Going it alone isn’t easy. At some point it may no longer even be an option. There’s only one of you, and no one can do it all.
Growth goes hand in hand with more responsibility. And even as your business expands and your daily to-do list gets longer, you still have to make sure your company’s processes (for internal operations, reporting, billing, investing, trading, etc.) are well-documented and continuously updated.
Perhaps you’re ready to delegate some of your firm’s most tedious tasks, yet don’t want to hire, train, and manage additional staff. In this scenario, outsourcing is a very viable solution. If you answer “yes” to one or more of these questions, this could be a sign that you’re ready to outsource at least some area(s) of your business:
- Would you like to have less involvement in many of your firm’s day-to-day administrative responsibilities?
- Are you most energized by meeting with clients and/or gathering assets?
- If more of your time was freed up, could you attract more clients that you truly enjoy working with?
- Do you want to build more growth capacity into your business, without hiring additional staff?
- Would you like to offer your clients an even higher level of proficiency or expertise than you’re able to provide on your own?
- Have you tried keeping up with technology, but still feel your systems could use some updating?
- Would you like to focus less on managing, hiring, and training team members?
- Would you like to spend more time on building your business, and less time on investment performance, and research?
- Even if you chose to outsource, would you still like to have some involvement in your clients’ investments?
The most obvious benefit of outsourcing is freeing up more time for you to focus on what you enjoy and do best. And when you consider what your time is worth (estimate at least $150/hour), it’s likely that outsourcing can also represent a solution that’s cost-effective. In order to create a more efficient and rewarding life (both inside and outside of your business), you may choose to outsource various tasks to a trusted partner or service provider.
If your time is freed up so that you’re able to primarily focus on being a business owner and trusted financial advisor to your clients, you and your business will have the best opportunity to be successful in the long run. Delegating to a trusted partner can also increase your chances of success. Today more than ever, there are many options available to independent advisors. Once you decide which tasks you’d like to outsource in order to free up more of your time, finding the right solution may be easier than you think.
Built by advisors for advisors, FocusPoint Solutions assists advisors seeking to make their businesses more profitable and efficient. Through the development and implementation of a customized business plan which includes outsourcing, advisors supported by FocusPoint are able to focus on growth. As you plan for 2017 and beyond, you may choose to keep your current team in place, hire more, or outsource to an experienced virtual team like the one FocusPoint offers. Only you can decide what best serves you, your clients, and your unique business model.