Ep 389: Generating $5M In Hourly Planning Fees In The Blue Ocean Of Consumer Demand with Mark Berg
Jun 11, 2024
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Mark Berg, founder of Timothy Financial Counsel, scaled his firm to generate $5M in annual revenue through an hourly fee model. He shares insights on structuring his firm for success, implementing time-tracking software, using a client waitlist, and hiring a president without a financial planning background. Berg sees the hourly fee model as an opportunity to reach a broader client base and discusses strategic growth and pricing strategies.
Mark Berg scaled his financial advisory firm using an hourly fee model, reaching $5 million revenue.
Segmenting clients by complexity levels helps provide accurate quotes and balance client capacity.
Implementing time tracking software and hiring a president supported firm growth and efficient billing.
Deep dives
Mark Berg’s Firm’s Unique Hourly Fee Model
Mark Berg's financial advisory firm scaled from 1.8 million to 5 million in revenue over six years, maintaining a 25% profit margin with an hourly fee model. The firm segments clients into five complexity levels, offering accurate quotes in prospecting calls based on this segmentation.
Client Engagement and Scaling Strategies
Mark's firm attracts clients through referrals and manages a waitlist to balance client capacity amidst high demand. They use time tracking software to bill accurately and efficiently, supporting growth by hiring a president to focus on firm strategy.
Ongoing Planning and Capacity Management
Ongoing client engagements in Mark's firm align time and cost with client needs, with clients billed based on complexity levels of service. Advisors have a capacity of around 120 clients, guided by billable hours to ensure a work-life balance and efficient service delivery.
Advisor Compensation and Profitability
Advisors at the firm are responsible for generating revenue based on billable hours and an hourly rate. The firm creates an annual business plan by estimating revenue targets derived from advisors' billable hours and hourly rates. Salaries, bonuses, benefits, and fixed costs are expected to make up 75% of the revenue target, while partners receive 25% of the profit. Through a structured buy-in process, advisors can gradually become partners and share in the firm's ownership and profits.
Challenges and Lessons in Scaling the Business
The firm faced challenges during periods of rapid growth, leading to a backlog of client meetings and burnout. Implementing a waitlist system helped manage client intake and provided a breather to recover from the intense workload. Reflecting on growth experiences, the firm acknowledges past mistakes in hiring and scaling, emphasizing the importance of developing mentorship programs and tailored training tracks for new hires. The firm's success is defined by the number of clients served, the joy of opening up partnership opportunities, and the mission to promote the hourly model as a scalable and client-serving approach in the financial advisory industry.
Mark Berg is the Founder of Timothy Financial Counsel, an RIA based out of Illinois that's on track to generate $5 million in annual revenue this year serving 800 households. Mark's firm stands out for its rapid growth, scaling from $1.8 million to $5 million in revenue within just six years while maintaining a 25% profit margin, achieved entirely through an hourly fee model.
Listen in as Mark shares how he structured his firm to succeed with an hourly fee model, his strategic implementation of time-tracking software for efficient billing and capacity management, and how he uses a client waitlist to handle increasing demand. We also discuss Mark’s innovative approach to scaling the firm by hiring a president without a financial planning background, as well as why he sees the hourly fee model as a vast opportunity for reaching a broader client base.