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EP12 - Fall in love again, or pass the torch
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Every independent advisor reaches a moment where they have to ask one of two questions. Either fall in love with the business again, or honestly start thinking about who comes next.
In this episode, Steven Watts and Founders Financial President and CIO Peter Murphy explore the deeply personal decision every advisor eventually faces — and how to tell which path you're actually on. They reframe succession not as a transaction but as a legacy decision rooted in passion, continuity of care, and what you want clients to say about you when the work is done. The conversation closes with the most useful piece of advice in the entire episode: build the plan the same way you build a client's, starting with the destination in mind.
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From Founders Financial. This is the Bill to Fund and for public market. Partner to partner conversation for independent financial advisors. Today, Stephen Womby, Chief Growth Invisor and Founders Financial. Sit down with Peter Murphy, president and CML and Founders Financial. To discuss the two questions every advisor eventually asks the family about succession. Every independent advisor reaches a moment where they have to ask one of two questions. Either fall in love with the business again, or honestly start thinking about who comes next. Here's the conversation.
SPEAKER_02All right. Good morning, everyone. Thank you all for joining us today. Uh, we have what I believe is a very timely and important topic for many of you joining us who might be beginning to think about succession, what succession ultimately looks like in your world. And you're facing an uncertain period ahead of you as you try to determine the right time to pass the torch. So really excited for today's discussion. Uh, my name is Stephen Watts, and I'm the Chief Garth Officer here at Founders Financial. We have a slight lineup change. Some might call it an upgrade, uh, if you were to ask some. Um, we have a special guest for today's event standing in for our regularly scheduled host, uh Brad Shepard, our chief executive officer. Uh, he's unfortunately out. So, filling in is our president and chief investment officer, uh, Peter Murphy. So really excited for Pete to join us. Uh Pete's been with Founders Financial since 2012 and serves as our chief investment officer and drives a strategy for um Founders in-house, investment management platform, Freedom Capital Management Strategies. Uh, he led it to uh has led it to be one of the largest tamps in our industry. And uh Pete's experience includes guiding the, I'm sorry, Pete's past experience included also guiding the endowment for Notre Dame prior to coming to founders. And in 2001, he was named our president. So again, super happy to have Pete join us today and help us lead this discussion. Uh, in addition to driving strategy for founders, uh, Pete is really committed and focused on directly serving the members within the founders community. He spends a large amount of his time working directly with our members and advisors to help guide their practices so they can achieve the dreams that they have for it. This includes, which is really irrelevant for our topic today, working closely with those who are entering the succession chapter of their careers. So, Pete, welcome. And uh I think we're we're gonna have a good discussion today.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, great.
SPEAKER_02Thank you, Steve, and looking forward to it. So, Pete, succession is a subject that when you and I talk to advisors, um, we we we often hear this come up, right? Everyone's kind of worried about, they're thinking about to some degree, some some more than others. Uh, but it's especially true when they reach a certain stage of their career. You know, the the retrospective of how an advisor came to be a financial advisor and why they ultimately chose the path they did, it's it's unique to everyone we talk to. However, there are some common threads, and one is happenstance. Happenstance played a big role, right? Maybe it made sense at the time. Uh, maybe they knew someone in the same profession that you know gave them their first job. Uh, there's there's no shortage of reasons why someone entered this career path in the first place. Uh you can roll circumstance into that as well. Uh, all those things combined led them to where they are today. And it's amazing how many advisors that we've spoken to say that, you know, being an advice being an advisor wasn't their their first career path, right? There, they're they had other things in mind, but they kind of fell into this. Uh, I point all this out because it it could suggest, and it's kind of the point of today's discussion, it could suggest that some advisors who never intended to be financial advisors ultimately became great ones, but maybe never intended to be that. Um, they may have never actually what we often refer to as they fell in love with their business, right? It was a starting job that later became a career, and so on. Now, some did fall in love with it and they continue to love it to this day, which is awesome. Others may have loved it, but then maybe fell out of it, fell out of love with it for one reason or another. And now they're they're considering moving on. So, to get things started, I'm gonna tee the discussion up with like this. Why is the topic of succession and the need for advisors to identify their love and passion for the business? Why is that so important uniquely in today's environment?