FAQ

For most financial advisors, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused extraordinary disruptions that have truly upset the financial apple cart. In an instance, the traditional ways of providing financial advice ground to a halt and to me, many advisors appeared to have difficulty adapting.

Once the pandemic had infiltrated and lock downs were imposed, I began to reimagine the future of the industry. It was an entirely frightening prospect trying to visualize how businesses would look and function going forward. With my background as a financial planner, reorganizing and repurposing comes naturally to me, and this brought with it an honest realization of my circumstances.

As a financial advisor, time and money have always been commodities in short supply, and I quickly realized that those key elements needed to be maximized in these uncertain times. For financial advisors to survive in this industry, necessary adjustments were vital to navigate through such unchartered waters.

Saving on expenses

In an instance, I found myself having much more time on my hands whilst working from home and had to figure out how to manage my money effectively to sustain my business. Essentially, I had to look at how I could transform and adapt in this rapidly changing financial landscape.

When looking at ways to cut down my expenses, it was obvious that paying high rental in a downtown office was unnecessary with the lockdown creating a ghost town. I immediately worked on moving my office remotely knowing that I could still be in touch with my clients.

This age of digital transformation has accelerated since the pandemic with businesses being forced to adapt to such extraordinary circumstances. I was fortunate to have the ability to conduct virtual meetings when necessary. Even when that was not possible, I could still meet with clients physically with many conference rooms available downtown. My procrastination on building a website all of a sudden become a very real need. Considering that, I decided that the money saved from office rental would be channeled towards my digital marketing and advertising, thus giving me an online presence to operate my business.

Another major expense that I cut out was transportation costs that could easily amount to hundreds of dollars each month. Through saving on transport expenses, I invested that money on improving my virtual skillset by enrolling for courses that would help me to increase my digital presence. Eating and beverage expenses were eliminated during this period too, as I was no longer on-the-go meeting clients and business associates. My savings from there were invested in necessary hardware upgrades for my home office, such as a powerful webcam, an office-grade printer, and improved internet connectivity that made my increased online presence more efficient.

Working from home also brought with it incredible savings on miscellaneous expenses that were not required under lockdown. Although these did not apply to me, many contacts in my network had told me of ways in which they had saved money whilst working remotely. For instance, there was no need to go to gym any longer as exercise was done at home, so many people saved on gym memberships. Similarly, the need for business lunches was no longer there and as such, there were savings on lunch outings and its associated costs. All these savings contribute towards the digital transformation of many peoples’ businesses ensuring that the adaptation process was seamless.

Optimizing time

Another key element of working from home was how I would optimize my time. In order to be as efficient as possible, I had to carefully strategize how to repurpose my time in order to maximize my potential in this new financial climate. I was surprised at how much of time was available just by working from home.

It never dawned on me how much of time we spend in the course of our ordinary day in traffic, in the elevator, the lobby, waiting rooms, in the meeting before the meeting, and even stepping out to grab a quick coffee. All these little wasted periods amount to valuable time being lost each day as we are not as productive as we believe, leading to a false impression that we are moving towards our goals.

It quickly became apparent that time blocking was essential to improving productivity, and sticking to scheduled appointment times was vital to achieving tangible goals. Working from home means being disciplined in terms of time management and the rapid advancement of technology goes a long way in helping to manage time.

Online resources and software make it easy to arrange your day with calendar scheduling tools that help to maximize your minutes. Such convenience has made a remarkable difference in the way that my office operates as I find clients engaging with me more often. Typically, a client can book a 15-minute session where I help them with quick queries along with the option of booking longer sessions should they require portfolio reviews and assistance. All-in-all, the convenience of technology has enabled me to provide a better product and service offering to my clients whilst working remotely.

Final thoughts

With the internet so readily available, clients are finding it easier to educate themselves on financial markets and services online. Due to this ease of access, there are a growing number of people who have more confidence in digital platforms for their financial service needs. It was with this in mind that I chose to grow my digital presence in the financial services industry.

Whilst the uncertainty of this pandemic had many financial advisors gripped with fear, I decided to focus on elements of my business that I could develop and conform to these extraordinary circumstances. My intention was to create a robust and efficient working environment that was able to adapt to changes in a short space of time.

I found that by readjusting my budget and channeling my money into avenues that would help me to improve and adapt, I was able to conduct business more efficiently. Moreover, my seamless adaptation made me more productive and helped me make the best of the resources at my disposal. Looking ahead, my business will continue to adapt and evolve as I constantly re-evaluate my objectives and improve the level of service that I provide in this dynamic financial climate. Make sure to get in touch with me and let’s look at ways to maximize your financial portfolio.

Scarlett Vogel-Ham

Financial Advisor for Eagle Strategies LLC, A Registered Investment Adviser and New York Life company.

scarlett@fullmoonfinancial.com