Nightmare on Elm Street…is your worst nightmare about to happen?
What keeps you up at night? It’s probably not wondering if you are doing the right thing for your clients. You’re successful because clients have always been central to your practice. And you expect your staff to keep clients central to their work as well.
It’s more likely to be something like this…one of your best associate advisors just up and left your practice, taking a group of good clients and $10 million in AUM with him. That equates to about $100,000 in recurring fees and other income. How long did it take to build that level of equity? How long did it take to bring those clients along to the point where they did pretty much everything you recommended? And in one day…poof, they’re gone. You didn’t see it coming – because you’re busy, and because you trusted your staff to do the right thing.
The difference for this practice owner having a nightmare vs. just a bad dream? He was protected by all the safeguards EmployShare put in place for him — BEFORE something like this happened. We insisted that the practice owner, his associate advisors and all staff employees sign several agreements that were legally binding – including ones that contained restrictive covenants designed to protect his business from exactly this scenario.
The associate advisor did leave the practice, and did take clients and AUM with him. Yes, that’s true. But what happened next?
EmployShare advised the practice owner (and his legal counsel) as to the immediate actions he would need to take against the associate advisor. And while the clients stayed with the associate advisor (no one can control client decisions), the practice owner was awarded judgement for the money lost. Bottom line? Because of the safeguards and agreements put in place, the practice owner was successfully paid for the lost revenue.
The time for protection is not after the storm has flattened everything you’ve worked for. The time to take action is now – when everything is going great and you’re feeling comfortable with where you are headed. While we would like to trust our people (even our family members if they are on the staff), your practice is a business, and you need to treat it that way. If you have small business owners as clients, you know among the first things you do is ensure they have things in place to protect them and their businesses. You deserve the same for your small business.
Final thoughts.
You’ve worked hard to establish yourself in your community, to serve your clients and to grow your business. Don’t throw that away with “handshake” agreements that hold no weight in the event you part ways. Avoid having a nightmare on your street.
Contact us. We’re here to help.
Dan D’Alio, President
330.856.9770 ddalio@employshare.com
EmployShare, Inc. – A single source solution to manage and protect your practice
