I absolutely refuse to give up, in business or when competing in a marathon.”
But you back yourself and you never give up. When I started my first business I was so broke I owed so much money and the only thing I could do was borrow more money. While participating in triathlon events has taught him more about skills such as planning, focusing, preparing and strategising, Mike believes it was his 15 years of being an entrepreneur that prepared him mentally for triathlons. It’s hard to believe that the super fit, trim and muscular Mike was once, by his own admission, a chubby, 13-year-old bookworm with no interest in sport, whose mother talked him into swimming, found he loved it and never looked back. “Although I am not always sure if it was business that prepared me for triathlons, or the other way around.” So what makes for achieving success on this scale? Is there any analogy to be drawn between preparing for, and competing in, an event like Ironman and achieving success in business? The founding directors built a team of 127 advisers and support staff, and had over R1.308-billion invested funds under management on behalf of 429 clients. As at 30 September 2015 they had already opened fully regulator-licensed offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Harare and Mauritius with partnering arrangements in London and elsewhere. But just one year into building their dynamic wealth management company they had more than doubled that target and initial expectations. They had initially hoped to build three offices with 50 staff, managing R500-million in assets in their first year. Their race, and the dream, paid off beyond all expectations. Craig and his initial team began with no registered company, no licence and no premises. That was the start of another gruelling race. Not only did Mike complete his first Ironman in good time, but by the end of the race he knew he would join Craig, now group managing director of Carrick.
And that is just what he did while swimming, cycling and running the tortuous, life-sapping distance. I had 15 hours to decide the rest of my life,” Mike recalls. “Management was approached by the CEO and was given the option of going with Craig or staying.
#Reading level lost in the storm carrick full
Three days before his first full Ironman event in Port Elizabeth he learnt that colleague, mentor and manager Craig Featherby was leaving the company they were working for at the time to start a new business venture. Just ask Cape Town-based Carrick Wealth’s Group Operations Director, 42-year old Mike Fannin, who has completed some 20 triathlon endurance races including two Ironman 70.3s (half- Ironman to the uninitiated) and one Ironman 140.6 (full Ironman). Well, perhaps they are no “crazier” than people who leave their steady, well-paid jobs because they are driven to pursue their business dream – often with no money or even an office to work from, and with little more than an idea and a plan. Ever wondered about those crazy men and women who compete in gruelling triathlons such as Ironman – successively swimming, cycling and running impossible distances with their veins bulging, muscles pumping, eyeballs almost popping out and sweat spraying in all directions?