Indy expenses
Sorry for long post, but if you have a minute I could really use some input.
The stars seem to be aligning, and I'm giving a serious look at hanging out my own shingle. I'm trying to get a handle on my expenses, especially what the monthly nut will be before I get paid. I ran through the Ray Jay independent contractor calculator, and want to get some opinions on how realistic my numbers are. A couple notes: I know the rent is super cheap. It's also accurate. I believe I am going to be able to do a "change rep" and stay with the same BD I currently have, so there won't be ACAT fees to move my accounts. STARTUP 0 rent deposit 2000 leasehold improvements 3000 furniture 4000 3 computers 2000 copier/scanner/fax - anyone know if this is an accurate # for a good quality all in one? 1000 telephone 500 Legal/accounting fees 300 Office supplies 500 stationary/business cards 500 initial advertising 500 registration fees $14,300 startup costs MONTHLY EXPENSES 3500 salaries 500 office rent (utilities included) 500 telephone 0 Advisor's Resource Technology (another I think is probably a Ray Jay thing) 0 Real-time market data service (I probably don't need this) 100 Accounting fees 500 Health insurance (employees have spouses that provide insurance, so just for me) 50 P&C Insurance 300 Advertising 500 Postage (I do quite a bit of direct mailing) 50 Supplies 50 Subscriptions 100 Annual registrations 250 FA Fee (Ray Jay, but assume I will have something similar, E&O is in this #) $6,400 monthly nut to break even What am I missing?Do you work out of an office now? Trying to figure out if all of these are incremental to wherever you are now. I assume that's why you didn't include ticket charges?
Do you have enough in your marketing/postage budget? I woudl think you would want to do more for website and literature.[quote=EDJ4now] Sorry for long post, but if you have a minute I could really use some input.
The stars seem to be aligning, and I’m giving a serious look at hanging out my own shingle. I’m trying to get a handle on my expenses, especially what the monthly nut will be before I get paid. I ran through the Ray Jay independent contractor calculator, and want to get some opinions on how realistic my numbers are.
A couple notes: I know the rent is super cheap. It’s also accurate. I believe I am going to be able to do a “change rep” and stay with the same BD I currently have, so there won’t be ACAT fees to move my accounts.
STARTUP
0 rent deposit
2000 leasehold improvements
3000 furniture
4000 3 computers
2000 copier/scanner/fax - anyone know if this is an accurate # for a good quality all in one?
1000 telephone
500 Legal/accounting fees
300 Office supplies
500 stationary/business cards
500 initial advertising
500 registration fees
$14,300 startup costs
MONTHLY EXPENSES
3500 salaries
500 office rent (utilities included)
500 telephone
0 Advisor’s Resource Technology (another I think is probably a Ray Jay thing)
0 Real-time market data service (I probably don’t need this)
100 Accounting fees
500 Health insurance (employees have spouses that provide insurance, so just for me)
50 P&C Insurance
300 Advertising
500 Postage (I do quite a bit of direct mailing)
50 Supplies
50 Subscriptions
100 Annual registrations
250 FA Fee (Ray Jay, but assume I will have something similar, E&O is in this #)
$6,400 monthly nut to break even
What am I missing?
[/quote]
Those monthly expenses look a little high. $500 for phone? $3500 salary - are you paying a Paraplanner? Also, health insurance seems a little high, even for a family plan. Do you have preexisting conditions?
Also, for startup money - What kind of computers are you buying? We bought Macs, so ours were about that high, but if you are using PCs, you should be paying about half of that. Furniture - try to get it it used - Storr is a good place. I got some really nice furniture - $10,000 worth, for $2700. Small little damages. You can get a decent all-in-one for about $300. Get a last year’s model. I bought a nice printer for $400, and then an all-in-one for $250. Your legal/accounting fees seem a little low, but since you are not setting up an RIA, I guess that’s about right. I spent $2k on initial advertising, and about $1200 on registration fees.
I also spent a lot more overall than you are projecting (approximately $22k). I made and bought brochures, folders (expensive), envelopes, etc.
$500 for health insurance seems high?? What kind of coverage are you talking about. In my previous career, we were paying $1200/mo. for premiums (I didn’t pay for them, my firm did). I guess you could get a pretty high-deductible plan with low coverage, but $500 can’t possibly go very far for a family??
I pay $381/month. $500 deductible, $20 co-pay for general visits, $30 for specialists. 80/20. If you add dental, it would be more. But it is more cost effective to pay for your twice a year cleanings out of pocket. Vision too.
