Only Fee-Only
This podcast interviews fee-only financial planners to learn about how they are helping their clients and serving their specific niches.
Only Fee-Only
#141 - The Secret to Scaling Your Firm Without Losing Your Sanity with Michelle Wong
What if you could scale your advisory firm without rushing to hire and manage a full team?
In this episode, we talk with Michelle Wong, founder and CEO of Nifty Advisor Support, about how solo and small RIAs can build lasting capacity through remote support, strong processes, and a culture-first approach.
Michelle shares how Nifty grew from a pre-COVID launch to supporting more than 60 firms today, and how the rise of remote work changed the way advisors handle client service, marketing, and operations. She explains Nifty’s two main ways of working with firms: ongoing support that feels like a dedicated team member, and short project sprints designed to solve specific problems.
We also cover the “Nifty Fit” framework, which focuses on matching both technology and communication style so advisors avoid costly hiring mistakes.
Michelle opens up about the real bottlenecks that hold firms back—piled-up service work, inconsistent follow-up, and operational debt—and how her team helps fix them. She also introduces the Nifty Lab, a community where advisors and ops pros share templates and ideas before committing to ongoing support.
If you’re a fee-only or fee-based RIA thinking about outsourcing, this episode gives you a clear roadmap for what to delegate first, how to measure success, and how to reclaim your time.
Social and Website:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hellomiwo/
https://www.niftyadvisorsupport.com/
What's up everyone? How's it going? This is Brock Buckles, and this is the OnlyFe-Only podcast. In this episode, we talk to Michelle Wong, who is the founder and CEO of Nifty, a company dedicated to supporting financial advisors. Michelle shares her journey of starting Nifty just before COVID and the challenges that she's faced and how the pandemic ultimately helped her develop a plan to actually really make her business successful. She discusses the ideal client for Nifty, the various services offered, and the importance of cultural fit in building long-term relationships with advisors. She also introduces the Nifty Lab, a community for advisors to connect and learn. This conversation is really fantastic and it emphasizes the importance of collaboration and support in the advisory space. So without further ado, enjoy this episode. Sit back, relax, and check it out. This is the OnlyFe-only Podcast with Michelle Wong.
SPEAKER_01:How's it going, everyone? Welcome to another episode of the Only Fee Only Podcast. I'm Peter Travolo. I'm here with my co-host Brock Buckles, and today we are so excited to have Michelle Wong on. She's the founder and CEO at NIFTY Advisor Support, and really excited just to have her on today and share how she's helping advisors grow their business. So, Michelle, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you so much. I've been like anticipating being on this podcast for so long. So finally excited to chat with both of you.
SPEAKER_01:I love it. Well, we've been looking forward to it as well. And we know you're gonna have a lot of good advice and experience to share with fee only planners and how you support their business. So for those who don't know who you are, do you want to give a quick overview of just kind of who you are, um, what you're currently doing and where you're based out of?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so um I have uh been the founder and CEO of NIFT for a little over seven years now, um, right before, started right before COVID started. So we kind of uh uh landed in the at the perfect time um and anticipated challenges very uh easily and quickly. Um I am from the DC metro area. Um I think since we last spoke, I actually live in Canada now. So my husband's Canadian and um I moved here a few months ago, so that's been really awesome. Um aside from that, I've been in the industry for 15 years. I initially wanted to be an advisor. I found that I just really thrive in the practice management space. Um, I think advisors have so much strength working with consumers, but I just love kind of managing the engine and managing the people behind the scenes. And I found myself at a couple of the larger um RAs in the Maryland area. And eventually I was like, you know, I can't do a job anymore. I need to spread my wings and start my own thing. So I'm like a lot of other advisors where, you know, they want to be independent and be creative and implement their own ideas and make that type of impact. So um, luckily, the impact that I feel like I've made over the past seven years with NIFD, you know, internally and externally, um, really taught me some a lot of good lessons, just project management, managing a team, advisors, and personal growth as well.
SPEAKER_01:I love that. So just for sure, so the listeners have an idea where are you currently at for size, just so that we can start at the beginning, but just so people have an idea now in the show where you're at.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so we work with around 60 advisory firms, um, both SEC and state registered. Um, and my team is 16 employees as well. So I still consider that it's still small business for sure. Um, but I also know that there's a lot of solos where they're like, whoa, and I'm like, okay, I'll take it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no, hype me up. I love it. Yeah, we're growing. Um so what was it like? I mean, starting, you know, a little bit before COVID and and trying to understand, you know, what you wanted the business to be. Obviously, you saw the opportunity in the marketplace to do what you're doing now. Um, but things can tend to be a little bit intimidating when you're first getting into it and trying to figure it out. So yeah, I know a lot of advisors kind of relate to that. What were those, what was that first year like for you when you're just trying to get get get rolling with it?
