Financial Advisor

20 Pros & Cons Of Starting A Financial Advisor (2024)

Updated: January 18th, 2023

Please note that the data provided in this article are estimates and may vary depending on various factors, and should not be considered as perfect or definitive.

Trying to understand the pros and cons of starting a financial advisor?

Here are all of the pros and cons of selling financial services online:

Pros Of A Financial Advisor

Pros Description

Flexibility

You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own.

Ability to start your business from home

It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning!

Scalable

With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers.

Meaningful business connections

You never know who you will meet as a financial advisor. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity!

High customer retention rates

Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer.

Quick build time

The average time it takes to build your product is quick - typically around 12 months. This will allow you to bring your product to market faster.

Simple business model

A financial advisor has the advantage of a simple business model, which makes launching and building the business more seamless.

Greater Income Potential

With this business, the sky is the limit in regards to your income potential.

You get to do something you truly love

With starting a financial advisor, you get to put your energy into something you are truly passionate about! You'll find yourself devoting as much time and energy as possible into the business to make it successful.

You can work from anywhere!

Not only can you start your financial advisor from home, you can also run your business from anywhere in the world. This is the entrepreneur dream.

You get to inspire others

Your business is one that encourages and inspires others, which in itself, can be very fulfilling.

High Hourly Pay Rates

On average, the hourly pay rates are high for your financial advisor - which means quality of clients is often superior to quantity of clients.

Cons Of A Financial Advisor

Cons Description

Crowded Space

Competition is high when it comes to your financial advisor, so it's important that you spend a good amount of time analyzing the market and understanding where the demand lies.

Longer Sales Process

A financial advisor can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers.

Time commitment

With becoming a financial advisor, all responsibilities and decisions are in your hands. Although this is not necessarily a negative thing, work life can take over at times. This can place a strain on friends and family and add to the pressure of launching a new business.

Difficult to build trust with your customer

With becoming a financial advisor, there can be minimal face-to-face interaction, which means it can be a lot more difficult to establish trust with your customers. You'll need to go the extra mile with your customer to grab their attention and business.

Impatient customers

You may offer an engaging user experience for your customer, but customers expect a lot and may be impatient if they aren't pleased with your product or service.

You might struggle financially (at first)!

If you bootstrap your business or choose not to pay yourself (or pay yourself less than you were making at your corporate job), this can be financially taxing. It's important to adjust your lifestyle and set a plan for yourself so you don't find yourself in a stressful situation.

Minimal physical activity

A big part of starting a financial advisor is sitting at a desk for the majority of the day starting at your computer. Some may enjoy this, but others may struggle with sitting for the majority of your day without much physical activity.

More challenging to earn passive income

It can be more of a challenge to make passive income in this business. Often times, the amount of revenue you bring in is limited by the amount of time you have in the day.