It’s already a year since Mark Vanzo, Founder and Managing Director at SMART Business Insurance, joined EO Melbourne, and since then, he found the experience helpful to his entrepreneurial journey.
“I help business owners cover their business risks and assets so they can sleep at night while working their businesses and enjoying life,” Mark describes his role.
Mark shares more about himself through our Member Focus Series.
Q: Can you give a brief background about you, your family and your business?
I’ve run my own business since I was 27, which was EXACTLY 27 years ago, and founded www.smartbusinessinsurance.com.au 9 years ago with the vision to be the “go-to” broker for small business owners seeking GUIDANCE, ADVICE and SUITABLE cover REMOTELY.
I’m fortunate to share my life with four beautiful, fast, smart and engaged women: my wife, Ruzi, and daughters, Natalia, 24, Alana, 21, and Bella, 16. They keep me motivated.
Q: What inspired you to be an entrepreneur?
I’ve always been CURIOUS and never accepted the status quo.
With the businesses I’ve founded, the typical customer journey didn’t make sense to me, given the technology available.
I thought there were gaps in the market, opportunities to do things better, and scope to serve the customer better.
Q: What do you enjoy most about being an entrepreneur?
As an entrepreneur, I have no trouble finding the motivation to get up every morning.
It’s awesome to create something from nothing.
To start with the clients' needs, a blank canvas and a vision, then over time, develop and refine an offering and systems that empower our team to provide a great service to our clients, is magnificent.
Q: What are the biggest challenges you have faced as an entrepreneur?
(One of the challenges is) starting my businesses from scratch and bootstrapping them. Cash flow in the early years is challenging. When cash is low and stress levels are high, decision-making is more difficult.
Building out a great team who works collaboratively was not easy in the early years of my current business.
A softer challenge I’ve found, as my businesses have become established, is to hold myself to account and to stay as innovative and as focused on growth as I was on Day 1.
Q: Why did you decide to join EO?
The current President, Damian Blumenkranc, whom I have known through the business for a long time, suggested it would be a good idea...and it has been.
My motivation for joining EO was to see what fast-growing businesses run by a new generation of business owners were doing, and what new technology they were using.
EO, via the EO forum and shared learnings, is providing the framework to refine www.smartbusinessinsurance.com.au positioning and use of technology.
Q: Can you share a golden nugget that you learned from another entrepreneur or mentor in the past?
“Life is growth. Business is growth. You grow or you die.” - Phil Knight, Nike