How to Start a
Financial Planning Business
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Getting Started as a Financial Planner As investment strategies, tax planning, real estate and even saving money becomes more complex, financial planners are needed more than ever. If you can save a person money - or help them earn money passively, that's a great asset to have. In addition, if you enjoy working with numbers and thinking creatively, you can do well in this field. There are 3 excellent start-up business guides that I recommend, all of which are a bargain for the advice you get. Imagine the cost of completing a financial planning course, attending a weekend seminar or even taking a business owner to lunch so you can find out how he or she got started in financial planning - a book containing virtually the same information is quite a deal. As a bonus, in Rattiner's "Financial Planning Bible", he provides worksheets, engagement letters, client checklists, software resources, and other operating tools needed in your business's day-to-day operation. Getting Started in Tax Consulting If you enjoy doing taxes, there are probably 1,000 people who don't want to do them and are willing to pay someone to ease their pain. Being that there is likely not a shortage of clients, as a tax consultant, you've got competition to deal with. That's how this business start-up guide helps. With really good tips and advice on ways to cut your business expenses, save time, increase profits and of course find new clients, you'll be starting your business off on the right foot. Learn how to break into the tax consulting business, even with limited education and training Discover how to find a tax service "niche", set fees, market your business, specifically for convenient web-based businesses Get lots of valuable tax resources with contact information, including education and certification requirements Click here >> Start a Tax Consulting Business Start a Quickbooks Consulting Practice Are you thinking about starting your own accounting service business? With this guide, it can't get much easier. You'll get all of your questions answered by people who know this industry inside and out. Not sure how to grow your business? Wondering how you'll get clients or what rates to charge? If you want step-by-step answers to these questions, plus advice from other top accounting consultants, you've come to the right place. I can't tell you how much I personally detest accounting, but this accounting business start-up guide really gets me excited. It's a wealth of the exact information an entrepreneurial accountant needs. Click here for business start-up >> Start a Quickbooks Consulting Practice Click here for Quickbooks Guide >> QuickBooks 2009: The Official Guide Start an In-Home Bookkeeping Business How to get started, educational requirements, plus various bookkeeping services you can offer and going rates How to effectively market your services, sales & marketing ideas, answers to start-up questions and how to avoid common mistakes Step-by-step instructions for monthly bookkeeping requirements, preparing taxes and depreciation with useful forms and additional resources Click here >> Start an In-Home Bookkeeping Business Starting a Financial Planning Business Checklist: Obtain the necessary business licenses. Check with your local government office to find out which licenses and permits you need for your financial, tax or bookkeeping business and how to apply. If you plan to operate your financial service business out of your home, check with your local government office about zoning ordinances and possible land use restrictions Set up a business bank account with your local bank. Make sure that the bank is FDIC is insured. It is important to keep your financial planning business and personal finances separate, and often your banker can help with small business loans or financing. Arrange a meeting with an accountant to discuss tax strategies and ways to maximize your business tax deductions. You can get referrals from other business owners you know or sometimes your banker. File your fictitious business name with the county clerk, or if you want to form a corporation, find out how to incorporate your business Meet with an insurance agent to discuss insurance you may need for your bookkeeping or tax consulting business. The IIABA (Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America) is a good place to start. You can also get free quotes online for business insurance Set up your business phone system. Whether you use a toll-free 800 phone number, a multi-line phone system, VoIP or simply add an additional phone number to your existing service, you'll want a designated line to establish a professional business image. Order business cards. One of the cheapest ways I know of to advertise a business. See how you can design your own professional business cards online, plus simple tips for increasing your sales >> Free Business Cards Get a website. Save money by creating your own website with simple online design programs, or outsource the job to an affordable website designer. Whether you sell tax planning products online - or you use a website to display information about your bookkeeping or financial planning services, it's important to take advantage of this low-cost marketing resource that can help you get more customers. Business Resources for Financial Planners: Get a Business License How to Incorporate Your Company Small Business Loans Design Your Own Logo $25 Credit to Advertise on Yahoo Accounting Software Easy Payroll Online 300 Ready-to-Use Business Forms for $29 Essential Agreements & Contracts 800 Phone Numbers, 4cents/minute Find Local Customers Online Accept Credit Cards Free Business Insurance Quotes How to Set Up a Website T I P : Create Accounting & Financial Forms in Minutes! Easily design accounting flowcharts, diagrams, audit forms, invoices and more with the World's Most Popular business graphics software Try it Free Now! Hire Help the Easy Way: Easily find a team of experts to help you build your business - virtually. Save money in overhead costs, get