How To Go Independent

An objective source to learn about independent business models

A "one firm for life" advisor goes independent -- part 3 of an ongoing series

InterviewsSean KernanComment

This is part three of an interview I did recently with an advisor currently in the transition process. He built a successful practice and decided to make the leap to independence despite being a "one firm for life" advisor early on. I've changed his name in the article to protect his identity. You can read the first part of the interview by clicking HERE or check out part two by clicking HERE


Sean: We’re here talking with Michael Scott again, who has officially made the move to independence. So, Michael, thanks again for the conversation.

Michael: Absolutely. Thanks for continuing this. Hopefully it’ll be of help to anybody who’s making the same consideration.

Sean: Great. Great. Alright. So to set the context give us a sense in our timeline how long since you’ve pulled the proverbial trigger.

Michael: It has been exactly four weeks today since we were able to pull this off. I will tell you that one thing I have certainly learned in all of this is that it is very good to have ducks in a row because without that you can seriously be swimming or canoeing up the river without any kind of paddle. It makes me realize just how important it is to take your time to get everything set before you make a move like this.

Sean: Gotcha. Anything in particular that stand out or an example that’s been helpful?

Michael: Sure. just having the contact information that you need to have to be available to touch base with clients to let them understand why you moved whether that's through email, their home number, cell number, work number, whatever it is. It really is a huge advantage to have all of that prepared and to help people understand what you’re doing because without that you can say that seems pretty obvious but I would tell you it’s a lot more daunting to get all that stuff ready before you’re going to make a move than it sounds like.

Sean: Yeah it’s a good point. It’s probably like one of many things that you’ve been somewhere while you take for granted that you’ve got all your stuff at your fingertips, you don’t know where to find it but thinking through when you’re cut off from some of those systems those little details are good to cover down.

Michael: They really are. And I was going to say one thing that I’ve always kind of been able to, I guess, pry myself on is being organized whether it’s been with Edward Jones (at my previous firm) or now. It’s just being able to have all my ducks in a row and more than ever I’m so glad that I was able to have everything planned out for as long as we did and to be ready for the move. I mean, I’m sure there are folks out there that can make a change in a shorter amount of time than what it took for me but I took full advantage of the advice that you guys from 360 and from LPL gave to us in terms of timing and being ready and I got to say that’s been exactly spot on.

Sean: Good ‘cause I think you had probably at least ninety days or so I think given the business size, you accomplished a lot that time and I’d say for most people under a hundred million assets, which you’re bumping up against that, it’s a lot of work in ninety days but it can be done. And even just the psychology of thinking about it in kind of thinking through what you might do, of course the longer you stretch about it the more uncertainty it brings and makes it harder to keep your current business running. But ninety days seems to be a good minimum standard to really do it right and like you said, I think you’re very organized. That probably is highly correlated to people that build the size of business you’ve built and bigger. They’re organized. They’re driven. They can manage larger amount of clients and more complexity and they can build that in the first place. So for a typical advisor, you could do it sixty days if you have only thirty or forty or fifty top clients that you want to move but additional time does allow if stuff happens, right?

Michael: Absolutely. I think that’s what I’ve really found in all of this is you told me you will be amazed that the people that you didn’t think would come aboard fast but will and you’ll be surprised a few times with the people who you worked with that literally are not comfortable with a change but what I found for me is that the numbers have been much more favorable in my position, probably has a lot to do with fifteen years (almost) of experience as an advisor and with a background in finance but it would be a lie to tell people not to expect that this wouldn't happen. I mean, I think I had six folks so far that had said, “We’re not going to come your way.” And that doesn’t sound like much and it’s not comparatively but I’m also out a lot longer and had built up some relationships that had made that stronger and I do think that if this was five years of my career, I think that number would be higher.

Sean: Yeah and each one of those always feels really surprising by itself. It’s easy to think about the ones you miss because they tend to be outliers at some point.

Michael: Right.

Sean: But it’s hard to control and really measure for it. You’ve been at one firm the whole time so you developed almost all those relationships yourself. If someone walks into an office and then they leave five years later, their retention’s going to be a lot lower than the person who built those relationships from the ground up.

 

Michael: Absolutely.

Sean: They’re not going to leave with the original person while they’ll leave with the replacement. If you’re the replacement you’ve proven that, “Oh yeah this firm will put something decent that I’m okay with and I’ve survived” but it’s still not 100% even when you’re with the original person. You’re already pushing in twenty-eight days, which is remarkable ‘cause the first seven to ten days, you don’t really have any movement ‘cause you have to set up meetings and keep the paperworks done. Really, it’s impossible to have anything settled for the first week, let’s say, at least. You’re already pushing about third of the assets that you had already settled over, is that about right?

