Embracing Failure: The Hidden Key to Freedom for Mortgage Brokerage Owners

By Ash Playsted | Recludo Group

For many of us who have spent years (even decades) building a mortgage broking business, the idea of 'failure' is like a dirty word. We're trained early on to associate success with control, predictability, and winning. Anything less? Well, that's unacceptable.

Or so we were taught.

Today, I want to challenge that. In fact, if you're serious about moving from a mortgage broker to a true business owner — one who enjoys time freedom, financial independence, and a thriving, saleable business — you must not only accept failure.

You must embrace it.

Why? Because the greatest freedom you can achieve in your business journey is only available on the other side of fear.

Let's talk about how.

The Fear That Holds Most Brokerage Owners Back

When I sit down with brokers who have built successful practices, there's usually a point where the conversation turns from technical to personal.

"Ash," they say, "I'm comfortable writing loans. But letting go — building a team, scaling the business beyond me — what if it doesn't work?"

It's a fair question.

In our world, fear of failure often disguises itself as 'being cautious' or 'waiting for the right time.' But more often, it's paralysis dressed up as prudence.

The problem is, staying where you are guarantees you'll stay trapped — working harder and harder to maintain your success, while real freedom remains out of reach.

Fear, if left unchallenged, is the very thing that keeps you from achieving the next level: where your business works for you, not the other way around.

Failure is a Feature, Not a Flaw

Remember when you learned to walk?

You stood up, wobbled, and promptly fell on your backside.

Did you think, "Clearly walking's not for me. Better stick to crawling for life"?

Of course not. You got up, tried again, and before long, you were running circles around the furniture.

That's the model for business ownership, too.

Every time you:

• Hire a new broker or admin and it doesn't work out...

• Launch a marketing campaign that flops...

• Implement a new system that causes chaos before it creates order...

— you're not failing. You're learning to walk.

The goal isn't perfection. It's progress.

And progress is messy.

7 Steps to Overcome Fear and Build a Truly Free Mortgage Business

Here's what I've learned from my own journey — starting, building, and successfully exiting multiple mortgage businesses — and what I now teach our Recludo partners:

1. Get to the Root of Your Fear

Fear of failure is rarely about the failure itself.

It's about what you make it mean.

Maybe you believe that if you hire the wrong person, you're "bad at leadership." Or that if you step back from writing loans and profits dip temporarily, you've "made a huge mistake."

None of that's true.

Fear thrives in vagueness. Clarity kills fear.

Ask yourself:

• What exactly am I afraid will happen?

• What would I do if it did?

Most times, you'll realise you can handle a lot more than you think.

2. Fail Your Way to Success

Every high-performing mortgage brokerage you admire today once had an owner sitting in your chair — wondering if it was all going to fall apart.

The difference?

They kept moving.

They fell. They stood up. They fell again. They adjusted. They kept the vision front and centre.

"Failure" became data, not defeat.

You don't build a thriving, free, valuable business by avoiding failure. You build it by refusing to let failure stop you.

3. Learn From Every Setback

When a recruitment doesn't work, or a partnership fizzles, or your P&L tightens during a growth phase, the first question to ask isn't:

"Why did I mess up?"

It's:

"What is this teaching me?"

At Recludo, we treat every stumble as an audit opportunity.

• What systems were missing?

• What conversations needed to happen earlier?

• What expectations needed to be clearer?

Each "failure" refines your model. It sharpens your leadership. It strengthens your business.

If you let it.

4. Redefine What 'Failure' Means

Failure isn't when you make a mistake.

Failure is when you give up on your vision.

That's it.

If you stay in the game, if you adjust, if you get better and wiser each time — you haven't failed. You're on your way.

The only "fatal" error is quitting on yourself and your business before the seeds you've planted have had a chance to grow.

Stay the course.

5. Focus on What You Can Control

You can't control market conditions, client interest rates, or recruitment trends.

You can control:

• The culture you create in your business

• The clarity of your vision and communication

• The investment you make in systems, training, and yourself

Focusing on these elements gives you real power — the power to influence outcomes over time.

We see this every day in the mortgage brokerages we partner with: those that build strong foundations aren't thrown off by temporary storms.

They might sway, but they don't snap.

6. Change the Story You're Telling Yourself

Many brokers — especially successful ones — have an identity tied to being the best.

The "I write $100M+ a year" badge is worn proudly (and rightly so!).

But here's the catch: to become a true business owner, you must tell yourself a new story.

"I am building a business that thrives without me."

"I am investing in leadership, systems, and succession."

"I am playing the long game."

Your identity must evolve before your business can.

And yes — that evolution will be uncomfortable. That's how you know it's working.

7. Be Patient on Your Journey to True Freedom

I say this all the time:

Growth feels like chaos before it feels like control.

Expect it.

Plan for it.

In the early stages of moving from broker to business owner, you may earn less, work harder, and feel more vulnerable.

But stick with it.

Soon, the team gets stronger.

The systems hum.

The leadership capability you build becomes your greatest asset.

And you wake up one day to realise: you have a real business. Not a highly-paid job.

Freedom.

Final Thoughts: True Freedom is Worth the Fight

At Recludo, we partner with mortgage brokerage owners who are brave enough to embrace this journey.

Not everyone is ready.

That's okay.

But if you are — if you know in your bones you're meant for more than working harder and harder for diminishing returns — then understand this:

Your greatest obstacle isn't the market.

It's not your team.

It's not your clients.

It's your fear of failure.

Conquer that, and you can conquer anything.

Your journey to freedom starts the moment you decide that falling down isn't the enemy.

Staying down is.

So get up. Dust yourself off. Take the next step.

Freedom is waiting.

At RECLUDO, our mission is simple: to work alongside ambitious Australian Mortgage Brokerage Owners to grow independent, prosperous, valuable businesses. If you're ready to accelerate your value creation journey, let's talk.

In your corner,

Ash Playsted
General Manager, Broker Performance
RECLUDO Group