Evaluate my Plan
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One more try and then I give up. Brokers who sell their practice sell it to someone they know and trust. They do not take out an ad. The best way to prove you can take over a business is BUILD ONE YOURSELF. This is what will qualify you to another broker. Think of it like a CEO of a corporation. You go to an Ivy League school. You know economics and finance front to back. Your plan is to become a CEO straight out of the gate. The fundamental flaw to your plan is working in a call center does not qualify you to be a broker. Yes, you can gain knowledge, but the experiance gleaned from struggling and building your own practice if far more valuable.
[quote=financeguy]
- Who said I want to be like all the other brokers out there? I want to create a specialty niche and work with high net worth investors.[/quote]
That’s pretty funny…
How many advisors out there do you think say that they prefer to work with “low net worth investors”?
What I’m trying to figure out is why this plan isnt realistic.
That’s mainly because you don’t even understand what an FA actually does, or what skills are truly essential to succeed. Instead you have what you WANT it be, which is an entirely different thing. You then proceed to build your plan on what you want reality to be instead of what it actually is. Here (again) are just a few of the main examples of this, because I frankly don’t have time or energy to mention them all.
1. You will not “learn the ropes” of being a broker by working in a call center, no matter how many different advanced departments you work in. If you want to learn how to be a broker, work as a broker.
2. If you hate selling and want to avoid it at all costs, your chances for surviving as a FA are virtually non-existent. Period. This has been repeated over and over and over, but you seem determined to ignore this fundamental fact. You can’t play football and think you can avoid being hit, and you can’t be a broker and think you can avoid selling, no matter how much you wish it weren’t so.
3. There is no magic shortcut that bypasses the need for selling skills and actual experience as a FA. You will not magically become a FA by simply purchasing a practice instead of building one, nor are you likely to even find a willing seller without demonstrated experience.
4. Your presumption that most brokers are stupid and don’t care about anything but making money at your client’s expense is wrong, as is your arrogant assumption that you will be the lone white knight to come along and put their interests first for a change.
5. Your presumption that your knowledge and expertise from working in a call center and getting your CFP will be superior to the majority of those in the business is delusional. Seriously.
I could go on, but I have already spent far more time on this than is warranted. Does this help you understand why your ‘plan’ is so incredibly unrealistic?
Morphius - agree completely.
Financeguy - enough said...I would consider your questions answered and move on. Good luck!I don’t know how many times or different ways this kid can be told about this situation. He just won’t get it. He’s in his own dream world. I say let the kid go out and try to do what he thinks he can do. Sometimes to know that the stove is hot, you have to touch it.
Personally, I would have to believe, with his dreams and thought process about this, that it would be like jumping from a plane and the parachute not opening. The sad thing is I kind of want to see how bad his fall is...keep us posted financeguy, we can use the entertainment !Financeguy, all successful advisors have one trait in common. They have the ability to attract and retain clients. Nothing in your plan is giving you this training.
You can save money and you'll have no problem buying a practice. No matter what you pay for the practice, you will be overpaying. This is because you won't have the skills to retain the clients nor will you have the skills to get new ones. People with your knowledge level, but superior sales skills will steal your clients all day long. What's worse is that people with an inferior knowledge level will also steal your clients.
Your plan will stop you from ever developing the necessary sales skills. You won't get them before you buy the practice. Once you do buy a practice, your time will be spent servicing clients which will stop you from developing your sales skills. In short, if you follow your plan, the lack of sales skills developed will cause you to purchase an asset that will depreciate in value. The analogy that I would use is a business that is multi-generational. Typically, the ones that fail are the ones where the parent builds it from scratch and the kid comes in as a top executive and then takes over at some point. The ones that succeed have have the kid start in the warehouse, and then move into sales, and then...and then... and then... and then become a VP....and then... and then take over.Even a clueless 22 year old should be able to learn from the many clear responses provided. This has to be a troll - maybe our friend Toby.
Your brilliant plan is just perfect precisely as described. Pray proceed without further delay. Success and financial rewards beyond the dreams of avarice await just around the bend.