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's a great question, Steve. And it's one that will face every single advisor at some point. And that point in the future can be determined by them. It could be determined by circumstance unexpectedly, but succession is an inevitability. And the circumstances around it is what is outside the advisor's control, typically speaking. And preparing for succession as a business owner of an independent wealth management practice is one of the most important things that you can do to protect your levitacy, to protect the relationships that you serve, and then to carry that legacy forward. And it's it's so similar to the financial planning process that each of you engage with in your client relationships. And you all know whether it gets to the estate planning point or the retirement planning point, that decision has a feeling of finality to it. And human nature is to put that decision off, whether it's determining when to retire, whether it's determining the estate plan and those decisions around it. Because as humans, our instinct is to avoid thinking about that end because we likely enjoy where things are today. But whether we want to or not, you know, as planners, that those are very important things to put in place from a risk management perspective for you, for your family, for your enterprise. It's the same exact thing in succession planning. It's just through a different lens and through a different context. And many of you likely even consult small business owners on this very thing as it relates to succession for their business. But it's just hard to turn inward, especially when it's something that you do day in and day out. And to turn inward and focus that same conversation on yourself, actually, I believe, is harder when you're doing it to serve others day in and day out. But it is the most important thing in the context of legacy. And putting a plan in place can not only afford you peace of mind, it can also afford those you serve peace of mind, and it can have infinite reward from focusing on that decision today, even if the time may be in the future. And we're going to get into this later, but when is the right time? The time is now. No matter when it may be, the time is now to begin preparing for succession. And whether you're ready to retire inevitably in the next year or two, or you're 30 years out, you need to begin planning for what you may want succession to look like today. And no different than the financial plans that you build with your relationships, they're living plans. You will have a living succession plan for your enterprise that will evolve over time. But if you don't think about it, if you're not intentional about it now, it will not happen. It will happen to you, and it will not happen likely in the way that you would have liked it to. And you are in control of planning for that and making it an active planning process for succession. So no, no matter where you are in the life cycle of your wealth management enterprise, the time is now to begin considering what you want succession to look like and to begin laying the groundwork for preparing for that succession.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's all it's it's likely that question has popped in their mind to some degree or another, just just where are they at right now, right? And and how how prevalent, how real is that that question in their lives and you know what promises at play in their focus. So um I'll tee this next thing on for you. Can can you imagine, Pete, what people will say about you when it comes down to succession?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, one one of the one of the questions we'll we'll often ask um when we're when we're engaging with advisors around succession planning, and and it can often be an emotional topic for many as as they've spent a lifetime or a career building this practice and this legacy and trying to think about handing it off is an emotional topic and rightfully so. And one of the the examples we'll often raise or the questions we'll often ask is can you imagine when you're you're staying you're you know you've moved on from this world into into the next, and um, everybody that you've that you've family, friends, many of your client relationships likely are standing there at your celebration of life after after you've passed on, um, what are they gonna be focused on and and what are what's gonna be most important to them? And we phrase that not in not in a a fearful type of context, but what do you want people to say about you? Um and what do you think is most important? And and for most of you, you're gonna say that they trusted you and you served them well and you and they did well by you, and and you're someone that they were honored to have a relationship with. And in the context of succession, um, you want to make sure that they they feel that beyond you too. And that's how that's how you begin thinking about this. Oftentimes, succession planning is focused on a very transactional nature, terms of the value of the practice and the transition of the book and those things. And those are those are mechanics that have to happen, but what's the spirit of succession that you're that you're taking? And what's the legacy that you want to leave in that through that spirit? And that's what we're talking about here is the most important thing. And if you think about and at a celebration of life, um, after you passed on, what's what's likely going to be the topic? It's gonna be about those things. It's the little things you did to impact them by sharing your heart with them, sharing your truth, sharing trust together and the relationship you built over a course of a lifetime. And that's how the succession planning conversation should be considered in our mind as well.