A Different Way to Approach Business Planning
“A clear vision, backed by definite plans, gives you a tremendous feeling of confidence and personal power.” -Brian Tracey
In a perfect world, financial advisors spend ample amounts of time meticulously putting together their business plans with actionable items and they are excited about it. In the real world, that is not always the case. Some advisors don’t take the time to do this because;
- They are “too busy” to think about it
- They believe that their business has grown without doing it, why start now?
- They don’t know how
Or (I have heard this twice this week)
- They are burned-out of the process
By Ben Mossman
Co-Founder & Partner
It’s difficult to avoid numbers and metrics when putting together a strategic business plan, but I find that most advisors chase numbers that may not be leading to the growth of the value of their business in the way that they think. For financial advisors in the independent space, business decisions and goals should always be within the context of what actually drives the value of my business up, not just a random smattering of supporting metrics.
- I want to grow Revenue this year by x%
- I want to meet with all of my clients quarterly
- I want to grow AUM by x%
Shift to:
- I want to add 15 Households above my profitability line
- I am going to execute a client service model aligned with my clients’ needs and automate it
- I am going to move my operating profit margin up by 5%
Sure, revenue and AUM growth can contribute to a higher valuation of your business, but valuation experts will tell you that it goes much deeper than that.
The alternative goals outlined above are designed not only to drive more revenue, but do it in a more efficient way that also serves to increase the value of your business.
If that isn’t on your mind as a business owner, it probably should be.