[quote=financeguy] Appreciate the feedback. Although there are ways around it…despite what you guys say. I had a girl in one of my training classes take over an established business with 200 million in assets in a succession plan where the FA was retiring. This new broker had absolutely no selling skills at all and in fact, was new to the industry. This happens all the time at one firm in particular which happens to get mentioned a lot on this site.
So if I do have to sell, and if I do have a good amount of money saved up and 3-5 years experience in a call center, how plausible is it to start an independant company from scratch? Obviously I would have to prospect, but is it possible to have your own company without having any clients starting off?
Obviously it would probably be better and easier to go to a wirehouse or something, but I would like to avoid that environment if at all possible, what do you guys think?[/quote]
No. First, no reputable advisor is going to sell his book of clients/friends/trusted individuals to a 20-something with no experience in the business (call centers are a different business than being a finacial advisor - completely different in every way). Now, maybe some lackey with a dated book of old, commission-based accounts might do it. But, then you are really getting what you paid for.
As far as your pipe dream about the girl who inherited 200mm through a succession plan…yes, those happen, since advisors retire all the time. But let me ask you - what are your chances of being in the right place at the right time, and having a good enough relationship with a retiring advisor with 200mm? I’m sure I know your answer to that (based on this entire thread), but let me tell you that it is completely nill. I am not saying that you cannot be a financial advisor, or that you cannot inherit/buy a book. But doing it at 20-something without ever being in the business or being connected? I don’t know.
I really just hope you are a troll trying to get some yucks out of this. Because if you are truly serious, I feel real bad for you.
You are right. You should ignore the decades worth of experience that has responded to your plan. If you know someone who has done exactly what you are asking about, why are you here asking if it is feasible. Doubts maybe? These people that bought a practice, did they respond to an ad? Know the person? Have a long standing relationship with the person? You know the answer to what you are asking here. You are here trying to find someone, anyone to say it is likely even as unlikely as it may be. It does not matter how many different ways you ask the question, the answer is the same. We deal in probability in this business. Your plan has a very low probability of success.
There you go, then. You’ve got the information you need. Make a few calls. It’s as good as done. Why waste any more time here?
Bada bing, bada bang, bada boom! Go for it!
So let’s see if I’ve got this straight: I’ve got betweem 20 and 250 million to invest and all I get is some 22 year expert wannabe at a call center?
I gotta say ,regardless of what that costs, it's too much! Do I at least get a Tee shirt?If you are so set on this working, then why are you asking anyone’s opinion? If you don’t want to hear the answers, then don’t ask.
Man, you sound like my wife…
“Do I look fat in this?” -wife
“Yes.” - me.
“WHAAAAAT???” -wife
“Honey, if you don’t want to hear an answer other than ‘no’ than don’t ask.” -me
“WHAAAACK!!” -my face
So, we are giving you an answer you don’t like, and you are freaking out and slapping back at us.
If you’re just looking for affirmation of your plan, get a dog.
When you say low probability of success…how about the 93% failure rate in the industry?
What a meaningless stat. One of the great things about this business is that virtually anybody who is willing to do what needs to get done on a daily basis is virtually assured of success.[quote=anonymous]When you say low probability of success…how about the 93% failure rate in the industry?
What a meaningless stat. One of the great things about this business is that virtually anybody who is willing to do what needs to get done on a daily basis is virtually assured of success.[/quote] I think this stat is quite meaningful to this thread. FG is not willing to do what needs to be done on a daily basis and is looking for an easy way to succeed. When I started (and still today) I had no idea what the failure rate was. Didn't care. I think it is telling that he knows the failure rate and realizes the "build it from scratch" approach will land him in statistic land.Dude, nothing for nothing, but wouldn't is be easier to lie?If you are so set on this working, then why are you asking anyone’s opinion? If you don’t want to hear the answers, then don’t ask.
Man, you sound like my wife…
“Do I look fat in this?” -wife
“Yes.” - me.
“WHAAAAAT???” -wife
“Honey, if you don’t want to hear an answer other than ‘no’ than don’t ask.” -me
“WHAAAACK!!” -my face
So, we are giving you an answer you don’t like, and you are freaking out and slapping back at us.
If you’re just looking for affirmation of your plan, get a dog.