Five Ways Financial Advisors Can Capitalize on Business Owner Relationships

Today’s business owner market represents a massive opportunity for financial advisors. One of the most significant wealth transfer events in history is underway, with an estimated $13.7 trillion in total private business assets and nearly $8 trillion transitioning from baby boomer retirements over the next decade.  

But while many financial advisors have clients that own businesses, they rarely integrate the business itself into their financial planning approach. 

This oversight could be leaving significant assets and revenue on the table. According to recent studies, 65% of small business owners and 41% of medium business owners don't work with a financial advisor at all – meaning around 9 million business owners aren’t getting professional financial guidance. 

For advisors with clients that own businesses, integrating the business more deeply into the broader financial plan not only improves relationships, but it also positions the advisor to capture more assets over time.  

RISR provides the framework, tools, and support advisors need to capitalize on this opportunity.  

1. Shift Your Mindset: Business-inclusive Financial Planning

We often see financial advisors inadvertently creating an artificial separation between their client's personal finances and business interests. They manage the investment portfolio, retirement accounts, and personal tax planning while viewing the business as a basic plug-in value on the client’s balance sheet. 

But for most business owners, their company represents between 70-80% of their total net worth. Excluding the business from their financial planning is essentially ignoring the largest asset on their client's balance sheet. Advisors that are building trust with a business-inclusive approach will be trusted with assets when the owner exits.  

The opportunity: Instead, treat the business as a core asset within the client's broader financial plan, enabling more comprehensive advice and the potential to capture greater AUM. Making this shift allows you to:  

• Help business owners understand the value of their largest asset 
• Identify what the business needs to be worth to achieve the client’s retirement goals 
• Create tax-efficient strategies that consider both personal and business income 
• Build retirement plans that incorporate business equity and future liquidation potential 
• Position yourself as the quarterback of your clients’ financial lives  

2. Offer More Holistic Financial Planning 

Business owners face unique planning challenges that traditional financial planning often fails to address. Their personal and business finances are inextricably linked, creating complexity around taxes, risk management, and retirement funding. 

According to recent studies, business owners are actively seeking advice in multiple critical areas:  

• 92% want insurance and risk management guidance 
• 85% need succession planning, 78% require tax planning 
• 75% are looking for retirement planning support 

The opportunity: Expand your service model to include these business-focused elements so you can:  

• Offer integrated tax strategies that consider both business and personal income 
• Develop risk management solutions that protect both the business and family 
• Design retirement plans that optimize business earnings today and account for potential future liquidity 
• Tie financial plan goals to business performance goals to help owners see if they are on-track 

3. Identify Succession & Exit Planning Needs

The statistics are staggering: 66% of business owners don't have a written succession plan, and over half of U.S. business owners are now over 55 years old. Without guidance from advisors, these businesses will change hands in suboptimal ways throughout the coming decade.  

For advisors, this represents both an urgent client need and a significant practice-building opportunity. When you can guide clients through business transitions—whether that's a family succession, management buyout, or third-party sale—you solidify your role as an indispensable guide. 

The opportunity: By working with clients to navigate succession and exit planning conversations, you can: 

• Help clients identify their priorities for transition 
• Compare typical upsides and downside of transitioning to family, employees, or selling to a third party 
• Build multi-generational relationships when working with family businesses 
• Strengthen centers of influence and surround the business owner with adjacent service providers across accounting, legal, banking, and insurance 

4. Leverage Business Cash Flow for Investment Strategies

Business owners often have irregular income patterns and substantial capital tied up in their operations. This creates unique cash flow challenges, but also presents opportunities  to introduce more creative investment strategies. 

Many business owners reinvest excess profits back into their companies without evaluating whether those investments generate appropriate returns. Others maintain excessive cash reserves out of caution, missing opportunities to diversify their wealth through outside investments.  

The opportunity: Work with business owner clients to optimize their cash flow management: 

• Create systematic strategies to direct excess capital into diversified investments 
• Develop contingency plans for business income fluctuations 
• Structure tax-efficient methods to move money between business and personal accounts 
• Build investment portfolios that complement rather than duplicate business risk exposure 

5. Strengthen Client Trust and Capture More Assets

The common conception that business owner wealth is “tied up in the business" is often technically true, but only temporarily. Eventually, all business wealth will convert to liquid assets through a sale, succession plan, or other liquidity event at some point. The advisor who helps plan that transition will be the one trusted to manage the resulting assets. 

Business owners who receive comprehensive planning that includes their business operations are significantly more likely to trust their advisor with exit liquidity. They recognize the value of working with someone who already truly understands their complete financial picture. 

The opportunity: Integrating guidance around your clients’ businesses into your financial planning conversations will:  

• Position you to capture liquidity events when businesses are sold or transitioned 
• Create deeper client loyalty through more comprehensive service 
• Open up natural opportunities to meet and work with your clients' business networks 
• Differentiate your practice in an increasingly commoditized space 

Don't Miss the $7.9 Trillion Opportunity 

The massive transfer of business wealth happening over the next decade represents perhaps the greatest opportunity for financial advisors in our generation. Those who position themselves to serve business owners comprehensively will capture a disproportionate share of this wealth in motion. 

RISR provides advisors with the framework, tools, and support needed to confidently increase the value they bring to business owners without having to become expert business planners or coaches. Access key insights into the areas of guidance business owners are actively seeking: succession planning, risk management, tax optimization, and retirement strategies.