11 Financial Advisor Success Stories [2024]
A financial advisor helps people manage their money and reach their financial goals by providing personalized advice on investments and overall financial planning.
To start a business in this field, you should consider a solid financial background, relevant certifications, and good people skills.
Building credibility through education, gaining experience, and networking are key steps to success in the financial advisory business.
In this list, you'll find real-world financial advisor success stories and very profitable examples of starting a financial advisor that makes money.
1. The Good Life Companies ($24M/year)
Founder Conor Delaney came up with the idea for Good Life Companies after realizing the need for a comprehensive financial services organization that catered to independent financial advisors. The business started as a service-oriented entity offering client transition services, but quickly expanded to include real estate, marketing support, administrative services, and more. The company's unique approach and ability to adapt to advisors' needs have allowed it to attract and retain customers successfully.
How much money it makes: $24M/year
How much did it cost to start: $500K
How many people on the team: 60
How one financial services company, Good Life Companies, went from a multi-faceted service organization to a nationally recognized brand with $25 million in revenue, averaging 50-75% growth per year, by providing independent financial advisors with the support, infrastructure, and real estate necessary to operate their practices and meet all needs, along with investing in marketing strategies and expanding their offering to multiple broker-dealer channels.
2. Harwood Financial Group ($4.8M/year)
Robert Harwood, founder of Harwood Financial Group, was inspired to start his business after witnessing firsthand the financial struggles his parents faced due to medical expenses. With a degree in engineering and computer science, Harwood leveraged his knowledge and experience in finance to become a financial advisor, helping clients plan for retirement and navigate their finances. Since its inception in 2008, Harwood Financial Group has grown rapidly, managing over $500 million of clients' assets and experiencing a 20% growth in 2019.
How much money it makes: $4.8M/year
How many people on the team: 22
Robert Harwood started Harwood Financial Group in 2008 which has now grown to manage over $500 million of clients' money across four offices, offering investment management services and specializing in retirement planning, tax planning, and estate planning.
3. Making Sense of Cents ($996K/year)
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner came up with the idea for Making Sense of Cents as a way to document her personal finance journey.
She started the blog as a hobby, but after readers suggested she monetize it, she leaped and quit her stable job as an analyst.
Making Sense of Cents now earns over $100,000 a month and has made over $5 million in total.
How much money it makes: $996K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
How many people on the team: 1
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner earns $100,000 a month from Making Sense of Cents, a personal finance and lifestyle blog where she writes informative and fun articles about financial freedom and her life on the road, thanks to a diversified traffic approach and monetization strategies, such as affiliate marketing, sponsored partnerships, and course sales.
4. Agesem ($360K/year)
David Civit, the CEO of AGESEM, came up with the idea for his business while working at a consultancy firm, where he realized the importance of personal attention and empathy when it comes to tax and legal advice. With years of experience and a desire to maximize client wealth rather than just profit, Civit decided to start his own consultancy, AGESEM, which now has a reliable portfolio of about 250 SMEs and continues to increase its revenues by more than 20% each year.
How much money it makes: $360K/year
How many people on the team: 6
AGESEM, led by CEO David Civit, provides personalized tax and legal advice to small to medium businesses in Catalonia, boasting a reliable portfolio of about 250 SMEs and increasing revenues by more than 20% every year, with the aim to turn the traditional office into a 4.0 services company.
5. Financial Samurai ($360K/year)
Sam started a personal finance website during the 2009 economic crisis. An advertiser offered him $1,000 to advertise on his blog, which he saw as an opportunity to focus on his financial advisory blog.
How much money it makes: $360K/year
How many people on the team: 0
Financial Samurai founder, Sam Dogen, shares how he turned his cathartic writing hobby into a personal finance site that generates over $10K a month in passive advertising revenue and has over 1 million organic visitors a month, as well as his tips on starting and growing a business, and diversifying clientele.
6. Builder To Contributor LLC ($360K/year)
Denzel Rodriguez, the founder of Builder To Contributor LLC, came up with the idea for his financial consulting business after discovering the concept of Velocity Banking & Infinite Banking. He began documenting his experiences and teaching financial literacy through video, quickly establishing himself as an authority in the field. Through consistent content creation, he attracted a loyal following and started generating over $20k a month in revenue, helping individuals pay off debt, build credit, and increase cash flow.
