What It Takes to Build a Financial Firm That Lasts

Start With a Real Problem

Every strong financial firm starts with a clear reason to exist. Not a brand vision. Not a pitch deck. A real problem worth solving, says Joshua D. Mellberg.

The best founders in finance know that trust is broken. Most people don’t fully understand their retirement plans, and they often feel overwhelmed by choices. According to a 2023 FINRA study, just 34% of U.S. adults could correctly answer four out of five basic financial literacy questions. Confusion is the baseline.

If your firm isn’t built to fix that confusion, it probably won’t last.

Keep the Focus Narrow

Trying to serve everyone never works. Firms that last pick a specific lane and stay in it until they’re excellent.

That might mean focusing on retirement income planning, like annuities. It might mean helping advisors get better at client education. It could mean serving a narrow market, like federal employees or small business owners.

Choose one area where you can be better than average. Stay with it until your process works every time.

Build Systems, Not Just Sales

A firm isn’t just about how many clients you bring in. It’s about what happens after the client says yes.

If your team relies on one or two people to explain everything, that doesn’t scale. Long-lasting firms have systems that work the same way, every time. From onboarding to service calls to compliance reviews, the experience should be predictable.

“In the early days, I ran all the meetings myself,” said one founder. “But I realized I couldn’t grow unless my systems were teachable. So we built scripts, checklists, and a review process. Everything clicked after that.”

It takes time to get the systems right. But once you do, you can train, repeat, and grow without falling apart.

Train People Like It’s Your Product

Your team is your reputation. If they mess up, the client doesn’t blame them—they blame your firm.

That’s why top firms invest in ongoing training, not just onboarding. They role-play client calls. They run workshops on handling objections. They make education part of the culture.

A firm that trains well can grow faster. It also creates more consistency. And when your team sounds the same across the board, trust goes up.

“You can’t assume people just get it,” said one advisor who scaled a multi-state firm. “We run mock meetings every week. If someone fumbles an answer, we fix it before they’re in front of a client.”

Don’t Ignore Compliance

A firm that bends the rules doesn’t last. It may grow fast at first, but it breaks when regulators get involved or clients lose faith.

Build compliance into the core. Document every recommendation. Review files regularly. Use tools that flag mistakes before they become big ones.

According to a 2022 LIMRA study, 70% of clients say they’re more likely to work with advisors who explain regulatory protections clearly. That’s not just a legal issue—it’s a business edge.

Be Boring in the Right Places

Great firms aren’t flashy. They’re consistent.

They send updates on time. They follow up when they say they will. Their reports are easy to read. They don’t try to “wow” clients every month. They build long-term trust by being steady.

That’s what keeps people from leaving. In an industry where the average client retention rate hovers around 80%, improving that even slightly can double a firm’s value over time.

Use Technology That Actually Helps

Good tech should reduce time and errors. It should help advisors track conversations, follow up automatically, and manage paperwork with fewer clicks.

But don’t use tech just because it’s new. Use it because it fixes something that’s currently manual, slow, or risky.

If your CRM doesn’t get opened daily, it’s not helping. If your forms still get lost in email threads, you’re not ready to scale.

“We only added new software when something broke or slowed us down,” said a founder whose firm now operates in 30 states. “We kept it lean. If a tool didn’t save time, it was gone.”

Educate First, Sell Later

Clients want to understand what they’re doing. If you lead with education, sales happen naturally. If you lead with pressure, you lose trust.

The most successful firms flip the script. They give away knowledge before asking for commitment. They run workshops. They send videos. They explain things five different ways if needed.

Joshua D. Mellberg is one leader who’s taken this approach. He built two Inc. 5000-ranked firms by focusing on retirement income strategies and clear communication. He also hosted public education segments on Arizona PBS, helping viewers understand complex financial tools in simple terms.

That approach doesn’t just build credibility. It also builds staying power.

Don’t Scale Before You’re Ready

Growth is exciting. But it can break you if you’re not ready.

If your systems aren’t tight, more clients just means more chaos. If your people aren’t trained, more leads mean more mistakes. If your tech is clunky, bigger numbers will show every flaw.

Wait until you have a firm base before chasing size. That means 90%+ retention, clean onboarding, and consistent delivery.

“We didn’t hire five new advisors until we could prove our process worked with two,” said one firm founder. “When we did scale, it didn’t feel like chaos.”