How to Grow Fast, Avoid Burnout, and Build a Profitable RIA with Sara Baker

This week, I sat down with Sara Baker, JD, LLM a leader with over 15 years of financial services experience and our president of Triad Wealth Partners.

Sara’s journey began as a division one volleyball player. After graduating, she transitioned through a successful legal career and ultimately became a leader at two of the largest wealth advisory firms in the country—I’m talking assets north of $240 BILLION!

Bottom line: Sara is a gold mine of experience. In this episode, she shares tailored insights into growing fast, avoiding burnout and building a highly profitable financial advisory firm. This conversation is packed with actionable advice you can start implementing today.

My Key Takeaways:

You can’t do it all yourself. Let people and technology help.

• Focus on the high-value stuff! Delegate HR and administrative duties to specialists or external partners so you can concentrate on client relationships and strategic growth.
• Use advanced technology solutions to streamline operations, boost efficiency and cut down on manual workload. Always stay updated on the latest tools to keep productivity high

"When it's only you, you just can't support the growth of what you built."  - Sara Baker

The best way to get started is to get started—even if things aren’t perfect.

• Understand that mistakes are part of the process. Don’t wait for everything to be perfect; get your basic business requirements and start implementing. This approach helps you learn and adapt quickly.
• Launch with a minimally viable product, then test, gather feedback and refine. If something doesn’t work, change it fast without dwelling on failure. This cycle of rapid iteration accelerates growth and innovation.
• Focus on understanding your clients’ needs and delivering value they might not even anticipate. Use client feedback to guide your product development, ensuring it remains relevant and impactful.

"If you wait until everything is perfect and you know every single answer, it’s not going to happen."  - Sara Baker

When it comes to fees, start with the ideal outcome and build backward.

• Determine how much you need to earn to run a profitable and enjoyable business. Reverse engineer your fee structure from this goal, ensuring it covers your desired income, business expenses and growth ambitions.
• Periodically review and adjust your fee schedule based on client profitability. This helps identify and address unprofitable clients early, preventing burnout and ensuring sustainable growth.
• Treat your fee schedule as a flexible tool, not a one-way decision. Be prepared to modify it based on market conditions, client feedback and business needs to maintain profitability and client satisfaction.

"Do not wait and do not suffer for so long to where now, you've got this whole book of business where the majority of your clients are not profitable."  - Sara Baker

More on Doing Business and Doing Life

Sara Baker and I had a blast discussing where wealth management is headed and how our “Do Business. Do Life.” (DBDL) audience can gear up for the future.

Our chat revolved around one of our favorite recent white papers, “Welcome to the Jungle,” a December 2023 release by the Digital Privacy and Protection Group. It’s a hefty read—over 80 pages—so buckle up if you’re diving in.

Here are some key takeaways:

• Boom era: the 2012-2021 period will be remembered as a boom era for the financial industry. This time period was fueled by low interest rates, a roaring bull market and cheap capital. The white paper suggests that without the equity bull market, 70% of wealth managers would have actually shrunk.
• Fragmentation: our industry is still very fragmented, with nearly 15,000 RIAs and a median size of $412 million, mostly composed of small generalist firms.
• Cybersecurity: the industry has largely ignored cybersecurity risks, but tightening up in this area will be crucial for staying in the wealth management game.
• Future strategies: a few strategies that we’re focusing on at Triad include: A renewed focus on organic growth, preparing for a highly competitive landscape, a laser-focused strategy on talent acquisition, and emphasizing vision and culture.
• AI's impact: keeping an eye on how AI will shape our firms moving forward.

As the saying goes, “the only constant in life is change.” For wealth managers, it’s crucial to stay on top of where our industry is evolving and address the needs of an aging demographic and the next generation set to inherit wealth.

One of the best parts of this podcast is that it gives me a platform to stay curious, learn from our guests and get ahead of the changes happening around us!