July is an important month of retrospect for me. First, I get to celebrate the birth of my lovely wife! Second, I get to celebrate the birth of this wonderful nation. Third, I get to look back to the beginning when I started my company. Twelve years later I can reflect on the good and bad. So how did we get here? In the spirit of celebrating American independence, I figured I would share the story of how we got here today.
My roots are in premium financing. In fact that is how most of us met. Premium financing is the afterthought of insurance but it is extremely necessary. When you are buying insurance you have three options. Pay in full, pay a monthly bill directly to the insurance company, or premium finance. Premium financing is simply an insurance loan that is used when the insurance company doesn’t offer a direct bill payment option.
Another unique characteristic of premium financing is that they talk to everyone in the insurance transaction. It’s their money so they talk to all the parties. This vantage point into insurance distribution is what launched BindDesk. Since premium financing was not needed until after the insurance product was sold, I figured what better way to get more premium finance business then by offering the insurance product.
In 2007 I partnered with Mike Russ Financial Training Centers, a Southern Californian insurance school that was responsible for licensing a large portion of the insurance producers for over 30 years. I wrote continuing education courses like Commercial Insurance 101, How To Complete Acords, Workers Compensation 101, and I even rewrote a 40 hour Pre-Licensing Course for Life Health and Accident.
My mission then and still continues to be “Helping the insurance industry become more efficient. We will achieve this by educating the marketplace of advances in technology as well as improved Best business practices. It is also our vision to connect industry leaders and professionals which will ultimately improve the insurance distribution chain. Our experience in sales, marketing and business development covers the entire spectrum of insurance distribution and we are committed to developing long-term, mutually beneficial business relationships.”
2010 saw a radical shift in the way insurance was being transacted, specifically contractors insurance, which we happened to specialize in. The past 9 years have been all about refining the business process and assembling the right team to push forward while staying true to my original mission. Next week I’ll share with you some failures and successes that laid the foundation for the next chapter in this amazing story.