I can’t believe your premiums were that high. Also, group insurance can be pretty high for companies. If I was giving my employees health insurance, and I was on the group plan, I would be paying $800/month just for myself. Individual insurance is much cheaper.
Thanks for the feedback.
I am actually in a bank, but we use a BD that has independent producers, and it sounds like they would be ok with me staying with them, just on my own rather than under the bank. The health insurance is based on an internet quote for a high deductible plan, either $3,000 or $5,000, I don't remember. I think my current group insurance is over $1,000, I pay about $300 a month for my contribution. I didn't really think about a website or doing much for literature. How much should that cost? The salary is probably high, I'm including 7.5% for SS & Mcare, and giving myself 1 full time employee and 1 1/2 time employee. It will probably be less, at least until I am comfortable I can afford the 2nd person. I didn't think the $300 all in one would be adequate for true office use, am I wrong about that? I know IndyOne is a proponent of spending $$ on computers, and RayJay suggested $2,000 each. I thought that seemed high too.I paid 1700 for my HP all in one printer. If you plan on running a lot of copies...I would not skimp on this. You don't want to be down and trying to print opening acct forms or portfolios. I was down for 1 day this past summer because of a software glitch...it was very frustrating. The budget you have for computers would be about right if you include the setup and networking of them. Software is another item I didn't notice, such as contact manager.
Definitely do not skimp on the copier/printer. There is a great deal of paperwork at the start. You may consider leasing a commercial grade all-in-one.
For me, all paperwork is submitted electronically, except for the signature page. Even on one hundred accounts, that’s only a hundred pieces of paper. I put all disclosure documents on a cd to give to clients.
It may be different for you guys, but it’s pretty simple for me.
A simple, small all-in-one works fine for me. Even with multiple employees. Up to you though.
Like I said, if you use last year’s model, you are looking at significant price cuts (up to 70% on our all-in-one and 50% on the printer).
For the record, I started with and still have a “true” office. Four-person with a reception area as well. Since you are going indy with a B/D, I guess it’s different.
I guess it's the 80/20 that kills it. My plans have always been 100% coverage, no deductible (although the past few years I took a high-deductible w/HSA and 100% coverage). Why would individual plans be less? I assume it has to do with underwriting, adverse selection, etc.?I pay $381/month. $500 deductible, $20 co-pay for general visits, $30 for specialists. 80/20. If you add dental, it would be more. But it is more cost effective to pay for your twice a year cleanings out of pocket. Vision too.
I can’t believe your premiums were that high. Also, group insurance can be pretty high for companies. If I was giving my employees health insurance, and I was on the group plan, I would be paying $800/month just for myself. Individual insurance is much cheaper.
[quote=Moraen]I pay $381/month. $500 deductible, $20 co-pay for general visits, $30 for specialists. 80/20. If you add dental, it would be more. But it is more cost effective to pay for your twice a year cleanings out of pocket. Vision too. I can’t believe your premiums were that high. Also, group insurance can be pretty high for companies. If I was giving my employees health insurance, and I was on the group plan, I would be paying $800/month just for myself. Individual insurance is much cheaper.
I guess it’s the 80/20 that kills it. My plans have always been 100% coverage, no deductible (although the past few years I took a high-deductible w/HSA and 100% coverage).
Why would individual plans be less? I assume it has to do with underwriting, adverse selection, etc.?[/quote]
I’m no health insurance expert, but I think it’s because that group plans really don’t lower overall risk. If you think about it, you have a small group of ten people. I am in triathelete shape (or at least swimming shape), so I get preferred plus. But then there is the 60-year old woman who chain smokes but does a damn good job and the clients love her. And average people and so on and so forth.
People who have problems or potential problems tend to raise the premiums for everybody else. Especially in group plans. If I’m an individual who is in good shape, doesn’t smoke, drinks alcohol only when he posts at night, and has never had a health problem (other than combat injuries - which the VA takes care of), my premium is lower.
What production level are you at that you need a full time asst and a part time? $6500/month just to break even is a rather large nut for one FA.
These numbers seem way out of whack unless you are a pretty large producer.
I manage ok without an assistant. I pay 1300 a month for a one room office in an executive suite. That includes phone, internet, fax, unlimited calls. My only other fixed expense is the charge from my B/D, ABOUT $600 a month, which includes E & O and E-Signal. Thats it. I’m not a big producer, but with that kind of overhead you dont need to be.
