Discipline in financial management is a defining characteristic of a successful independent advisory business. Because it is easy to ignore in the face of the many demands on the financial advisor/owner, it is also absent in most firms and one of the contributing factors to the large number of small practices that dominate the industry. The stakes are high when it comes to a firm's success in careful management of its finances; practices that generate a comfortable profit margin can sustain reinvestment in support of growth at a rate their peers envy and ultimately command a higher multiple in a liquidity event.
