Podcast Center
Video Center
Webcasts
Resource Center
Events
August 21, 2015 at 12:55 PM
In the financial services business, every stage of your professional development poses challenges. It’s easy to continually chase mistakes disguised as opportunities.
My first mistake was not focusing on just a few markets and becoming a specialist in those one or two areas. Instead I attempted to do it all which was a recipe for frustration and burnout. Attempting to become everything to everyone, you inadvertently become no one to everyone. When you clearly define your market, you allow yourself the opportunity to grow organically by building a foundation that will serve you well down the road.
My second mistake was entering into a great opportunity with the wrong partner. From the outside, the advisor/partner I was working with appeared to have a successful business — but I soon learned this was far from the truth. I was young in the business, and did not ask enough questions before entering into the relationship. The business was built around one person, selling took precedence over advising, both clients and employees were not happy.
Both of these mistakes have given me the opportunity to learn and grow. As a result of the first mistake, today we have a thriving referral based practice focused in two niches. The second mistake caused me to develop a predictable and repeatable business model with help from a coaching firm.
