Strategic Issues Archives - Page 7 of 15

Business planning a struggle? Perhaps you should plan “life” instead…

by Tony Vidler When business planning is a bit of a struggle it pays to ask yourself why you went into business for yourself. You could have had an easy job somewhere, and just made a living….but you would have gone into business for yourself because you saw it as your best chance […]

How to find your Niche

by Tony Vidler Knowing and working exclusively in your niche is nirvana for most professionals. Your niche is that absolute sweet spot where what you are fabulous at overlaps with what you love doing, and it is something that other people value and will pay you for. It is not a simple […]

why financial planning clients leave the financial adviser

Client Twisting: Why clients move

by Tony Vidler Clients move firms. It is just a fact of life. When they leave us most times we blame someone else…we call it “twisting” or “churning”. The immediate inference is the client only left because somebody else – who is less ethical – took perfectly good business and moved it for no […]

Be Valuable By Simply Making Clients Lives Easier

by Tony Vidler There are many ways to be valuable to clients, and a frequently overlooked aspect of value is simply maing clients lives easier for them. A massive opportunity exists for advisers to remove complexity from their clients lives, and in turn, be valued for the advice and convenience they deliver to […]

Some customers you don’t want

by Tony Vidler Some customers you just don’t want, because not all customers are good customers for us. Even some of those who look like they commercially viable customers we just don’t want. There are some who can use our help..want our help…but that doesn’t mean they are good clients for us. Most […]

What you need to know if you buy to grow

by Tony Vidler As many advice businesses reach maturity it is common to consider whether they should “buy to grow”. Should they buy another practice, or more commonly, should just buy a book of business from another practice. The typical reasons suggested for wanting to grow through acquisition are: 1. Get new […]

The uncertain road ahead for advice businesses

by Tony Vidler One certain thing for advice businesses is that there is a huge amount of uncertainty. Practice owners have had a lot of “alone time” in the last couple of years quietly contemplating the road ahead and trying to figure out what do they have to do to prepare, or adapt. […]

Innovation, not originality, is the key to better business.

by Tony Vidler Everyone wants to grow their business, and everyone is looking for new ideas to do it. But nearly everyone wants the magical original idea that nobody else has ever thought of before, that will guarantee results quickly. Innovation is by definition original, but originality is not necessarily the same as […]

Is Acquisition – or Merger – Worth It?

by Tony Vidler Many firms facing increased overheads and infrastructure costs in the next few years are considering acquisition or merger strategies as a survival or growth strategy. Generally there appears to be 5 main reasons that advisers suggest as their reasons for acquisition of another business. They are: 1. Get new […]

Penny-Pinching In IT Is Madness

by Tony Vidler Professionals keep getting their fingers caught in the trap of “penny pinching”, especially in IT. This is especially crazy when the IT is protecting the IP. We know that there are many many areas where cheap actually becomes expensive in the long-run, and nowhere is this more true in my […]

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