Welcome to this next segment in a series of autobiographical blogs I’m calling; ‘How to start a Lifestyle Financial Planning business from scratch’. If you are new here, welcome! For context, it would make sense for you to start with part 1 – which can be found by clicking HERE.
Last week I detailed my transition from employed Mortgage Broker, to self-employed Financial Adviser before finally taking the leap and setting up my own business, Clarity Lifestyle Financial Planning.
So, let’s continue…
September 2017
After returning from my honeymoon in gorgeous Tuscany I began the process of setting up my own Financial Planning business. I had spent much of the previous 3 months mulling over the theory of how to do this, but the practicalities of it were another ball game altogether. I had an extensive list of ‘tasks’ that needed to be completed before I could realistically open the doors to potential clients.
Things I had never even considered up until that point, many of which I had no idea where to even start with.
Things such as:
- Logo
- Branding/colour schemes/font
- Email address/domain name
- Website
- Website copy (the blurb)
- Business cards
- Do I set up a business facebook page?
- How?
- Ethos, vision, values – ‘my ‘why’ (that being, ‘why does Clarity exist’?)
- What will my ‘message’ be
- How will I communicate this?
- Why would someone choose me above a competitor?
- What type of people do I want to help/take on as clients
- What is my business goal?
- Write a business plan
- What are my financial goals?
- Where will I find clients? (Surprised this point was so far down the list?!)
- How much will I charge?
- For what?
- How will I communicate value?
- What services will I offer?
- What will I do?
- What will I not do?
- What do I stand for?
- What are my beliefs?
- What’s my investment philosophy?
- What do I outsource V’s what do I do myself?
- How/who do I pay to backup and encrypt my data?
…the list goes on and on!
Overwhelm
During the initial few months there were several moments of overwhelm where I realised the enormity of the task at hand. You see, in the past I had always had someone else who dealt with all the ‘non-client facing’ crap, all the ‘back office’ stuff. But now, I was responsible for everything.
It was a tough time, I was putting in some serious hours and my brain was fried, yet it would be 3 months before I earned a single penny from a paying client.
Money
My first 3 months in business were also my first 3 months of marriage, and it wasn’t ideal that during that time, my new wife was effectively bankrolling the whole project. If it wasn’t for Sara’s unwavering faith in me, then I would still be working in someone else’s business, lining their pockets and conducting business in a way that wasn’t fully aligned with my values or beliefs because I simply didn’t have enough money to afford myself the luxury of time that was required to build something meaningful.
Clients
During the latter stages in my previous role where I was working in someone else’s business, I had started to receive introductions and referrals from family, friends and existing clients. I made these people aware that I was in a transition phase and luckily, they were patient enough to wait for me to get up to speed with Clarity before we put anything in motion.
In November 2017 Clarity welcomed our first ever client and it felt, incredible!
To know that this person had waited 6 months for me, because they believed in what I was doing, and then to trust me to look after their financial future, it was a proud moment that I will never forget.
To be trusted as the custodian of someone’s hard earned wealth, or the direction of their financial future, is a privilege I do not take lightly.
Money, finances, wealth – it really is the last taboo subject! Yet I get to help people with this most precious, most secret aspect of their lives every single day.
Financial Planner or Businessman?
One of my earliest and biggest realisations was that as well as being a Financial Planner, I had to learn how to be a businessman. It dawned on me that I was probably spending around 80% of my time on the business and around 20% of my time in the business as a Financial Planner, that is – creating or presenting my advice to clients.
This is not for everyone, I know many very competent Financial Advisers/Planners that work for someone else, principally because they have no interest in running their own business and enduring the associated stress and uncertainty, they prefer to be told when and where to be, meet with clients and drop the paperwork back at the office for the support staff to deal with, and that is absolutely fair enough!
For me though, I must say that I love the business side of things, I love creating my own brand, vision, values, ethos….
I love thinking of new ideas, new ways to bring value to my clients lives, ways to make my business better, Ways to be more disruptive in my profession, more productive, more – efficient!
For me, what I do is not a ‘J.O.B’, it truly is my life’s work. That may sound a bit corny but it’s the truth.
