Barnaba builds on early wins

ACHIEVING early success is one of the key ingredients in Mark Barnaba’s business formula and one he has certainly lived up to at his new merchant bank, Azure Capital.

Since Azure opened its doors in August it has managed capital raisings for Arafura Pearls, Tanami Gold, Conquest Mining, technology company QPSX, and industrial company Alocit International, and has been appointed corporate adviser to Home Building Society.

Mr Barnaba, who was judged First Amongst Equals in WA Business News’ 2002 40under40 Awards, outlined his formula for business success at a joint CEDA-UWA forum last week.

He also outlined some of the innovative practices adopted at Azure, where he is managing director, and at his former sister companies Poynton & Partners and GEM Consulting.

Mr Barnaba said it was critical that staff worked cooperatively internally yet competed fiercely externally.

Both Azure and Poynton/GEM tackled this challenge by adopting an innovative remuneration structure that combined relatively modest salaries with a pre-agreed equity split, but with no bonuses.

This meant staff had no financial incentive to put their own interests ahead of the company’s interests.

Mr Barnaba said he also sought to adopt a counter-intuitive approach.

At Poynton/GEM, this meant combining a merchant bank with management consulting and private equity, despite many people saying the combination would not work.

Another example was the decision to choose Perth as the head office, even though Azure and Poynton/GEM were mainly targeting companies in Sydney and Melbourne.

The success of the Poynton/GEM business was indicated by its sale for $40 million to South African consulting group OST.

Mr Barnaba said the support provided by mentors, including Azure chairman John Poynton, Alinta chairman Tony Howarth, and former Woodside managing director John Akehurst, was “the single most important factor in my development”.

He also emphasised the importance of continually broadening his skill base and setting ‘stretch’ targets.

In practice, he has pursued these goals by taking up positions outside his day job, such as being chairman of the UWA Business School, deputy chairman of the West Coast Eagles football club, and director of Edge Employment, which assists people with disabilities.

Mr Barnaba said another trait of successful entrepreneurs was “finding a way of running your own race”.

He cited the example of Professor George Foster, an Australian who moved into academia in the US. Having specialised in accounting, finance and marketing, Professor Foster has specialised in the new field of sports management.