Financially Simple Logo sFinancially Simple Logo sFinancially Simple Logo sFinancially Simple Logo s
  • Home
  • Starting
    • Start Here
    • Starting a Business Article Series
    • Podcast
    • Essential Advisory Team
      • Financial Planner
      • Certified Public Accountant
      • Lawyer
      • Insurance Agent
      • Banker
      • Business Coach
    • Supplemental Articles
      • Business 101
      • Taxes
      • Debt
      • Insurance
      • Finance
      • Laws
  • Growing
    • Start Here
    • Business Value Growth Series
      • Foundational Articles
      • Planning & Strategy Articles
      • Leadership Articles
      • Sales Articles
      • Marketing Articles
      • Personnel & Staff Articles
      • Operations Articles
      • Financial Articles
      • Legal & Insurance Articles
    • Podcast
    • Supplemental Articles
      • Business Taxes
      • Finance
      • Debt Reduction
      • Insurance
      • Legal
  • Exiting/Selling
    • Start Here
    • Building a Sellable Business Series
    • Podcast
    • Supplemental Articles
      • Business Finance
      • Taxes
      • Debt
      • Insurance
      • Legal
  • Personal
    • Start Here
    • Personal Finance for Business Owners Series
      • Foundational Articles
      • Cash Flow Articles
      • Insurance & Risk Management Articles
      • Investing
    • Supplemental Articles
      • Retirement
        • Retirement Planning
        • Estate Planning
        • Income for Life Series
      • Accumulation Planning
      • Investing
      • Tax Planning
      • Personal Financial Planning
      • Insurance
      • Tax Tips
      • Savings
      • Education Planning
      • Debt
      • Most Popular Articles
  • Books
    • The Ultimate Sale
  • Courses
    • Strategic Business Debt Reduction
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast
      • Listen on Spotify
      • Listen on iTunes
      • Listen on Stitcher
      • Listen on Libsyn
      • Listen on Google Play
      • Listen on TuneIn
      • Listen on PlayerFM
      • Listen on RadioPublic
    • Newsletter
    • Video
      • Video Blogs
      • Our YouTube Channel
      • Subscribe TODAY!
  • Free Resources
    • Financially Simple Newsletter
    • Business Entities Cheat Sheet
    • Pro Forma Example Worksheet
    • Strategic Planning Worksheet
    • Personal Budgeting Spreadsheet
  • Work with Justin
    • About Justin
    • Awards & News
    • Speaking & Training
    • Work with Justin
    • Hire the Financially Simple Team
Turning Your Side Hustle Into Your Full-time Job
6 Goals Needed for Turning Your Side Hustle Into Your Full-time Job
July 26, 2018
a certified public accountant startup business
A Certified Public Accountant – #2 Must-have Advisor for a New Business
August 8, 2018

A Financial Planner – #1 Must-have Advisor for a New Business

August 8, 2018
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER startup business

As part of the Starting a Business series, we discussed building the Professional Advisory Team that you will need as a startup business. Because there is so much to know about each member, we are going into a lot more detail about the first person on the list: a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ or CFP® for short.

The CFP® – Your New Business’s Team Captain

A Planner

To me, one of the most important players on your business team is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™. Often referred to as a CFP®, these professionals often have varying licenses in real estate, insurance, mortgages, business acquisitions, business sales, or security investments. However, you are looking for a certified planner, someone who specializes in planning. You need a CFP® to help you plan your business venture and your financial movements.

At this point, your business will be your life and your livelihood. Therefore, you need a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ to comprehensively manage your wealth and to act as the captain of your team. This person can direct your movements, or your “plays,” in accordance with your short-term and long-term goals. My job is to understand a client’s goals and help them develop a plan of action to meet those expectations and do my best to keep them from getting derailed along the way—much like a fitness instructor would do for your body. Additionally, he can communicate your vision to your entire advisory team and keep everyone in the same court.

An Advisor

Now is not the time to enlist the help of an advisor who works solely with investment accounts and investment options. Working in market securities is not business advising. Sure, you will need someone to manage your investments if you have any outside of your business, but you need so much more than that. You need business advice, tax advice, investment advice, wealth management advice, budgeting advice, legal advice, employee advice, management advice, value growth advice, and more. Traditional CFPs® work as stockbrokers, earning commissions from selling investment products to individuals. Most likely, those employed in that capacity will be of no use to you in a business sale.

A Guide

Instead, find a multi-credentialed CFP® who can guide you through preparations for your business start-up, through the life cycles of your business, through the eventual sale of your business, and through your life after the sale. A CFP® who has a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) certification and a Certified Value Growth Advisor (CVGA®) certification can offer you sound guidance throughout every cycle of your business’s life and throughout every stage of your personal financial life. When you look for the right individual to captain your advisory team, be sure to look for one who can handle this multi-faceted type of long-term relationship, and for one who works independently of Wall Street’s investment expectations.

