Building a personal and business SUCCESS TEAM!

 

In sports or big business, every success story is always a success story for a team! The accolades may go to an individual, who persevered mightily; who fought against the odds; who toiled beyond belief….but seldom did they not have a winning team behind them. They always have an “A” team of technicians; advisors; mentors; friends; parents and spouses. If you dig long enough and deep enough you’ll always find them. Bill Gates once said that his key to success was to hire lots of people smarter than he was. But in today’s world you don’t have to be a Hall of Fame sports star or a titan of industry to surround yourself with smart people that can and will coach; train and mentor you to business success. You can build your own team of superstars to guide you. They’re not on your payroll; most of us couldn’t afford them. But they are available to all of us and many times at little to no cost. They are professionals whom we can work with to help us in strategic areas of business success that we have no expertise in.

Oh my, what did he just say?

Yes I said in areas we have no expertise. Now is not the time to play Business Superman.  Too many businesses go out of business today simply because the owner tried to run all areas of their business on their own. Drop the ego! That’s not only nearly impossible, it’s stupid. There are many top experts in specific and strategic fields that you can build into your team. Some critical areas that I recommend to my business coaching customers include; A qualified Business Coach (of course); Accounting; Legal; Marketing; Sales consulting; Banking, and financial counseling. In fact I find that a great financial advisor/counselor is an essential team member and a key player in planning the future of a business. A good one can do much more than just put your money in the market; they can help you lay a smart plan for cradle to grave.  The following is a checklist of some of the essential elements that I have my customers look for in a great (not just good) financial advisor. They include:

1. Look for an advisor that will focus on recommending a plan that will reduce your risk while building wealth.
2. Look for an advisor that will make every attempt to understand your specific business and personal financial planning needs…..FROM YOUR POINT OF VIEW! In other words, they’re great listeners!
3. Look and listen for an advisor that is truly service focused. That once the plan is complete you WILL see them again at least once a quarter!
4. Look for an advisor that’s truly qualified. What is their background? What is their success record? Who makes up the bulk of their clientele? Is it successful customers that have been with them long time or do they have an average customer retention of less than a year?
5. Look for an advisor that is both Creative and Innovative. Many advisors today are merely sales focused and pushing very specific financial products. They’re more interested in selling you a specific product rather than fitting products and strategies to your specific needs.

The bottom line is that a GREAT financial advisor is an essential voice in both your business and personal success team. Now is not the time or economic climate to go it alone. I believe that you can be one of the business success stories in the next decade simply by creating your SUCCESS team as soon as possible.

 

Dan Creed

FocalPoint Business Coaching of Arizona

 

(Dan Creed is a certified business coach and two time back to back winner of the Brian Tracy Award of Excellence recognizing him as international business coach of the year for FocalPoint International)