Advisory Firms
As a business owner, you have a multitude of responsibilities to juggle. Running your business entails managing various roles, while also staying updated on the ever-changing legislative and regulatory advice framework, the critical aspect of managing people, ensuring compliance, and planning for the future so that keeps your business running smoothly.
Strategy
Strategy helps identify and leverage competitive advantages. By analysing the market, competitors, and internal capabilities, a strategic approach allows businesses to differentiate themselves and create unique value propositions. This competitive advantage can result from factors such as innovative products or services, operational efficiency, client service excellence and leadership making your business a brand of choice for clients and attracting talent. By capitalising on these strengths, businesses can drive growth and outperform competitors.
o What is the right business model for my advice business? Self Licensed vs Licensee
o Multi Discipline Professional Services – have you executed the value across all professional services you can provide clients?
o Does your strategy align to your Investment and Insurance Philosophy solutions for your clients?
o Is your strategy define and documented? Has this strategic approach involved assessing risks, developing contingency plans, and mitigating potential threats
Leadership & Talent
Have you considered what leadership structures and people and culture framework you need now and preparing for the growth of your advice firm, let us support you.
Your People - Positive and Productive Culture: Have you found the challenges of a competitive market with a shortage of experienced staff or loosing staff once you have invested in them?
We understand the importance of having the right people in the right roles to drive your strategic growth. We assist in ensuring the right people are in the right roles by developing clear role descriptions for your staff members, ensuring alignment with your business goals. Additionally, this aligns with regular performance and feedback discussions centered around role-specific key performance indicators (KPIs) and the business's key result indicators (KRIs).
Stakeholder Management: Have you engaged multiple third parties to support your practice or manage key project initiatives?
We assist advice firms with stakeholder management and can assist you in developing tailored engagement strategies. This should bring better engagement and communication between parties and form a more consistent operating rhythm. We provide guidance on managing conflicts and resolving issues that may arise with stakeholders, enabling you to build strong and positive relationships.
You have seen positive growth, or you have some big plans?
We help you consider the right leadership framework to support growth and collaboration so you can lead with purpose.
Advisory Board: It might be time you consider broadening the thought leadership you need at the table. We assist in setting up advisory boards consisting of industry experts who can offer specialised knowledge and experience. Our consultants help you select and onboard advisory board members, ensuring they align with your organisation's goals and challenges. These experts provide strategic input and support, helping you make informed decisions and driving your practice success. We additionally provide our expertise to advice practices as advisory board members at the request of the business directors.
Risk & Governance - Both Advice & Business
We identify potential risks and vulnerabilities in financial and operational processes by develop strategies and frameworks to mitigate these risks. This improves internal controls, establishing robust risk assessment frameworks, and implementation of effective monitoring and reporting mechanisms.
o We explore Identify potential risks, set a high standard of governance to ensure you meet the regulatory requirements as a Director, Responsible Manager, Supervision of Professional Year Adviser or as an Adviser providing advice. What is the best options for you practice to manage these risk? Should you consider outsourcing part of this function?
o Committees within your AFSL or Advice business: how well is your investment committees set up to perform and manage risk, risk and compliance committee to manage advice, your cyber posture?
o Establish strong corporate governance practices to ensure accountability and responsible decision-making. This includes having a clear code of conduct, a diverse and inclusive board of directors, and effective risk management processes. Manage the financial cashflow of your business to meet regulatory requirements. There is value in sharing information about your corporate governance structure and practices with clients to build confidence in your organisation.
o BARRC (Business, Accounting, Risk, Reporting, Compliance) committee plays a crucial role in promoting financial stability, regulatory compliance, and sound risk management practices within an organisation. It ensures that the organisation operates within the framework of applicable regulations and accounting standards, thereby safeguarding the interests of stakeholders and enhancing the organisation's overall governance and control environment.
We understand the importance of leveraging technology to support Key Result Indicators (KRIs) in your business. Our team can help you establish effective measurement frameworks and leverage technology tools to track and evaluate performance against key metrics. By utilising data-driven insights, you can make informed decisions, identify areas for improvement, and drive continuous growth.
Financial & Operational Efficiencies
Our expertise, methodologies, and strategic guidance enables you to optimise your processes, improve productivity, and achieve sustainable growth. Together, we can identify areas for improvement, implement impactful changes, and position your business for long-term success.
Plan, Forecast, and Measure:
We can help you stay accountable. We assist businesses in benchmarking their performance against industry best practices and standards. With access to valuable insights, we compare your financial and operational performance with similar businesses. We assess the financial fitness of your practices alongside the productivity of people and process. We get excited to work alongside you through setting new a new forecast for growth while measuring and celebrating your success with you along the way.
Project Management:
Our consultants have extensive experience in managing complex projects. We provide project management expertise, ensuring initiatives aimed at improving financial and operational efficiency are effectively planned, executed, and monitored. We coordinate cross-functional teams, facilitate collaboration, and ensure projects are delivered on time and within budget. With our guidance, you can navigate the intricacies of project management and achieve optimal results.
Streamline Operations and Improve Productivity:
We work closely with businesses to streamline their operations and enhance productivity. Our consultants analyse your existing processes, identify bottlenecks, and recommend strategies to streamline operations. By eliminating unnecessary steps and implementing efficient workflows, we help you optimise resources and drive productivity gains. We promote innovation within your organisation and work alongside you yo foster a culture that embraces continuous improvement and drives sustainable growth.
