“Setting Your Goals High" (part 2) By Joseph Lukacs (from Chapter One of his new book, Practice Power - 12 Steps to Take your Business to the Next Level)   Mistake #4: Doing a business plan for the wrong reasons. Perhaps a branch manager or regional director asks you to do one. The request could even come from your partner. Whatever the case, you’re tackling the business plan because you’ve been asked or told to do so, not because your heart is into it. It’s similar to goals most advisors’ approaches to doing taxes. They slog through the job just to get it done. The passion to support doing the job right, though, isn’t there and the final result reflects that fact.   If you have been doing your plan for the wrong reasons, make the shift by instilling your plan with the fire of passion. Commit yourself. Take ownership of your plan and don’t let go.   Mistake #5: Not having a follow-up strategy to support the plan throughout the year. Too many advisors exert lots of energy coming up with wonderful goals and a fantastic marketing plan, only to let everything fall to the wayside by the middle of January. They never think about it again until December. Your follow-up strategy must be built into the plan itself. Only then will your business plan become a living document, one that’s regularly updated so that it becomes a control piece for you versus a one-hit wonder that you file away to be lost or forgotten forever. Work hard to breathe life into your business plan. Then, make sure you have a follow-up plan in place to sustain that life.   Mistake #6: Attempting to build their plan in an environment of conflicting priorities. Biting off more than you can chew is another way to look at it. For example, you plan on having your business grow by 50%, expect to get your CFP, take a month’s vacation, run a marathon, coach your kids’ soccer team and, maybe even play 35 rounds of golf while you’re at it. By putting so much on your plate at once you are setting yourself up for failure. To avoid such a disaster, everything in your business plan must have a clarity to it that ensures all the pieces of the plan support one another by going in the same direction. Conflicting priorities have the opposite effect and nurture an environment that keeps you off balance, a condition you can avert with your business plan by not “biting off more than you can chew.”   Business Plan Blunders Let me share a memorable story with you: I gave one potential client my fax number and was on the phone with another client when my fax number rings and the first page of his business plan comes through. Thirty minutes later I’m still on the phone and the fax machine is just getting warmed up. I finish my call and the pages keep coming until my fax machine runs out of paper. I restock the paper tray and the avalanche continues, finally stopping after 80 pages have wormed their way into my office. Amazingly, this plan came from a sole practitioner. A one-person financial advisor firm with a one-year business plan. It had everything—demographics, marketing ideas, sample letters, sample clients, etc. It was almost like a manual. Clearly, the business plan was way too long but, even at 80 pages, it was missing things that should have been there. For example, the author of this business plan couldn’t tell me what he needed to do to make the plan happen. A daily task list? He didn’t have one. A daily game plan? Also missing in action. The same with his ability to measure things. None of this vital information was contained in the doorstop he had faxed me. _________________________________________________________________________ Author's note: Joseph J. Lukacs, Business Coach, is the founder of International Performance Group LLC., a professional business coaching company delivering customized coaching and training, by telephone, to financial and insurance professionals. International Performance Group LLC. is based in Melbourne, Florida. Joseph can be reached at 321-255-2889, by e-mail to JJL@jpginc.net, or visit our Web site: http://www.jpginc.net   * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Since our inception we have helped over 400 financial consultants make the move to independence. "I cannot express to you the joy and the increase in quality of life that I have found since leaving the wirehouse world." Shane Merritt, Branch Manager Merritt Capital Management      Tired of Searching for the Right Independent Broker-Dealer? Would you like to find your next Broker-Dealer the EASY way? Would you like access to an informed executive who can narrow your options, preserve the confidentiality of your search and save you time and hassle? With over 10 years experience placing reps with independent broker dealers, we are able to offer many unique opportunities and there is no cost to you. For example:    *Companies with deferred compensation or profit sharing    *Producer groups that provide marketing programs    *Independent Broker-dealers that offer Transition funding    *Independent Broker-dealers with 100 percent payout on VA and VUL    *Independent Broker-dealers with 95 percent pay out on investment advisory services    *Firms with proprietary research in Mutual funds, asset allocation and stocks    *Firms offering Equity participation via options or common and preferred stock    *Broker-dealers that can accommodate compliance issues    *Firms specializing in stocks and bonds    *Independent Broker–dealers that are successful with large producer groups    *A firm with 11 years experience in hedge funds that will create your own fund of funds    *Firms who are friendly to custodying assets at Schwab, Fidelity, TD Waterhouse & Fiserv    *Firms with lower ticket charges and monthly fees    *Firms with Syndicate offerings, IPOs, and market making **For a FREE "Guide to Moving Your Book", please visit: www.goingindependent.net. This Month's Registered Representative Opportunity: At this B/D, their dynamic teamwork environment offers you all the advantages of independence plus the support of a regional team, making it easier for you to succeed. For more than 20 years, this B/D has perfected the art of building high performance teams through our unique regional team structure. They bring experience and knowledge that aims to build your business and help you achieve better results. You can rely on the local service offered through our extraordinary teams to guide and support you; the national attention of the B/D to help your business thrive; and the global strength and resources of the parent firm as a foundation for continued growth. This dynamic - and wholly unique - combination will contribute to your success. That is why we believe: Teamwork makes it easier to succeed. Through the support of their regional offices, you get local access to professional development programs, peer meetings, marketing support, and personalized assistance. You can also depend on national and global resources, tools, and programs for your business needs. They give you direct access to unbiased Product Research, multiple Advisory Service options, and individualized Advanced Markets case consulting. To help you do business even easier, they provide a proprietary one-stop, full service workstation that integrates tools, data, and information, saving you time and money. You also have access to proprietary services, such as pioneering banking products and professional trust services. Choose from a vast selection of products in a product neutral environment. There are no mandates or sales quotas. You choose what's best for your clients. It's all about teamwork and providing you with the support that allows you to spend more time building relationships with your clients. More than two decades since they formed, this B/D has grown into one of the nation's largest independently managed broker-dealers - over 3,000 financial professionals strong. Their exclusive model combines the best of local, national, and global expertise that only comes from teamwork. If you know someone who might be interested in the above opportunity or who might be ready to go Independent, please have them contact Jason Burke directly at 727-725-8876.

Here's some additional information from Turning Point, Inc..

www.BrokerBestPractices.com
www.BankBrokerBestPractices.com
www.IndependentRepBestPractices.com
www.FABestPractices.com (Financial Advisors)
www.InsuranceAgentBestPractices.com

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Quote of the Day:
"In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it."
Robert Heinlein (1907 - 1988)