 

Michael: Yeah. I mean, pretty much like I had mentioned before, a probably good 89,000,000 or 90,000,000 that I knew that I would go after. I’ve been able to give about third of that here so far that settled. I think we’ve got a lot more in the pipeline in terms of paperwork or assets that are waiting to settle here. Paperworks were waiting for insurance companies and transfers from the previous firm and so forth but again, that’s all to be expected and to be understanding of. I will say this, if folks think that this will move quickly, and trust me, we’re all feeling pretty good about where we’re at right now but I’m also hearing that it’s typically a grind. It takes a good three to six months to really see the fruits of everything that you’re hopeful of to make it here and I can be a little discouraging if you’re not really prepared for that.

 

Sean: Agreed. There’s a little bit of kind of the ebb and flow where you see a third stop and then you go a few days, a lot of new stuff being submitted and you feel like everything’s stopping or you have got one client who you’re sure is going to move with good size that hence are guzzling at the paperwork back for a few days and you wonder if they changed their mind. It’s a very weird psychology. You and I, with fourteen or fifteen years in the business, we don’t go through that a lot -- at that stage of your career because if you lose even a good client, typically it’s not going to move the needles pragmatically in the business. So, it’s a different psychology that kind of fight through the transition with the emotions of it. It’s a risky attempt to make your mind sure that we need to talk to people, I think you’re on top of that kind of stuff but there’s always the loop of the temporary panic. Although you probably have an experience as much ‘cause you’ve been so consistent. How many meetings you have in a day on average for the last four weeks?

Michael: I would say it’s been an average of (between phone and here at the office or at people’s home) at least five a day or more than that but I mean, it gives you the idea on what you’re working on and what you’re trying to work towards and everything like that.

Sean: Yeah that’s a lot of activity. I haven’t asked you to date, what are you using to keep track of your contact management? We didn’t dive into that, probably we should have before you moved but I know you’re organized.

Michael: Well, I have a spreadsheet that I’ve got for keeping up with where we’re at with each client. I had also used outlook and calendar on my cell phone keeping up with who I’m backtracking towards who I haven’t heard back from who I still noted to touch base with. I know obviously there are lots of tools out there in any way you can. I would always tell anybody the more simplified you can make your system, the better off. You don’t need to have something that is incredibly difficult or in depth. I would give this advice and it’s something that I feel good about now but the last few weeks have been really really tough trying to figure out is the licensing part of your insurance and annuity business. It takes a whole. It takes a little but more than you want it to and it’s really important to understand that because in many cases, particularly if you’re doing a transfer from Edward Jones like I am, or any firm where you can have annuities or 529 accounts that are custodially owned or held at the firm or by the firm that require unwinding of that paperwork, it’s a lot more work and it is a lot harder. This is isn’t as simple as, “Hey, I just want to change the broker record representation on here.” It is a grind on that part and you just have to almost let your clients know ahead of time, “Look, all we’re going to try to do today is get paperwork going, to set up your accounts, to transfer in everything but be patient with me. It takes a little longer. I’ll get paperwork to you as soon as the licensing is all finished and we know exactly what we need.” But that is just now at a place where that’s kind of the next phase, Sean, is that the 30,000,000 or 29,000,000 that we’ve gotten here so far are all securities. Of that, I think maybe 500,000 of it is maybe just now from a linked annuity. So, it kind of just gives you the idea of, if you’ve got significant annuity, life insurance business, 529 business (and I think a lot of us do), that is something you’re going to have to prepare yourself that it’s going to take a little while.

Sean: Right. It’s a good point. There’s moving parts and each firm going both ways where you have it, where you’re trying to get it, there are intricacies that it’s good to have someone on your side who’s done it before but even with that, it doesn't necessarily happen quickly, as you said.

Michael: Right.

Sean: I think, actually, your point about sort of contact management, a lot of people like to know all the tools before they start doing anything and I think I like that just in time learning that our prior firm was only good when I was there at least about promoting.

Michael: Absolutely.

Sean: I think you want to have a system you understand and you’ll use. You don’t want to be messing around with Salesforce, as an example, it’s a pretty complex system. There are a lot of great tools that are maybe really great to run a business but when you’re making sure you’re keeping touch of people on top of who you’ve called and haven’t called, whatever system works for you -- if it’s something you’ve used in the past, there are lots of web-based CRM tools, like the one I use is very basic and straightforward just to run the business, or if it’s spreadsheet or outlook or pen and paper -- whatever works. I like the paperless stuff but this is not the time to be worried about how paperless you are.