SPEAKER_02:Um honestly, uh I I really wasn't that scared, which is probably why I'm the type of person where I'm very much a go-getter. I have to be involved in every single thing. I love networking. Um, I would say the first year for me was the most nerve-wracking thing, is just, you know, not really knowing whether anything is going to stick or not, because at that point I was really doing it for myself. I didn't really expect it to like for advisors and also my team to resonate with my experience so much. There's so much opportunity within the finance space to really, you know, nurture team members that the finance industry kind of struggles with. Um, you know, solo advisors who are not feeling as if they were being heard. I feel like being a solo advisor, I feel like wasn't even really it was just starting to become a thing. So just really understanding, like seeing it come to fruition was really probably my biggest fear at the time. Um, a lot of advisors, they tell me, like, oh, like I listened to you on the Kit is podcast. And I'm like, that's when I was really just talking about an idea and it was just a party of one. And I was just like talking, talking to talk. I didn't really have many clients then, but to still see that podcast resonate and see that come to fruition finally, um, I think has definitely instilled a lot of confidence in me for sure.
SPEAKER_01:That's very cool. So you started right before COVID, correct? You started in 2019.
SPEAKER_02:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Or 20 2018.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:2018, yeah. So definitely before COVID. So, I mean, you had an initial business plan, right? And you're a small business, so things changed quickly. But once when COVID happened, what really shifted for you? Like, how did you have to adapt? And you know, how did you maybe change your product or servicing or your marketing? Like, what kind of changed for you from COVID?
SPEAKER_02:Um, from COVID, I feel like we're one of those businesses where COVID kind of helped us, um, luckily. Um, so not really, I think it's just the volume and really the education around what really helps a remote business thrive. I think it's even kind of crazy that now we're still trying to convince advisors that remote work works. Um, if you hire the right people and you can trust them and that you really invest your resources in them. But what really came out of COVID, I always say is that we actually have more resources than before. Like it's even easier to be remote than when we first started in 2018. Um, you know, we've seen that, you know, there was maybe one option for a virtual receptionist service where now there's like 10 or 20. You know, there's just so many choices nowadays where, you know, when we first started to be remote, we didn't have a lot of those choices. Um, but now it's you know, growing pains, I would say, probably to do volume. But it's a good problem to have. So I can't really complain too much.
SPEAKER_00:I I always say that I'm like, you know, there are problems and then there are real problems, right? Like when you're first starting, you don't have any clients, you're trying to get some of that revenue in the door and become profitable. That's a problem. Like, that's a challenge that you have to overcome. Hiring more people and scaling because your business is doing so well that that's necessary, that's a good problem. So it's it's good that you you have the good problems um instead of just the idea testing problems and trying to make it work now. Um what would you say is your ideal advisor to work with? I mean, are you guys serving all levels of firms or is it like, you know, mostly people that want to offload a couple of things? Where do you feel like you guys really fit in with advisors?
SPEAKER_02:I would say the ideal advisor is a solo or small team where they don't feel confident in their talent management or human resource, human resource um of like managing other people or training development. Um, but we really work with all types of advisors. Um, you know, a lot of our advisors have been with us for quite a while. They just like never want to hire or manage somebody because that's not where they want to spend their energy, and that's totally fine. Um, some advisors, they may have a small team, but they still, you know, when someone leaves a team or they have to go on, let's just say maternity or paternity leave, like it impacts their business a lot more than a corporation that has like hundreds of employees. Um so someone who is, you know, open to the other, you know, there's so many ways to support a business, but I really think that working with an agency is a really beautiful thing because versus working with like an employee or an individual contractor, um, an agency is really able to ebb and flow depending if like a business does well or a business doesn't go as well as they hope an agency can kind of adapt the resources and adjust as needed, which is what I love about NIFT is seeing what solo and small advisors really create out of our services. Um, so it's like enough structure where, you know, here are the resources that really uh contribute to a great client experience, um, and them being really open and collaborative and willing to, you know, go through that type of change, even though I know it's hard to let go, I would say, for small firms.
