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A Sydney-based broker who started saving to invest when he was 14 is counting on his passion for educating clients in finance and property to grow his early-stage broking business further in 2025.
Mark Novosel (pictured), who launched Feather Loans in late 2023 from a base on Sydney’s North Shore, said he started putting aside funds from when he landed his first jobs on a paper run and at McDonalds.
“From a young age, I grew up watching money and really liked learning about budgeting and all that sort of stuff,” Novosel said.
“I always had an idea in my mind that there's got to be more to life than just working nine to five your whole life and then retiring with a bit of money in your bank account.”
Converting this interest into buying his first home back in 2009, and purchasing two investment properties since then, Novosel said he had always wanted to turn this passion into his work.
“I love the process, and always kind of felt that this is something that I wanted to do more of professionally. And I guess it was just a matter of time when to do it.
”I'm doing it because I enjoy what I do. I am a homeowner. I'm an active investor. I've gone through the process. I know what it's like, so I can guide people along that process.”
Novosel said his strategy from the outset at Feather Loans, and what he wanted his business to be known for, had been to ensure he “thinks like a customer” at every stage of the broking process.
This has driven him to take some different start-up decisions; for example, one of his first moves was to get accredited with 70 lenders, to be able to offer a wide range of products to clients.
“From the start, I set out to get accredited with as many lenders as possible, just so that I can provide solutions to any sort of odd situation that will come across my desk.
“A lot of people aren't even aware that there's more than the 10 or more lenders that they can name off the top of their head, but I can provide solutions that many other brokers wouldn't have access to.”
Thinking like a client extends to everything from giving a customer a call back when promised, to being honest about whether a deal will work, and then helping prepare clients to get over the line.
Novosel also said he chose to manage his website build himself, rather than access one of the pre-packaged broker offerings from digital agencies, so that he could differentiate his business.
“I don't really want to look the same as 100 other brokers, I just wanted something that looks different and has a bit more of my personality in it.
“So when clients land on the page, they get a sense of how I operate, and they can hopefully see that I like to share a lot of content and focus on the education piece as well.”
Novosel chose to house his business under sub-aggregator finweb, ultimately a part of LMG, which he said provided good support services for early-stage finance broking businesses.
He said that, although the market cycle was “tougher” due to interest rates, the Feather Loans website had been providing him with more leads than he expected after only a few months being online.
“I'm talking to a lot of people, but many of them aren't in a position to do anything right away. So often, it’s more about educating them about what their options could be, and exploring other lenders who might have a better servicing capacity.”
Novosel said, in 2025, education was going to be his focus as he ramped up business lead generation.
“I have started with TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, as well as blog posts. That is really about sharing more knowledge, covering the topics that a few different people have asked me about, and are maybe worthwhile to put together some content around that,” he said.
He is also generating his own outside-the-box content based on what customers are currently concerned with, such as an upcoming price comparison between major supermarkets.
Feather Loans also educates potential clients about loan options through accredited lenders, such as niche policies for junior doctors doing their residency that allow for higher LVRs with no LMI.
Novosel said when his lead volume increases, he eventually plans to bring on another broker to service clients, and will further utilise loan processing services or build out his own team.
“That will allow me to step out of the more manual processes to focus on client-facing work, and putting out more content and educating customers, which is what I'm passionate about,” he said.
