Drive growth today and be positioned to thrive in future markets

Recent market volatility may have just done you a favor.

It’s a potent reminder that the bull market is long in the tooth. Hopefully, all of this volatility has you asking yourself: Is your business prepared not only to weather a prolonged market slowdown, but to thrive in it?

Chances are, if you’re not built to thrive — to achieve exponential growth — today, you’re not going to thrive in a changing market. In fact, your very survival could be threatened.

Chief executive officers of RIAs who design their firms for sustained and consistent growth today could actually benefit from a market slowdown. These firms have focused on building clearly defined competitive advantages. They provide client experiences that go far beyond expectations; they have the people, tech-enabled processes and overall positioning in place to win and retain coveted clients today, and they will be ideally situated to capture market share from weaker competitors when the markets change. It’s conceivable that these well-positioned firms could grow faster in a downturn than they do today. It’s the age-old story: survival of the fittest.

The country’s most successful RIAs aggressively address any issues that could constrain their growth. They operate at high efficiency and enjoy the benefits of exponential growth. As importantly, they have a plan for the future and are prepared to seize the opportunity that a changing market, even a prolonged slowdown, might present.

Here are the issues most successful RIAs have addressed to achieve exponential growth and profitability now and position themselves to lead tomorrow.

1. Build an organizational structure to unleash growth. Too many RIA CEOs are trapped by day-to-day responsibilities. They are typically the firm’s rainmaker, but they are so overwhelmed with running the company they have a very low return on time — and that means no time to help drive growth.

Successful firms institute structures that free leadership to power growth, including clearly defined roles and responsibilities for the internal team, which is segmented into three core groups: Finders (those who directly contribute to increasing revenue), Minders (those who deliver your services and tend to your clients’ needs) and Grinders (the back-office backbone of your organization).

In addition, growth-oriented firms enhance their overall resources — while keeping payroll costs in check — by outsourcing roles that are either too expensive or hard to fill. These include many C-suite roles, such as CFO, chief marketing officer and chief compliance officer.

Finally, CEOs at high-growth firms benefit from being part of a network of like-minded RIAs. Having other RIA teCEO peers to connect with who understand the challenges and share ideas and best practices can be very rewarding.

2. Become tech-enabled. Technology is so critical to everything you do it often feels as if you’re running a tech start-up, not an RIA. The truth is, technology provides the tools to propel your growth and productivity while giving you the competitive advantages you need to raise your client experiences to new heights.

Unfortunately, technology is also often the greatest obstruction to growth. Many RIAs use Band-Aid fixes — or worse, add staff and create manual processes, the antithesis of their tech goals — to address shortcomings in their platforms.

RIAs that are growing at a rapid pace and are positioned to achieve greater efficiencies in a downturn have tech-enabled all aspects of their business, from operations, compliance, investments, marketing and finance to the client experience. Their technology is integrated so detailed information about each client is at their fingertips. They also give clients access to their accounts through online portals, especially mobile apps. If you don’t have an app in Apple’s App Store, you are at a competitive disadvantage.

3. Build a clear business plan and track it. RIAs driving profitability and growth make the time to create annual plans that include one-, three-, and five-year business initiatives so they can understand how and where to use their capital to achieve the greatest ROI.

Your business plan should address at least six areas that are critical to your profitability and growth:

• Building your brand
• Your client experience
• Your investment process
• Your business development process
• Streamlining your operations
• Refining your service model

Each area needs clear objectives and tactical steps. Progress should be measured throughout the year and shortcomings addressed promptly. As importantly, the plan needs to be flexible to accommodate changing conditions, with a Plan B in case market challenges emerge.

4. Access capital and retain control. Right now, there’s an abundance of capital chasing the RIA market. As you seek to drive growth — either organically or through M&A — you’re going to need to tap into this capital. Before you do, ask yourself: How much control are you willing to give up in return for capital? And which sources of capital will exert the most pressure on you and your organization should times and markets change?

The source of capital that typically seeks the most control is private equity, as they often require board seats and have their own exit goals that may not align with yours.

The best source of capital is one that gives you various financing options to suit your needs plus the freedom to use the capital at your discretion. These capital sources won’t insist on board seats or any control of your organization; they don’t have an exit plan to achieve; and they are flexible enough that they won’t force you into making uncomfortable decisions in the event of a downturn.

Shirl Penney is president and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners.