Rediscovering your passion

The stress and complexity of running a small business can take a toll on financial advisors.

Substantial portions of my day are spent communicating with advisors who have been at their craft for 20 to 30 years and find themselves in a rut.

Some years ago, when our firm first began acquiring other practices, I figured most of the transactions would be related to retirement and succession planning. And this was indeed true for a few of our earliest deals.

What I have found since, however, after completing more than 30 integrations, is that many of the firms that join us do so not because of retirement, but because the stress and complexity of running a small business has caused the firms’ proprietors to lose the passion they once had.

Conversely, many of these same advisors, after making the decision to join us as equity partners, see their workloads lighten, rediscover their passion for this industry and, both personally and professionally, have a renewed desire to grow. They have been able to shed the work they didn’t enjoy and, instead, focus their time on doing what they love.

Of course, some advisors I speak with find that they just aren’t ready yet to sell their firms or merge.

If you find yourself lacking the drive you once had, but have no desire to merge into another firm, I strongly encourage you to take a chance and find a way to get your mojo back.

I have had a few career “resets” over my 30 years in this business. I started as most advisors did, spending much of my time hunting and prospecting for new clients until my client base became large enough that I needed to spend most of my time advising. Then, after years of this, I hit a wall, and after some soul searching, I came to realize that I enjoyed marketing and selling as much as working with clients.

At first, this new role meant a pivot to driving new client growth to the firm instead of bringing on new assets to manage for myself. Years later, wanting another reset, if not an out-and-out reinvention, I transitioned my clients to other qualified advisors, and took on outside capital to mitigate my investment risk and accelerate growth. I now spend much of my time talking to other advisory firm principals about partnering and what they want their futures to be.

Looking back, I realize that each time I have made a shift in my career, I’ve found myself with a renewed sense of excitement, urgency and wonder.

So, what about you? Are you as excited about your professional life in 2024 as you were a decade ago? Or do you find yourself just doing the minimum to maintain your business?

If you’re not as thrilled with your career as you once were, while it may seem daunting, you can do something about it. Start by reading relevant books, hiring a consultant, joining a group … anything. I implore you to stop doing what you dislike and try something radical and new. Do something to rediscover your passion.

Scott Hanson is co-founder of Allworth Financial, formerly Hanson McClain Advisors, a fee-based RIA with approximately $16 billion in AUM.