Marcus and Joseph Chait know what their business means to the Bay Area

It was a moment that gave Joseph Chait pause to think about what San Francisco Provident Loan Association really meant to the city of San Francisco.
His family had led the company since 1952, giving Bay Area residents a safe and reliable place to take their luxury assets.
He had been holding out hope that his son, Marcus, would come on-board, but to that point, it hadn’t happened.
“I was in the entertainment industry for 18 years,” Marcus says. “I lived in New York and Los Angeles and went back and forth in various facets of the entertainment industry. It was never something I really considered, joining the family business. As a little kid, it was kind of expected that I would and I think that might be why I decided, ‘Well, maybe I’ll be a rebel and go do something artistic.’”
So back to that life-altering moment from just a few years ago. Joseph met with a friend who just happens to be one of San Francisco’s most respected businessmen and philanthropists.
“He asked me what my exit strategy was,” Joseph says. “And I said, ‘Well, I’ll probably sell the business at some point.’ He said, ‘You can’t sell the business. You have to get your son in there.’ When I called my son and told him about the conversation and the person who had told me that, he was up here on the next trip and he and I talked about it over breakfast and made it happen.”
That was when both Joseph and Marcus, now managing partners with the company, began to realize the stature that San Francisco Provident had attained in Northern California.
“The fact that somebody like that thought it would be a good idea and worth talking about it really struck a chord with my dad and me,” Marcus says. “When you hear it from someone who is so successful, and at the same time only has your best interests at heart, it just strikes a chord.”

Make it happen

The company known today as San Francisco Provident Loan Association was founded in 1912 as San Francisco Remedial Loan Association. The name was changed in 1951 as a way to better represent its status and place in the city.
“We can make loans against collateral from anywhere from $1,000 up to $1 million and over,” Marcus says. “We make loans to private individuals, as well as small businesses. Some of the loans are made to help people meet their monthly nut and others are to help Internet startups get off the ground. So we run the gamut on that.”
So what’s the key to keeping a company in business for more than 100 years? One of the keys is a commitment to stay in communication, no matter what else may come up during the week.
“The best thing we can do is block out an hour of time each week, which doesn’t sound like a lot of time,” Marcus says. “But it’s very difficult to find that one hour where everybody can drop everything, sit down, have a meal and go around the table. ‘What did we accomplish this week? What do we want to accomplish next week? What’s our goal for the quarter or the end of the year?’ You can never be too busy to do that and you can never undervalue how important those meetings are.”
Staying in touch becomes even more important when your business is growing. As they continue to lead San Francisco Provident, the Chaits have launched 66Mint, an appointment-only upscale jewelry boutique that has one of the largest collections of estate jewelry and diamonds in Northern California.
They also started memoGEMS, an online estate jewelry e-commerce platform that sells piece all over the world.
“(With memoGEMS), we can hand off our entire inventory virtually and give it to select people around the world to sell as their own under their own branding, their own name and their own contact information,” Marcus says. “We don’t interface with their clients, just with each dealer.”

Shared responsibility

The key to making each new business a success is the ability to put ideas on the table, talk them out and reach a consensus with trust that everybody has the same ultimate goal in mind.
“If someone has a better idea than mine, I’m going to accept it,” Joseph says. “If you’re going to be in a leadership position, you have to be open to what people around you are telling you.”
Once those conversations take place, it’s then up to the leader or leaders to make a decision and move the organization forward.
“As much as we say the best idea wins, it comes down on us if it doesn’t work,” Marcus says. “We’re responsible for keeping the company going and paying everybody every week. A good leader has to be willing to be open and honest and willing to check your ego at the door. But in the end, you have to be willing to make those tough decisions and stand behind them.”
As talk continues about a new location in Silicon Valley, both Joseph and Marcus are excited for the business’s future. Marcus spoke about the ongoing conversations that have taken place about what to call this location and the differing opinions among the team.
“One of our top employees came to me yesterday and said, ‘I love the idea about the new location we’re thinking about opening. That being said, I’m not sure I’m sold on the name,’” Marcus says. “He had very specific reasons, most of them having to do with branding and marketing efforts that we have already put into our other businesses.”
Rather than impose his will as a more ego-driven leader might choose to do, Marcus says he appreciates the ongoing dialogue.
“I could have shut down and said my way or the highway,” Marcus says. “But I am willing to listen to his ideas. We haven’t made any decisions yet. Neither of us are sure what the right decision is. But the fact that we’re open to bouncing ideas back and forth makes a healthy and successful environment for everybody.” ●
How to reach: San Francisco Provident Loan Association, (415) 982-4400 or www.sanfranciscoprovident.com