Ep 117: Forming A Specialized Advice Process To Add Real Value In Serving Small Business Owners with Josh Patrick

Mar 26, 2019

Josh Patrick, founder of Stage 2 Planning and a specialist in advising small business owners, dives into the unique challenges entrepreneurs face. He shares his journey from vending business owner to financial planner, emphasizing the importance of specialized consulting. Josh discusses how to effectively delegate and become operationally irrelevant, plus his innovative approach to pricing and client relationships. He reveals strategic insights on profit allocation, exit planning, and the critical role of values in building a successful firm.

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ANECDOTE

From Vending Startup To Near Bankruptcy

Josh Patrick describes growing a vending business from 1 to 90 employees and nearly hitting bankruptcy due to cashflow blind spots.
He learned hard lessons about cashflow, embezzlement, and being a poor boss that shaped his later advisory work.

insights

INSIGHT

Advisory Margins Versus Operating Businesses

Wealth management has far higher margins and far fewer moving parts than blue-collar businesses.
To match advisory profits, many operating businesses must scale revenue massively because their margins are tiny.

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ADVICE

Five Focus Areas To Transform A Business

Define five business areas: values/culture, operational irrelevance, delegation, predictive dashboards, and systems.
Use these to prioritize strategic work and build a sale-ready, scalable business.

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Josh's vending business background

03:09 • 10min

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Transition from owner to advisor

13:14 • 3min

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Broker-dealer to RIA shift

15:53 • 3min

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Visionary vs. implementer roles

19:17 • 3min

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Stage 2 Planning practice overview

21:53 • 2min

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Pricing and client outcomes

24:18 • 3min

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How private equity deals go wrong

27:20 • 2min

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Five core areas Josh advises on

29:26 • 1min

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Values and culture as tools

30:42 • 2min

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Becoming operationally irrelevant

32:52 • 2min

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Predictive dashboards and KPIs

34:45 • 3min

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Systems, Scrum, and agile tools

37:57 • 1min

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The four profit buckets

38:59 • 2min

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Exit realities and seller's remorse

41:21 • 11min

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Wind-down vs. selling a firm

52:32 • 3min

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Strategic high-value work

55:32 • 4min

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How Josh guarantees value

59:24 • 6min

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Service cadence and 90-day plans

01:05:46 • 1min

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Program capacity and online scaling

01:06:50 • 3min

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Client acquisition and content marketing

01:10:15 • 4min

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Why many advisors miss high-value clients

01:13:54 • 2min

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Qualified plans as a magic bullet

01:16:06 • 4min

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Making clients belong to the firm

01:19:40 • 4min

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Delegation, mistakes, and staff development

01:23:25 • 6min

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Ask more questions; use Socratic methods

01:29:22 • 4min

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Becoming a niche expert through curiosity

01:33:31 • 4min

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Future: AI, micro-niches, and niche management

01:37:53 • 7min

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Defining success personally and for the firm

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Josh Patrick is the founder of Stage 2 Planning, an independent RIA with a niche focus on working with small business owners. Leveraging his own personal experience as a small business owner—before he transitioned into his second career as a financial planner—Josh has been able to create a deeply specialized advice process for his clients that commands retainer fees in excess of $50,000 per year.

In this episode, Josh shares what he has done to make his expertise known and build a steady flow of prospects who seek him out. Listen in to learn what he says most advisors don't understand about building a successful business, the important lessons he learned while building his own, and what advisors can do to lessen the demands of their businesses on themselves, while simultaneously making significantly more profit.

For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/117

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