The price of your advice

Overview

A key requirement of the RDR is for advisory firms to move from a product focused and commission generative business model to a service based adviser charging model.

Business transition is a considerable investment of time for advisory firms and often requires important strategic decisions to be made about the future direction of the business. It is not an overnight process either and involves detailed analysis and planning, then many months of hard work to fully integrate and effectively re-launch a business with a service focus and predictable revenue streams.

With time running out for firms to fully understand their options and commit to a course of action ahead of the 2012 deadline, the PFS has joined forces with experts in this field to guide members.

Structure, guidance and support

This carefully designed series of workshops will be led by business transition experts David Shelton and Lawrence Emm from Scottish Widows. The sessions will be based on the ‘The Business of Advice’, an authoritative new 400 page publication, written by David Shelton in collaboration with Taxbriefs. The complete course is comprised of four full day workshops:

• Day 1, Strategic Planning – refine your business plan to give the business clear direction;
• Day 2, Service & Pricing – define your competitive proposition to maximise revenues;
• Day 3, Operational Structure – ensuring your back-office structure enhances productivity ;
• Day 4, Managing Change – yourplan to manage change and increase business value.

The book itself is rooted in practical solutions, providing a unique toolkit of business planning techniques. It is supported by a website containing case studies, downloads and other support resources such as:

• business planning templates;
• sample business and marketing plans;
• Job descriptions;
• Back-office process maps;
• sample service propositions.

Normally priced at £145, delegates signing-up to this series of Personal Finance Society Business transition workshops will receive a complimentary copy of this publication and access to the supporting website to help ensure that they have the necessary tools to complete their transitional journey.

What delegates can expect

Fundamentally, this series of workshops is an opportunity for business leaders and managers to design and implement a plan to transition their own business. It is not a theoretical seminar. Each workshop will be facilitated by David or Lawrence, who have collectively supported over 1000 advisers in business planning and service design: “We never tell people how to run their businesses – we work with them to help make the best decisions – we pride ourselves on the practicality of our work”

The programme will concentrate on how to go about making change and will support businesses by:

• Using tried and tested techniques that have already worked with hundreds of practices;
• Providing a full range of examples and supporting materials;
• Using “The Business of Advice” and its comprehensive website as the core content;
• Breaking down the changes into manageable sections that fit together.

Each session has been scheduled to enable delegates to return to their business to engage other key stakeholders and make important strategic choices, prior to moving on to the next workshop. The style will be inter-active and centred around building up a plan of action. There will be a mix of practical examples, shared experience and guidance to enable delegates to implement in their own business.

Many ‘business transition’ seminars profess to tell you a one size fits all methodology. But this course is rare opportunity to be guided by experts to finding an appropriate solution specifically for your own business.

Special thanks

The Personal Finance Society would like to extend special thanks to Scottish Widows and Taxbriefs who have supported the development and delivery of the important programme.