't at the sharp end; I know all they want is top quality products at the right price, presented in a friendly but professional manner.     Goodbye and good riddance to compliance…   So to finish this week I’d like to open up a debate on the pro's and con's of the ipad when compared to a laptop. When doing the day to day running of our business, this is after following sales pitches, and demonstrations from knowledgeable sales staff at such places as PC World, I opted for the ipad. I just wonder if any of you that are reading this blog have made the same decision; any tips will be welcomed.           I've downloaded 2 apps from the store, one called "numbers" for spreadsheet work, and one called "pages" for documents, letters etc, and in my first weekend using these apps, I'm extremely satisfied. In fact they are far better than the laptop I’d been using when you look at the options they offer, the on screen help, and what they are capable of delivering. I haven't found a filing system yet for documents, but do I really need one? I get scanned in documents emailed to me and pass them on to lenders the same way I can scan and print the same, and I have note pad, contacts, and calendar, not to mention on screen email and internet browsing. So I’m feeling quite smug with my decision, especially as it is so portable and workable, in it's little leather coat inclusive of wireless keypad to add to the on screen keyboard, connected by Bluetooth.   PERHAPS NEXT WEEK I'LL BE BANGING MY HEAD AGAINST THE WALL, WE'LL SEE.