Are you looking for highly rated and experienced financial advisors who specialize in serving small business owners? Get to know small business financial advisors near you and across the country who have earned advanced credentials, received five-star reviews from their clients, and provide small business owners with expert advice to increase the value of their business and grow their personal wealth.
As a small business owner, you always have a million things on your mind. A financial advisor who specializes in serving business owners can help you navigate the many complex choices you face. No matter where you are on your entrepreneurial journey, it makes sense to surround yourself with professionals who are experts in what you’re not so you can succeed.
We asked small business financial advisors to share a bit about what they have learned working with entrepreneurs and the value of professional advice.
“Business owners tend to be really qualified at running their business and put their own financial health on the back burner,” said Joe Dunat, an advisor at Sturkie Wealth Management Group. “A good financial advisor will help them limit risk, have a contingency plan in case of death, divorce, or disagreements with a business partner, as well as maximize the value of their business.”
“A financial advisor can help you discover ways to use your business to grow your wealth, both in and out of the business,” said Cady North, Founder and CEO of North Financial Advisors. “For instance, making sure you get paid what you’re worth, ensuring you have a sustainable business model, and taking advantage of retirement savings incentives.”
Throughout this article, you’ll find additional insights from financial advisors specializing in serving business owners. If you’re ready to begin your search for a financial advisor, use the interactive map and gallery featured in this article to discover small business financial advisors nationwide with profiles on Wealthtender.
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Featured Small Business Financial Advisors on Wealthtender
📍 Click on a pin in the map view below for a preview of financial advisors who specialize in working with small business owners. Or scroll down to the grid view to search our directory of small business financial advisors with additional filtering options. Click to view advisor profiles to read online reviews written by their clients, learn which credentials they hold, and contact them directly for a preliminary conversation to decide if you may be a good fit to work together.
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Seven Ways Financial Advisors Provide Value to Grow Your Business and Wealth
Let’s look at seven ways small business financial advisors can help increase the value of your business and grow your personal wealth.
1. Financial Planning for Your Business
As a small business owner or self-employed person, you don’t have to deal with big company problems or corporate bureaucracy, which is very appealing. But you also can’t access many big company perks. For example, without employee benefits like a 401(k) retirement plan with matching contributions, a health savings account, basic insurance, and/or an employee stock purchase plan, you are solely responsible for accumulating your retirement savings as a small business owner.
Another overwhelming task that can get easily pushed aside is the ‘deal with it later’ mentality. With investing and saving for your retirement, the earlier you start and the longer you invest, the more benefit you actually see. A business financial advisor can help get you started with financial planning for your business, keep you on track, remind you of the importance, and always have your financial future as a priority. This lets you prioritize your business and focus on making it succeed.
“One of the main ways I provide value as a financial advisor to small business owners is helping them extract ongoing value out of their business instead of waiting for a magical sale of their business in 20 years,” said Kaleb Paddock, founder of Ten Talents Financial Planning. “We set annual targets and remove profits from the business to retirement accounts and brokerage accounts, and ensure that we aren’t unwittingly ‘business rich’ but family asset poor.”
2. Cash Flow Management
What do you do with the money you or your business is making? Is it being invested, or is it just accumulating in a low-interest savings/checking account because you don’t know what to do with it?
“Managing cash flow is extremely important for both personal and business finances; they’re inextricably connected,” said Ryan Firth, founder and president of Mercer Street Company. “It sounds pretty basic, but if you can’t account for where money is coming from and where it’s going, then you likely won’t have much insight into your finances, which makes it nearly impossible to manage your business and personal affairs.”
Just like for an individual, the money your business makes doesn’t have to stop making you money once you get paid. By investing the money your business earns strategically, you can continue to earn interest. This can help you afford expenses for your business, training or software, paying taxes or memberships, really anything you can think of.
The only people I know who are excited around tax time are the accountants eager to do your taxes. By accumulating, saving, and earning interest, you can make those times when money is tight more manageable.
3. Insurance Planning for Business Owners
Insurance may sound dull, but every good wealth management plan needs it. We could do all of the portfolio allocations in the world and create a real work of art on a spreadsheet, but then life happens, and you are suddenly unable to work. Then, you have to use all of your savings to keep yourself afloat until you can earn an income again. Your master plan is now completely irrelevant.
