15 Acquisitions Later: What Makes an Advisory Firm Sellable with Vlad Zherenovsky

Many great advisors build great books but not scalable businesses, and when it's time to exit, they don't have succession planning in place.Vladislav “Vlad” Zherenovsky joins Tyson Ray and Kim Cochenour to share patterns from 15 successful acquisitions.Dive in and hear more about why the industry is split, what makes firms sellable, and why you have more time than you think.Guest Vlad Zherenovsky kicks things off by providing a snapshot of Kraner and by highlighting what they have been intentional about when it comes to growing the practice.As the financial advising industry is aging, many seem to lack appropriate succession plans.It used to be the same at Kraner. Vlad used to be the bottleneck, whereas now he exists to support his team and the team exists to support their clients.Vlad notes that many great advisors build great books but not necessarily scalable businesses…Now, however, they’re at a position where they need to figure out what’s next but don’t have an actual plan in place.For Tyson, the industry seems to be split between those who have planned well and are executing on their succession plan, and those who waited until the last minute with no plan and end up trying to wrap up their entire life’s work in 6-12 months.Vlad lists the patterns he has seen in the 15 successful acquisitions he has been involved in.Clean data, repeatable processes, and client relationships that extend beyond one person are at the top of the list.Remember: If everything runs through you, you don’t have a business… you have a job.Vlad lists and unpacks what he considers the three reasons why you may want to build a succession plan.To his younger self, Tyson would say, “You have more time than you think, but you can’t keep putting succession planning off.”One key thing founders should keep in mind about succession planning is that plans evolve.Kim stresses that everyone in the industry knows their succession is coming someday, but they’re still focused on running their day-to-day business and trying to figure out what their plan is.Kim, Vlad and Tyson talk about the cost of not taking action when it comes to succession planning.Vlad discusses a process that has become a valuable asset for Kraner: Their internship program.Tyson shares an important reminder: Personal finance is personal and relationship-driven.Mentioned in This Episode:TotalSuccession.comTotalSuccession.com/podcastFORM Wealth AdvisorsTyson RayKim CochenourTyson’s book - Total Succession: 5 Steps for Financial Advisors to Exit Confidently, Be Fully Compensated, and Keep Clients’ Interests FirstVlad ZherenovskyKranerVlad’s AdvisorHub article: The Three Levers Behind Every Advisory DealVlad’s book: Secure Your Future-Extend Your LegacyWilliam Patterson University