Happy Birthday to us!!

30th September 2011 and after a month of preparing and relaxing we turned on the lights of The Manning Valleys' newest Service Provider. 2 years ago today the business began with so much flare and fan fare that everyone missed it. In fact aside from some family the only person who knew we were open was Photography by Linda's Linda Bryant as we were booked in for mug shots. 

Whilst 30th September was the official opening day the origins of the company go way back. We looked at options about 4 years earlier and came close to starting the company on The Gold Coast where we were living. We loved The Coast and had some good friends there. From a business perspective there's an Insurance broker in just about every suburb so it didn't make sense to us to try and make a sustainable business in a saturated market. Nikki's family have been long term residents of The Manning Valley on The NSW Mid North Coast. We would visit a couple of times a year and as the years went on it became harder to leave. We also saw big opportunities in this area. It is a growing region but has minimal local insurance agents and many of those around are in the later phases of their career so the timing appeared right. 

We moved to The Manning Valley in August 2009 and worked as employees for a period whilst looking at opportunities to open our own doors. We had a long term relationship with Insurance Advisernet (IAA) who is a group of approximately 150 Authorised Representatives Australia Wide and at long last a opening arose and we purchased own our agency. 

Oh how time flies. On 30th September 2011 we had a laptop on our dining room table. This laptop then moved to the study then into our formal lounge room. (Which we never used) So it took about a month or so until the formal lounge room became our base. We made it usable by putting in proper lines and wiring, desk, printer, guest chairs, the works. It was a good position for our early months. Our presence in the local business community was non existent for basically the first 12 months. We spent most of the time operating in other areas and getting to know the clients. It was a rewarding time  and gave us a great opportunity to refine our value proposition before becoming more prominent on The Manning Valley. Establishing key relationships during this time was so important. It meant we could hit the ground running and be confident in knowing where opportunities were and who the decision makers in various sectors were. Whilst challenging it was a blessing and helped with our growth in the 2nd year.

It was about July 2012 that we embarked on setting up an office in the town of Taree. The perfect location above the RTA was available and after walking through a place that resembled a 70's ski lodge we decided that this would be the home of IAA on The Mid North Coast. Transforming the ski lodge into a modern and welcoming office became a personal challenge as instead of getting trades in to do it, we decided to do most of the work ourselves with the help of a family friend. Having only painted a couple of bedrooms in our life turning this into something people would like to visit was daunting. It was about 6 weeks of late night work, noise, dust, noise, mess and oh, noise. But what a result! Around this time last year the office was complete and is now well known and well frequented. A launch party with about 30 family and local business people was held in November 2012 and some of the scars on the wall are still visible.

This past 12 months has been seen the company grow dramatically. Not just top and bottom line growth which is generally used as the measure but with the connections and reputation within the community. We have always positioned ourselves as 'Business Partners in the protection of your business.' It's a role Insurance Agents need to believe in and promote to clients. It's not just turning up and handing over a renewal notice, it's educating on risks within your business. The radar of risk within modern business is constantly changing with more legislation and greater emphasis on use of on line processes and procedures. Traditional policies may not pick up potential claims in this area so businesses need to be aware. OK so not everyone will pay for new policies or broader cover but unless you are told about them and what they can do to your company you're not given the chance to make that decision. 

Part of our role in educating has been to speak infront of groups.This year we have presented information sessions infront of a number of businesses and most recently at a Chamber of Commerce meeting. Clientele may come from these but more importantly the community is getting the information it needs to make informed decisions. It also enhances our reputation and value proposition of being your 'Business partner.'

Over the weekend we celebrated the 90th birthday of the matriarch of the family Dot Shultz. What a celebration it was. So big it forced Jay to miss his beloved Hawks win the AFL Premiership. It put alot of things into perspective about life and business. We're only 2 yet hearing the stories of the many entrepreneurial activities of Nan Shultz and the late Pop was humbling. Here is a bright spark of a 90 year old still going strong yet for most of her working life juggled raising 2 sons and opening a number of businesses in and around The Manning Valley. Her finger prints are all over so many businesses in this area many of which some of us knew nothing of prior to the weekend.

Nikki - being her grand daughter - has had this same entrepreneurial for as long as many can remember. The amount of times Nik says 'I've got an idea' is immeasurable. When we got together the ideas flowed and continue to do so. It's inevitable that Nik was to own her own business and writing this on our 2nd birthday is testimony to Nan Shultz and the drive and ambition she placed in her family.

So like any 2 year we still toddling round the house making cute noises but with the mind like a sponge, absorbing everything around us and finding out what we can do to get ahead in the world. The Insurance side of things is not a problem much like networking and relationship building. It's the bills, the taxes, the compliance, the marketing and so on so on that we continue to tinker with and get used to. It's great to have good like minded people around you which we have been fortunate to work with. From simple service providers to accountancy, legal and marketing, we're been blessed to have such a great team. 

IAA Mid North Coast is here for the long haul. We love our role in the community and being able to do what we enjoy in such a fantastic part of our world. Thank you for your support during our infant years. Here's to many more.