Advice Solutions:
Does your client solution philosophy align to your value proposition, or you have but can’t remember the last time you sat down to consider how well it’s aligned. This can impact your efficiencies around new client’s and how you manage your ongoing advice. We assist businesses in evaluating their Investment and Insurance Philosophy. By reviewing market trends, technology, client preferences, and competitive landscapes, we help you make informed decisions on the right advice solutions for your clients.
Succession, Merger & Acquisitions
Succession Planning
Succession planning should not be a one-time event but an ongoing process. Advice firms should create comprehensive continuity plans that outline the steps and procedures for a smooth transition of leadership and change.
The opportunity to design how you want to exit or transition within your business, to maximise the valuation of your practice and ensure a great experience for staff and confidence for your clients.
Planning should commence ideally a minimum of five years from your planned transition. There are many choices on how you can structure this change. We can assist you in how you achieve the optimum results for you or other equity holders in your advice firm.
Succession can still plan for organic growth and growth through acquisitions depends on your firm's specific circumstances, goals, and capabilities. It is often beneficial to combine both approaches strategically, leveraging organic growth to strengthen your foundation while selectively pursuing acquisitions to accelerate expansion and capitalise on market opportunities.
Growth through Acquisitions
Strategic Fit: We work with advice firms to ensure the acquisition aligns with your firm's strategic goals and vision. Assess whether the potential firm's expertise, client base, and service offerings compliments your own. Look for synergies that can enhance your competitive advantage and accelerate growth.
Due Diligence: We have significant experience in the process of conducting due diligence on practices and AFSL’s of different sizes. We believe the first assessment is always the cultural fit of the potential business. Once you feel confident, we move through to a more formal Due Diligence. During this process we assist by evaluating the financial health and viability of the firm, reputation, advice, services provided to the clients, technology infrastructure, risk and compliance framework. We see this as much more than just looking at a select number of advice files. This allows you to then evaluate the return on investment and any potential risks or liabilities associated with the acquisition.
Pricing and Structuring: We consider with you and other professionals the best structure to acquire the asset, valuation to support your binding offer and progress to sales terms. We can engage with your preferred professionals to ensure your terms are aligned to your sales agreement.
Integration: We support firms to be prepared for integration, as merging two businesses involves aligning systems, processes, cultures, and teams. Our team consider the impact on employees, clients, and stakeholders and develop a well-structured integration plan to minimise disruptions and maximise synergies.
Digital Transformation
We work with advice firms to foster a culture of innovation, helping them gain and retain a competitive advantage in the digital landscape. We encourage you to regularly review your technology infrastructure to ensure it aligns with your evolving business needs and industry trends. Our consultants can assess your current tech stack, identify gaps or areas for improvement, and recommend innovative solutions that enhance your operational efficiency.
Do you want to explore virtual advisory delivery, developing self-service platforms or leveraging digital communication tools? We help you find flexible solutions that enhance client experiences and meet their evolving needs.
We are committed to helping advice firms embrace innovation and leverage technology strategically. Our goal is to empower you to adapt to industry changes, maximise operational efficiency, and deliver exceptional value to your clients. Together, we can drive digital transformation, foster innovation, and position your firm at the forefront of the advisory industry.
Corporate & Social Responsibility
By integrating Social Responsibility into your advice firm, you not only contribute to the betterment of society and the environment but also enhance your brand reputation. Clients increasingly value businesses that prioritise ethical and sustainable practices. Embracing social responsibility as part of your business strategy sets you apart and helps attract like-minded clients who appreciate your commitment to creating a better future.
Balancing Profitability and Ethics: Striking a balance between profitability and ethical conduct is essential. Demonstrate your commitment to ethical and sustainable business practices by actively engaging in volunteering activities or contributing to social impact initiatives that align to your values. These actions show your dedication to creating a positive impact beyond financial success and help build trust with clients.
Investment Philosophy: Develop an investment philosophy that aligns with your social responsibility objectives. Ensure that your actions and investment decisions reflect positively on your brand. Consider incorporating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into your client engagement and building investment strategies, focusing on sustainability and ethical considerations. This approach demonstrates your commitment to responsible investing and attracts clients who share similar values.
Business Continuity
Business continuity plans are crucial for advice firms to minimise disruptions, maintain client trust, comply with regulations, protect their reputation, prioritise employee safety, and gain a competitive edge. By proactively preparing for unforeseen events, firms can ensure their resilience and continue to provide valuable services to their clients.
Have you got one in place? When was it last reviewed? Who has access or has knowledge of this plan? We can assist to ensure your business fitness remains high.
Coaching
1:1 Coaching
Get a personalised plan and regular check-ins to help you reach your goals.
You've invested time in growing your business, but have you also invested the time in yourself to execute the opportunities?
Clarity & Discipline help you lead. We assist our clients by keeping them focused.
We know each individuals needs are different, and we will act as your accountability partner, holding you responsible for your actions and goals. We help you set realistic targets, track progress, and provide the necessary motivation to stay on track.
Our focus is your success
Weekly Sessions
If you’re looking for something completely integrated and tailored to your specific needs, 1:1 business coaching might be the right step for you. Book a free consultation today.
$300/hour session