Big Announcement!

Whenever starting out on their own, most planners’ biggest fear is not getting enough clients. All of the networks of planners I’m involved with spend ample time discussing this fear. And it’s why most planning firms spend a big portion of their operating budgets on advertising and marketing.  Recently, I talked with a firm owner who budgets 30% of her revenue to marketing!

I wanted to grow the business a different way, trying to avoid cutting too much into revenue. So I decided to spend very little on marketing. I actually only pay for logo sponsorships with my kids’ sports and dance organizations, mostly to support them. Instead of investing in advertising, my approach is to provide such great, detailed service to each client that they can’t help but tell their friends and family about my services. My goal has always been to make each client feel like they are my only client. These referrals from my current clients have quickly outpaced my capacity and the hours I have in a day (and night, and weekend) .

Because our client number has grown so quickly, I found myself needing to make a hire to help relieve some of my load. I knew I wanted to stay fully immersed in each client relationship, so Kaimey and I set to work out the areas of the business that could be shaped into another position, allowing me to focus more fully on clients.

I’m really close with my brother, Carl, and one day we were talking through my company plans. Carl has always been a great sounding board with wise advice for me. He asked me, “is there anything I could do to help if I worked with you?”  And a light bulb went off. 

And so, we are so excited to announce our new employee, Carl Ela! I took him up on his offer before he had a chance to take it back! We really got a steal in what Carl brings to the table. He’s been spending the past few weeks learning the business inside and out. He’ll be focusing primarily on our compliance requirements, billing, database systems, and helping me onboard new clients.

You can read more about Carl at his bio here.

Carl is one of my favorite people ever, and I couldn’t be more excited to have him on the team!