A Fiduciary

Additionally, as you look for a financial advisor to fill this role on your team, make sure you find one who has the actual CFP® designation. With the CFP® Board requirements, you can be sure its members abide by certain practice standards and codes of conduct to remain certified. For example, a CFP®must lay out in writing exactly what he plans to do for his client and what fees he intends to charge for that scope of the engagement. Additionally, the board requires its certified members to be fiduciaries or professionals who use their knowledge, education, and experience to act in your best interest. In my financially simple terms, as a fiduciary, the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ makes financial decisions on your behalf as if he were in your shoes.

A Director

As your team captain, your CFP® is also going to make decisions for the good of your whole team. He will know which players to bring forward onto the court to help you, and he will put them in the correct positions to do so. Then, he will direct and lead the game plays, utilizing team members’ strengths, and mediating team member conflicts.

Fees Charged by a CFP®

One of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS™ is that only the affluent can afford them. That could not be further from the truth. In all honesty, as a small business owner, you can’t afford NOT to hire a CFP® when it comes to planning for future expenses.

We all know the benefits of hiring a personal trainer if you’re looking to lose weight. After all, even Olympians employ a coach to help prepare them for competition, which is exactly where a CFP® comes in. You want to win when it comes to your business. That makes choosing to work a CFP®  a critical strategy you want to employ in your overall game plan.

Just as important as working with a CFP® is knowing how he’s paid. Many times, financial planners will earn commissions on securities they sell, on investment trades they make, or on products they promote for purchase. If you have individual investments, your CFP® may indeed earn some type of commission. However, if he’s acting as more than your individual market securities investor, then most likely, your CFP’s®going to charge flat fees or hourly fees. Perhaps, he’ll charge yearly fees between $3,000 – $5,000. Or maybe he’ll charge you an hourly rate between $200 – $400. I’ve even met one CFP® who charged $500 an hour.

The good thing is when working with a planner, the planner will likely find a way to offset their fees. This may be in the form of tax savings, debt reduction strategies or budget cuts you may have overlooked. Planners are often well versed in the insurance world too, so with most people being insurance poor it definitely helps to have trained eyes looking at your policies. There are a plethora of ways a CFP® will save you enough money to cover their own fee and then some. When it comes to hiring a CFP®, they’re going to charge you fairly.

I challenge you today. Instead of asking yourself, “Can I afford a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™?”  Ask yourself, “How quickly can I hire the right CFP® for me?”


Quick Links – A Startups’ Advisory Team Members:
Financial Planner | Certified Public Accountant | Lawyer | Insurance Agent | Banker | Business Coach

Share

Related posts

49 Surprising Small Business Tax Write Offs
June 21, 2019

49 Surprising Small Business Tax Write Offs You Might Be Able to Take


Read more
Determining When is the Right Time to Sell Your Business
May 2, 2019

When is the Right Time to Sell Your Business? The 3 Determining Factors


Read more
How to Avoid Lawsuits and What to Do if You Business is Sued
April 16, 2019

How to Avoid Lawsuits and What to Do if Your Business is Sued


Read more
How to Start a Business Educational series
Justin Goodbread - Winner of the Investopedia Top 100
The Ultimate Sale is now available on Amazon

Don't Miss New Articles

Subscribe to the twice-a-month email newsletter and receive articles crafted by the experts at Financially Simple. And yes, you can easily unsubscribe at anytime.
  • Should be Empty:
  • Special Business Series:

    Articles:
    Starting A Business series
    Growing Business Value series
    Building A Sellable Business series
    Debt Reduction for the Business Owner
    Income for Life Retirement series
    Podcasts:
    Starting A Business series
    Growing Business Value series
    Building A Sellable Business series
    Personal Finance for Business Owners series
    Business Podcast series

    Awards & Accolades:

    Investopedia Top 100 logo
    Investopedia Top 100 Advisor – 2018 & 2019
    Exit Planning Institute Leader of the YearExit Planning Institute’s 2018 Leader of the Year
    Feedspot Top 10 Business PodcastFeedspot Top 10 Business Podcast
    Investopedia Top 100

    Educating thousands like you on:

    Yahoo Finance logoFinancial Planning AssociationMSN MoneyForbes logoNerdwallet logoFox News logoInvestopia logoExit Planning InstituteKiplingers logoKiplingers logo

    NEW! The Ultimate Sale

    The Ultimate Sale Business Growth
    The Book That Teaches Business Owners How to Sell Their Business for Maximum Profit

    For your security:

    GoDaddy Verified and Secure
    McAfee Secured
    © 2019 Financially Simple™
    Disclaimers, Disclosure, Cookies, & Privacy | FINRA’s BrokerCheck
    Form ADV | Form ADV Appendix 1 | The Mission of Financially Simple & Heritage Investors