I read an Economist article of the story about two men filming a lion for a wildlife documentary. The lion suddenly looks up. The men fear they have been spotted. One of them slowly removes his boots and puts on a pair of running shoes. “You will never outrun a lion in those,” says his colleague. “I don’t need to outrun the lion,” replies the first man as he slowly ties his shoelaces. “I just need to outrun you.”
This strikes me as how some people think about their competitors. Not me.
I was speaking to a client on Friday who had used a rival broker – good people, impressive website, wide product range – but they had not worked in banks and never lent to a business. My decades of front line experience sponsoring lending transactions inside big banks and membership of credit committees, means that my conversation with the client and lenders is naturally distinctive.
There is room for both approaches in the market, because we often deal with different funding requirements. Best advice is that if a proposal is not a good fit for my experience and connections, I will make sure that a client is carefully introduced to a firm that can deliver.
What about the lion? That was just a Billy Connolly story.