In my last post, I discussed the importance of determining a vision and strategy to guide you through the myriad challenges of leadership. While creating plans for how you will develop and organize your staff, you must also identify the business opportunities that will help you achieve your financial goals and sustain your vision.
Where do you find clients? What products and services do you offer to make money? Do you regularly assess your offerings and survey clients for insight into how you can evolve your business opportunities?
As I wrote in The Entrepreneurial Journey, you need to focus on what activities you can undertake to create and drive revenue. For financial advisors, this chiefly involves delivering financial solutions to and spending time with clients and prospects. Think about your current clientele, as this will determine the market in which you operate. Drafting a description of your ideal client will also help you shape a strategy for growing your business through reaching revenue benchmarks and realizing opportunities.
This statement should run between two and three paragraphs long and should present a case for why your company has a strong chance to survive and thrive in your selected market. If you have already laid out a goal for where you want the business to go, but have no idea of how to get there, it may be time to analyze your current sources of revenue.
Think about what factors contribute to that figure. You may be surprised to know that it is not only the number of sales, but also the average size of every sale and the variety of business lines you sell, or the product and service mix. (These are just three of the five financial levers, which I have described in more detail in previous posts, “Pulling Financial Levers for Better Operations” and “Five Financial Levers.”)
Addressing the number of sales may not be the source of your growth, particularly if, like many other entrepreneurs, you feel you are already maxed out on time. Perhaps increasing your product mix is the answer. Consider what client needs you have not yet met, and think about what new offerings could satisfy those demands. Expanding your size of scale is another option for shifting the revenue line upward. This may involve gradually transforming your clientele, which requires robust marketing strategies and proactive decisions. Shauna Trainor addressed how to seek out your ideal client in her post, “Finding and Achieving Your Market Opportunity.”
