If you’ve ever built a house, or added onto your home, you know you need a detailed blueprint before breaking ground. Your contractors won’t just start framing without a plan in place for the materials, costs, roles, and process.
A blueprint is critical for efficiency, communication, and accountability.
The same idea applies to your firm. Most, if not all, financial professionals are pursuing one of two main goals: growth or retirement. And no matter which mode you’re in right now, being successful requires carefully planning out your objectives and the steps you’re going to take to reach them – at least a decade in advance.
Why 10 years? It might seem like an exceptionally long time horizon, particularly if you spend most of your time focused on day-to-day operations. But consider the advice you give your clients. You’d never tell them to start planning for a large purchase or a major life event a month or two in advance – or not at all – so why would your business and your goals be any different?
Looking 10 years ahead allows you to approach your business objectives in a highly strategic and prescriptive way. It also gives you the chance to anticipate challenges, seize opportunities, and account for variables beyond your control.
So how do you go about building your blueprint?
The first step is to determine which mode you’re in right now. That may be easier said, particularly if you’ve started thinking about retirement. Financial professionals are notoriously avoidant when it comes to succession and exit planning – and I get it. The work we do defines us, so what happens when we’re no longer immersed in it?
But it’s time to look in the mirror and have that difficult conversation with yourself (in fact, that’s step one in our retirement-focused guide). You’ll be doing yourself, your clients, your firm and your legacy a disservice if you wait too long to acknowledge, and then plan for, retirement.
Whether your vision for the next 10 years is to grow your firm or be able to pass it on, you don’t have to construct your blueprint alone. Our team is here to support your trajectory – standing alongside you every step of the way.
