15 Financial Advisor Success Stories [2024]
A financial advisor helps people manage their money and reach their financial goals by providing personalized advice on investments and overall financial planning.
To start a business in this field, you should consider a solid financial background, relevant certifications, and good people skills.
Building credibility through education, gaining experience, and networking are key steps to success in the financial advisory business.
Here are some real life success stories of starting a financial advisor:
1. Builder To Contributor LLC ($360K/year)
Denzel Rodriguez, the founder of Builder To Contributor LLC, came up with the idea for his financial consulting business after discovering the concept of Velocity Banking & Infinite Banking. He began documenting his experiences and teaching financial literacy through video, quickly establishing himself as an authority in the field. Through consistent content creation, he attracted a loyal following and started generating over $20k a month in revenue, helping individuals pay off debt, build credit, and increase cash flow.
How much they make: $360K/year
Current team size: 1
Denzel Rodriguez founded Builder To Contributor LLC, which offers financial consulting and primarily teaches Velocity Banking & Infinite Banking to help people pay off bad debt fast, build wealth, and increase cash flow, generating over $20k/month and $288K in revenue for his first year with a focus on documenting his experiences through video.
2. The Good Life Companies ($24M/year)
Founder Conor Delaney came up with the idea for Good Life Companies after realizing the need for a comprehensive financial services organization that catered to independent financial advisors. The business started as a service-oriented entity offering client transition services, but quickly expanded to include real estate, marketing support, administrative services, and more. The company's unique approach and ability to adapt to advisors' needs have allowed it to attract and retain customers successfully.
How much they make: $24M/year
How much did it cost to start: $500K
Current team size: 60
How one financial services company, Good Life Companies, went from a multi-faceted service organization to a nationally recognized brand with $25 million in revenue, averaging 50-75% growth per year, by providing independent financial advisors with the support, infrastructure, and real estate necessary to operate their practices and meet all needs, along with investing in marketing strategies and expanding their offering to multiple broker-dealer channels.
So... can you actually make money with a financial advisor?
Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.
But how?
- Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
- Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
- Take action, because now you have the roadmap.
Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:
3. Harwood Financial Group ($4.8M/year)
Robert Harwood, founder of Harwood Financial Group, was inspired to start his business after witnessing firsthand the financial struggles his parents faced due to medical expenses. With a degree in engineering and computer science, Harwood leveraged his knowledge and experience in finance to become a financial advisor, helping clients plan for retirement and navigate their finances. Since its inception in 2008, Harwood Financial Group has grown rapidly, managing over $500 million of clients' assets and experiencing a 20% growth in 2019.
How much they make: $4.8M/year
Current team size: 22
Robert Harwood started Harwood Financial Group in 2008 which has now grown to manage over $500 million of clients' money across four offices, offering investment management services and specializing in retirement planning, tax planning, and estate planning.
4. Agesem ($360K/year)
David Civit, the CEO of AGESEM, came up with the idea for his business while working at a consultancy firm, where he realized the importance of personal attention and empathy when it comes to tax and legal advice. With years of experience and a desire to maximize client wealth rather than just profit, Civit decided to start his own consultancy, AGESEM, which now has a reliable portfolio of about 250 SMEs and continues to increase its revenues by more than 20% each year.
How much they make: $360K/year
Current team size: 6
AGESEM, led by CEO David Civit, provides personalized tax and legal advice to small to medium businesses in Catalonia, boasting a reliable portfolio of about 250 SMEs and increasing revenues by more than 20% every year, with the aim to turn the traditional office into a 4.0 services company.
So... can you actually make money with a financial advisor?
Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.
But how?
- Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
- Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
- Take action, because now you have the roadmap.
Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:
5. Third Eye Advisors ($120K/year)
Arthur Robertson, the founder of Third Eye Advisors, was inspired to start his investment advisory firm after realizing the lack of financial education and literacy among millennials and Gen X. Coming from a background in finance and with a passion for managing and investing money, he saw the opportunity to provide customized financial planning and investment solutions to millennial business owners in the tech and cannabis industries. Within three months of starting the firm, Robertson was able to recoup his initial start-up costs of $10,000-$15,000 from serving clients.
How much they make: $120K/year
How much did it cost to start: $13K
Current team size: 3
Third Eye Advisors is a boutique Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) providing customized financial planning and investment solutions to millennial business owners, founded by Arthur Robertson with start-up costs of approximately $10,000 to $15,000, recouping those costs within three months of serving clients, while the team is currently expanding and looking for Financial Advisors to come on board in Q4 2020.
6. Well Kept Wallet ($1.2M/year)
How much they make: $1.2M/year
Current team size: 5
This case study showcases the success of a personal finance expert who has grown his business to make over $100,000 in revenue per month while helping individuals with financial assistance.
So... can you actually make money with a financial advisor?
Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.
But how?
- Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
- Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
- Take action, because now you have the roadmap.
Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:
7. Making Sense of Cents ($900K/year)
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner came up with the idea for Making Sense of Cents as a way to document her personal finance journey. She started the blog as a hobby, but after readers suggested she monetize it, she leaped and quit her stable job as an analyst. Making Sense of Cents now earns over $100,000 a month and has made over $5 million in total.
How much they make: $900K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
Current team size: 1
Michelle Schroeder-Gardner earns $100,000 a month from Making Sense of Cents, a personal finance and lifestyle blog where she writes informative and fun articles about financial freedom and her life on the road, thanks to a diversified traffic approach and monetization strategies, such as affiliate marketing, sponsored partnerships, and course sales.
8. Financial Samurai ($360K/year)
Sam started a personal finance website during the 2009 economic crisis. An advertiser offered him $1,000 to advertise on his blog, which he saw as an opportunity to focus on his financial advisory blog.
How much they make: $360K/year
Current team size: 0
Financial Samurai founder, Sam Dogen, shares how he turned his cathartic writing hobby into a personal finance site that generates over $10K a month in passive advertising revenue and has over 1 million organic visitors a month, as well as his tips on starting and growing a business, and diversifying clientele.
9. Pretty Arrow ($125K/year)
Emily McDermott, founder of Pretty Arrow, came up with the idea for her personal finance brand after quitting her full-time job and wanting to monetize her passion for budgeting. She discovered the opportunity to sell budgeting templates on Etsy and used keyword research to create products tailored specifically to her target audience of young women. Since launching in 2021, she has sold over 29,000 spreadsheets and has grown her business through email marketing and Facebook ads.
How much they make: $125K/year
How much did it cost to start: $10
Current team size: 1
Founder Emily McDermott turned her passion for budgeting into a successful personal finance brand, Pretty Arrow, which sells customizable budget spreadsheets that have brought in over 29,000 sales since 2021, with much of the business coming from Etsy, email marketing, and Facebook ads.
10. Humphrey ($240K/year)
How much they make: $240K/year
Current team size:
Personal finance expert Humphrey Yang made $20,000 a month from nine passive sources of income, including TikTok, YouTube, stocks, Turo car rentals, real estate, cryptocurrency staking, and writing, with an estimated net worth of $2 million.
11. Up The Gains ($67.2K/year)
How much they make: $67.2K/year
How much did it cost to start: $25K
Current team size: 3
Up the Gains Founder Sammie Ellard-King managed to turn a side hustle from her spare bedroom into a profitable content site in the crowded personal finance market, growing from zero to 44k page views monthly in under a year, with current revenue levels at £4.5k profit per month and forecasting £147,000 in revenue over the next 12 months.
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- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
