Editor’s Note: This article is based on Steve Sanduski’s podcast interview with Erin Botsford, the founder and CEO of Botsford Financial Group. To access more than 100 interviews with industry leaders, subscribe for free to Steve’s podcast, Between Now and Success by clicking here.
I’ve interviewed more than 100 top financial advisors on my podcast and there’s one thing I can say for certain that they all have in common—they all work really fricking hard!
My recent guest, Erin Botsford, is no exception. Many of us would look back on creating our own billion-dollar AUM firm and call it a successful career. Turns out Erin was just getting started!
As one of the top financial advisors in the country, Erin Botsford is the founder of the Botsford Financial Group, which has nearly $1 billion in assets under management. She has appeared on Barron’s list of the Top 100 Women Financial Advisors and Top 100 Independent Financial Advisors multiple times. And she’s also an author whose second book, Seven Figure Firm, explains how, with the Botsford Financial Group, she built a firm with multiple seven figures in revenue and nine figures in AUM.
Recently, Erin and her company made yet another huge leap: she sold her firm to Merit Financial Group, creating a super-OSJ with $2.6 billion in total client assets, about $1.3 billion is in regulatory assets under management and $1.28 billion in brokerage assets serviced. After starting from scratch, Erin is now part of the fifth-largest firm in the LPL network based on assets.
Maybe even more impressive than Erin’s resume is the hardship she had to overcome to get where she is today.
Erin was only 11 when her father died of a heart attack. The small life insurance policy he left behind made life very hard for Erin, her mother, and her five siblings. A car accident in her teenage years and a bad investment with a stockbroker in her early 20s put further strain on Erin’s family life and finances. These experiences taught Erin the value of comprehensive financial planning and asset protection, lessons she continues to impart to her clients.
Back before Erin’s big sale, we spoke about her compelling story, the personal and financial lessons she took away from her adversities, and lessons she learned while growing and managing her own independent RIA.
Never Stop Prospecting
Erin believes that “If a business isn’t growing, it’s dying.” There’s no magic number of clients to hit that will keep your business healthy forever. Some clients might decide to take their business elsewhere, some might move out of state, some will die. Attrition is just a natural part of being a financial advisor. Looking for new prospects is one part of the business that never stops. As important as the internet and digital media are to your marketing, Erin still believes in getting face time with clients and prospects at lunches and seminars. She also places a lot of emphasis on consistent branding that shows prospective clients what is unique about her approach to managing their finances.