That’s so true. I mean, again, you got to use whatever is available and easy for you to understand to follow up with. The point of all this is to follow up and to have that in order. The paperwork that we require to get signed here with LPL for a lot of this, it does require a lot of information that the client is required to provide to you that we wouldn’t have and you’ve got to understand that. What I first thought (my mistake that I made) was, “Hey, I’m going to be able to email out these paperworks to clients and they’re going to understand it and they’re going to fill it all out and give it back and we’re going to make this thing move really quick.” And after a few days of doing that, it became very very clear that that was a core on my part because the only way you’re going to get that paperwork filled out by a strong majority of people is to either be with them while they’re filling it out or to be on the phone with them as they’re filling it out. Obviously, you have a few that can and will figure it out to get the paperwork done but even with that I found that I’ve had to call them to tell them, “This is what I need you to fill out on these forms. This is what else you can ignore. Once you’re able to do that, then send it in.” And that’s helped but it’s certainly more one-on-one than you want it to be early on.

Sean: Right. For me, response standpoint, kind of the typical self that we don’t know exactly or we can’t say what certainly will help people react until it happens, first on the firm you’ve left. What’s been the general response there? Give me a sense of how they’ve reacted. Each situation can be different but what’s going on on that firm?

Michael: I’m sorry, you’re asking about how the previous firm has..

Sean: Yeah, from a legal standpoint, how they responded tactically, at a high level.

Michael: From a legal standpoint, because we followed everything of where our legal council had provided to me, one thing you should expect is that you’re going to get a letter -- at least one -- explaining what you are not to do, if you have any previous reports of any sort. They can show that you downloaded probably within the last six to nine months, I would say, at least a minimum, that a client account related information, they’re going to go after you for it. One thing that we kind of figured out -- because at Edward Jones, of course, it’s not part of protocol. They’re very hands on about this and so you better be prepared to know that if you’ve done something over there -- is it’s easy to trace. You think you’re going to cut the corner here at Jones or another firm that it’s not a part of protocol isn’t going to know. I think you’re taking on a bigger risk than you want to so you receive a letter like that. We have also received information that have been sent to the clients to show them -- Edward Jones in particular has made it very clear what exactly it is that they have done to replace me what their expectations are, they send out questionnaires from the newest stock exchange talking about why did your broker leave to every client. And I will say this, it is a very good piece and I actually have been very pleased with it because it’s very simple for me to answer. In my particular case, my direction that I chose on this, was simply say what we’ve got over here. We’re going to move over as it is and as we need to, we’ll adjust accordingly. That’s been a very solid way to answer a lot of questions. But again, on the client's side, to get a letter like that, it is asking the right questions and as an advisor looking at it, you need to understand that’s a great piece that they need to know and understand and if you can answer all those to their satisfaction, you almost already have it done before..

Sean: Yeah. So you’re comforting their concerns that are being feed out by the previous firm, their piece of concerns you should have almost by the nature of those questions. I assume one of them is what cost will it be if they’re going to change their investments and have all these costs.

Michael: Yup. They ask financially, “Where did you receive an incentive to come over? Are you going to be changing your platform? Are there investments that you currently have that you’re going to have to sell for taxes use? Are there investments that you currently have that you won’t be able to get at the next firm that you’ll be part of?” So, fortunately, for me, in disregard, those questions were very easy to answer because we knew that we had a plan on how to go about this but I would tell you, if you’re making big wholesale changes ahead of time on this stuff, this aren’t the types of things these other big brokerage firms are going to lay out there for you to be verbal.

Sean: Agreed. And luckily, from a legal standpoint, they have to be more careful in what they put in. they’re not going to make accusations, typically, or say anything that will get them sued by you or the gaining firm but they certainly can present that as, “Hey, I need to ask you serious questions” and those are all legitimate questions, I’m sure but that’s good. The point is, I’ll remind you that that biggest thing for us to get a copy of it just so we can help people.

Michael: I was on getting it. I’ve had some clients who’ve had them and I think we can probably download it, Sean, directly from the website.

Sean: Oh, gotcha. Okay.

Michael: I think it’s a wonderful piece that the clients do need to have and I get my cap to Edward Jones or everybody else who’s in there because it is something the clients need to understand.

Sean: Good point.

