It’s especially hard for them to consider selling their businesses, he said. He recalled one client who carried on with an auto shop his father started half a century ago.
CVS offered him $800,000 eight years ago for the property, which he declined as way too little despite pleas from Tolbert and his accountant that the offer was fair.
CFP Board Ambassador Steve Podnos said business owners who have come to him from advisors complained that past professionals took a “one-size-fits-all approach” to financial planning and didn’t recognize the different needs entrepreneurs have.
To develop the expertise required to serve them, Podnos said he regularly takes online seminars in succession planning and other issues specific to business owners’ interests.
CFP outlets offer nearly 100 in-person and 50 web training sessions on small business.
While Podnos said he wants to be able to provide clients with savvy for their business and personal financial needs, he acknowledges that some business owners want to farm out their business advice needs to others.
Ross, the 31-year-old owner of Justin’s Café and the Big Stick near the Washington Nationals baseball stadium in Washington, D.C., is one of them.
Ross said he wants his bank to help him with a financial plan and loans while he relies on his financial advisor to teach him how to make a success of his business.
“I contact my advisor to help get my money working for me. I don’t want it just sitting in a bank account,” he said.
At the same time, he said people like Bernie Madoff have made him wary of relying too much on one person to direct his financial path.