A financial planner business plan needs seven sections: executive summary, niche and ideal client, services and fee model, licensing and compliance, marketing, startup costs, and a three-year projection. The two that decide whether the plan holds up are your niche and your fee model — "financial planning for everyone" is the plan that doesn't grow. Below is the structure plus a worked example with real numbers.
We run our own firms-as-a-service stack and help advisors with the website-and-marketing part, so we'll be honest about the parts you can do yourself and the one part where we help.
Executive summary. One page: who you serve, your fee model, and your three-year client and revenue target. Write it last.
Niche and ideal client. Physicians, tech employees with RSUs, small-business owners, near-retirees. The narrower, the easier to market and the higher you can price.
Services and fee model. AUM percentage, flat annual planning fee, hourly, or a subscription. Fee-only fits a fiduciary positioning and is easy to explain.
Licensing and compliance. Register as an IAR under a state or SEC-registered RIA (or affiliate with a broker-dealer), carry E&O insurance, and set up your compliance and ADV.
Marketing and client acquisition. Network, niche-targeted website and SEO, reviews, referrals, and content for your niche's questions.
Startup costs. Registration, insurance, software stack, website. See the worked numbers below.
Three-year financial projection — clients, AUM or fee revenue, and expenses.
Say you launch a solo, home-based fee-only RIA focused on tech employees with equity comp, charging a $3,000 flat annual planning fee plus 0.8% AUM for clients who want investment management.
Year-one startup costs
Three-year revenue path
These are illustrative, not a promise. The lever that makes the path real is client acquisition — which is mostly your network plus a niche site that ranks for "financial planner for [niche]."
Keep your startup cash where you can. Hold off on paid marketing if:
Come back to the website-and-SEO part once you've proven the niche and want inbound clients beyond your network. That's where it pays.
We handle one part of the plan: the niche website, local and niche SEO, and lead capture that turns "financial planner near me" and "[niche] financial advisor" searches into booked intro calls. Our Start Getting Leads plan is $249/mo and you own the site; Grow in Google at $597/mo adds the SEO content engine and attribution. Compliance-aware copy, month-to-month, no contracts.
See financial planner website design, financial planner marketing, financial planner software, and SEO for financial planners. The start-a-business hub covers the rest.
We don't post stock testimonials. On a 15-minute call we screen-share the real dashboards behind our own businesses — live leads, rankings, and the exact page that produced each one. See the proof →
Fee-only (flat, hourly, or AUM) is the easiest to explain and fits a fiduciary positioning clients increasingly look for. Pick based on your niche's assets and how they prefer to pay.
Lean, home-based, fee-only practices often cover costs within the first year and grow as referrals compound. Recurring AUM and planning fees make revenue stack year over year.
If you're seeking a loan or affiliating with a broker-dealer, yes. Even self-funded, the plan forces you to pin down your niche, fees, and growth path — the parts that actually determine success.
Send your firm name and niche — we'll build a working demo site within 48 hours. Free, no card, no commitment.
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