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5 reasons a financial planner could be a business owner’s greatest asset

Running your own small business is one of the most exciting and satisfying career paths you can take, but it certainly doesn’t come without its challenges. 

One of those challenges is staying on track to achieve the financial goals you’ve set for yourself, including how and when you will exit the business and enjoy your retirement. You can make this a little easier, though, by enlisting the help of a lifestyle financial planner. 

You might be wondering why a financial planner is the right person to do this rather than, say, a business strategist. So, in this article, discover all the different ways a financial planner can be such a valuable asset to you, as a business owner, and your business. 

1. Completing a holistic financial health check

When you begin working with your financial planner, one of the first things they will do is a holistic financial health check of you and your business. This can include: 

  • Cashflow planning
  • Investment planning
  • Retirement planning
  • Tax planning – both business and personal
  • Property
  • Insurance – business and personal
  • Wills and trusts, as part of Inheritance Tax (IHT) planning. 

As the name suggests, this is a thorough assessment of the health of your business and your own personal finances, providing a starting point for the rest of the work you’ll do together. This will allow you to create real financial stability to support yourself and your family now and in the future. 

2. Helping articulate and achieve your lifestyle goals

When you first set up your business, you probably had a vision in mind of what you wanted your life to look like. But how often do you revisit that dream? Can you remember how you wanted life to be? 

It’s easy to get caught up in the day to day of your work, and to forget that bigger picture. Sometimes, the picture changes and you begin to want different things than you wanted when you were younger. 

But understanding what you want your life to look like and why you are in business is crucial to creating the plan that you will follow. As strange as it might seem, that end goal is actually the starting point for your financial plan. 

If your original dream has become a little bit faded, or if you think it might have changed in the intervening years, your financial planner can help you to focus on that end goal again and to paint a picture that makes you really excited for the future. They can then help you create a roadmap that will take you to your dream future. 

3. Creating and implementing your exit strategy

No matter how much you enjoy running your business, for most people there comes a time when they feel ready to step away and embark on the next chapter of their lives, whether that’s a new project or relaxing into retirement. 

But making that exit isn’t something that happens easily. You will usually need a careful plan in place to make sure it goes smoothly and sets you up with enough to support yourself moving forward. 

It all starts with working out how much you need to support the lifestyle you want in the future. How much is enough? A financial planner can help you to discover the number that answers this question for you and put together a plan comprising several small steps that will take you to the ultimate goal. 

This input could potentially save you a lot of time and stress. Say your financial planner works out that you need £1 million to retire comfortably and do everything you have always dreamed of without running out of money. If someone came along the following day and offered you £1 million for your business, you could confidently accept the offer. 

But imagine if you hadn’t worked with that planner and you thought your business was worth £1.25 million. You might reject that offer of £1 million and continue working in your business for a further five years, stressed and unhappy, trying to achieve the sale price you have in your head even though you don’t technically need to. This is where a financial planner really comes into their own. 

4. Acting as your sounding board and advisor

Being the CEO of your business, while often an exciting place to be, can also be a confusing and lonely position. No successful business is run by just one person; we all need outside perspectives, guidance, and someone to bounce ideas around with when things get tricky. 

Your financial planner isn’t just there to talk about numbers. They can also help you with questions like:

  • Am I doing the right thing?
  • Will I have enough?
  • Will my family be OK?

Often, these questions have a practical element and an emotional one, both of which your planner has helped people in your exact situation through. 

5. Keeping you on track and monitoring your progress

Having grand plans and a goal in mind is one thing, but actually taking the action that will allow you to achieve it is quite another. 

As so many business owners have found, having someone to hold you to account on the plan you have made can mean the difference between hitting a target and falling woefully short. 

That’s exactly what your financial planner can do for you. As a third party to the business they can remain objective while also bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge to the table about what it takes to make a success of your business. They also know what it means to work towards a goal that can often feel a little bit intangible. 

Once they know your vision, they can keep you on track, help you to think long term, and, crucially, filter out the noise of the everyday that can distract and demotivate. 

Get in touch

If you’re a business owner looking for help with your personal finances and your future plans, we can help. Say hello to us at [email protected], call us 0161 541 2826 or submit a contact form on our website.