Can I build a team?
In going independent, you likely won’t be able to do everything alone and, as a founder/entrepreneur, you will already be assuming a raft of new responsibilities. To scale up and make it work as an independent you need a team, and to build a successful team you have to be able to attract and retain talent. As anyone who has ever sat in the big seat will tell you, recruiting talent is much different from attracting clients.
It’s vital to create alignment across your organization in the form of a set of shared values and objectives that are clearly communicated and embraced by the team. It means identifying team members who truly share those values. It also means leveraging the strengths of those individuals, encouraging them to express their ideas and recognizing that everyone has something positive to contribute.
When you’re building a new firm there will always be questions: What do we stand for? Who are we as an organization? You, as the leader, need to provide the answers.
What will success look like? For my clients? For me?
Finally, what is it that you ultimately want to achieve by going independent? What will your legacy be? For some, that may be establishing a one-person practice that creates a more attractive work/life balance. For others, it may be building a sizable firm with dozens of financial advisors and hundreds of clients.
For clients, it’s having the resources to meet life’s challenges such as paying for college or a wedding, or saving for retirement. It’s knowing they don’t have to worry about how they will live, or worry about taking care of a loved one in old age. It’s piece of mind. You can’t buy that with money, but money can help make it happen.
Starting a new business can be an incredibly rewarding experience. But it’s easy to get carried away by the excitement of launching a new enterprise while overlooking the little things that are crucial to success. Creating a plan and answering the tough questions before you make the move can give you confidence that the decision you’re making is the right one.
Tom Prescott is founder and managing member with Advisory Services Network.