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's it's such a again, I'll refer it back to all the advisors every chance to talk to, the the protection of legacy and the protection of the client relationships that they developed over generations in many cases. I mean, that is that is true to the heart of many advisors, if not all advisors, right? So yeah, the the mechanics you've spoken of around the valuation and maximizing the return, all really important stuff uh for the advisor, but protecting that legacy and making sure it's in a good spot when you leave it is um is something that can't be overstated for sure. So, Pete, let's dig into what advisors here today um or why why advisors are here today, right? Many advisors find themselves in this interesting place in their lives. They're a little bit older, they're like me, a little grayer and you know, certainly wiser. Uh, hopefully they've achieved some level of success. The idea of uh in in question of falling in love with the business, it's such an interesting way to think about the relationship the advisor has to their craft, right? It it's it feels very vulnerable to answer if you really try to answer it honestly. So, how important is it for advisors to really stop for a moment, just stop and settle and ask themselves this question in a really honest, reflective way?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so so there's a couple of things around this question. So if we go back to the beginning, um, you know, is it time? And we went through the conversation there. It's of course it's time to begin thinking and considering. Um, but when we when we really break this down and we talk to advisors about are they ready for for succession? Are they are they ready to put that plan into action? Uh the first thing that we start with is is where's your what's your heart on the matter? And where is your heart right now in the context of your practice, your business, your enterprise? And that is where it all starts. And so passion fuels an independent wealth management practice above and beyond all else. So if you talk to your relationships and you were to go take a survey of them and say, what do they value most about the impact you've made in their life? I doubt many are gonna respond that you're a really good asset allocator, you run portfolios really well, you build really beautiful financial plans, you do awesome rebalancing. Uh, that's just not what they appreciate most. They're gonna say, I appreciate that, I trust this person, I appreciate that he's got my best interest at heart, that he showed me a path to something I didn't think was achievable, and he's and he's helped me buy into that vision and buy into myself. And that all is fueled by passion. That's all fueled from within. And oftentimes, advisor reaches this point, they've been at this now for 20, 30, 40 plus years, and that passion begins to wane. And when that passion begins to wane, it's likely a sign that it's start, it's it's it's time just to take a fresh look at things. And that fresh look could be a re-entered, re-energizing focus on the business and getting re-in touched with that passion that that started it all. Or it may be, you know what, it's I've run my course here. It is time for me to put this succession plan into action because my passions are beginning to lie elsewhere and where I want to focus and dedicate my time. So it really starts with that passion and identifying where it is, and a lot of time it harkens back to where you started and some of the energy and fulfillment you got from that moment. Because after you've done something for a long period of time, you can think you can fall into going through the motions. And then, as we'll talk about later, then there's as you grow, complexity comes and and some of the some of the shininess loses its luster and all of those things, but it all comes back down to your passion and and and and how you're feeling about what you're doing day in and day out.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that that passion is uh is central to everything, right? Once that starts to wane, it's it's a it's a domino effect from there, it sounds like. So, so Pete, I I love this quote from Steve Jobs. And I I'm sure many people have have read it or heard it before, but it's such an honest and realistic understanding of our lives and the the role our work plays in it. Uh, you know, Jobs goes on to say, you know, your work is going to fill a large portion of your life. And all the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is is ultimately great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. So I throw this quote into the discussion today, uh, because I'd love to get your thoughts on how this concept applies to advisors given all the things they have to deal with that might make loving the business more difficult. And you mentioned complexity earlier and some other things. So curious what your thought is on that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and this and this is a really powerful quote. And and so what it speaks to is if you really dig into it, it speaks to internal versus external validation or measurement. So, how do you define great work? And if you're gonna define great work by your assets under management, by the number of relationships that you serve, by the number of designations that are listed after your name, those are all external points of validation. And while they may be points of professional credibility, they're not what is gonna bring you joy and satisfaction. And there is a there's an endless pursuit for for for those measures. And it's ultimately unfulfilling if that's all you're in it for and all you're focused on. And so the the whole point about this is it starts with loving what you do, it starts with the passion and what really gives you fulfillment. And then from that, great work is performed as measured by you. And it all starts with you and it starts with self. And and one of the things that we really focus on at Founders is our strategic enterprise program, which is all focused around the leadership journey and the focus of leadership through growth of self first. And that's what this is speaking to. And it matters so much in this context of is it time for succession? Is it time to get re-engaged and fall in love? Go back to are you loving what you're doing and why? And then the answer becomes very, very clear and apparent quickly.