About 45% of us will develop cancer at some point in life – a scary statistic. With cancer comes additional costs, such as medication and treatments, not to mention the stress that comes with it. You’re probably not going to be able to work as much or as hard as you did in the past.
Insurance is definitely something people overlook or try to risk going without to save costs. Insurance is cheapest earlier on. Some insurance plans offer features like the return of premium, meaning if you don’t need the benefits, you get your money back. A good business financial advisor can teach you about the types of insurance you need to consider and ensure you have a benefits plan that meets your exact needs and is reviewed periodically as your situation changes. Policies with features addressing critical illness, disability, business overhead expenses, and key person insurance should be considered.
4. Retaining Employees
Job markets are very competitive. It often comes down to the specific work environment and perks of working for an employer that attracts and retains employees. Everyone needs to have a good financial plan, and that includes investments and insurance. Being able to recommend a financial advisor knowledgeable in your business and who can work with your employees is a big perk, which also means employees can focus more on their primary job responsibilities.
Money concerns are among the most common fears that keep people awake at night and distract them. Taking care of your employees is not only good for them, but it’s good for you and your business.
5. Succession and Exit Planning for Business Owners
What happens to your business when you retire or if something bad happens? Do you have a successor or an exit plan to sell your business? Are you aware of the tax consequences (and potentially significant small business tax benefit known as QSBS), difficulty with getting fair value, or complications that come along with passing on your business?
A financial advisor specializing in exit planning for business owners can help make those decisions easier for you and your family. Obviously, you want what is best for you and your family. But it’s always easy to push things off when they aren’t of immediate concern. Financial advisors’ priorities are always protecting you and your family’s wealth. Even if it’s not always on your radar because you’re managing a business, it will be on their mind.
“A common challenge I see when it comes to working with small business owners is not saving outside of their business for their own retirement,” said Scott Boyles, Financial Planner with Brightscape. “This is important for two reasons. Selling a business can be difficult for multiple reasons, including the selling price being in line with the owner’s expectations. Setting up and retaining a retirement plan offers some significant tax incentives as well.”
6. When the Going Gets Tough
Especially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen how even thriving businesses can experience sudden and devastating interruptions to revenues and cash flow.
In times like these, the help of a financial advisor or business consultant with turnaround experience can prove invaluable to help navigate discussions with creditors and possibly even a bankruptcy restructuring. For example, the Small Business Reorganization Act of 2019 offers new and more favorable options for business owners facing challenging times.
“The new law allows business owners to continue to operate and keep their firms and reorganize their debts,” said James Sivco, founder of Molten Layer, an advisory firm based in Houston, Texas. “This is a much more business owner-friendly process with much larger impacts.”
7. Time
When you combine everything together, a small business financial advisor can save you a lot of time and effort. A financial advisor should be considered an asset, not an expense. Financial advisors can bring a lot of value, not only on the business side but also on the personal side.
Just like a mechanic, dentist, or doctor, it’s important to hire a financial advisor who is a specialist. A good advisor who specializes in working with business owners can focus on what they do best so you can focus on what you do best, successfully managing and running your business.
How To Find The Best Financial Advisors for Business Owners
While you may find a great financial advisor to work with through the referral of an acquaintance or whose office you drive by on your daily commute, it’s important to consider several factors to improve your odds of hiring the best business financial advisor for your unique needs.
“Running your own business (including 1099 work) introduces different elements that aren’t always easy to factor into your personal financial plan,” said Todd Pouliot, CEO of Gateway Financial.
“Some key issues a business owner should consider when making financial planning decisions include…how certain tax planning factors may be coordinated (e.g., retirement plan contributions, certain deductions, hiring a spouse, specific business entities, etc.) to better suit one’s financial situation… as well as risk tolerance, insurance needs, financing issues, etc. that may be affected by operating a business,” Pouliot said.
As a business owner, you may decide the best financial advisor for you is one who specializes in understanding the unique financial planning challenges and opportunities commonly faced by entrepreneurs. These specialist business financial advisors may hold credentials like the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) designation that demonstrate their expertise and considerable experience working with business owners that could benefit your financial planning needs.
Because many business financial advisors can work with you online, you’re not limited to hiring a financial advisor in your neighborhood when the best financial advisor for you may live hundreds of miles away.
