Attendees at the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia’s (MFAA) 2025 National Conference gathered for a high-energy panel on how to scale a successful brokerage.
The session – dubbed the "You, the Business Driver! Broker Panel" and moderated by conference MC Yvonne Adele – featured Elouise Dooley, co-founder and director of Sydney-based brokerage Two Birds One Loan, alongside Nick Reilly, founder, chief executive officer and managing director of Melbourne-based financial services firm Inovayt Group.
Dooley founded Two Birds One Loan with Alissa Childs roughly seven years ago. The duo, friends since they were teenagers, had children around the same time and were looking for a way to balance motherhood with their careers. Reilly, meanwhile, after having been in the financial services industry for more than two decades founded Inovayt in 2007.
The two industry veterans pulled back the curtain on how they built their businesses. Here are the standout insights.
Building a successful brokerage starts with having the right people on your team. From client-facing brokers to support staff and leadership, each team member plays a critical role in delivering value, driving growth and building lasting client relationships. A well-aligned, high-performing team can transform a good brokerage into a market leader, the panelists said.
Nick Reilly: "The biggest challenge is finding that talent and then being able to retain it. So, how do you attract the right people, and then give them the opportunity to grow? What are they looking for in your business? And then second, retaining them. Particularly now, in our industry, where people get maybe two years in, think they know everything – which they know a lot – have a client base, have referrals, and most people then want to do it themselves, post two years.
"You really need to know what people want and your business. And it's not all about money for a lot of people. We're very active in review processes. We're very active in unpacking where people are on their own journey, not just within our business. Because if you can get to the core of what people want, then you can provide them with the right opportunities in your business."
Elouise Dooley: "I think attracting the right people is really, really hard. And then once you've got the right people, it's how do you retain them? How do you foster them? How do you make them feel loved? How do you make them feel like their career is progressing as well? We have a look at, particularly for the two ladies that work in our office, they've got very different skill sets: one of them is really numbers-focused. Another is really good at managing our overseas team. And then we've got another lady that's come back from maternity leave, and she just works three days a week. But she is amazing at customer service. So we were able to mold their roles a little bit into what they were really good at. We were able to sort of adapt their roles based on their skills. And that worked really, really well for us.
"We love the girls. We all go out together. We make sure that we do a quarterly dinner; make sure that we catch up, because it is busy. It is heads down, thumbs up when you're in the office. So, it's really important to make sure that you do step away from the office, and make sure you do the little things that matter. Like throwing them out to get their nails done every now and again. [Or] have a look into incentive schemes. Take [into consideration] all those little things that create and foster a really nice work environment."
In a competitive market, offering the right mix of products and services is key to differentiation. For brokerages, this means identifying the specific needs of their target clients and tailoring solutions that meet those needs better than anyone else. Whether it's specializing in first-home buyers, self-employed clients or complex commercial deals, a focused product and service strategy allows a brokerage to carve out a distinct niche, build a loyal client base and position itself as a go-to expert in that space. So is having the right support systems in place.
Reilly: "When we're trying to build a business, it's obviously all about clients. Where we're at now [in our firm's growth story] is [thinking about], what's the lifetime value of our client? And what can we afford to spend to attract those clients? That's been our strategy for a long time now.
"[Also], we bring in experts and give them a path to ownership."
Dooley: "Alyssa and I specifically, we are always reaching out to other brokers, asking them how they're running their businesses.
"A few years ago, when we both had our children, our wheels properly fell off. We had more business than we could handle. We both had three kids under four. Our husbands were working full time, and at that time, we just needed help, and we didn't know what to do. So we actually engaged a business mentor. And to this day, we still depended [on her], like we used her originally. Now she just acts as a sounding board. So we come to her with different business ideas and ways that we want to structure. And she has so much experience in so many different fields. So we find that asking someone external, who's not a party to the business, is really, really helpful. And just getting that external validation, or getting them saying, 'yes, no, maybe, don't do that' is really helpful."
Decide where you want the firm to be in the future. A clear vision is the cornerstone of sustainable growth. For brokerages looking to scale, it starts with defining where you want the firm to be in the future. Whether that’s expanding into new markets, increasing loan volumes, building a specialised client base, or becoming a leader in a specific niche. Having a long-term goal not only provides direction but also shapes day-to-day decisions around hiring, marketing, operations and client service.
Reilly: "You just really need to decide what you want to do with your business. Because once you start bringing other people in, your role changes in a big way. If that's not what you want to do, you need to maybe bring someone else, someone else in to help you. But the first question I'll be asking is, where do I see myself in this business? And, am I the right person to provide the growth and provide the support for people coming in?
Dooley: "You need to delegate and let go. There are so many things that we do in this group that could be done by an admin team. You really just need to be doing that upfront piece. And once I think that's done, you can let it go. For me in particular, making sure that all of our comms is perfect, and making sure that there isn't anywhere that the wheels can fall off, really helps me to be able to let go of that and trust the team to go and do it.
"Also, ask people for referrals. You don't get what you don't ask for. And make sure your social proof and currency, your websites, your marketing, are up and running. That's what makes our business thrive."