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, great, great thoughts, Pete. So we're working down this in this discussion, we're working down this kind of line of, you know, do I, do I fall in love with the business again or maybe for the first time? Do I do I look for my exit strategy to move on and leave my leave my practice in a good legacy? One of the things that pops up, you know, for advisors, they're kind of thinking which route to go is complexity, right? Complexity, and you mentioned it earlier. Complexity is a challenge for for many, if not all, financial advisors to some degree or another. It's it's both a natural as businesses evolve and it's a roadblock to future growth opportunity, including how it impacts succession. So, what I'm curious about is the role complexity plays and how advisors feel about their business over time. Again, go back to that passion kind of phrase you're using earlier, right? Does complexity start to erode that passion, right? What is what impact does their decision and time frame to move on, you know, how does how does complexity kind of weigh into that?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's a it's it's a great question question. And and in our world, we're we're primarily interacting with independent advisors. And so their journeys oftentimes share a lot of similar milestones and markers. So many advisors who either become independent or start independent, they do it primarily because they want to get more focused on serving their client relationships in the best way possible with the most flexibility and control. And so, what they love, most advisors get into this business because they love engaging with and serving people. That is what fuels them. And then what happens is as they start to see success from the fruits of their labor, they serve people really well. And then the people they're serving tell others about their great service. And so their practice or their enterprise begins to grow. And as they're serving more relationships, there's more complexity, there's more to do. And many often start as a one-person shop, and maybe they have a professional administrator serving alongside them. But eventually it gets more complex, and they need to think about more hires, more people, more systems, more processes. And what started as a very simple practice focused on the majority of your time and energy doing what you love quickly has evolved into a meaningful small business that has a lot more responsibility where you're wearing more CEO hats and you're not just sitting in the advisor seat, which means you're seeing less and less of your time focused on that relationship growth, relationship development, and a lot more of your time running a business. And that's where these ceilings of complexity start to come in. And we see it consistently with advisors who grow frustrated. They love independence, they love the fruits of independence, but they really didn't get into it thinking about running a business, and certainly running a business with a degree of complexity that we see today in the wealth management industry, which is more focused on comprehensive planning and very deep and rich client engagement, it has become a more complex, not a less complex business over time. And so that's that's one of the frustration points that that many reach. And this topic of succession will often come up at this point because any time in life where you you hit these milestone points or these crossover points, you kind of have a two paths you can choose. You can either kind of say, all right, you know what, I'm gonna shrink down or stay where I am and kind of slow growth so I can stay simple, or I do want to keep growing, but that requires me me to make investment. I've never done something like this before, and I don't know that I that I want to spend all my time running a business. And how do you kind of how do you make the right decision at that fork in the road? And oftentimes succession planning becomes topic number one in the context of that because you're thinking through not just this next transition, but where you ultimately want to be. So all of that comes in comes into context. And you can see this in this in this little graphic here, right? When you start as a solo practitioner serving a relatively small number of households, your world is very advisor-centric. You're just providing advice, your practice is simple. You don't have a whole lot of people that you're overseeing on your team, and the world is simple. Then you want to extend out in terms of the services you provide your client relationships. So you add complexity to do that because your clients need you more. And that may be introducing different types of services, more comprehensive services, bringing in outside partners that you work with and taxes and estate planning, but whatever it may be, it just becomes a more client-centric, but also more complex world. And then as your business grows even more, you got to get more process-centric because you can't just remember what you're going to do day in and day out because you have so many things going on with so many moving parts that you need to have processes in your business and you become beholden to those processes so that you can continue to deliver the service you've always been accustomed to, delivering to your relationships. So advisors go through these iterations and the complexity ratchets up with each one. And for some, it's an it's energizing and a source of uh fulfillment. For others, it's it's frustrating and a source of do I really want to do it this way anymore? And maybe it's time to start the succession process.