How much money it makes: $360K/year
How many people on the team: 1
Denzel Rodriguez founded Builder To Contributor LLC, which offers financial consulting and primarily teaches Velocity Banking & Infinite Banking to help people pay off bad debt fast, build wealth, and increase cash flow, generating over $20k/month and $288K in revenue for his first year with a focus on documenting his experiences through video.
7. The Generalist ($300K/year)
Mario got the idea to start The Generalist organically through two main explorations.
First, his lifelong passion for writing nurtured through school and fiction writing classes, became a consistent hobby. Second, his career in technology and venture firms led to combining his interests.
Encouraged by his friends to write about his work, he began The Generalist as a weekend project. It gradually absorbed his energy and excitement, leading him to pursue writing as a viable career through newsletters.
How much money it makes: $300K/year
The Generalist newsletter, founded by Mario Gabriele, showcases impressive growth and monetization strategies, bringing in an average of $25K per month and $300K per year since its inception in 2019.
8. ClearCheckbook Money Management ($198K/year)
Brandon, the founder of ClearCheckbook, came up with the idea for the financial management tool while he was in college and couldn't find a solution that met his needs. He started with a tiny website that he sent screenshots of to his friends, and their positive response inspired him to turn it into the first version of ClearCheckbook. Through providing great customer service and focusing on organic search traffic, ClearCheckbook has grown to generate about $18,000 per month with continued year-over-year growth.
How much money it makes: $198K/year
How much did it cost to start: $15
How many people on the team: 1
ClearCheckbook is a profitable financial management and budgeting tool, attracting customers who want to manage their finances effectively, and has achieved continued growth year over year, bringing in about $18,000USD per month.
9. Pretty Arrow ($125K/year)
Emily McDermott, founder of Pretty Arrow, came up with the idea for her personal finance brand after quitting her full-time job and wanting to monetize her passion for budgeting. She discovered the opportunity to sell budgeting templates on Etsy and used keyword research to create products tailored specifically to her target audience of young women. Since launching in 2021, she has sold over 29,000 spreadsheets and has grown her business through email marketing and Facebook ads.
How much money it makes: $125K/year
How much did it cost to start: $10
How many people on the team: 1
Founder Emily McDermott turned her passion for budgeting into a successful personal finance brand, Pretty Arrow, which sells customizable budget spreadsheets that have brought in over 29,000 sales since 2021, with much of the business coming from Etsy, email marketing, and Facebook ads.
10. Third Eye Advisors ($120K/year)
Arthur Robertson, the founder of Third Eye Advisors, was inspired to start his investment advisory firm after realizing the lack of financial education and literacy among millennials and Gen X. Coming from a background in finance and with a passion for managing and investing money, he saw the opportunity to provide customized financial planning and investment solutions to millennial business owners in the tech and cannabis industries. Within three months of starting the firm, Robertson was able to recoup his initial start-up costs of $10,000-$15,000 from serving clients.
How much money it makes: $120K/year
How much did it cost to start: $13K
How many people on the team: 3
Third Eye Advisors is a boutique Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) providing customized financial planning and investment solutions to millennial business owners, founded by Arthur Robertson with start-up costs of approximately $10,000 to $15,000, recouping those costs within three months of serving clients, while the team is currently expanding and looking for Financial Advisors to come on board in Q4 2020.
11. Up The Gains ($67.2K/year)
While deep in debt, Sammie Ellard-King had a spark during a candid conversation with friends in Vietnam; months later, he'd self-taught his way to financial freedom and launched 'Up the Gains,' aiming to demystify personal finance for beginners.
How much money it makes: $67.2K/year
How much did it cost to start: $25K
How many people on the team: 3
Up the Gains Founder Sammie Ellard-King managed to turn a side hustle from her spare bedroom into a profitable content site in the crowded personal finance market, growing from zero to 44k page views monthly in under a year, with current revenue levels at £4.5k profit per month and forecasting £147,000 in revenue over the next 12 months.
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