Michael: I think, again, you’re on their side for them to understand it. I think it’s an important part of it.

Sean: Right. I think as long as your tone is consistent with how you’ve always worked with people, which a vast majority of advisors, they’re not going to become different people when they change firm. They’re going to keep doing what they think is the right thing for their clients and just to show them that you’re going to answer their questions and not get off the sense of about it and try to hide anything, that fully pays the unsettled feeling that some people have when there’s a change. And then from a tactical standpoint, you’ve told me some of the interesting comments, there’s always entertaining stories about what advisors or firms will do and it might surprise you. I mean, there are probably stuff that we need to go into.

Michael: Yeah, I think the few things that have surprised me more than anything else is that you do hear people question your motive behind it or that think you made a giant mistake or you hear that people said these types of things. You’ll hear things about how “This isn’t going to last very long so we’ll be here all the time. We’ll be here whenever you’re ready to come back” and stuff like that. And again, a lot of that stuff is second hand, third hand.

Sean: Right.

Michael: I would get relationship with my assistant that I had the previous year and she still helped in certain ways with all of this to make it as well as we can, so that helps, too. But again, in the big picture of it, you work for your own practice and they work for their own firm. I think that the bigger point we just have to understand here is that when you’re ready to go, there’s no turning back.

Sean: Right.

Michael: There’s nothing that you’re going to turn around and say, “Man, I really regret this.” You can’t be that way.

Sean: You need to be mentally prepared for that. You kind of steel it to yourself for the people that push you to have time to do a lot of socializing anyway but your good work, friends, at least at certain places, I think where you came from certainly have a very strong culture so that when people leave, certainly people wish you luck at times but there’s the weird dynamic kind of it changes things.

Michael: You’re certainly right about that and I will say this, some of that goes by and time what I found is first, the people that you’re really really close to that you’re family with, that you got a place to stick, the shock is kind of some hurt but then the more that time goes on and things kind of settle down, people tend to feel like a little bit more comfortable.

Sean: Yeah. Time -- people get used to the new normal, so to speak, with regard to anyone, where they work and all that. Were there any questions that clients have had (especially it’s been a few weeks now) that have been surprising that we didn’t think? Maybe we didn’t have the answers ready the first time or two. Give us some of the most common that you were probably ready for and then if there’s any that jumps out and kind of, “Hey, I haven’t thought of that.” I know you’ve asked me about accounts and protection, that was one or two of those.

Michael: I think in going independent, one thing that you need to probably prepare yourself that maybe I wasn’t as ready for, is explaining the strength of who you’re clearing through. I’ve been in the industry for a long time. The LPL is a big name. I got a lot of clients surrounded so that people know who they are. Well, they don’t know who they are because LPL is the only clearing house for the most part and you’re going to have your/my own business and it’s a different name and when it’s all said and done, you really have to go back to the drawing board to sort of explain the advantages that you have with your independent practice but also how you chosen to replicate what the client has been used to as closely as you can and then compare that with what the previous firm is doing to replicate what you were used to as the client from working there. So, I’d give the example for me, I went out and I replicated a firm that does all the exact same things Edward Jones does but they only deal with independent practices like ours as a specialty and we have basically the same number of people clearing through LPL as Edward Jones does. I mean, the numbers suggest that it’s about the same and when you talk about those firms you can say, “Look, I’ve tried to replicate everything I can for you the best that I could. Now let’s look at how my previous firm has done the same for you. Yes, everything’s there. You used everything but how did they change out the advisor? What did they replace me with over there? Is it somebody who’s got experience that can understand your tolerance as a background and you’re comfortable with both at their current firm or previous to that?” And when you ask those questions and get the answers back, what you tend to find out now is that you'll see that what seems like the risky move for clients at the beginning actually becomes more of a safer move for them in the end and the risky part really kind of comes down to staying around with somebody who’s inexperienced and just doesn't have the background for what most clients would want to have as they move forward.

Sean: Exactly. And even in some of the wirehouses, those accounts might gravitate to more of the corner office folks that are more senior. That’s not the case in your case, obviously..

Michael: No.

Sean: ..from our conversations but even if someone goes up to the change and experience and all that, you’re still turning over from a relationship standpoint. When you frame it for people, I think they get that. I remember I’d say, “Well, look, I made it this way but one way or another you’re starting over.” So do you want to start over with who prints the statement and does that sort of thing once you get the security concerns out of the way? Or do you want to start over with the relationship? Do you want a new spouse or do you want a new house? It seems like somebody who’s moving to a new house with the same wife and kids or husband and kids or whatever versus keep your house and have new people move into it. It’s a lot easier to find a new house with the people that you know and trust.