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and there's that, there's that fork in the road, right? So um, all right. So I think this this first part of discussion we've just had is has been a kind of a great kind of background setup in terms of the the state of you know, state of affairs for advisors and and setting up this proverbial. Fork in the road that we've been kind of uh mentioning. So let's kind of dig into where the options are and where advisors can can think about going. So um, Pete, I'm reminded uh of this phrase that we often hear about professional athletes, right? You'll hear football players say that, you know, once you start thinking about retirement, right, it's probably time to hang up the pads, right? Hang up the cleats, right? So, but that that can't always apply to advisors or heck, even other people in different different industries. Um, you you may have situations where you're not financially ready, right? Maybe you have a succession strategy, but it's not ready to be executed yet, even though you might be feeling the weight of all those things you just mentioned, right? And there could be a number of other reasons that say, you know what, I'm I'm just not ready yet. So if you are where you are, and succession's not in the immediate short term, how do you rekindle the magic for the business, right? Or start that magic up again for the first time and regain the excitement for running and operating and growing the business that you may have had when you first started it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it goes back to what we were talking about earlier in this in the context of is it time? And are you ready to change your role in the enterprise and the practice and start working towards a succession destination? Or are you are you ready to get re-engaged and re-energized like you were when you started this place? And the and there really should be no middle ground. If you find yourself in in this in this state of just going through the motions and feeling like the business is dragging you along, then the as Steve said, with the analogy around football players or athletes, it's it's a similar thing. There's there's there's writing on the wall, and you need to start asking yourself. And it starts with reconnecting with your why. I spoke about this earlier, but what do you love about what you do? And are you still loving what you do today? Maybe you loved it 30 years ago, but are you still loving it? Um, and how do you get reinspired if you're not? And so you start there. Um, the answer may be no, you can't get reconnected to your why and get reinspired, which has answered the question for you. But if you can, the first step is get reinspired, get reconnected to your passion and get re-energized about what you're doing and why you're doing it. If you start there, the answer will become pretty clear, but it's got to start there and always start there. And it's not just a one-time thing, this is an ongoing continual process.
SPEAKER_02Exactly right. And and uh we have something on the screen right now. It says, you know, write down five client success stories and remind you of your impact. And I think that's that's that's such a great kind of tool or or thing to do as you kind of work through this first step one of reconnecting with your why, because you know, it's it's the reason you would stay is likely not financial, right? It's not like I want to make more money, right? It's it's because you're connected with your clients' relationships, right? You're you're connected with the people you serve, you're connected with your team, right? So, so you know, write down those things, write down those things that can inspire you to keep going if that's the route that you either have to go or you want to go. Those things are all just great mechanisms to kind of recenter the thought of of where you are and ultimately where you want to go.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And so when you start with that and you get you get re-energized with your why, and through that energy, it fuels the next the next question is where do I need to invest? Because this could this drives directly to the point around complexity that I spoke about a little bit ago. As your enterprise grows and becomes more of a multifaceted business with multiple stakeholders and and all these moving parts and pieces, you need to make investments. And if you're at the point as a business owner where you don't want to invest in the business anymore, if your business is not growing, it's gonna be decaying, whether you want it to or not. And this concept of cruise control is just a it's just a facade that things are gonna stay the same when change is inevitable. And if you don't adapt and invest, uh you're it you're inevitably gonna decay. And so if you're re-energized with your why, it should be a catalyst for you to revisit where do you need to invest? And I don't just mean that you need to invest tons of money and capital into your practice. It's about what do you need to invest in so that you can then get refueled with that passion and energy to do what you love? And for many advisors, that's about taking off some of the hats that they're wearing as business owners because they're just tired of all the time that it takes to run the business and investing in resources, whether it's other stakeholders on their team that they bring on or outsourcing certain things so that they can focus on what they love again. And if you can do that and make those investments and consider them fully, you have the opportunity to create infinite reward from what you're focused on with your practice. And it doesn't necessarily require huge investment of dollars, it requires thoughtful and intentional investment in the practice for continued growth and not just growth in assets and client relationships and the like. That's part of it, but the growth of your practice and the ultimate impact that you're able to deliver. And that's the only way to ascend through these ceilings of complexity that you're gonna hit along the way. It starts with your why and getting re-energized on what's most important to you. And then the next thing you got to do is where do you need to invest your time, your energy, your resources to make sure your practice represents that why and that you're continuing on that path that you started on a long time ago. And you just keep that fuel for your business going because with that that without that spark, without that fuel, decay is inevitable.