[quote=Sportsfreakbob] These numbers seem way out of whack unless you are a pretty large producer.I manage ok without an assistant. I pay 1300 a month for a one room office in an executive suite. That includes phone, internet, fax, unlimited calls. My only other fixed expense is the charge from my B/D, ABOUT $600 a month, which includes E & O and E-Signal. Thats it. I’m not a big producer, but with that kind of overhead you dont need to be.
[/quote]
Yeah, seriously I recently went Indy and I don’t have nearly that amount in monthly expenses. Can you share expenses with another Advisor?
Although I don’t really like the “one-room” setup, I also don’t think you need a full-time assistant making $20/hr. to start (inclusive of payroll tax). I would think a “mom’s hours” assistant to process paperwork and asner the phone during busy hours would suffice, making maybe $14-16/hr. I think you could get away with $1500/mo. in payroll and get almost as much efficiency. Unless you have a really busy/mature practice with a lot of clients (and an active investment style), nobody needs a FT assistant.
um... get a college intern. Free.
Also, $500 a month for phones? Are you nuts? I just set up optimum online, phone and internet, unlimited for $59.99 for both. Each additional line is $30.
who is that with?
My lease is ending in jan. so I have been scouting new locations(this was just temp for a year because I needed to find a place quick). So here is what I am looking at:
I. 500 sqft office, in downtown suburb(35,000) right on “main st”, but tucked back a little(so not viewable from street, but I am ok with that)… priced gross @ $12/sqft.
II. 500 sqft on busy street, with close access to interstate(3 miles) in a town with a higher affluency… 1 story office building with many suites inside and monument on road showing occupants… priced gross @ $14/sqft.
III. Have been talking to 2 insurance guys, who owns their buildings, and willing to rent me a 200sqft place for about $300/month.
Wow, that’s a pretty small office. Are you by yourself? I assume you can’t fit an assistant. I can’t remember your setup, are you with an indy B/D doing primarily investments?
I would prefer #1 I think. Unless you are a big ensemble firm, I don't like the big "office building" feel. #3 seems pretty small. I have about 1100 sq. ft., which is more than I need, but my actual office part is about 500 sq. ft. The rest is reception area, conference room (I have another FA in there right now), and storage room. I still have a hard time dealing with the "no assistant/single office" setup. I can't envision real high net worth folks being comfortable with that. I have a lot of clients/prospects ask me where everyone else is, and then look strangly at me when I say it's just 3 of us.Our setup is about 1000 sq ft…one assistant and 3 reps. It’s a nice fit. 4 reps would be too much for one assistant but 3 seems to be right.
Found a new option.
500 sqft. 2nd floor of brand new bank branch that doesn’t have/do investments. A little more expensive but maybe worth if it I can some how leverage that.
[quote=B24] Wow, that’s a pretty small office. Are you by yourself? I assume you can’t fit an assistant. I can’t remember your setup, are you with an indy B/D doing primarily investments?
I would prefer #1 I think. Unless you are a big ensemble firm, I don’t like the big “office building” feel.
#3 seems pretty small. I have about 1100 sq. ft., which is more than I need, but my actual office part is about 500 sq. ft. The rest is reception area, conference room (I have another FA in there right now), and storage room.
I still have a hard time dealing with the “no assistant/single office” setup. I can’t envision real high net worth folks being comfortable with that. I have a lot of clients/prospects ask me where everyone else is, and then look strangly at me when I say it’s just 3 of us.[/quote]
It depends how you present your business. I came from Edward Jones, so the office set-up isn’t that different except the BOA. And I tell the client that my BOA spent 7 hrs/day doing crossword puzzles. And that it is an additional expense or an unwanted client relationship I have to bring on to justify her existence. I let them know that down the road if we ever got too big then I would have someone but my goal is to keep the client number small.
So I have to find a certain client, with a certain asset size to justify adding them as a client. So now my average account size is $300K(not huge) but I made 4x what I made at my last year at Jones.
It’s funny, I was just talking to one of my RIA friends. He has a very small practice, maybe 25-30mm, probably 45-50 clients. He has no assistant, but a small office (nice location near me, on the water). We got to talking about business (which we rarely do - he is Pres of Rotary, which is how I know him, so we are usually discussing Rotary stuff) because he was asking about our Contact Mgmt System. He is not happy with his - he just uses Outlook - not robust enough, even for a simple practice. But he was saying his expenses are about 30K per year. He does mostly mutual funds, with a few ETF’s, stocks and bonds mixed in, and adds very few new clients. So his ticket charges are probably minimal. But he was also saying that not having an assistant is starting to hinder him, although he doesn’t really need someone full-time. Unfortunatly, in his words, he “only needs someone when he needs them”. In other words, when he’s out of the office, on vacation, in appointments, etc. The paperwork is minimal, so he doesn’t need really need an admin.