work done more quickly and eliminate payroll hassles. Website Designers and Software Developers Marketers, Salespeople and Telemarketers Accounting and Bookkeeping Assistants People to handle Customer Service and Administrative Tasks oDesk makes outsourcing easy and affordable so you can grow your business faster. Get a Free Tour, Post a Job How Accountants Get New Clients Steve McIntyre-Smith teaches professional accountants worldwide how to make more money. You'd think this is the exact guy you want to talk to, but so does everyone else. He works only with accounting companies - with a proven marketing system for accountants who usually don't know anything about marketing. You can access his accountant business resources online at his insightful website. It's worth a look, seeing that he's been helping other small business accountants succeed for over a decade. Marketing for Accountants Business Growth for Financial Planners in Five Easy Steps Attracting new business: sometimes it happens by luck, sometimes by referral. Trouble is, "sometimes" just isn't often enough. So, if you want to add new clients more frequently than sometimes, you'll have to try something else. And with a few common-sense, do-able, and easy steps, any financial planner can build business - without resorting to lavish, costly marketing efforts or tasteless promotional hype. Here is a five-step process that is affordable, sensible, and do-able. Make it part of your routine over the next several months, and it will become a second-nature, autopilot system that builds business steadily. This process builds on my core practice-development premise: the professional knowledge and information you possess is also your best marketing tool. You can use it to get prospects' attention, because you're talking about something they care about - their finances - rather than touting yourself. Build a good database of prospects and referral sources. A prospect is anyone you've met (this is key; names on a purchased list don't count) who could become a client one day. Anyone who has ever sent you a piece of business, or even just recommended you, also belongs on your list A database is a computer-stored list with all contact information for each person: mail and email addresses, phone and fax numbers. Missing any of these elements will deprive you of a valuable tool to reach your database. Computerizing is essential: it allows you to readily sort your list by categories. Software programs like ACT are best for smaller and mid-sized businesses: they offer the right mix of power, ease, and flexibility. Use your database: communicate regularly with your prospects and referral sources. The key to building business is to remain constantly front-of-mind with the people most likely to hire or refer you. If you've been paying attention, those are the same exact folks who now populate your database. How to stay on their minds, without those pestering phone calls or scheduling 27 lunches a month? By sending them something useful, regularly. Monthly or bi-monthly is best. (This, I promise, it is do-able because creating the piece is going to be simple. See step 4) And let's avoid that "What's the best way to send something?" trap that stalls many would-be marketing efforts. The truth is: some people prefer email, some snail mail, and you'll never know just who likes what. So we'll cover all bases by rotating the delivery means: an e-mail this month, an article in an envelope next time, an occasional faxed piece. Make them want your messages. The way not to do this is to send them ads, promotions, or self-congratulatory pieces. Instead, send them meaningful messages with valuable information. A heads-up on a new mutual fund offering, perhaps, or a general suggestion for a new retirement planning strategy. Something based on substance, and that spotlights your expertise on the subject. Whether or not they need this particular bit of information right now is irrelevant. Your message reminds them you're out there, thinking of them, and that's all we want to accomplish. Keep it simple. Your messages should be brief - two or three paragraphs is enough. More detail than that is counterproductive - it wastes your time, and the reader doesn't need it. If it's still a struggle to write it yourself, verbally brief a staffer, or whoever helps you with marketing, or a freelance writer, on the information. Have them create a first draft. It may not be perfect - but you can then edit and hone it - probably in a few minutes. Make this process uncomplicated because that is the key to getting it done. Become a resource - go to the media. With the steps above, you've become a resource to your prospects. Next, widen your scope by going to the media for free publicity. Media exposure puts your name, face, and expertise in front of new prospects, and it heightens your credibility and market value among those who already know you. Don't be discouraged that you are too small for the media to care. And don't think that you need to spend big bucks, or hire a costly firm. All you need to do is become a resource for reporters, too. Offer to explain the new tax law, or to share your year-end strategies with them. Send an email or make a call, suggesting a specific topic that you've been talking about with your clients lately. Chances are, it's a potential news story. With a little planning and luck, one that quotes you prominently. Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele's MediaImpact, he is the author of "102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice." To learn more visit www.MediaImpact.biz, call 212-243-8383, or e-mail him: info@mediaimpact.biz Financial Planning Associations Financial Planning Association The Financial Planning Association® (FPA®) is the leadership and advocacy organization connecting those who provide, support and benefit from professional financial planning. National Association of Personal Financial Advisors NAPFA, the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, is the nation’s leading organization dedicated to the advancement of Fee-Only comprehensive financial planning.