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, maybe we should re-reword this slide a little bit. It should be invest in you and the business, right? You being first, right? And then you know how that ultimately you know goes downstream into the business.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Well said. And then the last point is it's something that, and this gets to what Steve was just saying. Um, it's everything in in what we do starts and ends with leadership. Um, and and it starts and ends with leadership of self first. And so we're in the business in this wealth managers management industry of impacting people, of serving people. And the way that that is done most effectively is through authentic leadership. And you've likely known about this, and you're likely a great leader already because you've got natural tendency and skills in this area. But no different than needing to invest in the business, you need to invest in your growth as a leader. It starts with why. We talked about that earlier. It then focused, it's then about getting focused on investments and in your practice and the like to get that representation of the why to what you want it to be today. Um, but you've got to continue investing in yourself and growth as a leader. And so we talk a lot about founders around the principles of servant leadership. And that's that is kind of a common cause across our community and a set of guiding principles. And I encourage you for your practice, if you don't have a set of guiding principles, it's a great thing to write down. It gives you something powerful to speak with your relationships about. It can connect you back to your why that can be represented through a mission statement, which is really foundational to represent your why, not just for you, but also the stakeholders on your team and the relationships that you serve. And if you focus on continuing to grow yourself as a leader, it will fuel that passion, it will fuel that investment in the business, and it will keep that true north, that guiding light ahead of you so that you are the leader that your enterprise needs, that your relationships need, that the stakeholders on your team need. And that fuel, it starts with you. And it's really, really important if you're going to continue on this journey and say it's now, it's it's not yet time to pass the torch or to step aside, continue growing as an authentic leader, is critically important to continue this journey.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well said, Pete. All right, now let's take the flip side, right? So we've now talked about the ways you can get re-engaged and and rekindle that love and magic, right? That's the path you're gonna have to go down. But let's let's take the other angle now, right? So if you've come to the decision, you're that football player who's thinking about retirement, and you say, Yep, it's time to go on, right? It's it's it's you know it's time you and you just know. So, what should advisors be aware of in their own attitudes, their feelings, their emotions, kind of recognition of what's happening around them that might signal to them, you know what, it is time to pass a torch, let's start down that road and process.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there's there's a lot of things to to consider, but I'll go back to what we talked about a few moments ago. If if you reassess your why and where you are, your why today may be different than your why was 15, 20, 30, 40 years ago and when you first got into this business. And if you start with that why exercise, it's going to answer a lot of these questions for you. And while the metaphor to an athlete is it's an interesting one, it's not necessarily a perfect, perfectly applicable in this world because, as you know, as as long as you're in good health and and and good mental health here, um, you can you can serve client relationships for a long, long time. And some advisors, that's exactly what they want to do because it is their passion, it is what they love to do. And so there's not there's not a natural biological flock like there is for many athletes, they hit a certain age that you just see a significant degradation in your abilities relative to everybody else. And in the advice space, many times it's different because the more experience you have, the better you get, and that can continue to grow. So in this world, it's it's less about a certain age, it's it's less about a you've hit this point where you can't grow anymore or get any better, and and and the competition's passing you by. It's more about the spark and it's more about are you still loving this? Um, and so you'll see here, is your passion beginning to wane? We've talked about that a lot. Are you feeling overwhelmed by complexity and you just can't even consider making investments at this point because you're just burnt out? Um, and are you losing that that luster from the next new relationship? And you're almost saying, I've got enough. I don't I don't want any more. The next one's just adding more complexity. I don't have enough time as it is, and you're just you're just feeling overwhelmed, all overwhelmed all the time. And so if you're starting to feel these things and you're at a point where you're not really willing to to make the investments to change, or just to make the the changes that you need to make, it's a pretty clear sign that it's time to do something about it. And and that something could be it could be one of many things. It could be a sale of the practice. Uh, it could be bringing on a younger advisor and and and getting them prepared to take over if you haven't done so already. It could be tucking into another practice for a period of time. So you you have all sorts of options, but you're gonna know it's time by going through that assessment of of refocusing on your why. And if you're coming to these answers, as opposed to, yeah, I'm feeling energized. I want to do this, and here's what I'm gonna change, and here's how I'm gonna grow. It's it's probably time. And you and only you are gonna know that answer.