Mario Bekes

The biggest fear for Mario Bekes when he first went into business was calling potential clients. Not because he feared the word ‘No’ or getting a knock-back, but because he feared they wouldn’t understand him.

As Mario recalls, “English was my fifth language at that stage and mine simply wasn’t very good. On one occasion I attended a networking event and a gentleman told me bluntly I’d never be successful. When I asked him why, he said I needed a speech therapist, saying my English was so poor I’d never succeed.”

Rather than setting Mario back, that forthright comment from a man who is now a client of Mario’s, motivated him to do something quite exceptional. He decided to write a book “on Corporate Business Intelligence because that was my strength, but as much as I was writing the book I was also learning to improve my English.”

Mario proudly recounts that “I even had help from my son who would often tell me: ‘no you don’t say it that way, you say it like this’. It was my son who inspired me to write the book.” Mario self-published one hundred copies of that book and it helped launch his career.

Even in his birth country of Croatia people purchased the book and it has since sparked a passion in Mario for writing. To this day his accent is still very strong, and he can sometimes be difficult to understand in conversation but he doesn’t hide from it, instead seeing it as a badge of honour, rather than an issue.

“The Australian people have embraced me, there’s no country like Australia” Mario states. “Of course you’re always going to find the odd person who will try to sabotage you, that’s just part of life, but that just encourages me even more.”

Life today in Australia for Mario Bekes is totally unrecognisable from the life he lived in Croatia, where he was kicked out of home at the age of fourteen.

That was on Christmas Eve 1986. Mario remembers that “I had come home after playing in the street with my friends and went inside to have dinner when I was told to go. Both my parents drank a lot and my father was very abusive: he’d punch you in the face just for fun.

“There wasn’t a lot of money coming in and I was just an unwanted expense. Luckily my grandfather, my mother’s father, was a lot more loving and he lived not far away in Yugoslavia. He agreed to take me in, feed me and educate me. He was a high-ranking official in the secret police, so he was quite important.”

Mario admits “it was a time in my life when I was quite rebellious – I was stealing from shops; I was roaming the streets picking pockets; I was really mixing with the wrong crowds.”

Under the guidance of his grandfather, Mario was able to get his life on track and by the time he was eighteen there was hope for the future. Then on the 14th July 1991 a knock on the front door changed the direction of his life forever.

The Military Police had arrived and “said it was time for me to begin my national service in the Federal Army. The war of independence had started and I was quite excited because for me at that time democracy meant McDonald’s, Coca Cola and Levi’s Jeans.

“For the next two years I worked for free in the army. Then I started to get promoted and in total I spent five years in combat.”

Eventually, that had its own issues for Mario. He describes one moment “during the war when I was leading a party waiting to ambush the enemy when the priest arrived and said it was time to pray. That was at a stage when I was really fed up because it had become a religious war rather than a war for independence.

“Then when we arrived at the ambush position and saw the enemy soldiers doing the same thing with their priest I thought, ‘who’s right?’ I mean, what’s right and what’s wrong; you start to become numb.”

After the war, Mario had visions of settling down and raising a family. The Government, however, had other ideas for a man they deemed a war hero.

One day “I was in a coffee shop with some friends when a woman walked in, came straight up to me and asked if I was Mario Bekes. I said ‘yes’ and she handed me an envelope. Inside the envelope was a train ticket to the capital and an appointment with the Department of Foreign Affairs.

“They knew I was single, with no kids and no obligations and they were rewarding me for my service by enlisting me into the intelligence services.”

Soon after his enlistment, Mario was transferred to Australia and after a short time became bored and lonely in Canberra. A request to be relocated to Sydney was granted and that’s where he found love and made another decision that would be a defining moment in is life.

After fifteen years in Government service Mario decided it was time to move on. As he notes, “I knew I had gone as far as I could and wanted a new challenge. But finding another job wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be.

“Eventually I landed a job with Game Securities and life was great. I was married, had a son and I was very happy. Then on 19th February 2008, I walked into the office sipping my coffee and for the second time in my life I was handed an envelope.

“Unlike the last one, this one wasn’t offering me a job; it was ending one. The GFC had hit and I was told to clean out my desk.” Mario was then forced to do one of the hardest things he’s ever done in his life; “I had to go home, face my wife, Teresa, and son and tell them I didn’t have a job.”

For months he looked for work, but there were no security jobs. “I couldn’t even get a job as a cleaner. There were so many ‘Marios’ on the market I thought I’d never get another job.”

The low-point for Mario was walking into Cash Converters to sell jewellery and the last of his son’s Thomas The Tank Engine toys. “I’ve been in some tough situations and don’t often cry, but I cried that day.” he admits.

That was the day Mario decided to start his own business. “I went home and told Teresa and she said okay. She’d been so supportive, we had very little money and to be honest the marriage was on shaky ground because of the financial pressure, but she still supported me.”

Mario recounts one story to illustrate the point when “we had already lost everything including our home. Teresa was driving back from Chatswood and the car engine exploded. It was in the middle of the evening peak-hour and she blocked the entire M2 motorway.”

