Bruce Silberman had owned his own business designing custom cabinets for 32 years when the economy slowed and business became sluggish. With two sons headed to college, Silberman realized that he needed another source of income. Entering the mortgage business wasn’t his first choice, but a friend of Silberman’s convinced him that it was a good way to make the extra income he needed to support his family. Silberman became a mortgage banker in 2008.
For eight years, Silberman juggled mortgage banking and his cabinetry business, which he’d founded when he was just twenty. A few years ago, he decided it was time to sell his first business. He says, “I have been a full-time mortgage banker for three years and haven’t looked back since. This is a business that takes a full-time focus to be successful in.” At 65, Silberman is building a new career in his role at Jersey Mortgage Company and is finding success. “Retirement is not a word I can spell!” he says.
Silberman has created trusting relationships with key people – realtors, certified public accountants, and lawyers. With the help of his SCORE mentor, Jayne Jacobson, Silberman says, “I’ve hit earnings goals I’ve never done before. More importantly, I’ve been able to repeat the same goals and have gone above and beyond.”
Silberman first started working with SCORE 13 years ago, when he was running the cabinetry business he’d started at age 20. Jacobson helped him develop a solid plan of action for increasing revenue and growing contacts, but the financial crisis of 2008 got in the way. Since then, Jacobson has guided Silberman in setting up and growing his business as a mortgage banker, where he is now exceeding his goals.
Silberman says, “Having started my own company at a tender age, I would advise most people to do the same regardless of age. There’s nothing like being responsible and disciplined to control your future earnings and successes.”