- March 21, 2024
How to Create a Financial Advisor Business Plan
The notion of crafting a business plan often takes a backseat for many financial advisors, seen more as an initiative for budding entrepreneurs rather than established professionals. The apprehension tied to formulating a business plan can stem from its perceived complexity or unfamiliarity.
However, the distinction between an ordinary practice and an elite one can often be attributed to a well-curated financial advisor business plan. This is corroborated by findings from the consulting firm CEG Worldwide, which show that 70 percent of top-earning advisors possess both formal business plans and marketing strategies.
Although having a written financial advisor business plan does not necessarily guarantee success, there is compelling evidence to suggest that the act of planning instills a valuable level of clarity and discipline. Read on to learn about what elements make an effective business plan for a financial advisor.
Calculate Your Business Growth Number
It’s often said that you can’t manage what you can’t measure. As a financial advisor, objectively assessing the needs and growth trajectory of your own business can be a complex task. The concept of the “Business Growth Number” has been introduced to simplify this process, providing a clear metric that can guide your strategic decisions and formulating your financial advisor business plan.
This number serves as a barometer of your firm’s growth potential, helping you identify the areas where improvement is most needed, and guiding you to the resources that can help amplify your effectiveness, revenue, and profit. Employing this metric allows you to select the most fitting for your enterprise, optimizing your potential for growth.
5 Elements to Include in Your Financial Advisor Business Plan
When creating an effective financial advisor business plan, several key considerations can guide your strategy and decision-making process. These elements are crucial in determining your business’s direction, shaping its growth, and ensuring its sustainability. Read on to learn five of these essential considerations, providing insight into how they can be effectively integrated into your business plan.
1. Your Niche
Understanding ‘WHO’ your niche will be is step one. The success of your practice hinges on knowing who your ideal client is and tailoring your services to meet their precise requirements. A niche focus can significantly enhance the efficiency of your service delivery and even empower you to command a premium for your specialized advice.
While many advisors aspire to carve out a niche, the challenge lies in aligning core business elements such as service offerings, marketing, and business development to the specific profile of the niche. Examples of such niches could include clients from a specific profession, individuals experiencing life transitions, or employees from a specific industry. Therefore, it is essential to introspect and identify the client segment you genuinely enjoy working with, enabling you to design a specialty planning practice that can not only cater to, but even anticipate, their needs.
2. Your Services and Tech Stack
The second essential consideration in formulating your financial advisor business plan involves defining your distinctive services and the technology that will enable them, which forms your Unique Value Proposition (UVP). Your UVP answers the question, “Why should I work with you?” and can set you apart in the marketplace.
Such differentiation could be serving entrepreneurs in managing personal and business finances, helping pre-retirees and retirees with retirement income plans, or offering financial planning for engineers. Prospective clients who identify with these profiles will find your value proposition attractive.
3. Your Marketing Plan
Implementing your marketing strategy is the next pivotal step in making your presence known and demonstrating how you can assist potential clients. This strategy will be influenced by your target market, UVP, and tech stack, and will serve as a road map to attract and convert prospects into clients.
4. Your KPIs
It’s critical to set key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure your business plan’s efficacy. Your KPIs will be influenced by your ultimate objectives, which can range from amassing $1 billion in assets under management and building a legacy, to establishing a solo practice that maintains your family’s lifestyle and serves a client base you enjoy working with.
Various financial planning indicators can be used to benchmark your practice. For instance, consider tracking metrics like the next-generation client relationship rate. If your primary aim is to deliver an outstanding client experience, focus on service KPIs such as Net promoter scores, referrals per client, and response times.
5. Your Role & Operations
In the operation of your business, it’s essential to prioritize and focus on a limited number of key areas at a time, rather than attempting to direct efforts towards several tasks at once. This strategy entails first attending to the most substantial and important responsibilities in your business, such as business development and financial planning, ensuring that they are adequately integrated into your business schedule.
Once the primary elements of your business have been addressed, consider utilizing technology and creating repeatable processes for the less significant tasks. The option of outsourcing these secondary, less critical tasks could also be beneficial.
How IFG Can Help
Integrated Financial Group delivers a unique, comprehensive solution for business development that goes beyond mere financial planning. Our Advisor Development team positions itself not just as a consulting entity, but as partners committed to accompanying you throughout your journey from being a financial planner to a successful business owner.
We provide strategic support in areas such as transition and integration meetings, business planning, and strategic coaching, which can help you focus on the fundamental aspects of your business. This allows you sufficient time to concentrate on primary tasks while we assist with the handling of secondary and tertiary responsibilities, enabling smoother operations and a stronger business foundation. This partnership with Integrated Financial Group empowers your business to flourish and reach its maximum potential.
