advisor practice Archives

5 Tips for selling, or buying, a practice.

by Tony Vidler There are a number of traps that professionals consistently fall into when selling (or buying) a book of business. The mistakes are so consistent and prevalent that there is are some golden rules evolving on how to make sure any sale is successful. The Top 5 are: 1. Get professional help […]

Practice Growth Requires Leadership More Than Management

by Tony Vidler The most frequent thing I see that prevents great practice growth and holds advisers back from developing their dream business is a lack of vision. I don’t mean “vision” in the namby-pamby buzz-word sense of having a beautiful set of words on a plaque on a wall that nobody really cares about. […]

R.I.P. To Some Accepted Wisdom For Growing A Practice

by Tony Vidler In good times growing a practice is difficult enough and one of the methods has become conventional wisdom – but that doesn’t mean it is right in these days of fundamental and structural change for the industry. The concept of a professional firm requiring 3 distinctly different roles of a Finder, […]

How do you know when you have a “great practice”?

by Tony Vidler “Great” is so subjective isn’t it? Having a “great practice” is a subjective assessment too…what is great to one adviser might be considered ordinary to another. But the true measure for each (I think) is: “When it is delivering the income and lifestyle that you imagined.” However, that outcome is potentially […]

10 Reasons why an Advisory Practice just stays “practicing”

by Tony Vidler Why is an Advisory Practice called a “Practice”? I think it is because more often than not the business is mostly practicing to be a business. When a “practice” has actually made it then everyone calls it “a firm”. THE common denominator in a Practice appears to be that the Principle, […]

Regulatory Reform: The Danger Of Knee-Jerk Reactions

by Tony Vidler Regulatory reform is everywhere (in the west at least) in financial services and the biggest distraction for advisers is what they need to do to adjust for it…again…and the focus is almost always entirely upon the short term. Knee-jerk reactions become the norm as advisers grapple with the burning questions, such as: […]

Are You AND Your People Clear About What YOU Want?

by Tony Vidler Pretty much everyone running a business hates having to come up with job descriptions for their staff. Your people hate them too usually. A statement which may have been correct at a moment in time to describe a role, and the role is subject to constant change…they are pretty much a […]

To fix repeated problems, you need a process!

by Tony Vidler For financial advisory firms the word “process” has become synonymous with “best practice advice”, but good process is so much more than just a compliant and well-documented series of advice documents. Process cures problems. Process is what builds franchise businesses. Process is what creates turnkey operations that are highly valued […]

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 […]

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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