Author and marketing legend Seth Godin once gave the perfect description for how I see my work:
“My work is an engagement that brings value to my clients and meaning to me”
– Seth Godin
Clarity Lifestyle Financial Planning won’t be for everyone
By the turn of the year I had enough potential clients going through the initial stages to know that I would be able to survive the next 3 – 6 months.
During that time, I met with several potential clients who I could have easily taken on, but I reluctantly (although rightfully) directed them elsewhere because they were not the right ‘fit’ for my business.
You see, when I started this project, I made a promise to myself that I would only work with a client if I could honestly say the following things about them and our potential relationship:
- I like them
- I know I can bring value to them
- They will be profitable for my business
- They are committed to the process of taking ownership of their financial future
- They are open minded (not recalcitrant or cantankerous)
- They are likely to appreciate that the value of my service is in the planning and behavioural coaching aspects, rather than picking the best time or place to invest (nobody can do that – unless they are lying to you)
- They are likely to act on my advice
- I won’t dread it if I see their name pop up on my phone or appear in my inbox
If during an initial meeting it appears unlikely that they will meet these criteria, then regardless of the financial situation – I will politely dis-engage with them.
I will do this work for the rest of my life, this is not a 5-10-year blast where I try to earn as much money as I possibly can out of anyone who I can sell to. it’s just not worth it for me to take on the wrong types of people as clients just for the sake of a few quid in the short term.
This approach was quite difficult at first, especially when things were tight for me financially, but I had complete faith that things would work out, and that short-term gain was not worth having to deal with an unruly client for the next ‘x’-amount of years to come.
I operate this way because I wholeheartedly believe that my work will bring true value to those who are receptive to it, but I cannot help everyone, because not everyone is open to my ways of thinking and that is absolutely fine.
“Do what is meaningful, NOT what is expedient”
– Dr Jordan B. Peterson
Lifestyle Financial Planning won’t sell itself
It is true that most people do not wake up in a morning dreaming of Lifestyle Financial Planning, and it is unlikely they will ever queue for my services regardless of the potential benefits of them doing so. Because of this, I always knew it would take time to build up my business, particularly as I am selective about which types of clients I will work with. But I am in this for the long haul.
After 10 years in financial services, a large chunk of which was spent in retail banking, and 18 months on top of that selling gas and electricity, I had become indoctrinated with sales techniques. But after investing a considerable amount of time and money on personal development (I have probably consumed over 100 books and a thousand hours of podcasts over the past 3 years) and taking time to think deeply about what type of business I wanted to have, I concluded that old school sales tactics had no place in my work.
Instead of ‘selling’ Lifestyle Financial Planning to everyone, I decided I would grow my business by being honest and approachable whilst sharing my knowledge, beliefs, thoughts and insights with anyone who wanted to listen and trusting that the chips will fall in my favour eventually.
I believe that by doing good work and trying to get people to think seriously about their financial lives as something that is an integral part of their actual lives, I will build up a relationship of trust with enough people to keep the lights on.
I believe that I won’t ever really change anyone’s mind, either they have always been receptive to my type of message and it is merely serendipitous that we met, or, they think differently to me and no amount of evidence or cajoling will convince them otherwise – in which case, God help them, because I can’t!
Over time, I believe that enough people will be receptive to my message for me to have an enjoyable, meaningful, rewarding Lifestyle business which brings value to my clients and meaning to me. As a positive bi-product of this, I trust it will bring enough financial reward and time freedom to afford me my desired Lifestyle, within my means and without fear of ever running out of money.
My vision is clear
I believe that life is not a rehearsal, as such, I don’t want to spend my life doing work that is not meaningful to me.
I believe that precious time is slipping away, as such, I don’t want to spend my valuable time working with clients I do not like, or that don’t value my service.
Clarity is now a year old and there are exciting things in the pipeline – I hope you will be part of it.
If it’s not for you, then at the very least I hope something that I say or do will resonate with you and will inspire you to take positive action.
Here’s to the future!
There has never been a better time to be alive.
I wish you all the best on your financial, and life’s journey.
Until next time…
If you are looking for a collaborative partner to help you and your family succeed financially, then hit me at planning@claritylfp.co.uk and let’s see if we get along!
Financial Planner | Financial Adviser | Investment Advice | Pension Advice | Insurance Advice | West Yorkshire
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