As long as I have been in this business, there have been periods of sowing and periods of harvesting. It is very rare–at least in my experience–to have a continual flow of new business week after week after week. Usually there are times when it seems all you are doing is filling out new account paperwork and times when the list of prospective clients is small. I've just finished a period of growth and now it's time to ramp up the marketing efforts again.
The fortunate thing about being independent is that no one is hovering over me with the expectation of hitting some predetermined sales target. The only person I have to answer to is me (and maybe my wife).
Financial Planning
I am about to undertake another revision with my financial planning. I have about eight individuals for which I have created a formal financial plan. Once the plan is created, and every strategy has been implemented and verified, what next? Here are some thoughts I have on the subject.
The original agreement covers the initial period which is the first 12 months. After that, I charge a "retainer" fee. What is the specific "value-add" to the client to justify the fee? This needs to be clearly defined and articulated to the client.