Have an indies worekd with answering services and/or common receptionsists with other businesses?They have executive suites set up that way. Common receptionist who answers the phone with your business name then xfers the call.
Yeah, it’s tough in an area that doesn’t have those. We are working on getting one of those in our area, as it is a big demand among small CPA’s/attorneys/advisors. Real Estate is at a premium, though, so space is an issue.
Check REGUS, they are nationwide they offer executive suites, with common receptionist
I am in a Regus facility and i have to say, they are first class. Nice facility, professional receptionists, i have had complememnts from clients on how they answer the phone. They nickel and dime you on everything but its part of the deal, all in all it is very very reasonable cost for what you get.
I am also a one man shop, no assistant. Took a little getting used to but now that i have adjusted its not a problem. I actually have plenty of time to prospect. I dont do much transactional biz , mostly fee based discretionary mgmt, so it really works. If you scale your business, you can do probably 350, maybe 400k without an assistant.What do they nickel and dime you on?
What do you guys’ clients think about the one room/no assistant set up. Sweet for your bottom line.
What can you net at RJ/LPL with the no assistant/exec suit set up?I have heard LPL is getting harder and harder to operate a one man office. Their applications and paperwork take a lot of time. A friend of mine is there who came from EDJ and he said setting up an account takes forever. Because everything has to be typed into the system and then updated, even if the client fills out a paper app.
MR… That is how I am set up. don’t know about net net at RJ/LPL but here is an example:
Gross production $125000(what you need to be osj so it works in my example)
monthly gross: 12,600
LPL 10% 1,260
LPL branchnet 125
LPL website 60
LPL portfolio 75
LPL bond 10
LPL E&O 200
Rent 800
Phone/Internet 150
Supplies(ink,paper)150
So for this bare bones operation you are net net 78%…
WARNING: This is very vague. This doesn’t take into account the following(which will vary greatly depending on business): postage, marketing, ticket charges, furniture, computers, printers.
Of course then there are taxes and other stuff that your employer pays that you would have to pay, but on the plus side you get some deductions too.
Use of the conference room $40 an hour and up. Use of the copier, 15 cents a copy. They bring up bagels on Friday mornings, and add $30 a month to the rent, whether you want them or not, they call it a kitchen charge. But i am not complaining. All in, for what i am getting i am paying a more than reasonable cost. Plus, I like bagels.What do they nickel and dime you on?
[quote=mrjones99999]What do you guys’ clients think about the one room/no assistant set up. Sweet for your bottom line.
What can you net at RJ/LPL with the no assistant/exec suit set up?[/quote] I end up with about 70% of gross net to me, after overhead, i think. I say i think because i have only been in business for 4 months, and havent normalized my flow yet. But i think thats a pretty good guesstimate. Also, definition of gross is gross production credits, net of haircuts, ticket charges etcrather than gross fees and CMN from the clientSo 70% is really not “net”. In other words, if I did 150K gross, and had 25K in ticket charges, haircuts, etc. you would call it 125K gross? From what I hear, ticket charges can add up depending on your investment style.
I’m in the process of moving out of an accounting firm and into my own office (owned, not rented!). Being that it is fresh in my mind, here are a few ideas that might be helpful…
I bought a Brother MFC9840-CDW as my main all-in-one. No, it's not commercial press grade, but for a typical office, I think it will do very well. It's a color laser that is network-ready. It auto-duplexes and even handles legal-size paper. For $600, it looks like a fantastic machine. IMO, the print quality I pulled out of the demo was beautiful. I'm putting in a Buffalo network drive for all my imaged files (we image everything and keep on paper only original signature documents). It's redundant (auto backup to a second partition) and you can even access the drive remote over the web with password protection, so I can see my files at home. The 250GB version is about $250 and it also plugs right into the network so everyone in the office can access it without a server. My conference room will have it's own Dell with a 40" 1080p flat screen on the wall that will be plugged into the computer via a 25-foot VGA cable ran through the wall (it's also connected to my Dish satellite system if I want to run Fox Business, Bloomberg or CNBC in there). My phone system is an NEC DSX 6-phone system. Its' all programmable over the web and is more than I need at the moment. I intend to grow into that one, but for $1,500 installed, I'm satisfied. We will carry 2 traditional lines with a 3rd line through, oddly enough, Magic Jack. My tech guy says that is far the cheapest way to do long distance if you have high-speed internet (which I do). Incoming faxes are through Packetel, which for $3.95/month, send all incoming faxes to my and my assistant's email as PDF files. That keeps my traditional lines free from incoming faxes. There's lots more I could share if I weren't so busy with this move (and making money while I'm making the move). As an aside that won't matter to most of you, I should be into my building at about $150K. That includes about 1500 square feet on the main level and about 900 SF in the basement. For now, that's a lot of space for me and my assistant, but we are actively seeking another advisor and may ultimately have as many as 3 advisors and two assistants comfortably in that space. The building looks great thus far and is on the second busiest street in town, IMO. You can just flat-out do it cheaper in the good old midwest.Indy do you use the Brother as your only printer? I have always heard that color lasers waste color ink even if printing with just black.
