LEADER -- A measured approach

Mark Bouris is one of the mortgage industry’s most successful pioneers, and now the host of Australia’s highly anticipated new show The Apprentice. In an interview with Mortgage Business’ Jessica Darnbrough, the financial wizard speaks frankly about his approach to business, people and life.

When iconic Aussie entrepreneur Mark Bouris was approached to host the first Australian season of The Apprentice, it was an opportunity too good to pass up.

“The chance to recruit a business development manager over a 10 week period really appealed to me,” says Bouris, the high-profile founder of Wizard Home Loans and Yellow Brick Road.

The show has given Bouris a unique opportunity to assess his future employee: their leadership skills, creativity, and general client / colleague interaction.

But unlike his American counterpart, the intimidating and somewhat sadistic Donald Trump, Bouris says he has not injected any overly dramatic tone or false bravado into his new role and is happy just to be himself.

Being himself has, after all, taken him pretty far.

The rise of Mark Bouris is well documented. Growing up in the working class Sydney suburb of Punchbowl, Bouris completed a Masters in Commerce in the 1970s, learning about capital markets and buying and selling securitised mortgages.

In 1996 Bouris founded Wizard Home Loans and built it into one of Australia’s most successful non-bank lenders.

During his days with Wizard, Bouris was responsible for championing competitive interest rates – undercutting the major lenders and insisting they make transparent to consumers the true cost of their loans. He played a big part in persuading the state governments to legislate to make compulsory the publication of ‘comparison rates’ in all home loan advertising.

After almost a decade running one of the country’s most lucrative businesses, Bouris sold his share in Wizard to GE Capital in 2004 – a move he credits as one of his “biggest successes”.

Today he heads up financial services advisory business Yellow Brick Road. One of the philosophies of the business is that wealth creation is not about “chasing the highest return” but tailored strategies to suit the individual.

In Bouris’ view there is considerable pent-up demand for reliable and trustworthy financial advice and a real need to help Australians plan for their financial security.

“Yellow Brick Road does not just target people with a high net worth – we target all Australians because everybody deserves simple, sensible and rational advice,” says Bouris.

Bouris is in the throes of expanding the business and is currently recruiting for the 50 plus branches he hopes to open by the end of 2010.

The self-made millionaire has some firm guidelines on recruitment and insists on meeting every branch manager.

“The branch managers need to be more than just qualified,” Bouris says.

“They have to be passionate, educated, driven and have that certain ‘X’ factor. At the end of the day, they are more than just a business owner, they are a brand and what they say and how their business performs is a direct reflection on that brand and on me.”

Bouris says it is imperative that business owners know their staff and understand their ambitions.

Similarly, Bouris believes it is important to understand your own ambitions and expectations. In one of his recent books, he cites self-investment as a key part of any business.

After working flat out six days a week for thirty years, Bouris says it is important to “take time for yourself every now and again”. He admits that while he hasn’t been able to adhere to his own advice of late, his work is enjoyable. “It’s not pressure work, it’s fun work.”

Another piece of advice Bouris readily gives is to “never invest in what you don’t know”.

Bouris learnt this lesson early. In his early twenties, he borrowed around $8,000 for the sole purpose of investing in the share market.

“At one stage those shares were worth $80,000. Of course, as luck would have it, a few months down the track everything went sour, the company was de-listed and I lost the whole lot.”

Though painful at the time, Bouris says his mistake helped him to grow as a businessman.

“I didn’t know anything about the company I was investing my money in. I think when you are young, you do something because it seems like a good idea at the time.

“Since then I can honestly say I have never invested in something I do not understand.”

Bouris’ business savvy has helped propel him into the ranks of the $100 million Club five times over.

But despite his achievements, Bouris feels his biggest success is yet to come.

As he describes it: “life is a marathon, not a sprint.”

“Being a good businessman is all about patience and endurance,” he says. “Patience is pivotal. I would describe myself as a very patient man.”

Bouris has endured various ups and downs in his career but maintains it was patience and a splash of luck that helped him build his success.

Of course, he says the true measure of a man’s success is not defined by “how much money he makes, but by the family he raises.”

“Money is there for a purpose and you can’t take it with you. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be and it brings with it its own set of problems,” he says. But Bouris is proof that with the right attitude, financial success can be enjoyed – and well deserved.