POULSBO — After almost two decades of working for insurance companies, Dan Weedin decided it was time to be his own boss.

In August 2005, Weedin started Toro Insurance Consultants out of his home and has been helping businesses and individuals with their insurance needs ever since.

“It was the right time in my life and also in my career to do this,” Weedin said.

With experience as both an insurance underwriter and an agent, the insurance business is one he knows well.

In any transaction there are three entities: the insurance buyer, the insurance agent and the insurance company, he said.

“Two of the three know a lot about insurance,” Weedin said. “The insurance buyer doesn’t. I wanted to tip the scales the other way.”

Purchasing insurance of any kind can be difficult, especially when two or three companies are competing for the business, he said.

“Business insurance can be very complex,” he said. “It has a lot of different angles and things people don’t know about.”

As an insurance consultant, Weedin said he is able to help his customers successfully find the right insurance for their business or themselves individually for a flat fee.

Because he doesn’t represent any insurance company, he doesn’t have to follow any rules other than his own, he said.

“I am able to offer my opinion, and it’s all up to me as to what I recommend,” Weedin said.

That recommendation is based on his extensive knowledge of the insurance industry and his clients’ particular needs, he said.

Those needs vary with the size of each business, which is his speciality, but Weedin said he works with individuals as well.

“Hopefully I have something to match everybody’s budget,” he said.

With clients in both King and Kitsap counties and as far away as California, Weedin said leaving Little Norway has never even crossed his mind.

“I love Poulsbo,” he said. “My family and I have been here for 13 years.”

Because of the nature of his business, Weedin said he has the ideal work environment.

“I work out of my home, which is the perfect situation,” he said. “I don’t have to have a storefront.”

Thanks to modern technology, Weedin said he is able to do everything from home with no worries.

His company’s name is a tribute to his Colombian heritage and also symbolizes his goals as a consultant.

“It is a symbol of strength and it also conveys to my clients that I’m going to work hard for them,” Weedin said.