Welcome to the February Edition of The Ultimate Guide For the Successful Steward, Fourth Dimension Financial Group’s newsletter.
Big, Bigger, BIGGEST!?
A few years ago, I read a book titled: Small Giants – Companies that Choose to be Great Instead of Big. In it, Bo Burlingham describes business after business who choose to avoid the “bigger is always better” mentality. He suggests that these companies usually offer something truly extraordinary to their clients.
Yes, part of me clings to the idea because I’m a short guy, but truly it’s much more than that. The concept really struck me because while some companies think they must be large to be truly great (think car companies and computer manufacturers), I realized that it is too easy to believe that an organization that isn’t constantly adding employees is not successful.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet with a couple nearing retirement, who asked for help in evaluating their retirement plan. Near the end of our discussion, they asked something you probably want to hear: They said that while my approach truly impressed them (I was flattered), they were concerned that I would help them in the short term before subsequently passing them off on another advisor or employee. Their fear was that as soon as their plan was completed, I would simply move on to the next person. Why? Because that’s often what big firms do.
As I was talking with them, I realized that I may have never shared this with our other Stewards: In the same way that we helped you determine how much is enough for you to meet your financial retirement goals, we too have defined how much is enough for Fourth Dimension Financial Group.
So, that begs the question – How big is enough for us? Well, the size of our business will be determined by the number of families that we can serve at a very high level, without passing you off to someone else. Once we reach that point, we will no longer actively seek new families to serve as we are now.
It’s important for you to know that we are almost halfway to reaching that point.
I believe that matters to you for two reasons: 1. If you are actively working with us, we want you to know that we have no intention to leave you behind or pass you off for the sake of unending growth, and 2. The families we will pour our hearts into serving in the coming decades simply do not have forever to choose to work with us. At the risk of sounding crass, our supply is limited. When 1 and 2 are considered together, if you have found comfort and value in working with us and can’t imagine becoming just a number at a large firm, you may consider getting your procrastinating friends in here sooner than later. Remember, the fourth dimension is time, and there’s only so much of that to go around.
As always, thanks so much for the trust you place in us to help you navigate your retirement planning. It’s an honor to serve you and we are committed to continually improving our business to help you continually improve your experience.
To your success,
Adam Cufr, RICP®
P.S. This past month, I did a live radio interview on a large New Orleans station to discuss my book. It was so much fun and it is available for you to listen to on Fourth Dimension’s Facebook page. We also have a couple of book-themed happenings to share in this issue, both past and future. It has been an exciting few months and we feel like we’re just getting started.