Sounds like a recipe for a 100,000 per year part-time job!I have heard LPL is getting harder and harder to operate a one man office. Their applications and paperwork take a lot of time. A friend of mine is there who came from EDJ and he said setting up an account takes forever. Because everything has to be typed into the system and then updated, even if the client fills out a paper app.
MR… That is how I am set up. don’t know about net net at RJ/LPL but here is an example:
Gross production $125000(what you need to be osj so it works in my example)
monthly gross: 12,600
LPL 10% 1,260
LPL branchnet 125
LPL website 60
LPL portfolio 75
LPL bond 10
LPL E&O 200
Rent 800
Phone/Internet 150
Supplies(ink,paper)150
So for this bare bones operation you are net net 78%…
WARNING: This is very vague. This doesn’t take into account the following(which will vary greatly depending on business): postage, marketing, ticket charges, furniture, computers, printers.
Can’t really tell if you are mocking me… I was just showing what a net net was if you ran a basic operation. The numbers actually come from a guy who is doing $600K/year.
The thing I never understood about some indys is this: The reason for the low payouts at wires, jones, banks.. is the overhead(office, support, staff, branding). So the only thing I can control as an indy is expenses(A newspaper ad is not going to do anything compared to the multiple times an hour MSSB runs a tv ad, so why waste the money) I am looking for a smaller number of clients who appreciate what I do and don't need me to build an office similar to where I left, with marble bathrooms, brazillian cherry floors and a secretary who does little to nothing. But you are right, I work very little, but I make over $100K which is pretty decent in my area(not NY)Squash, that’s not a nock on you. More of a compliment. Even doing 150-200 in that set up is a sweet gig. If you do 600 with 2-3k/month in expenses. Damn! So you’re taking home around 400-500?
The bare bones set up is very attractive.
Seems like you could easy net 100k part time.
Right or wrong?
MrJOnes, I think I might have posted this earlier, but I’ve got one particular friend (business colleague) that’s an RIA. He runs a VERY simple business. I don’t know the EXACT numbers, but from how he explains it, he has between 40-50 clients, probably 25mm in assets, charges about 1%, does primarily active mutual fund models. So his revenue is in the 250K range (give pr take). He said his annual expenses are around 30-35K. Now, he has no assistant, and he doesn’t use much sophisticated software or anything. So he probably nets around 200-225K per year, so call it 80% margins. And I can tell you , he does NOT work very hard. He does NO marketing, only takes referrals, and will only take a new account over 500K, as he really doesn’t want to grow very much. I can tell you, THAT’s a very nice life.
his annual expenses are probably lower than even that. You can put almost everything you do as a biz expense. Part of your car payment, cell phone, gas, food, taking the wife out (assuming she has an account with you)
I only know the exp number on my taxes, I am not sure what they are if I strip all that stuff out.
point is, once you are not marketing and just managing money you can run a very cheap business. Heck if you cold call and email drip your marketing cost can be very low too.
I agree. He’s probably paying taxes on 75K in income. I love that business model. It may quite possibly be the best professional business model there is. There is no other profession (CPA, lawyer, doctor, insurance agent, etc.) that allows you to make so much money with so little work, and STILL do very well for your clients.
