Well, hello there! I’m going to skip the weather references; we’ve really said everything that needs to be said on that by now huh?
I feel like I’ve not been as Eclipse-regular as I normally am recently. In part, this is because it was pointed out to me that this lil weekly newsletter has been going for nearly 4.5 years (indeed last week was edition 220) and frankly, there’s only so many thoughts in my head.
But also, I’ve been really busy (cliché klaxon) working on the business, rather than in the business. Which means, I’ve been less involved in the day to day stuff over the last few weeks - and thus less likely to have any insight, thought, opinion and/or rambling about a current hot topic.
Instead, my attention has been spent on some exciting stuff in The Verve Group including, but not limited to; an internal restructure, putting a new share scheme in place for the team and entirely reconfiguring our future position in the financial services market, along with pushing on some projects in The Verve Foundation, which we’ll share soon. So, you know, the usual small stuff.
I have been talking for a while now about how advice firms have evolved; from being ‘an advice firm’ to being ‘a business that happens to deliver advice’. It might sound like a subtle difference, but it really isn’t. Running a business as a standalone business – and then plugging in the advice element – requires an exceptionally different mindset to one that is run as an advice business. In the latter, the adviser is front and centre and essentially the only thing that matters – support staff, some accounts help, and a bit of promo are put in place to do nothing more than lift up the adviser(s).
In those that are operated with a business mindset first, processes, infrastructure, sales, marketing, culture and brand are all fundamental, with advisers (and other team members) selected to work within them. The outcome to the client is vastly different between those two structures too.
However, these last few weeks have reminded me how difficult this can be. Focusing on the business (whether a restructure, or looking at your processes, or taking time out to research and consider your preferred investment proposition) absolutely do take you away from the day-to-day, whether that’s losing track of when Consumer Duty papers are due 🙋♀️!) or being close to your clients, their sentiment, how rattled (or otherwise) they are about markets, or crazy inflation or excessive heat - sorry, couldn’t help it!
I guess as with absolutely everything, it’s about balance, and for me that means knowing when I’ve spent too long being away from the coal face and diving back in. And here I am! As part of the restructure, we’ve pulled together the various services across The Verve Group into a single, snazzy brochure. I’ve linked it below and we won’t even be pesky enough to ask for your details in order to view it – it’s just yours. Go nuts!
Talking about running a business, we’ve also just announced our second stream for Evolution. The first one was all around how you might grow / build / sell your business. This one is all around talent; how you find it, how you train it and how you retain it. We’ve got loads of amazing people sharing their ideas and a no presentations rule, cos we’re crazy like that, so click below to find out more, spin the wheel and get a ticket!
And my final link is for the Vestd platform. We’ve used this as part of our new share scheme and it really helps to bring, what can otherwise seem like a very complex structure, to life. No affiliation or anything – I’m just a fan of nice tech!
Oooh – almost forgot, wine recommendation (like I could forget). I found an orange wine that I liked recently. They are very hit and miss, but this one was the right side of light for me. Look out for a Solara Orange Wine – or just try a number of orange wines if you’re as keen on your research as I am.
Have a wonderful weekend all,