When Mark Laytin became a customer of Invisus several years ago, he liked the identity-theft protection company so much he decided he would go to work for them.
“I inquired if they had representation in the area and found out they didn’t,” Laytin said. “I asked them if they would like to make the business here. My initial intention was to get enough customers so I would not have to pay for my service. Within two days I had met my quota and turned it into a business within 30 days.”
Laytin eventually became the Utah-based company’s regional vice president and last week he was honored, in part, for his success with the company by the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce as the businessperson of the year
from New Hyde Park.
The Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce is an umbrella organization that acts as a spokesperson for more than 40 Chambers of Commerce in Nassau County.
The award is given to a local business person, usually somebody in the chamber to receive designation of small businessperson of the year from their town based on contributions to chamber, business climate, to civic, charitable work, Laytin said.
“I felt both honored and humbled by the award,” Laytin said. “My thanks goes to the Greater New Hyde Park Chamber for both selecting me, as well as giving me a platform from which to serve our community. And, of course, my family for putting up with my sometimes crazy schedule.”
Laytin, who is currently married with a daughter who graduated from the University of Delaware , is 1st vice president of the Greater New Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce.
In selecting him as the businessperson of the year, New Hyde Park Chamber’s said Laytin was instrumental in enhancing the chamber’s Web site to help promote interaction among members of the New Hyde Park business community among his many contributions to the organization.
As regional vice president for a company in Utah, Laytin said he is able to work from home and doesn’t have a central office. He is also responsible for training field reps and is usually out in the field himself, selling and leading by example.
Before working with Invisus, Laytin had been doing consulting work for businesses to help improve efficiency.
When it comes to advertising, he said he is a “big believer” in networking.
“If you do something with someone else first they will do something for you,” Laytin said. “My business goes by word of mouth and referrals, with not much advertising at all.”
Laytin said Invisus provides identity theft for individuals and small businesses, and uses a program called Idefend and Infosafe. Idefend is a program that monitors credit cards, bank accounts, data bases, improper use of social security identification numbers, which helps keep criminals from misrepresenting themselves. Infosafe helps businesses develop the best practices for the maintenance and security of both their digital and hard copies of information.
He said Invisus recognized a long time ago that basic security software that comes from the factory, or what you buy in a store was insufficient to properly protect individuals.
“Ninety percent of things that go wrong with your machine are security related, and the rest has to do with hardware trouble,” Laytin said. “Also, about 50 percent of identity theft takes place through a computer.”
While Laytin would not give an exact number on how many customers Invisus has. He said the number ranges in the “tens of thousands” of individuals and businesses who use the system.
Invisus not only provides top level software, but the company backs it up with remote access, Laytin said.
“Just imagine you have four employees who cant get on the system because something is wrong, but you can’t get a hold of a tech person until the next day,” Laytin said. “Everyone is sitting there twiddling their thumbs while you are losing money. With the remote access feature you can call up our technicians in Utah, and they will log onto your computer and fix it right then and there.”
Having run a successful business for the last seven years, Laytin said he is happy where he is in the company and does not want to open another business.
“I’m very happy with this point in time,” Laytin said. “They [Invisus] have always been very fair. “I have owned businesses in past and I’m not looking to own one at this point. I’m just very happy being a rep.”
Reach reporter Timothy Meyer by e-mail at meyerj.tim@gmail.com.
