Do you want to work in your business or work on your business? Obviously, if you’re reading this, you want growth, but it’s difficult to reach beyond a certain level without a scalable business in mind. And with DOL regulations taking effect, operating with efficiency and consistency is more essential than ever before.
At Beacon, we have seen many financial professionals hit a plateau around $10 million AUM; for others, that may not reach their peak until $20-$30 million AUM, but rest assured, that invisible ceiling is there. If you want to ultimately hit your AUM goal of $50 million, $100 million or beyond, you will need to implement the following primary components to your business model:
Systems
You need a system in place. One of our advisors who has eclipsed $100 million in AUM got there in part through a highly-organized, three-step process for bringing clients onboard. With every client, this advisor will have an initial meeting, followed by an information gathering meeting, and finally, an implementation meeting. It doesn’t matter the size of the account. Every client rolls through the system in a uniform manner, keeping the process as efficient as it can be. In fact, it’s such a systematic process that the advisor doesn’t get bogged down at any point, wondering—what do I do next?
To make sure you have a system in place, a system that works for you, the most important step you can take is to have one day of planning and/or reviewing your system. During this planning session, you’ll need to ask yourself detailed questions, including:
* What is our annual, quarterly and monthly plan for existing clients?
* What is our process for finding new clients?
* What is our process for onboarding new clients?
* What is our plan to market to our prospects and clients?
By answering these key questions, you will be able to develop a system that will help you run an efficient business that will, in turn, allow that business to grow.
Products
To be efficient and authoritative it’s important to have core products or portfolios that you know inside and out. This will allow you to have a consistent and credible story with your clients so you’re able to tell them, “This is what’s going on with this particular product.” When you have clients scattered across twenty or thirty products, it tends to cause more headaches and stress because you’re spending so much of your valuable time researching and fact-finding the product in question.
People
The third component of an efficiently-run, growth-oriented business is the people you hire and trust to do the work. Whether they are in-house or found through outsourcing, you want to surround yourself with people who can take on time-consuming jobs such as social media marketing and data entry work so it can free you up to do what’s most important to your business—meeting with clients. One place to find great freelancers is upwork.com, a massive online repository where you can hire skilled outsourced labor for as little as $10-$15/hour. At this point in your career, why would you bog yourself down with menial tasks when you have the opportunity to outsource them?
At Beacon, we are committed to helping you grow your business. For further assistance on how you can integrate scalability into your business plan, contact your wholesaler today!
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