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'll I'll go on a quick tangent here. I think it's um, you know, succession, the process of going through succession in itself can be re-energizing, right? I'll I'll I'll I'll latch on to something you just said there about bringing someone onto your practice like an apprentice, right? So mentorship and bringing someone in to help, you know, carry on the legacy you've created, that can can spur on a lot of passion for the remaining years as you get the business up to speed to be passed on, right? So, you know, just because you've made the decision for succession, there still might be some great years ahead of you that's full of excitement and fulfillment as you get the business ready for that next, that, the next life without you. So it's I just I I you you were talking about that and it stuck out to me. I was like, you know, that's something that I think people just call succession, isn't necessarily the end. It's the start of a new beginning. And that beginning is setting up for the next chapter, which is a really fun, cool thing to think about. Amen. Well said. Okay. So you you you've made that decision. Yeah, enough of these bullet points. If they were boxes, you've checked all or some or some of these. And it's it, you're you're gonna move on to the next chapter your life. Pete, what can you recommend to to the audience listening as the right steps and things that they need to be be aware of as they now move forward with building a succession plan for the future?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the the first thing I would say is is start with your destination and and what you want succession to be. So don't get yourself overwhelmed with what's my what's my business worth? Who am I gonna sell it? Who am I gonna transition it to? Like if you start with all those details, you're gonna quickly get overwhelmed and it's not gonna be a fulfilling and fruitful process for you. Uh, this is not just another transaction. Uh, this is this is you preparing for your legacy and the legacy of the enterprise you've built over many decades in most cases. And so start with the destination in mind. What do you want succession to look like for you, for your relationships, and for the enterprise that you've created? Once you have that end in mind, then the rest of these pieces are just the steps that you need to take to get there. And we partner with a lot of advisors who are going through this very thing, and we always start with the end in mind, whether it's the why, the matters of importance, whatever they may be. So, what are you preparing for in succession? And if the only answer is I want to sell my practice, you're not really preparing for much. That's just a transaction. So there is no legacy consideration in that. It's just a financial transaction. And that's something that's pretty simple because there is no legacy at that point if it's just a transaction and a sale and and you move on. And if that's all you want, that's that's pretty simple and straightforward. But in the context of our view of succession planning, it starts with legacy, it starts with a destination in mind, and the process may entail a sale to an external partner, but there's a lot of avenues for succession. It could involve partnering with another firm that then takes takes over for you over time. It could bring up this next generation and and and the like. So start with your destination in mind first, and then find someone with experience in this area who can guide and partner with you through this process. And that's gonna touch on all the things that you have to do that most people start with valuation and finding the successor. And is my practice ready? And how am I transition my clients? Who's gonna come and who's not gonna come? Those are all the details. You need to start with the destination, you need to build a vision around it. And then that vision drives everything that you're gonna do along the way. And if you do it that way, you have very little risk of flying attrition. You have very little risk of not being successful because you actually have a goal and a destination in mind, and you build a vision and strategy to accomplish it. No different than you do when you're planning with your relationships for retirement and the state planning. It's the exact same mindset around your succession plan for your practice. You got to start with those elements first, and then you put the tools and tactics into place to execute on it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Pete, you took the words around my mouth. I was gonna mention the parallels to what they do as a financial advisor and planner to their own kind of planning strategy around succession. So um, Pete, regardless of the path that anyone listening will ultimately take in the short term, whether they're gonna they're going to rekindle that magic or they're gonna go down the checklist right here and start that succession process. Can can you share some thoughts on how you specifically and the team of founders, how have we helped, how how we have helped our members find peace in the decision and the help they need?