Michael: Absolutely. And I think that part of it is really what sort of is come down for most people to understand that this is about trying to keep things as simple as we can.

Sean: Right.

Michael: And the other big advantage that going independent really ahs in my opinion and I've been able to sue this to my benefit is to literally be able to sell the fact that you’re choosing this as a way to moving forward for the rest of your career and that you could've taken a big check somewhere else. Those are offered by lots of other places but to explain to them what comes with that, what are the golden hand cost for the dollars you would’ve received, what are the risks with it, what are the facts of what the expenses would look like in a lot of these places that are publicly traded wall street firms -- when you start talking about that and in comparing it to why you’re making the change over here, again, I think it adds a large level of respect.

Sean: Good. I think that’s definitely the case. Those wall street firms, they’re now owned by banks and it’s a completely different environment and we have to balance like you kind of said the independence -- the word independent, it’s sort of the nebulous word that people don’t understand the regulations that were subject to it that we all are so familiar with. They get a little nervous but I think it’s relatively easy if people look at it and understand the account protection and such. Independent does not mean you’re keeping their money.

Michael: Yeah.

Sean: I remember I  had that same challenge especially in 2009, not too long after I made the candle light. I was all escalated about this independent thing and I had to figure out. LPL stays in the background on purpose but in this kind of situation or whoever you work with, even if the firm is small, broker dealer or RIA, you can still point to the custodian after a large name or point to the size. You can talk, hopefully, in billions of dollars or hundreds of billions of client assets, etcetera. That provides some level of comfort.

Michael: Absolutely.

Sean: Is there anything else we haven’t touched on? I know it’s still fairly early to really assess, “Hey this is working.” I mean, obviously, I don’t think it’s been a shock in terms of the numbers like we talked about and working hard. I think you said you’re going on for a week now. Is that what you said?

Michael: Yeah. I mean, my goal is a month out, we have a family vacation plan. So, I met for six to seven days a week. I’ve been living up to that the last four weeks, you’re going to go after pretty hard. But again, whether you’re leaving on a vacation or not, you’re going to have to do that in the first month or so. I mean, I kind of go back to the same thing, it seems so simple but it’s kind of the analogy in sports -- a good start doesn’t mean you’re going to finish but it sure means that you got a pretty good chance. You and I are both baseball fans, if your team is off to a good start in April or May, it may not mean they’re going to win at all or make it to the play off but it certainly means that they’re not barring themselves that it’s not going happen.

Sean: That’s right.

Michael: Same thing if you’re not going to be be prepared for this and think people are going to come walking in the door here just because you’ve worked with them for x amount of years, I think you’re setting yourself up for disaster.

Sean: Yeah, I agree. You can’t underestimate. I guess that’s what scares people -- it’s a lot of work. But I think the key point is it’s temporary whether that's six months or nine months or four months, then there’s always a learning curve within the systems. You’re still in the midst of it. I think you’re pretty confident going in but do you have any initial surge of stuff move over that first week or two? Did that take any pressure off in terms of “Okay, this is going to work. It’s just a matter of to what degree”? Or were you pretty confident that it didn’t make a huge difference? Give me a sense of that kind of psychology you’ve gone through.

Michael: I think it’s certainly taken the pressure off. You obviously get a pretty good idea of who it is you need to go after. One of the things that I pinpointed and you agreed with on whenever we talked about it was that you look at your book and you say to yourself, “Who is it in this book that is going to be the most vulnerable to being swayed in a way that you don’t want them to go but that you also know you got a great relationship with?” Again, not to point out, it’s not always this way, there’s no stereotype that I’m playing with beyond this but maybe it’s your widows or your widowers or your families that you’ve had as clients that can be yours originally because they have been burned by a previous investment broker. It’s people like that that you need to reach out to immediately. I mean, in my perspective, the first four clients that I met with and got paperworks signed with to move everything over for four widowed clients because I knew that if I can get in front of them, they would feel comfortable enough to continue with this. I turned my notice in on a Friday. On Sunday, I was at three of their houses and that was Father’s day morning setting it up. It was already set up by them but you get the idea -- you got to get in front of those folks and your book first.

Sean: Right.

Michael: Then you can start making your way to the folks that you know aren’t going to be so easily swayed by the retaining firm. It seems like common sense but if you don’t think it through, you’re going to probably end up walking on a tight wire you really don’t need to walk on.

