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Mitch Marescia, Camargue
Underwriting Managers |
Mitch Marescia is CEO and co-founder of
Camargue Underwriting Managers, one of South Africa’s most successful niche insurance underwriting
agencies, which he started from an idea hatched in a gym steam room in 2001.
From two staff and big dreams, Marescia now employs 35 people and runs a sustainable business that's transformed the insurance industry.
Have you always been entrepreneurial?
Can
you grow an entrepreneur or are they born? I’d like to think that people can
acquire many of the entrepreneurial skills needed to run a business as they
mature, and as they become more confident in themselves and find their place in
the world. I definitely think there are certain characteristics of being an entrepreneur
that you can identify in people from a young age though. Take a look the kid at
school who makes sweets at home to sell to his peers, or offering to carry an
elderly woman’s shopping bags for money… and often that kid grows up to be an
entrepreneur. I was certainly one of those kids; I always saw a buck around
every corner. I’d work in our neighbours’ gardens and do almost anything to
earn a few bucks.
What were you doing before starting your
business?
Blessings
and direction often come in many disguises. Some of my best
motivators have
often stemmed from very negative experiences. Whether it was an employer that I
disagreed with, or a business partner who let me down, these situations became
good spurs for me to do something different. So prior to starting my first
business, MGM Corporate Solutions, I was the Vice President of operations for
AIG Africa. Although I learned a tremendous amount while with AIG, I quickly
reached a point where I couldn’t stomach the internal politics that come with
being part of an international corporation, and so started my own
consulting
business which was reasonably successful… and it was a big risk. Camargue’s
birth came about when I tried to help a friend who needed work.
What kind of planning went into starting
the venture? Big business plan or none?
That’s
a good question. People often make the mistake of thinking that a business plan
is going to be the magic answer to running a successful business. But the plan
is only one element. Whether it’s a plan written down on one page or it’s a 21-page
document, a plan is essential. But more important than having an idea is having
vision and passion. Often the passion around the idea is more important than
the plan. If you have both, you’ll definitely survive a lot of initial start-up
trauma. A plan is important, but you need to work your plan with passion.
What was your start up capital and where
did you set up office?
We
started up in a little office at home… on my couch to be more accurate. In
fact, truth be told, the entire idea of Camargue was conceived in a steam room
at the
Virgin Active in Bruma! So space, and place and geography aren’t always
important to starting up a successful business. From the couch, we migrated to
a “broom cupboard at Hollard”…
Hollard, who were our very first big supporters,
gave us a little office that we squeezed into. We literally had zero start-up
capital, but did have a loan account that peaked at about R2.3 million, and
that was paid off after three years.
What was your big dream for this venture?
We
wanted Camargue to be an idea – not a place, not a physical space, not a
product. We started with the idea of living differently, engaging with your
society differently, operating in the economic space differently and aimed at bringing
something of value to the market. This ultimately became our sustainability
approach. When we looked at insurance, we realised that we wanted to turn it on
its head. I came from a business empowering consulting background, and although
I was very familiar with insurance, my business partner was the underwriter. I suggested
putting the business empowering element ahead of the insurance – with insurance
being the final part of the jigsaw – and that approach lead to our success. Our
approach was later known as the “blue ocean strategy” by some industry gurus, but
we were using it way back then.
How does a new entrepreneur find business
leads and profit from them?
Door-to-door.
You’ve got to just keep knocking on those doors! You actually have to pound the
pavement and then resole your broken shoes and continue knocking door-to-door. Whether
it’s meeting people in a coffee shop, or knocking on a client’s business door,
you have to do whatever it takes to meet as many people as possible and one
lead will eventually lead to another.
How does a new entrepreneur figure out what
makes them unique and leverage that difference?
It’s
such a personal journey. We were very fortunate to have started our business
within a niche market of the insurance industry. So it’s a case of identifying
what you want to be; do you want to offer a service or product to the mass
market or do you want to be in a niche – offering a value-added service and product,
where these are less price sensitivity? This decision will often dictate how
unique you are and how unique you can afford to be. You know what you want to
bring to market, so the question is – how do you make it unique?
How does a new entrepreneur figure out what
to charge for their service/product?
Be
serious about what it’s going to cost you to produce your product or develop
your service, and don’t forget to include your time! A lot of people forget to
add their own time to the cost of developing their product or service. Once
you’ve established those basic costs, add on what you feel is a comfortable
mark up, and this will be based on your projected volumes to make a living out
of. Then you have a reality check and you find out what your competitors are
charging for the same thing. If your product or service is significantly different
and sexy – you can then afford to be less tolerant of price. So, you have to
look at all your costs and add 100% mark-up – maybe more – and then look at what
the rest of the market is doing.
