Entrepreneurs are key

It is a case of eat or be eaten for today's broker entrepreneur; a survival of the fittest regime in an industry that introduces new technology constantly and has witnessed the birth of consolidation. Risk-takers have been brought to the fore and I salute them.

As a huge supporter of the entrepreneur I observe with fascination and admiration just how focused and success-hungry they are. Looking back to the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, a lot of the entrepreneurs we see in broking today started their careers in an insurance company where they felt they were tied-up by bureaucracy, a lack of speed and other environmental pressures. It was perhaps no surprise that these people decided to leave it all behind and head to the "other side."

For employees to leave the comfort of the corporate security blanket in order to set up alone is a decision I have found to be of great personal intrigue, perhaps because it is far too a daunting prospect for me to contemplate undertaking myself. They put their personal savings into start-up businesses, often re-mortgage their homes and, through bloody-minded determination have gone on to become multi-millionaires in some cases. More curious still is that, in talking with them, they still look at insurance companies as corporates to be admired.

I have a genuine interest in the psychology of the entrepreneur and real empathy for what makes them tick. What I find most fascinating is that, for all their success, wealth and power, they still long to be desirable to the insurance world. Yet it is the likes of me who hold the real admiration; their influence genuinely drives my behaviour.

The industry continues to evolve as a new breed of entrepreneur enters the market. Old ones die and new ones spring up; it is a very left-field game. I cannot say where it is going, but I do know that independent brokers can grow quickly with such small set-up costs. They can also be big today and small tomorrow. What evolution means effectively is that nothing stands still, and as long as these guys continue to take three steps back and five forward the industry will be kept well and truly on its toes.

Entrepreneurs working in a dynamic market with changing consumer behaviour and new, sophisticated technologies form a rather potent and exciting combination that deserves our collective attention.