Just about every budding entrepreneur kicks off their dream with a difficult conversation. The talk may be over the kitchen table, in a car, rolling down the highway or on the back porch.
Spouse to spouse or as a family, it might start off with, “I have this idea…,” followed by, “The hours might be long,” and, “The income could be a little short for a while.” The back-and-forth may continue for a few days or a few weeks until a decision is made, and a plan is set into motion.
Starting a private business from scratch requires hard work and perseverance, and the risks are not for everyone. So, as we approach our fourth anniversary at Full Sail Capital, we are looking back with gratitude at our blessings and good fortune after growing from a zero-dollar financial management startup in 2018 to an established concern today with more than $1.6 billion under management.
No matter what business you’re in, there is plenty of competition out there, so it does no good to enter the fray with the same ideas as everyone else. Full Sail co-founders Scott Cravens, Zac Reynolds and I started the firm with a different vision for how to grow. We built Full Sail on a foundation of integrity, teamwork, and a passion for serving people. While those character ideals may seem pretty typical, our focus on skill set diversity was not.
We envisioned a broader approach as fiduciaries, helping clients manage wealth, investments, and their financial futures. Aside from the seasoned financial advisers that are at the core of our business, Full Sail’s staff is composed of attorneys as well as experts in real estate and trusts. We even have a certified public accountant in the firm. But that doesn’t mean we’re our clients’ lawyers or real estate brokers, and we don’t do their taxes.
Our experts serve as intermediaries, meeting with our clients’ CPAs, their tax attorneys and real estate professionals. We ensure solid lines of communication, and as a result, our clients can integrate wealth and set up estate plans with confidence, and many save thousands at the end of each tax season.
There’s an adage that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.”
In our business, financial rewards often follow individual effort, but we don’t work alone at Full Sail. We compare notes, share ideas, collaborate, and take full advantage of every skill set we have to help our clients. In the end, people are noticing.
So, as we wrap up our fourth year in business, we thank our families for those difficult conversations and for sticking with us through the lean, uncertain times, and we give credit to our staff, which bought into our vision of serving people through teamwork and integrity.
The past four years have been a roller-coaster ride full of surprises and adversity, but looking back, the challenges may have been an affirmation of the vision we had at the very beginning.
“If you want to go far, go together.”