People Tools

What Happens If You’re Out for 90 Days?

Fifteen statements across five areas show how much of your firm runs through you — and how much revenue depends on you being in the building.

Level 10 Coaching

Where You Stand Today

Score each statement from 1 (not at all true) to 5 (completely true). Answer for how the firm actually runs, not how it would run if you planned for it.

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1 = not at all true  ·  3 = partly true  ·  5 = completely true, and I could prove it.

Clients — Who do they call?
Our top households each know at least one other person at the firm by name.
Someone other than me leads some of our client review meetings.
If a client had an urgent problem and I couldn't be reached, someone else could handle it.
Decisions — Does everything wait for you?
Someone else can approve routine money movements, trades and paperwork without me.
Team members make day-to-day decisions without checking with me first.
There's a written list of what needs my sign-off — and it's short.
Knowledge — Is it written down, or in your head?
Logins, custodian access and key passwords are documented, and someone else can reach them.
Our core processes — onboarding, reviews, billing, trading — are written down and followed.
Client notes live in our CRM, not in my head or my notebook.
Growth — Does new business stop when you do?
New clients come from sources that don't depend on me personally.
Someone other than me can run a first meeting with a prospect.
Revenue would keep coming in for 90 days if I couldn't work.
Coverage — Is there a plan if it happens?
I have a signed continuity or disability agreement.
I've taken a full week off in the last year without clients noticing.
My team knows exactly what to do, and who to call, if I'm suddenly out.
Independence Score
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answer all fifteen for your full score
Revenue That Runs Through You
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Your Key Person Report

Your five areas scored, where you land, and the three moves that reduce your risk fastest.

Your Five Areas

Where You Land

StageWhat it meansScore

Your Three Moves

Your lowest-scored statements, and what to do about each.

StatementMove

Stages are this tool's own bands, not an industry standard. Use the score to decide what to fix first, then rerun it after each change.

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See your five areas scored, where you land, and the three moves that make the firm less dependent on you.

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Reading Your Key Person Risk

Key person risk is the share of a firm that depends on one person being present. For most independent advisory firms, that person is the founder. Your independence score reflects fifteen conditions across five areas that decide whether clients, decisions and growth keep moving when you are not there.

This Is Not a Succession Question

Succession is about who owns the firm someday. Key person risk is about what happens next month if you are sick, injured or simply need time away. A firm can have a buyer lined up and still stop working the week its founder is out. The fixes are smaller and faster than a succession plan, and most of them help with one later.

Revenue That Only Knows You Is the Real Exposure

Processes can be written down in a weekend. Relationships take longer. The share of revenue from clients who only know you is the part of the business most likely to wobble during an absence, and it is the part that takes the most time to change. Start moving those relationships early.

A Week Off Is the Best Test

The most practical way to find key person risk is to step away and watch what breaks. A planned week off, with the team told in advance, turns guesses into a specific list. Everything that waited for you, or that someone had to call you about, belongs on the next quarter's plan.

Common questions

What is key person risk in a financial advisory firm?

Key person risk is the exposure a firm has to the absence of one individual, usually the founding advisor. It shows up when client relationships, approvals, system access, new business or institutional knowledge depend on that person, so the firm cannot operate normally without them.

How can an advisor reduce key person risk?

Common steps include giving important clients a second relationship at the firm, documenting core processes and system access, delegating routine approvals, building sources of new business that do not depend on the founder, and putting a continuity agreement and an internal absence plan in place.

What is the difference between a continuity plan and a succession plan?

A continuity plan covers what happens if an advisor is suddenly unable to work, such as due to illness or death, and is designed to protect clients in the short term. A succession plan covers a planned transition of the business, usually over several years, to a new owner or advisor.