"Before investing endless time and money into a new venture, you need to make sure that you have a plan that is set up to succeed" with Vic Lance
/
Vic Lance is the President of Lance Surety Bond Associates, Inc. He holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Villanova University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. Being a former officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, as president of Lance Surety, Vic now focuses on educating and assisting small businesses throughout the country with various license and bond requirements.
Can you tell our readers about your background?
My name is Vic Lance. I’m a former Marine Corps Officer and combat veteran of both Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2010, I became an entrepreneur, and for the past decade have been running a nationwide surety bond agency based out of Pennsylvania.
What inspired you to start your business?
I had always been intrigued by the prospect of starting my own business and being in control of my own destiny. Becoming an entrepreneur isn’t for everyone, as it comes with significant risk, and no guaranteed salary or paycheck. But with the risk comes unlimited upside potential. The adventure and pride that comes from building a successful company from scratch was something that appealed to me. By providing surety bonds, our clients are primarily entrepreneurs themselves, from all corners of the US. I have been inspired by their countless start-up stories, and feel privileged to be able to support them in the process.
Where is your business based?
We are based out of southeastern Pennsylvania, but serve clients in all 50 states.
How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?
Starting my business did not happen overnight. While Lance Surety Bond Associates, Inc. officially began operations in June 2010, I actually began working to create the business two years prior in 2008. While I was working on my MBA from the University of Michigan, I identified an industry that I felt was potentially underserved (online surety bonds), and began to build a business plan to try to capitalize on that opportunity.
For an online business, having a well-designed, informative website is an absolute must, as it's your interface with potential clients. Website content and creation was an early task that had to be completed before launching the business. Over the next two years, in my spare time, I researched bond requirements throughout the nation and built out the initial version of our website. Once I left the Marines and completed my MBA, I was ready to begin operations within just a few weeks.
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?
In our early years, the most effective way to get the word out about the benefits we offer was simply by picking up the phone to try to connect with brokers that I believed could profit from our services. This wasn’t always easy and took a lot of persistence. When you’re a start-up, you don’t have the luxury of an established reputation or name-recognition, so it can be challenging to get your foot in the door. If you’re determined enough and are able to present a strong value proposition, you can make it happen.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
As an entrepreneur, I’ve seen my fair share of adversity. Like much of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic caught us all off guard and forced our business to have to make some major adjustments on the fly. Due to state-mandated closures, we had to have all of our employees go from working out of our actual office space to operating remotely from home virtually overnight. This was a major undertaking, but based on prior contingency planning, we had already put some of the groundwork in place to allow us to make the transition without disrupting service to clients. Living in the northeastern US, we have had to deal with unexpected power outages in recent years, and as a result, knew what was required to allow key employees to work from home. When COVID-19 closures were ordered by our Governor, we were fortunately prepared to take quick action to comply, and ensure the safety of our staff.
How do you stay focused?
As a business owner, maintaining a strong focus and a sense of direction is critical. This can be quite challenging as you can find yourself juggling multiple tasks and being pulled in various directions on any given day. At Lance Surety, we have adopted Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) that have greatly helped company leadership remain focused on our big picture objectives. In addition, I regularly refer to and update my personal To-Do List, as it’s very easy to find yourself off track.
How do you differentiate your business from the competition?
Our product, surety bonds, are an insurance-related financial instrument that most businesses have to purchase to comply with state or federal license requirements. It’s not exactly glamorous, and often can be viewed as a nuisance by customers that are told they need to get bonded. By focusing on the customer experience, we have strived to differentiate from the competition in a number of ways. Our ongoing investment in an advanced software platform has allowed us to offer a faster, easier user experience when applying for or purchasing a bond. Additionally, we have hired additional staff to provide on-going support, such as claims management, so our customers can have superior support after the point of sale. Our goal has always been to offer the best possible customer experience combined with ongoing support that goes above and beyond that of the competition.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
As we’ve grown over the past decade, we have focused more time and effort on building digital assets stemming from our website. We’re in sort of a niche industry that can be confusing to the public, so building unique, high-quality content combined with useful licensing guides has been a great way to bring more visitors to our site and business in general.
Additionally, as a nationwide online business, we have also supplemented our organic leads by investing in Google Adwords. This can be quite expensive, so it has been critical that we regularly monitor and adjust our bidding strategies to ensure we get the right return on investment (ROI).
What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
If you’re thinking of starting a business, I’d urge you to spend the time initially to create a solid business plan. This will allow you to analyze the need your business is addressing, target market and size, as well as competition. Don’t cut corners during the process, and don’t dive headfirst into a business without a thorough analysis. Before investing endless time and money into a new venture, you need to make sure that you have a plan that is set up to succeed. It’s an unfortunate fact that most small businesses fail. Regardless of how enthusiastic you may be, moving forward without a well-constructed business plan may not be wise.
What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?
A close friend and fellow entrepreneur recently recommended the book “24 Assets” by Daniel Priestley. The secondary title of the book is “create a digital, scalable, valuable and fun business that will thrive in a fast-changing work”. Now that my company has passed the decade mark, this book was a refreshing reminder of the importance of creating unique, valuable assets within our company. The author also did an excellent job of outlining the different types of businesses one can create based on their desired lifestyle, and how to properly scale a business. For an entrepreneur who finds themselves stuck in the pattern of hard work without the desired results, this book can force you to reassess what it is you’re trying to create with your business.
What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?
I have found LinkedIn to be a powerful business resource. We have used LinkedIn to connect with professionals in a variety of industries. Conversely, many people have found us on LinkedIn that need assistance with surety bonds. By joining certain industry-specific Groups, we can also reach a target audience with some of our messaging and unique product offerings.
Who is your business role model? Why?
From a business perspective, I can’t think of anyone better than Warren Buffett. He has not only achieved unimaginable financial success over a long period of time but has been able to do so while maintaining his integrity. Additionally, he has regularly topped the Forbes list of Top Givers in America. In a world where there seems to be a scandal around every corner, Warren Buffett’s character and philanthropy are a breath of fresh air.
How do you balance work and life?
Finding a work-life balance is critical to achieving happiness. For an entrepreneur, this balance can be quite difficult to achieve and ultimately is up to each individual to figure out for themselves. When I first started my business, I was single with no children. I completely immersed myself in work, day and night, and found happiness in rapidly growing the business. Ten years later, I’m now married with three young children. Once you become a parent, priorities naturally shift as nothing is more important than those kids. For me, I try to maximize every minute I’m away from home (at work) so that I’m able to accomplish important tasks in a timely manner for the business. When the workday is done, I do my best to head home to the family at the end of normal working hours. I do my best to spend quality time with my family each and every day. There are certainly times when I have to spend extra hours at the office, but I try to limit this by working with a purpose. Life is short, and while I take pride in having a successful business, I don’t want that to be at the expense of my family life.
What’s your favorite way to decompress?
Running has been an important component of both my physical and mental health. I try to run 3-4 miles every single day, if possible. While juggling being a business owner with also being a husband and father, finding time to decompress is a never-ending challenge.
What do you have planned for the next six months?
The best businesses are those that can adapt to changing conditions and circumstances and evolve as needed. We are trying to do just that, so through the rest of 2020, our company will be conducting a thorough review of services offered to ensure we are focusing proper attention on bond offerings most in demand during these times. We will also be making adjustments and potentially scaling back marketing efforts for bond requirements that may either see a significant drop in demand or are no longer profitable. While almost all businesses have been hurt in some way by this pandemic, our goal is to come off this year stronger than before.
How can our readers connect with you?
I welcome anyone to connect with me on LinkedIn. You can also follow Lance Surety Bonds on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.