Labelled as a ‘citizen of the world’ by colleagues, mark’ennovy founder George Sarrouf is more than familiar with what it takes to be a successful international brand. As mark’ennovy celebrates its 20th birthday, Sarrouf reflects on the rollercoaster of owning a business and his hopes for the future of the company.
Sarrouf was born in Alexandria to an Eqyptian father and Argentinian mother. To avoid unrest, the family moved to Lebanon but as the country gradually succumbed to sectarian strife, they were forced to move again. It was during this time, in the early 1970s, that Sarouf joined Allergan. Not long after, Allergan signed a contract with Bausch + Lomb to market its solution which solved the ongoing issue of protein deposits on the contact lens. This sky-rocketed the company, and Sarrouf, into the global market.
Over the following 23 years Sarrouf worked across the globe in various management positions until he eventually tired of the bureaucracy and red tape which often bedevils larger companies. Along with a handful of business partners, Sarrouf decided to set up his own contact lens business in Spain.
He says: ‘I started a version of mark’ennovy in 1994 when we bought an existing company. But we had to shut it down in 1996 as it had lots of hidden liabilities which we didn’t know about and couldn’t afford to shoulder.’
Learning from this failed business venture, in May 1997 Sarrouf founded mark’ennovy as it appears now. He says: ‘Our first problem was the name. I was sick and tired of presenting names that got rejected. If you read the ennovy backwards, it’s Yvonne which is my mother’s name. But still people call us the wrong name or say it wrong all the time.’
A man of principle
Sarrouf’s long history at Allergan has inevitably helped shape mark’ennovy’s business philosophy. He says: ‘Allergan was tremendously important for learning how to position yourself and how you focus. I learned not to disperse. An old boss of mine used to say ‘I’d rather be a big frog in a small pond than a small frog in a big pond’; that’s the philosophy. As long as you have the principle, the rest will follow.’
mark’ennovy prides itself on offering a bespoke and unique service to even the most complex of prescriptions and it is this unique selling point which Sarrouf believes makes it so successful. He says: ‘The company we had bought was a company that was founded by men who were in precision optics. We had to pick a niche segment and try not to go head-to-head with the big guys.’
The brand places itself as the David among the Goliath contact lens companies which dominate the market, so is there any ambition to one day be as big as the giants? Sarrouf says: ‘We have no aspirations to be as large as Coopervision or anyone else. I struggle with some of my people even today to make them understand that if you’re niche it doesn’t mean you’re small.’
And the niche approach seems to be working well for the company, given that it turned over €15.3m last year. Sarrouf insists there is no great secret to leading a successful business. He says: ‘My leadership style is not the same with everybody and I can sometimes get sucked in to problems that aren’t my own. I don’t like to make all the decisions. With some things I am very flexible, I ask people’s opinions and I can change my mind. But not when it comes to principles. If a company becomes successful it’s because it has the underpinnings of a culture and of a principle.’
A bumpy ride
A company celebrating its 20th birthday certainly must have had its fair share of extreme highs and lows. Sarrouf is refreshingly honest about the company’s weaknesses, openly admitting its finances were not in the best shape between 2011-15. ‘Growth wasn’t very good as we were challenged a number of times with issues in the market or internal problems.’
There have also been times in mark’ennovy’s history where the company has perhaps sailed a little too close to the wind. ‘In 2010 our computer system crashed, there was nothing left. That was such a traumatic experience as we had been using a homemade software system. But as we grew we should have been more sensible and moved on to something more standardised with a more reliable operating system.
‘I sat in the customer services area and the girls were crying and calling us all sorts of names. I thought it was the end of the business. We were backed up but the backups were corrupt. After about three or four weeks we handed it over to a company who were able to salvage a lot of the data. That sticks in my memory as the biggest challenge we faced.’
The success enjoyed by mark’ennovy has been based on expoiting a niche market in precision optics
Trying to strike the right work-life balance during a stressful business period is a constant challenge and even more so the further you climb up the ladder. But surprisingly, switching off has never been much of a problem for Sarrouf.
He says: ‘I don’t go for long vacations; I can be fully recharged in a few days and feel completely different. I have a home in Marbella and when I get there I’m completely stressed out and exhausted but I can switch off.
‘I like to do more with my life. You have to be conscious that as you age you don’t have the same number of years ahead as you do when you’re 30 or 40 years old. I’m taking more time off and there’s lots I want to do outside of the business.’
The next 20 years
Over the 20 years the company has been in operation, the contact lens industry has seen wide-rangeing developments. As the technology, funding, and research behind contact lenses increases, it is a race against time for the industry’s key players to keep producing innovative new products.
Not one to miss the tide, mark’ennovy released a range of Blu:gen contact lenses last year which were one of the first contact lenses to feature a blue light filter and UV blocker. Yet any mention of blue light may send shivers down the spine of marketing departments after a General Optical Council fitness to practise committee handed out a £40,000 fine to Boots Opticians Professional Services for producing a misleading consumer advert for its blue light lenses.
Because the research on blue light and its effects is not conclusive, Sarrouf admits the fine has made the marketing department more wary. ‘It’s all about people’s interest and some are not served by promoting a blue light filter. Some researchers are absolutely convinced of its damaging effects; if you think about it sensibly blue light can’t do you any good. Yet we want to be at the leading edge of whatever is going on in the world, whether it’s blue light or anything else; for example, myopia control is a big one for us at the moment.’
Sarrouf is also determined to reduce mark’ennovy’s carbon footprint and making the company overall more eco-friendly, a move encouraged if not enforced by his headstrong daughter Emily who works in the company’s marketing department.
He says: ‘My daughter holds a gun to my head with these sort of issues. I do want to bring somebody in who can tell us, “look, we need to change”. The world is getting worse every single day. It won’t impact me so much as the younger generation, so it’s definitely something we as a company want to look into.’
Sarrouf has high hopes that the company will one day be listed on the stock market. He says: ‘I would like to see us there, but I don’t have the ambition to artificially boost the company for no reason. I want to spread our recognition but the important thing is to keep enjoying what we are doing.’
Currently, mark’ennovy is a predominantly European brand yet Sarrouf plans to expand the company across America and the Middle East over the coming years. He says: ‘Many patients who walk in are not aware that they can wear contact lenses and I’m surprised the big companies aren’t working more together to solve this. That’s why we’re interested in the US market because there’s more consciousness and knowledge of what you can and can’t do. It’s been an uphill battle to convince the big companies that they’re losing an opportunity.’
Sarrouf’s unwavering dedication and determination to the business and its development is strikingly apparent. ‘As long as we’re focusing on what we want to do and keep going success will come. We focus, concentrate and keep service consistent as well as be on the leading edge of what’s going on in the world.’
Are there any plans for a well-earned retirement? ‘I’ll retire the day I die,’ he adds, without a hint of irony.
