Four years ago this past summer, I did the trek up Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania (popular misconceptions aside, there are no ropes or technical climbing entailed in scaling Kilimanjaro - all that's involved is a steady uphill walk).

I'm currently in the process of finalizing my own business plan for 2009. In reading the journal from my trek up Kili, I was reminded of a number of key takeaways that apply to my business and that might apply to yours.1 Set stretch goals

Doing the trek up Kilimanjaro was a stretch goal for me - I could certainly have embarked on something less ambitious, but would have missed the satisfaction and reward of a substantial challenge.

Advisors need to set similar stretch goals for your business.

Here's a simple exercise. Consider three different visions of what your business might look three years from now.

First, start by projecting forward from where you are now - if current momentum continues, what will your business look like? That's the base case, status quo scenario.

Second, think about what you'd like your business to look like - the number and kinds of clients served, assets under management, prospects in the pipeline, your profile in the community, the team you've built - how will the business you'd LIKE to have differ from where you are now?

Finally, consider what you'd LOVE your business to look like - not beyond the realm of reality but a significant leap from where you are now. That's a stretch goal - and if you aren't at least a little bit uncomfortable contemplating how you'll get there, you're not really stretching yourself.

2 Pick the right strategy

Before committing to the trek, I read several accounts of the trek and talked to a number of people who had done the climb up Kili. From this, I emerged with lessons from other Kilimanjaro climbs and also with a list of to dos to increase the chances of success.

Even the best strategy for Kili still requires an element of luck to succeed - bad weather or a negative reaction to oxygen at high altitude can sabotage even well prepared climbers ... but there are things you can do to put the odds in your favour.

Advisors need to go through a similar process in charting your route to success. Once you've selected your stretch goal, picking the right strategy is critically important. Lay out a plan to do your fact finding and due diligence. Dig deep to find out what other advisors who've succeeded have done. Look for conferences where you'll hear top advisors discuss what they've done. Look for external resources which can assist you - beyond Canadian sources of information, you might consider American sites such as Horsesmouth, Advisormax and Camp Connelly.

Having pinpointed what you need to learn, give yourself a reasonable length of time - say sixty to ninety days - to focus on doing the research and fact finding to outline the strategy which will be at the foundation of your approach. Set a plan of action in that period - with the objective of emerging with a strategy with a high likelihood of success.



3 Put a plan in place to tilt the odds in your favour

Once you've honed in on your strategy, you need to figure out what it will take to make it happen. Having committed toothe trek up Kili, I set out a training schedule for the six months leading up to the climb. For the period leading up to the trek, I worked out 15 hours a week, during which time I made breaking in my hiking boots a priority.

Putting a plan in place that puts the odds on your side applies equally to financial advisors aiming to advance your business. Once you've set your strategy, you need to figure out how to make it happen, laying out in as much detail as possible exactly what you have to do each quarter, each month, each week and each day. Being willing to invest more than the minimum needed in terms of time, effort and money greatly increases the chance of success.

4 Select your partners carefully

Having the right colleagues on a trek up Kilimanjaro makes a huge difference. This is less important in good times, when the sun is shining and everyone is feeling strong - it's when the weather turns bad and people are cold, tired and fighting headaches that having supportive, positive teammates can make the difference between hitting the peak and having to turn back short of your cold.

The importance of picking the right partners also applies to financial advisors. At a certain point, even the most successful advisors working on their own hit a ceiling. To maximize the potential of a practice, it's almost always necessary to hook up with other advisors or bring an associate or junior advisor into your business. And don't do what I did by leaving your partners to chance - yes you can get lucky as was my case, but you're far better off picking the partners you want to work with.

Next Monday, I'll summarize some other business planning lessons from a climb up Kilimanjaro.

In the meantime, anyone considering undertaking the trek up Kili and interested in reading a detailed journal of the eight day climb can email me at Richards@getkeepclients.com.