B24-
shhhhh. Don’t tell anyone. It’s a secret
Thats correct B - It depends on how you run your business. A large part of my book are in fee based discretionary accounts that allow for no ticket charges on the first 50 trades per year, so i just am careful how much i trade. The ticket charges dont add up to much. Its more the program fees, or haircuts or whatever they call it, which run about 20-30 bps. So if i gross 1.5 i net 1.2 to 1.3. But then i have MF trails that pay 90% and the B/D consolidates all the trails each week from each fund family into one ticket, so i net more on that piece. My clients all came with me from a wire, they are not used to ticket charges. As i bring new clients on, they will pay the ticket charges and i will put them in a different program that just takes 20 bps and gives me 100% payout.So 70% is really not “net”. In other words, if I did 150K gross, and had 25K in ticket charges, haircuts, etc. you would call it 125K gross? From what I hear, ticket charges can add up depending on your investment style.
sportsfreakbob, who are you using as a custodian?
Not RIA, Indysportsfreakbob, who are you using as a custodian?
I hadn't noticed that, but I probably will add a second network printer for B&W only.Indy do you use the Brother as your only printer? I have always heard that color lasers waste color ink even if printing with just black.
[quote=Indyone] I’m in the process of moving out of an accounting firm and into my own office (owned, not rented!). Being that it is fresh in my mind, here are a few ideas that might be helpful…
I bought a Brother MFC9840-CDW as my main all-in-one. No, it’s not commercial press grade, but for a typical office, I think it will do very well. It’s a color laser that is network-ready. It auto-duplexes and even handles legal-size paper. For $600, it looks like a fantastic machine. IMO, the print quality I pulled out of the demo was beautiful.
I’m putting in a Buffalo network drive for all my imaged files (we image everything and keep on paper only original signature documents). It’s redundant (auto backup to a second partition) and you can even access the drive remote over the web with password protection, so I can see my files at home. The 250GB version is about $250 and it also plugs right into the network so everyone in the office can access it without a server.
My conference room will have it’s own Dell with a 40" 1080p flat screen on the wall that will be plugged into the computer via a 25-foot VGA cable ran through the wall (it’s also connected to my Dish satellite system if I want to run Fox Business, Bloomberg or CNBC in there).
My phone system is an NEC DSX 6-phone system. Its’ all programmable over the web and is more than I need at the moment. I intend to grow into that one, but for $1,500 installed, I’m satisfied. We will carry 2 traditional lines with a 3rd line through, oddly enough, Magic Jack. My tech guy says that is far the cheapest way to do long distance if you have high-speed internet (which I do).
Incoming faxes are through Packetel, which for $3.95/month, send all incoming faxes to my and my assistant’s email as PDF files. That keeps my traditional lines free from incoming faxes.
There’s lots more I could share if I weren’t so busy with this move (and making money while I’m making the move). As an aside that won’t matter to most of you, I should be into my building at about $150K. That includes about 1500 square feet on the main level and about 900 SF in the basement. For now, that’s a lot of space for me and my assistant, but we are actively seeking another advisor and may ultimately have as many as 3 advisors and two assistants comfortably in that space. The building looks great thus far and is on the second busiest street in town, IMO. You can just flat-out do it cheaper in the good old midwest.[/quote]
Hey indy your inbox is full… Packetel doesn’t seem to offer the service anymore, they now use MYFAX, is that what you are using now?
Sorry about the inbox…I did a complete purge, so I should be good for awhile. As far as Packetel goes, I signed up in the summer before the merger and prepaid two years for ninety-some bucks. I assume that when that runs out, I’ll be under the new plan you are looking at, and it looks like my cost will go to $10/month.
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This may already be over but maybe you could add other professionals, insurance cpa instead of just advisors. Just a thought.
FYI, adding others to your office, outside business activity, creates some compliance and regulatory issues. We asked about that recently, sounds like a big headache. Control of keys, copiers, fax machine, confidentiality, finra referral policies...
This is an interesting thread, glad to see it bumped up.
The one expense that is easy to forget, is Uncle Sam's taxes.
I'm amazed and impressed at how being indy is so affordable and doable these days. The hurdles overcome in that area compared to when I started in 1992 are significant. This just wasn't possible back then.
Big, what kind of practice do you run? RIA or Indy? Most fee based or transactional?
I'm Indy, all transactional. Work with MNW and HNW retirees. Munis, stocks, funds, toss in some other stuff for diversification. We're old school.
Use Packet8.com for the phones; under $120 per month with msgs sent to an email (which goes to an Iphone in my case). Efax is good for incoming faxes $17 a month. A Dell all in one computer is about $1000 and allows you to watch TV.
Pay someone to help you transition and or do data entry if there is any. If not, leave and then figure out what you need before hiring someone.
I spent $50k of which $30k was office renovations making my move. Plan to spend more than you think but try to save money where possible. Do not skimp on computers or communications as this is the backbone of running your business.
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