3 Things That Got Me to 3 Years
Today is the official three year anniversary of when my firm, Vision Casting Financial Planning, LLC started. Today is an important milestone because people often say that the first three years of starting a financial planning firm are the most difficult and if you can survive and make it to three years, then the odds are strongly in your favor to have a successful and long standing business. Today I’m feeling immense gratitude, thankfulness to colleagues who helped me get here, and hope for the future of my business and the financial planning industry. In this blog post, I’m sharing some thoughts and reflections on my first three years of running my own business and three things that helped me get here.
What’s Important about Money to You?
I remember three years ago I had my first potential client meeting and although I spent a great deal of time writing out on whiteboards how I would best use that time and thought of so many different options, I ended up asking that first potential client this question at the beginning of that meeting, “What’s important about money to you?” I let them talk for a few minutes, I offered simple reflections on what they said, and I wrote their answers on a big piece of white paper.
Over the past three years I’ve asked so many potential clients this question. People’s answer to this question always blows me away. I’m frequently in awe of people and what’s important to them. More often than not people talk about how much they love their family members, love their community, want to be generous with their money, and often think in terms of positive ways to use money as a tool to serve them in concrete ways. People also often express how money can be anxiety producing when it’s not managed well.
Asking this question helps me cultivate a sacred space with clients. We all have core values and things that are important to us. Helping people externalize their values, reflect on them, and then using financial planning to align their assets with their values brings me great joy. I love meeting with folks after a year or so and bringing out their responses to this question from when we first met. Folks will often be able to see in concrete ways how we made decisions together that aligned with their values.
“No Sleaze Ball Tactics”
When I thought about changing careers a few years ago, I met with a couple financial advising companies to see if I might get a job with them. During one of my interviews, the employer told me about their 10-3-1 strategy they ask all advisors to use to grow their business. The 10-3-1 strategy simply means that for every 10 phone calls you make, you typically get 3 in person meetings, and 1 of those people become a client. During that in person meeting you need to ask that person to give you phone numbers of 3-4 people they know so that you can get another 10 phone calls to keep the process running. If you have the gall and brashness to ask strangers to give you the phone numbers of their family and friends, you are assured a path to success in this particular environment.
When I heard about this strategy I stopped moving forward with this company. I just couldn’t imagine doing that 10-3-1 process.
A friend told me recently that he’s so impressed that I built my own business and didn’t have to use any “sleaze ball tactics.” Over the past three years I averaged adding one new client per month, and I haven’t asked anyone for their friends or family members’ phone numbers. I attribute that growth to my dedication to serving people as a fiduciary and trying my absolute best along to the way to elevate my client’s agency throughout the financial planning process. Respecting people and serving them very well has led to slow sustained growth over the past three years.
Collaboration is Better than Competition
My last thought about what’s also helped me make it to the 3 year mark is that I’ve invested in befriending and collaborating with other fee-only financial planners in Spokane. Once a month I get a cup of coffee with a couple of them. We talk about life, interesting financial planning situations, and support each other as small business owners. Together we formed the Spokane Financial Advisors Network. The essential premise of our community is that we believe fee-only financial planning is an ethical business model and that when we all thrive and do well, more people will be better served in Spokane. Collaborating and seeking out the well being of one another and our businesses has certainly played a substantial role in me getting to this place. I’m thankful for my friends and their support that got me to the 3 year mark.
People often ask me why I made this big change and started my own business. The answer is simple, I love my family and I want them to be anchored in a particular place and community. This business helps me provide for them and their well-being. I look forward to the next 30 years of my financial planning career, serving people well, and living in Spokane.
