In the initial stages of their careers, many financial advicers find that, with little revenue coming in and less than a full load of client-facing work to do, they spend the majority of their time on operations and marketing as they try to establish their practice. As a result, an advicer often has the capacity to say "yes" to any opportunity that comes along as they try to keep busy and (hopefully) improve their cash flow. However, as the advicer's practice grows and their calendars start filling up, they can find themselves at a point where they don't have enough time to start doing anything new until they stop-doing something else. Which begs the question: Is there a systematic way for a financial advicer to determine when it makes sense to say "no" so they can say "yes" to something else? 

In our 138th episode of Kitces & Carl, Michael Kitces and client communication expert Carl Richards explore the concept of a "Stop-Doing" list (as opposed to a "to-do" list), various ways to figure out what should go on that list, and how advicers can go about executing the list (so they can go on to doing the things that can move their practices and the profession forward).

From a conceptual perspective, saying "yes" to something also means saying "no" to something else. For instance, saying yes to taking on an operational duty might not leave time for going to more networking events. Yet, while saying "no" isn't always easy (especially for many advicers who were attracted to the profession in the first place specifically because they like to help others), one effective way to get more comfortable saying "no" to an item on a "stop-doing" list is to identify and stay focused on a much more meaningful "yes". By having a strong sense of what their ideal practice would look like, advicers may find that it gets easier to filter through those things that impede progress toward their goals. (Not coincidentally, this is also a useful way advicers can help clients stay on track with their financial plan when clients are tempted to overspend or make detrimental changes when markets get scary).

By gaining clarity on a deeper "yes", an advicer can start to identify the best things for them to stop doing. One approach is to determine the dollar value of an hour of their time, and from there, make a list of all the things that they do for their business and identify those tasks that they can outsource at a lower rate. Another method is to conduct a time audit by installing a time-tracking app. As while there might be a menu of small tasks that an advicer might love to take off their plates, the real power of a comprehensive time audit is in the ability to identify large chunks of time that an advicer may be spending on low-value activities (I'm looking at you, TikTok!).

As Parkinson's Law posits, work will expand to the point where it completely fills an advicer's calendar. Ultimately, by conducting a time audit and making a connection with a deeper "yes", advicers can gain a better understanding of how they're spending one of their most precious resources (i.e., their time) and figure out what they should stop doing so they can start doing things that will move their practices forward!

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A career as a financial advicer can be remarkably rewarding, as it offers the opportunity to have a meaningful impact on clients' lives all while making a good living. However, the main hurdle that almost every advicer faces, particularly those who launch a practice from scratch, is that the early years are often a struggle as new advicers try to attract clients, generate revenue, and start to build their businesses. And, even for those advicers who have deliberately identified a particular niche to serve, the need to generate cash flow can sometimes mean onboarding clients that might not ideally fit into their long-term vision. However, many advicers successfully navigating those first few years can find that they've reached a point where they've taken on too much and need to be more selective about using their time and the clients they serve.

In our 137th episode of Kitces & Carl, Michael Kitces and client communication expert Carl Richards discuss the most important factor that determines an advicer's eventual success, issues that can arise from early-stage dynamics in their career, and strategies to implement once they've reached their own professional capacity.

The financial advice industry is notorious for having a high failure rate among new entrants, which makes getting through the first few years crucial. In fact, research shows that the single greatest determinant of an advicer's success is the number of years in the profession, and it's often the case that the only way to stay in the game long enough to get through those difficult early years is to say "yes" to any source of revenue they can generate. For many advicers, though, the challenge isn't always about taking on the 'wrong' clients; instead, it's more often about making unsustainable promises around pricing and relationship length; advicers who have successfully built viable businesses can feel guilty about having to break promises made to early clients who might be better served elsewhere.

Meanwhile, targeting a particular niche is one of the most important decisions an advicer can make to help them focus on serving ideal clients and transition out of those initial difficult years. While newer advicers might chafe at the notion of marketing to a smaller audience, the reality is that, while growth rates for advicers who niche versus those who don't are similar over the first 3 years, over the ensuing years, the niching advicers tend to grow much faster, not because they decided that they wouldn't serve anyone who wasn't their ideal client, but because they put all their marketing 'eggs' in their niche 'basket'!

Figuring out where an advicer's own personal capacity tipping point lies can also be a challenge. Instead of determining where that point is ahead of time, advicers often realize that they've reached their limit only after they've blown past it and are starting to feel uncomfortable. It's at that point where implementing some sort of filtering mechanism can be most helpful, whether it be creating a "stop-doing" list, getting accustomed to saying "no" to tasks that don't benefit their business and wellbeing, or implementing an "automate, delegate, or delete" framework.

Ultimately, while many advicers face the same initial challenges, those who avoid making unrealistic promises early on and focus on serving a niche often transition out of those first few difficult years more easily. The key point is that, by being intentional about the market they serve and the work they do, advicers can put themselves in the best position they can to offer their clients the excellent service they deserve!

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