In other words, whether you choose to hire a financial advisor who lives near or far, it may be most important to hire a financial advisor who truly understands your individual needs based on their education, experience, and commitment to helping people just like you. You’ll find a growing number of financial advisors on Wealthtender who serve business owners, including advisors specializing in working primarily with entrepreneurs.
The Bottom Line
Whether your business is young or has been in existence for several years, a business financial advisor should be part of your team. Do your research, look around, and find a financial advisor you trust and can work well with. You owe it to yourself to have a complete team that can help your business succeed.
You may also enjoy these additional Wealthtender resources for small business owners:
- Construction Business Owners
- Online Business Owners
- Selling a Business
- Setting Up Employee Benefits
- Specialized Planning for Business Owners
- Starting a New Business
- Woman Business Owners
About the Author
Derek Condon, CFP®
💡 Expert Answers to Business Owner Questions
Question: I’m excited my business is growing but worried its finances are becoming increasingly complex. What options should I consider and where can I turn for guidance?
“When you’re a business owner there are two very important things you need to stay on top of: 1.) your company’s finances; and 2). complying with tax reporting and other regulatory filing requirements.
Getting your books in order will help you in numerous ways: from running your business better, to obtaining financing for your business, to, ultimately, exiting the business. If your books are in bad shape (or even worse, nonexistent), it might behoove you to outsource bookkeeping and payroll functions to a third-party. Although it will cost you money (which should be tax deductible), it will save you time and allow you to focus on continuing to grow your business.
Staying on top of your company’s books and records should help make tax time go smoothly, which brings us to point number two. Again, if you find that your time would be better spent running your business rather than handling tax compliance matters, then consider hiring help to take care of your company’s tax filing obligations.
A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is a licensed professional who can help you with your company’s bookkeeping and tax needs. To find a CPA, you could ask business acquaintances for recommendations, or reach out to your state or local CPA society for several names. Ideally, you’ll want to work with a professional who is familiar with your company’s industry, but it’s not necessarily a deal breaker. Ultimately, what you’re looking for is a trusted advisor who will help you take your business to the next level, which is exactly what a CPA can do for you.”
Ryan Firth, CPA/PFS, CFP®, CCFC, GFP (USA), RLP® | Mercer Street Financial
Question: My business is doing well and I’ve been approached by potential buyers. I’m thinking about retiring soon and considering selling. What should I be thinking about now and where can I turn for help?
“Selling a business that you built from the ground-up isn’t cut and dry. You have many options as a business owner, and it’s wise to get strong counsel from an experienced advisor who can help you navigate the complexities of a business sale. In fact, between 70% and 80% of privately held businesses that are offered for sale each year do not ultimately sell.
A Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) is specially trained to help you maximize the value of your business as you prepare to sell. Some CEPAs are focused on optimizing business operations, but a financial advisor who is also a CEPA can help you figure out an optimal sales price to ensure your personal cash flow and legacy goals are met during retirement. And if you’re charitably inclined, there are advanced strategies you can take as the business owner to give the most to charities of your choice.”
Deb Meyer, CFP®, CPA/PFS, CEPA | WorthyNest
Question: A pain point for me and many entrepreneurs is finding more time in the day to spend with our families. How do you help business owners create more balance in our work and personal lives?
As a business owner, so much relies on you at work and at home. With so much to do, it can be hard to step back and realize that you have successfully scaled your business to the point where you don’t have to grind so hard.
We look thoroughly at both your business and personal financial life to understand where you are and where you want to go. In the business, we answer questions like: How profitable is your business? Is it growing? What’s your expected profit and your expected compensation? On the personal side, it’s evaluating your progress towards goals like saving for retirement, saving for your kids’ college, or buying a home. Once we know where you are, we break it down into specific steps to get you to where you want to go. I find clients are able to worry less and be more present with their families when they know they have a plan in place, and they are actively working towards their financial goals.
The perspective gained during the planning process helps, but also, I’m able to help do the heavy lifting to help my clients reach their financial goals so they can make progress in less time. For business owners, it’s things like managing their investments, monitoring cash flow, and screening potential partners like accountants, bookkeepers, insurance agents, and estate planning attorneys.
Once you understand where you are in the business and at home, and you have the appropriate financial team in place, it can be easier to create the balance. Not only have you created extra time in your day, you also know that you are on track for providing for your family and you can be present at the dinner table – without worrying about the future.
Jenna VanLeeuwen, CFP® | Aligning Wealth
