[ad_1]
Despite achieving reasonable success in professional and monetary terms, they suffer from a problem that is as simple as it is sad: they do not enjoy what they do.
They are stressed to bursting point. They are overworked. They feel they could be earning more. On the whole, they demonstrate why happiness comes first and success comes second.
The irony here, of course, is that advisers try to make a positive difference to other people’s lives. Unfortunately, many of them struggle to make a positive difference to their own.
So how should they go about turning things around? How can they get to a position where they have less stress, more time and more money?
In my experience, an adviser’s path to happiness can be split into six steps: structure; strategy; systems; services; support; and succession.
In turn, these can be grouped into three zones:
- the transition zone;
- the happy zone; and
- the exit zone.
The transition zone centres on the structure and strategy of an adviser’s business. It is useful to think of the former as the stable framework within which the latter can be reviewed and revised.
Advisers have to acknowledge when the ‘old ways’ no longer work.
The principal aims here are to define an optimum business model and to start with the end in mind – that is, to have a long-term plan.
This means weighing up the pros and cons of directly regulated or registered individual status, choosing to be independent or restricted, deciding between a multi-adviser or lifestyle approach, and so on.
The happy zone covers strategy, systems and services. Having established solid foundations, an adviser needs to utilise the right technology, focus on helping clients accumulate assets and identify the mechanisms necessary to drive business development and client outcomes.
The notion of accumulating assets is especially important, because the fact is that everyone can benefit from financial advice.
Advisers are sometimes too quick to concentrate on areas such as fund selection and performance. What clients often really need to grasp is the supreme significance of saving for a secure financial future.
The exit zone relates to succession. This is an issue to which many advisers devote much less thought than they should – another notable irony, given their day-to-day role in guiding clients towards the goal of retiring in comfort.
Retirement should be a strategic consideration for advisers from day one. The business model we use at Truly Independent is rooted in a succession strategy that ensures a smooth transition for all stakeholders – including clients – and allows retired advisers to maintain their income level for several years.
Naturally, I have my own ideas about what the six steps journey should entail and where it should lead. Broadly speaking, my ideal happy adviser would be directly authorised without the burden, independent without the research demands, and supported without the costs.
[ad_2]
Source link