Mario’s family was his driving force and, even as the situation worsened, he refused to give in. He was determined to continue; “I just knew if I was persistent I was going to find a way. My plan was to start my own security business and I said to my wife I need nine-hundred dollars for the licence, to which she replied, ‘we have only twenty dollars’. That’s when I humbled myself and sought help from friends who raised the nine hundred dollars.”

That seemingly insignificant amount had a huge impact and launched Insight Intelligence; a company which has gone on to become a premium provider in investigative solutions. The company’s services range from insurance company claims to crime investigation and surveillance.

Mario likes to tell his prospective clients “I don’t offer a package solution for your unique problem. I give you a unique solution for your unique problem and they like it because not every investigation is the same.

“Communication between clients, myself and my staff is the most important part of what we do. I tell my staff all the time, always think how you would react if you were the one going to court. In fact my KPIs for this business are all around my clients, because if a client stays with us I know that will create more business and that means we’re successful.”

Success didn’t come immediately for Mario though; the language barrier was holding him back and building a client base was slow and tedious.

He recounts that “In the beginning I wasn’t very confident. I believed in what I was doing; I knew I was good at it and I believed I deserved more. I knew I had to learn the language, learn the culture and learn to understand the people.

“As much as I needed the money I knew success wasn’t about chasing money, it was about serving my clients.”

On one occasion “I met a client for coffee and I went there with just twenty dollars in my pocket. I couldn’t afford to waste the money on coffee and cake for myself, let alone him as well, as I needed to buy my train ticket to get back home after the meeting. So when it came time to pay I lied. I said I was sorry but I left my wallet at home.”

That man did become a client – in fact a long term client – and many years later Mario confessed saying “I told him how I hadn’t been honest in that first meeting and he said, ‘I know Mario, I know you lied, but it was okay’. I think it highlights that success isn’t about money; it’s about the relationship you develop with your clients.”

Mario truly believes that “every lesson has a value I can pass on to my clients. There are so many things broken in me that nobody can fix, but one thing that makes me happy is when I produce results for my clients.”

Another lesson Mario learned along the journey was to never relax. Just when you think life is “roses and wine, something or someone will put up another obstacle,” he comments.

“Given the injuries I had suffered in the war, I couldn’t have children in the normal way, so my son Matteo is an IVF child and that was another expense we incurred. He was a blessing, though, and for me it was a very special moment.”

What wasn’t known at that stage was that Matteo was born with epilepsy. Further to that “he had a health issue at eight years old and also developed a kidney problem. So many things were happening but I thought, ‘you’re going to fight this Matteo, don’t give up’.”

To give himself and Matteo strength, “I drew on my own experiences as a child and even my time in the war. That’s the worst thing in human society, but my belief is you can endure as long as you can see the key objective at the end.

“I would say to him: ‘my son, you don’t know what tomorrow has in store, take nothing for granted’. I reinforced the importance of living your life and to not let people tell you what to do. Trust in your own beliefs and believe you can achieve.”

Mario relates it to the difference between being on autopilot or being actually flown by the pilot. He adds “be the pilot in your life. Steer the plane on your own. I think too many people live their lives on autopilot.”

Mario credits his grandfather for instilling values in him which have been instrumental in guiding him through all the obstacles he’s endured. “He was a very honest man: he was hardworking; he believed in family and loving the people in your life,” he states simply.

Looking back to his teenage years being brought up by his grandfather, Mario now realises, “I never really understood his challenges. He was a child of the Second World War; he grew up in a communist environment and to be honest I don’t think he really wanted me to go into the military. But he loved me unconditionally – he believed in me and when you believe in someone it’s amazing what they can achieve.”

If it wasn’t for that love and belief Mario could easily have ended up alongside many of his friends who fell into a life of crime. It was a tough time as the Iron Curtain was coming down in Eastern Europe and for many the easy option was to follow their friends.

Mario looks back and wonders how his life could have been very different. While he wishes there hadn’t been so much turmoil, especially in his younger days, he firmly believes it’s made him into the person he is today.

He can proudly say “today I’m grateful, truly grateful for the experiences in my life. From a life perspective it’s made me a better person, and from a business perspective the lessons have been invaluable.

“I think every entrepreneur should fail many times, because every failure is a lesson from which you learn and I’ve had many, many lessons.”

ADVICE
Mario Bekes has built a very successful business, against all the odds, and openly admits he made many mistakes along the journey. But he’s turned each of those mistakes into a lesson and freely shares those lessons with anyone who is prepared to listen.

“Firstly, understand that once you embark on a mission to be successful as a business owner it is a long process and results won’t happen overnight. You will hit many obstacles and you’ll be tempted to give up. Don’t!

“Make sure you start with good legal advice and contracts and seek advice from those you trust. Trusting people can be difficult so make sure you find the right people.”

Mario also adds that “your personal support network needs to be rock solid too, and my wife Teresa is that rock for me. Without her I wouldn’t be anywhere nearly as successful as I am today.”

And finally he ends with one which might be a big obstacle for many, “but don’t go into business with a partner, investor or shareholders. You need to do it on your own and know you can do it by yourself. Remember it’s your idea, your hard work and ultimately your success. Everything else is Option B. Go into your business with just one option – Option A.”