What can financial planning business owners learn from teenage kids?
The day after presenting to a group of financial planning business owners this week on the topic of strategic growth & decision making, I found myself in a conversation with one of my two teenage kids discussing their post school decision making. This led to me discovering many similarities between teenage kids and financial planning business owners right now…
Teenagers grow (height) no matter what decisions they make, it just happens organically.
Almost every financial planning business grew (revenue) last year. Only 3% experienced revenue decline (source: Adviser Ratings) with client referrals knocking on the door without the businesses needing a process or system in place.
Kids eventually stop growing in their teenage years, they don’t know exactly when that will happen, although the timing of this generally coincides with when they start making some big decisions about their life as their structured 6-year strategic plan (that was laid out for them by their parents) approaches its end with graduation, parents posting ‘first day & last day of school’ spam photos on social media (guilty🤦♂️) and… Schoolies (one done, one to go😟).
This is where the strategic planning process emerges (or doesn’t) to determine what decisions they make next, which for most are the first big decisions they have had to make (which sport to focus on as a teenager, or what to wear to a formal are big decision for parents… not the kids)
Many financial planning business owners are approaching their first big strategic decisions now as their businesses have successfully grown organically due to individual hard work, grit, resilience, and belief, supported by structured licensee practice development support and positive economic/market growth, while financial advice supply has restricted and demand has expanded – creating tailwinds… for now.
Success leads to new and different problems and more strategic decisions are needed as owners transition from single owner/adviser models (adviser led) to multi partner businesses (entrepreneurially led) with larger teams of people, employed financial planners, PY students, multiple office locations, and often the owners are 2-5 years into running their own AFS License.
My two teenage kids are deep in conversations about what decisions they will make next, which is a process that involves questions, nudges, self-reflection and sharing of experiences, including my own (which is another story for another day 😳)
While my wife and I are deep in this process of helping our kids make some big decisions, I’m also helping financial planning business ownership teams make big strategic decisions.
The tips for financial planning business owners embarking on strategic planning and decision making that I’m learning right now from my conversations with my teenagers…
1. Start with what you enjoy doing, where you want to do it, and who with – enjoyment
2. Identify individual strengths and gaps – leverage capabilities & relationships
3. Accept that success is not the same for everyone – growth is personal
4. Understand other experiences, not good or bad, just experiences - learn from others
5. Be curious, ask lots of questions, talk to lots of people – seek advice
Helping business owners make decisions is a key part of what I do and enjoy doing. A quote I love from Stanford Professor Baba Shiv whom I had the privilege of learning from is:
"In the real world, there is no such thing as making the right decision. You make the decision and then make the decision right".
If you’re a financial planning business owner looking for help to make a big decision, get in touch. If you’ve got teenage kids about to make post school decisions… any tips you have for me, I’m all ears!
note: I love leveraging AI…however I choose not to use AI for my articles.