SPEAKER_01:What are the different service levels or ways that advisors can use nifty? Is it you know, package, is it, you know, like one day a week, is it hour blocks? Like what's that kind of look like?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so um I think since we last spoke, we actually offer both ongoing, so dedicated one-on-one support where it really feels like you're hiring a team member, um, but then also project-based support as well. So the difference is that with ongoing, we offer that um in marketing, servicing, and pair planning. Um, whether you want to just kind of streamline your business and conquer the essentials, or if you really want to scale, um, there's a service offering for each of those, then I would pair accordingly. But then we also have project-based services where I would be the project manager or project lead on the project, and there's a defined goal and timeline that you're trying to meet. And we can create a project team for you where we can tap into um, you know, a little bit of marketing, a little bit of planning, or you know, maybe there's a specific specialization that you just need like here and now, because as we all know, it's very hard to find temporary support that's already trained up. So that allows us just to plug and play and they don't have to worry about all the resource management on top of that. So it's really cool because our team just similar to me, like we're all kind of Jill and Jack of all trades, where it really allows us to flex our muscles and provide value where the advisor sees it like where they need it most. Yeah, and that can change as you know, as founders, you know, business can look so different a year from now versus what we expect it to be.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, right. No, totally. And and I mean, how are you finding the talent? Because obviously, you know, I feel like you guys have a really good reputation for good people and good advisor support. Like, how have you managed to find good talent to help these advisors um be able to offload some of the things to create more efficiencies in their own processes?
SPEAKER_02:Um, I always say, you know, of course, the typical is like, oh, let's post on LinkedIn, like create a job posting. But there's a lot of um work that goes into nurturing relationships. I always say that advisors have their own community, as you know, there's plenty of online communities that they can join and they have that camaraderie with their peers, but there really isn't that type of community for those that just don't want to be advisors, and that's totally valid. I find like when I first started and a lot of others that are in back office, they're like, oh, the industry only promotes the advisor career path. But you know, that not everyone loves sales. Like you're still in sales regardless of how you kind of label it. Um, there are some people that just like working behind the scenes and they enjoy doing the analysis in the back office, but there's certain there are different challenges there for non-advisors as I call them versus advisors and being able to relate at that level and build a culture where they want to refer and you know, invite their other uh back office friends to work at NIFTI. Like there's so many ways, just like building relationships with clients or other advisors. We do the same thing at NIFTY.
SPEAKER_01:So are they all domestic or any international team members?
SPEAKER_02:I know you're in Canada, but yeah, I'm only one international. Everyone else is in the US, even though I don't I don't know if I consider Canada really international, in my opinion.
SPEAKER_00:North America. Yeah, North America. Um, no, that's really cool. So, I mean, what is the direction that you see your firm continuing to grow? You know what I mean? Because I've seen a lot of the firms that kind of do what you guys are doing out there, they get into other types of businesses and other models. Like, are you guys just totally committed to staying within the advisor niche? Is that kind of where you guys want to wanna stay?
SPEAKER_02:Um for my vision of nifty, yes. I would say just like I think it's beautiful having like just picking the right niche, like it's everything.
SPEAKER_01:Totally.
SPEAKER_02:Um as I'm sure you guys know, like hiring in human resource and talent management is such a huge topic within the industry. And I personally really love team management aside from just like the day-to-day operations or custodian work or whatnot. I think that's where I thrive and that where the team really loves that too. So you'll find us tapping more into not just implementation and project management as I call it, but also really helping not just solos and small advisor team scale, but really sharing the knowledge to really help the industry grow and help others find their own talent, even if it's not with nifty. Um, just because there's so much work in the industry, and um there's just so much left to build that just even taking things from other industries in terms of hiring and best practices, I think there's just so much work that needs to be done there.
SPEAKER_01:When an advisor comes to you, I mean, what would you say their main pain points are? You know, like what are they really looking to sub out or to get support with?
SPEAKER_02:Um definitely servicing, because that's the one thing that of course advisors hate, but it still needs to be done. Like majority of the industry is operations. Um aside from that, like we talked to a lot of, as I mentioned, we talked to a lot of advisors in various business stages. And aside from the work that we do internally, um, you know, we're a connector within the industry. Like we refer out to a lot of colleagues, consultants, whether in operations, automation, business. Um, we also refer to like general virtual assistant companies that aren't industry specific. So aside from just like the marketing, the planning, and the servicing, um, really helping advisors understand all the resources that they have because they are an independent RA. Um, there's so many, like compared to during COVID or pre-COVID, um, the spaces, as you said, is getting more competitive, but um we love it because we're independent too. And there's a lot of beauty in that to be able to choose and create whatever you want. Um, we're all small businesses at the end of the day. So just being able to network and connect in that way and help each other um is really what we love to do.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, you've kind of created a community as well. Tell us a little bit about the advisor lab.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's actually fairly new. Um, it's called the Nifty Lab.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, the Nifty Lab.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and because a lot of the feedback, you know, um where somebody may not exactly be ready to um bring a team member into their firm, uh, the Nifty Lab is just a really great way. It's low barrier to entry where you can still connect with whether existing Nifty clients or non-clients to bring that to learn more about hiring project management um until they're ready to hopefully join Nifty on an ongoing or project-based engagement. Um, so it's hosted on school. There's also like a seven-day free trial. It's very, it's very low risk. Um, but I would love to continue to grow that and bring a different perspective to the advisory space aside from just other advisors. So I do think that those in back office have different challenges. And they're the ones that see the challenges like firsthand. And I think that perspective is really important when an advisor is trying to grow their business outside of themselves.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. For sure.