If you could give yourself any advice back
then, what are your top wisdoms?
If
you asked somebody 10 years after starting a business: “If you’d known what you
were going to go through, would you have commenced on the journey?” their
answer might be “no”. I believe that blissful ignorance and raw passion upfront
is often what gets you to start something and it creates a momentum. If you
knew the pain you were going to go through in year two and even in year three –
you might not choose to embark on your journey. That’s also how you discover –
through pain, friction, conflict and trauma – your tenacity and that’s how you grow.
So, I’d want to stay blissfully ignorant. The most important wisdom for any
entrepreneur is to choose your principles and your ethics… choose how you want to
operate your business. There are all sorts of challenges and temptations out
there, just like the classic “tenderpreneur”. Today people are so desperate to
get work and business… you have to decide if you’re going to make that first
bribe or not. You have to decide where your value system lies and whether
you’re willing to compromise and lastly, do not confuse motion with progress!
What was your most epic fail in the early
days? How did you work through/solve it?
The
person I backed to start the business with was not the correct partner for me
and vice versa. That was my biggest fail. That being said, if that person
hadn’t presented, I wouldn’t have taken up the business and turned it into the
success it currently is. Today 35 people have permanent jobs, we’ve just
started up an internship programme that will no doubt change many more lives, we’re
contributing to the development of skills within the industry through our
academy programme for brokers, and then there’s our people development drive where
we’re actively involved in various charity works. Our network of people and
partners across the globe is just so encouraging and none of this would’ve
happened if it wasn’t because of that epic fail.
What are the two biggest/most common
mistakes that new entrepreneurs make?
Many
entrepreneurs confuse cashflow with profit, and they battle to separate their
personal finances from business finances.
How do you keep yourself motivated?
When
I first started the business somebody said to me: “When you put yourself out
there, when you take a risk and take a chance and you’re feeling purely
motivated – you put something in motion – and the universe has a way of
rewarding you”. That little piece of wisdom kept me going during the lonely
moments. But I also noticed that when I walked down the aisles in a supermarket,
and while I was sitting around the airport, I’d find far more people like me on
this planet, who had taken a chance… and that’s ultimately how you start
forming natural networks of people who are going through similar challenges.
Often, this newly acquired network of entrepreneurs keeps you motivated and
then there’s your personal “stuff” – and I say stuff loosely, because it
includes everything that constitutes you.
Did you have a mentor?
We
definitely all need mentors and they come in different forms. A mentor doesn’t
have to be a business associate or somebody that you met in business; they
could also be your church minister or a teacher. The big thing about being an
entrepreneur is that it’s a lonely space and a lot of focus is put on personal
management. You can either choose to be a person who sits on the couch and
watches DStv all day long, or you could be the other extreme and be up at 3am
doing reports. So it’s very important to learn how to properly manage yourself
– so that you’re performing at your best. A phrase that was put to me early on
by somebody was as follows: “At any point in time, do the most productive thing
possible”. When you’re in the waiting room at the doctor, or in the car,
wherever… use that time to do something productive. This is definitely the best
time and personal management advice you’ll get. This of course includes rest.
Every driven entrepreneur needs rest. If you’ve chosen to rest – go and rest!
To rest is often the most difficult thing for entrepreneurs to do.
How long does it take for a venture to get
off the ground, in your experience?
I
think three years is a good time to get a business off the ground. Within two to
three years you’d know whether you’ve got relevance in the market or not. You
might not be making money, but if your offering is valid, you should be approaching
break-even by year three. By year five you should start enjoying the cream of all
your hard work. If things aren’t going to plan by year three – you should
consider tweaking your business strategy, and start questioning if you’re in
the right business at all. In some cases, it’s obvious after six months that
your venture isn’t going to work… like selling ice to Eskimos.
Is it ever alright to give up on a dream?
No!
Dreams are what keep us inspired beyond the everyday, and it’s often when the
biggest
dreams are pursued that they produce the most amazing results for you
and for society. If anyone told the
Wright Brothers that they shouldn’t be
flying – it was their dream to fly like birds – then today we wouldn’t be able
jet-set around the world! And there are many more examples like that. If it
wasn’t for
Steve Jobs we wouldn’t have touch-screen technology.
Do you believe in internships for your
business?
We
certainly believe in internships. There’s nothing better than learning a craft
by sitting next to a
professional who’s done it before. You can’t replace that
experience. In fact we’ve just started an internship programme here at Camargue!
Interested candidates are welcome to approach the Camargue Academy, which is
headed up by
John Stebbing who will conduct an interview.