Sean: Yes. Agreed. You don’t want to necessarily go from top to bottom, asset wise. You certainly don’t want to go alphabetically. You need to have a strategery on who you’re going to put the most ‘cause your time is limited instead of talking to a lot of people.

Michael: Yes.

Sean: I’ll let you go here in a minute ‘cause I know you’re going to keep cracking along but would you say you have a sense of percentage of people who say, “Yep, I’m with you. I don’t need to hear anything from them. We’re good” versus “Don’t ever talk to me again” and then sort of the in-betweens like, “Well, I want to give them a chance. I want to meet with them” or “Let me hear and meet with you”? What’s the percentage of the responses you’re getting on those initial conversations?

Michael: That’s a great question, Sean. Glad you asked. I would probably say 75% of my clients have either been “Yes, I want to continue work with you. Give me the paperwork and what we got to do” or “Yes, I want to sit down so I can understand what you’re looking at.” 20%, so now we’re off to about 95%, have said, “I want to see what this is all about and I just want to take my time and yes, I’m going to talk to the previous firm and the new broker ‘cause I want to see what they have to say.” And then I would say there’s 5% up to this point (again, I’m just using figures on my mind) that have said, “No. I don’t feel comfortable with this risk level. It’s just not what I want to go with.” So, that’s why they’re staying.

Sean: And is there any correlation with the account size of that 5%? Are they all small? Are they all big? In the 20%?

Michael: I would probably say the ones that are the larger ones, they’ve been mostly in the 75% that I mentioned. I obviously got a few in the 20%. Size is always relative. For you and I, we may think so and so is a big client and for other people it may not, whatever but I would probably say the group that I found that has been more questioning on this tend to be folks who are married who have retired or close to retirement. It’s their worry and again, that’s a hard thing. You need time to have to deal with change but you’re also talking about the realization that the worry that they may have may not be as justified as they believe it to be.

Sean: Right.

Michael: There’s an old saying that a lot of us use at our previous firm but I think it even applies more now, I think you’d agree with it -- you get the advisor you deserve.

Sean: Yeah.

Michael: If you’re open and you’re understanding and you’re trustworthy as an advisor, you get the clients you deserve and the clients get the advisor they deserve. If you’re/they’re not, they get what they deserve. It sounds kind of corny to say but you kind of have to come to that realization that you just can’t win them all and some of the ones that you want to win may take a little while or may not happen but you’re catching more fish -- throwing out the rod and having the net then just only focusing on the ones that you got to try to fight to keep.

Sean: Right.

Michael: Again, it’s a little different for me if I didn’t feel like I was making my way here and there’s still meat on the bone here that I got to get from my book over there but that being said, I think we’re off to the place we want to be and I’ve just come to the realization that some of these folks are not going to come over here the way that I thought they would.

Sean: Great. And then the benefit of, sometimes, if everybody said yes, they want and they all want to transfer paperwork the instance you left, they sort of give you a gift and maybe spreading this out just a tiny bit ‘cause it’s such a crash of activity.

Michael: I can tell you, this is a number, I sent out to about thirty people on my first night here -- paperwork -- “Yes, I need paperwork. I want to get going on that.” It’s been four weeks, I still have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, of those people that I’m still waiting to get paperwork back from. And these are people who literally said, “Yes, send me the paperwork. Yeah, I want to do it.” There’s seventeen of the thirty that I’ve gotten and thirteen of them that I haven’t.

Sean: Over the course of time, certain people want work with you. There’s no urgency in the most things that we do to get it done on a given day. Back in the early days when you and I would talk, it feels like, “Don’t these people know that the end of my production month is coming up? Geez! Let’s get this done!” It’s like others are living their life and they’re going to get done but we figure out how to keep moving without sounding too desperate to get stuff done. That’s why, I think, from I remember, you have this chunk of the third of your assets already moved. I would do this calculation. I get half the risk. I win. I was always doing that calculus, kind of talk myself into, “This is good. It’s working.” I make sure I don’t get too up or too down. Good deal, man. Well, enjoy your time-off, well-deserved. I know stuff will keep flowing in and you’ll be back at it. Maybe we’ll do this in thirty days or so. Somebody will have to commit some good time to hear the whole story if they want to but I think for the people who want to make the move the right way, this should be very valuable and worth their time.

Michael: Alright. I feel the same way and I really appreciate you being open to let me help and I’m glad to do it.

Sean: My pleasure. Well, thanks again and until next time!

<< Go to part 2