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. So it it all starts with our strategic enterprise program, um, which is which is the way that we engage with our member partners and guide them through growth as servant leaders. So that's where it all starts. And that's through that comes a mission statement, comes guiding principles and value proposition, comes rituals of self-order to focus on their growth as a leader, to stay true to their why and their passion through the ups and downs of life. And so it starts there. And so we've built a program around helping them engage in that. This is a lifelong journey of growth as a leader. And through that, the succession plan is just part and parcel of it. No different than every financial plan. You talk about the plan for the estate and what happens at the end. It's no different here. And that's why I said earlier, when's the time? The time is now. Whether you're 30 years old or you're 70 years old, thinking about this and having a vision towards this is important and it will evolve over time. But if you have a plan at the ready, you'll then know through your process of discernment when it's time to begin the execution of that plan, and you'll be well prepared to act on it, no different than your client relationships are in the context of their personal financial plan. So that's how we primarily help and we engage with you through our strategic enterprise program to guide you along the way. And we have all the resources that you can imagine you would need from valuation resources to support and growing and training next generation advisors through an apprenticeship institute, through solutions for monetizing your practice within founders. So we have all of the tools that you need, but again, those are just the tools. It starts with the process of you as a leader defining your why, which will answer most of those questions, and then we'll guide and partner with you through our strategic enterprise program to achieve that outcome. And you'll lead the you'll lead the process, and we'll just be an instrument, instrument to you along the way. And that's the type of relationship and partnership we have with the member partners we serve of founders. And we've been doing this now for over 30 years, and it's the track record is very strong. Many of our member partners have been here for multiple decades at this point. And a big reason is the relationship we share with them. No different than the relationship that you share with your clients. They feel the same way about the relationship we share with them as member partners or founders.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so some next steps. Think about the self-assessment questions for passion and succession that Pete mentioned and detailed earlier. Uh, if you have questions about founders and how we approach succession with our members, uh, we have lots of information on our website, including our approach to uh apprenticeship, through our apprenticeship program, uh MA and all the options that we help uh help advisors with. Uh, you can certainly reach out to us and connect with us uh for additional resources and information. We're always happy to have discussions around this. Um and then obviously think about things you're talking about in this webinar around falling in love again or preparing for the future. All that stuff we talked about here is gonna get you set up to go down the right path and get you thinking about succession in maybe a clearer, clearer way than you were before. All right, Pete. Um, before we kind of wrap things up, uh, I'm gonna turn it over to you one last time to have you share any kind of closing thoughts, any tips, any guidance, inspiration for advisors who have either made their choice or may still be struggling and looking for guidance. So take take us home and wrap us up with some some good final thoughts.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'll just I'll start with thank you for investing the time to join us today. Uh, this is not an easy decision because there's a feeling of finality to this decision, but it doesn't need to be that way. Uh, this is an opportunity and recast in that light, it is about what is the legacy that you want to leave and what is the continuity of care you want to deliver to the community of relationships you serve. If you keep focused on those things, the rest will take care of itself, whether it's the evaluation, whether it's the path to succession, those details will resolve themselves if you focus on those two things, which are the most important at the beginning, the why around legacy and continuity of care. So stay true to that. Let that guide and inspire you and find a partner to help and guide you along the way. Uh, we'd be honored to do so. And from there, just let time play out and it'll become clear to you when be time for you is to begin acting and executing on that plan.
SPEAKER_02Awesome. Pete, great job and great discussion today. Again, thank you so much for filling in for Brad. I know he wishes he could have been here, but we're very fortunate to have you and all of your wisdom and and uh incredible thoughts on this really important topic that is undoubtedly on the mind of so many advisors today. So uh in the meantime, thank you all so much for coming and for listening. Have a great rest of your week, and we look forward to seeing and talking to you again here soon. Bye. Take care, everybody.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for spending time with us on the Built My and For Podcast. If this conversation resonated, follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube, and share it with an advisor in your circle who's thinking about coming next. To learn more about Founders' Financial and their solutions for independent advisors, visit Founders Financial Local Community. The built fund and for public community is produced by founders' financial. The opinions explained by political do not necessarily reflect the views of founders' financial ability. Security is under financial security is elemental fee. Registered investment involved.