SPEAKER_01:Um, like in general, when you just kind of like look at the advisor space, like what type of advisors are reaching out to you? So, I mean, you mainly work with solo boutique. Um, is there like a certain revenue trigger that people are coming to you at? Are they all fee only? Are they fee-based? Like, you know, who's kind of your core demographic?
SPEAKER_02:Um they're typically fee only or fee-based. Um, so we're pretty strict about only working with RAs. Um, that's very common with a lot of outsource providers. Um but in terms of like tech stack, when we speak to an advisor, um, we have two different calls. So one is just like an exploratory call, and then the second one we call a nifty fit call. So with a nifty fit call, um, instead of you know building a relationship with a team member that may be working with you in the day-to-day, it's a very intimate, like these advisors are all working alone and it can feel like you're in your own little bubble, where bringing someone else into that is a very like personal experience. And you know, a lot of advisors hold their business tight to them. So even like in the initial stages, that nifty fit call is really supposed to help us kind of envision what that day date would look like. So things we look for are um, of course, is it a technical fit? So what's their fintech stack? Um, we actually keep track of everyone's experience across the team and we look for gaps so our coaches can help train our staff and meet the needs of the advisor a bit more quickly, um, just to make sure that everyone's cross-trained. So from a resource management perspective, it's just really efficient. Um, but then we also look from like a cultural standpoint. Um, you know, I think I say that I love being a mediator between advisors and our team, and we only work out long term. Everyone, it's a lot more enjoyable when you enjoy working with the people that you're working with. So make sure that's a good cultural fit, seeing like what their experience is in back office, like if they worked with outsourced support before, um, if there was a falling out, why, you know, why exactly did that happen? Like, what did the advisor try to do or what they what could have they done versus just the employee or the individual that didn't work out at the time. Um, and really get a full understanding of what that looks like. So we know what we're getting into and making sure that, you know, even though our engagements are typically temporary, um, our advisors really stay with us for the long term. So we really try to uncover that very early on and be transparent if it's not a right fit or not. And that's totally true. Like people will get offended. Like everyone, you know, I'm sure you guys have gone through your list, you know, had your own jobs, and maybe you're fit or not a fit. Like it's just the work experience, it's just work culture and it's completely normal. It's nothing to look at.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, even and I don't think that's even unique to what you guys do, right? That's just in general, right? It's because we talk to advisors, and I'll tell people all the time, we might be the perfect fit for you. We might not. And either way is cool, right? If you want to try us out, use us, and you're like, I don't know, that's not really for me. Great. Because I think the sooner that you accept that people in businesses, you know, it's just different, right? You don't have to get along with everybody. You have to find somebody that works for you. And when you do find it, find somebody that works for you, hang on to them for the long term because that's what really matters. Um, or just for maximum impact in you guys' case, right? If it's not always going to be a permanent thing.
SPEAKER_02:So it's not like it's nothing personal, it's just business. And like all of us want to provide the most value that we can to the advisor. So figuring out that out early, just make sure no one's time is wasted.
SPEAKER_00:Wasted, right? Exactly. Well, awesome. Well, um, any last thoughts or anything that you want to put out there into the advisor community uh about nifty before we part ways here?
SPEAKER_02:I always say you don't have to do it alone. You know, it may seem like you're having business challenges like all by yourself, but there are so many resources and great people out there that even if you just need a friend, I always say I love just speaking to advisors in that way, but you can always connect with me on LinkedIn. I think my LinkedIn handle is hello miwo, so M-I-W-O. Um, and I'd love to just chat with you. Um, aside from that, thanks for having me on the podcast. This is great.
unknown:You bet.
SPEAKER_00:Yep. Last thing for those that want to so that's the LinkedIn. Anything on Twitter, anything else, websites that you want to get out there?
SPEAKER_02:Our website is nifty advisorsupport.com. That's probably good to mention.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, all good. We got it. That's why we do it. So awesome, Michelle. Well, thanks so much for the time. Great to get the chance to talk to you and uh look forward to catching up again soon.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, definitely. Thanks, guys.
SPEAKER_00:You bet, Michelle. Thank you.