Once situated, he began to notice something peculiar: Loan originators focused on the border, ready to deploy to Mexico to close deals under the auspices of two different companies – their US-based firm and the one for which they were licensed in Mexico.
Achieving his aha! moment
That’s when the Italian-born Guzzo had his aha! moment, forming two separate companies for each country under the same corporate umbrella but fully adherent to each territory’s regulations.
“The US citizen loan officer along a border town doesn’t have any clue about what’s going on the other side of the border but have a lot of interest on the Mexican side and vice versa,” he said, remembering what he had analyzed. “I thought: Why don’t we open in Mexico? That way, you need one business card for the US side and one business card for the Mexico side,” he said.
Naysayers and skeptics immediately emerged, he recalled. “Unfortunately, there are still misconceptions – Mexico is a third world country; Mexico is too dangerous; Mexico is violent,” he said, mimicking some of the more prominent critiques of his launch. “People thought I was crazy, insane, lunatic,” he said. Skeptics were misinformed about Mexico, Guzzo said, viewing it as a violent country although violence is largely limited to certain regions. He suggested the US has its fair share of violence: “I live in LA,” he added. “I know all about violence.”
His own views on doing business in Mexico have evolved, he noted. “When I started to look into Mexico, I took an investment approach rather than a mortgage approach,” he said, noting he manages a group of more than 30 loan officers although he personally is not licensed to originate loans. “Then I took the mortgage approach and was looking at the numbers.”
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